At Home, Schools,

CHILDREN’S BOOKS: STICK WITH THE REAL THING!

November 30, 2011

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As a recent article from the New York Times reminds us, when it comes to children’s books, print is still where it’s at. E-books may be perfect for a bus ride home after a long day in the office, easily tucked away into a briefcase or backpack. And an iPad can help distract us and our children during a long wait in the doctor’s office. But when it comes to the beloved bedtime story or a read-aloud at............. CONTINUE READING

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Classroom, Libraries, Schools, Teacher Resources,

HOW TO CREATE A CLASSROOM LISTENING CENTER

January 3, 2017

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If your classroom or library makes use of learning centers, you may be thinking about setting one up as a listening center. Students of all ages and levels, especially English language learners, benefit from this type of interactive, multi-sensory learning. Below, we offer some tips to help get your listening center up and running. Make a Listening Center Plan What type of Listening Center best suits your classroom? Would you like your students to focus on literacy gains and improve comprehension and vocabulary? Or do............. CONTINUE READING

At Home, Dual Language, Families,

5 (FUN!) IDEAS TO INCORPORATE LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL LEARNING INTO YOUR FAMILY’S PLANS THIS SUMMER

July 24, 2014

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    photo credits: Jens Nink, Heather West, both @ flickr.com With summer here, many parents have a challenge ahead of them:  keeping kids productively entertained until school starts up again. Whether you or your partner is a stay-at-home parent, or you just want to make the most of these warm, sunny summer nights and weekends, there’s no reason you can’t make language and cultural learning part of your routine! Here are 5 ideas on how you can make learning about a new culture............. CONTINUE READING

Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Schools, Teacher Resources,

TOP TEN GAMES TO PLAY WITH BILINGUAL CHILDREN’S BOOKS

December 4, 2013

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  Using flash cards and rote learning to teach an additional language is like looking at pictures of a turkey dinner instead of sitting down to eat the wonderful meal.  There are so many more interesting ways to experience learning and using a new language! And bilingual books are a great place to start. In April of this year, ScienceDaily.com ran an article supporting what we already know: “playing simple games using words and pictures............. CONTINUE READING

Classroom, ELLs / DLLs,

BILINGUAL STUDENTS: THE BENEFITS OF NARRATION

January 29, 2013

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As we mentioned in our previous post, Bilingual Students: Using Holiday Celebrations to Promote Language Development in Multicultural Classrooms, bilingual students often have a lot to say right after they return from their winter holidays. They are eager to share activities that they engaged in with family and friends and to talk about the gifts that they may have received. However, once the excitement of returning back to school has worn off, it can be more challenging to............. CONTINUE READING

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At Home, Dual Language, Families,

BILINGUAL CHILDREN: SUMMER TRAVEL ACTIVITIES

June 27, 2012

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Summer is a wonderful time of year to travel: Children are out of school and the warm days beacon for lazy hours at the beach or walks through cool forests. Whether we are traveling by land, air or sea, we can make bilingualism part of every bilingual child’s summertime adventures. Both parents and teachers can engage bilingual children in fun travel activities, whether it is during a bus ride with a summer class or as a family on the way to visit............. CONTINUE READING

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Classroom, ELLs / DLLs,

USING MUSIC TO HELP CHILDREN LEARN LANGUAGES

March 5, 2012

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Children love music and singing. There is something magical about words being set to a melody that make children perk up and join in. Since most children’s songs consist of catchy beats and poetry-infused lyrics, it is a perfect combination of rhythm, rhyme and fun. An added benefit to children’s songs is that they are often easy to learn. The short, repetitive sentences lend themselves to easy memorization and retention. What better way to learn words in context than to sing them............. CONTINUE READING

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