Kentucky Laws and Requirements

For those of you who are wondering why we even need to touch on ESL students in our classrooms, this link shows you what the laws and requirements are for the state of Kentucky and what you should be doing in your classroom. Although it seems like a lot to do, once you have some tools to work with, teaching and working with ESL students becomes a joy in the classroom!

http://www.colorincolorado.org/web_resources/by_state/kentucky/

Using Apostrophes!

http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/apostrophes_using_apostrophes.htm

Use this quick introductions to Apostrophes with your students!

Language Objectives YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV1u4HFHWo8

Cuba

I am doing a project for my ESL grad school, and I needed to do some research for the country Cuba. I thought I would post a little information on here in case people wanted to comment about their own culture or add to this!

Cuba culture: Demographics- recent population estimates from 11.06 million to 11.17 million
- Mixed population from African and European decent
Linguistic Affiliation: Nearly all Cubans speak Spanish exclusively, similar to other Hispanic Caribbean islands, rhythmic speaking and hand gestures are distinctly Cuban.
Symbolism: three really important symbols in culture; National Anthem, National flag, the flag of the 26th July movement.

Our school offers a website for each teacher in the district, I could place this information about this culture and other cultures on my web page for teachers and others in our community to read. I can also offer up links to web pages that have information about different cultures (for example I used www.everythingculture.com to find out about Cuba). I think a fun way to present this to staff would be to have the students create a project on different cultures and have them present the different information each the teachers, they can even open it up to the community. Then we can discuss way to make sure that each student is being taught to their best ability.

And I'm Back

I have been off for here for a bit, I have becme a new mom and trying to get a grip on my classroom. I have a new student that has joined my class, and she speaks no English. I will be posting more ideas on ESL and other techniques for the classroom soon!

Thanks!

Technology in the Classroom... Paper Style

I did a worksheet with my students last year that was a template of Facebook that they had to use to introduce themselves to the class. As a perk I let them sign the bottom of it like they were posting on each others walls...

Here is a template that teachers can use:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:Facebook+Template

Some of the better templates may cost $1.00 or 2... But its an amazing site to help teachers out!

Grammar Book (That lead to a new blog!)

I really like this grammar book that students can make (This will be made in my classroom during December) and they will hold on to them to help with their writing. Also this grammar book is on another blogger's website, so hopefully it can help you out more in the classroom!

http://englishteachingtoolbox.tumblr.com/post/23633325923/grammar-flip-book