Hello again, y’all! I have been MIA from blogging
due to back to school chaos, but am hoping to get back in the swing now. My
plan is to post at least a couple of times per month, but we will see how it
goes.
The quick tip for today is Make It Visual! I was inspired for this particular post by a new
student at our school. Mari (not her real name of course) began pre-K at our
elementary school on our first day. Mari’s grandmother, who she is currently
living with, completed her language questionnaire by indicating Mari has been
in a Spanish-speaking only environment until very recently. Shortly before
school began, Mari moved from her home in Mexico to her English-speaking only
grandmother’s house without her parents. Bless her heart, she is now without
any Spanish speakers AT ALL in both her home and school. Not to mention, she is
away from home and family. Her teachers wanted to know how best to help her.
In our school system, we very rarely have ESOL
students. I think we have only had three in the last ten years. We do have a
certified ESOL teacher who provides services as needed, but Mari’s regular
pre-K teacher wanted some suggestions and help for providing Mari with
continued support throughout her school day. Luckily for all involved, our
pre-k program is very language-rich. We often see children blossom in several areas
just from attending school, so that is one plus for Mari. After consulting with
other language experts and the ESOL teacher, I talked with the pre-K teacher
about also making language visible whenever possible.
By using pictures and symbols along with verbal
language, another source of information is being provided. Mari can look AND
listen and is more likely to understand the content being presented. Like some
of my other students who are struggling with language, peer modeling and
gesturing have also been effective for Mari. She is soaking up everything like
a sponge and it amazes me how fast she is learning our language. While she is
not a “special education” student, some of our special education “tricks” have
been extremely helpful for her. This situation reminds me how ALL students can
benefit from multiple modality teaching. The pictures above are some examples
of items that have helped Mari. I hope they give you some ideas as well. Please
comment with any additional suggestions you might have for students who have
ANY kind of language weakness. Until next time!
