Yesterday I got a new student who speaks no English -- zip, nothing, nada, no "hello," no "bathroom," nothing. I paired him up with another ELL who came in knowing next to no English (well, except for maybe "bathroom") but who is now on her way to being a D reader and who is a regular English chatterbox! (I love love love how quickly some beginner ELLs make progress!)
During reading time I overheard another student telling her to explain something to my newcomer in Spanish. She gave the suggester a total "duh, girlfriend" look and said, "No, he needs to learn English. No Spanish. Talk English!"
3 comments:
I love those kids! Dis you tell that student that it's OK to help the new girl out by speaking in Spanish?
Well, interestingly, his classroom teacher speaks Spanish, and she herself spoke no English when she started school. So she translates for him for now, but she's pretty adamant that she start speaking to him in English so he can learn.
I love how helpful some our our kiddos can be! I also wanted to let you know that I am going to use your idea of puppets to teach about using speech bubbles, what a great, interactive lesson.
Post a Comment