by Lizzie Davey

Because language learning is a creative process, it makes sense to incorporate the arts when teaching languages, especially to children, who are very visual. Using different art mediums, such as music, visual arts, and film connects the left brain (the creative side) to the right (the logical side). This can speed up learning because as new information is being collected, it is being “pattern matched” to what is already stored in the brain.

For example, a child may hear the word ‘naranja’ (orange in Spanish), and understand what it is. But when they hear the word and see a picture of the object named at the same time, they create a rounder, more complete notion of the word and its meaning. Taking this a step further, if a child can hear the word, see it, and witness it being used as it is meant to – someone eating an orange – the notion is further concretized because all three dimensions of the word are connected using the whole brain.

Music and Dance

Music is great for language-learning lessons. Children love music and find it difficult not to move about when an upbeat song is playing. Simply playing a song in a different language for children familiarizes them with the language’s unique sounds and intonations. But teachers also can incorporate Wendy Maxwell’s Accelerative Integrated Method (AIM), which helps teach vocabulary by matching words with correlating gestures to go along with the audio. So in addition to learning the words to a song and singing along with it, children can make up a dance routine that describes the words being sung. Acting out the word combined with hearing it creates a deeper understanding; the words are much easier to remember when both the body and the brain are being utilized in the learning process.

Visual Art

The visual and hands-on aspect of art makes it an invaluable part of language learning for bilingual children. Bette Setter, founder of Young Rembrandts, a mobile art education program, says that children “have a big responsibility in decoding everything. Art and art images help children develop in their natural quest for knowledge.” Again, the use of visual art when teaching language connects the creative brain to the linguistic one, forming parallels and pairing words with their visual counterparts. Integrating a country’s artwork into a language-learning curriculum also helps children connect to the history and culture surrounding the language they are learning.

Film

It’s no secret that children love films; there is something about the combination of moving images and words that transfixes them. Although there is no substitute to in-person interactions when learning a language, appropriate films and videos can be useful tools to supplement the language learning process. With most DVDs, there are language-altering options – either by applying subtitles in your desired language, or by getting the movie in the target language. Both these ways of enjoying the movie can add to the language-learning schedule. Subtitles familiarize the child with reading the language (even if they don’t know much of it) and gets them used to how the written language looks. Listening to the film in another language gets them used to hearing the language. If a child is very familiar with the movie, they probably know the context and so will be able to connect certain words with certain characters and scenes.

Cultural Events

All languages have a culture from which they originate; a culture that incorporates all kinds of art practices. Many of these can be found at cultural festivals and events, which offer a fully sensory experience of food, film, music, art, and dance. Attending these cultural events can open children’s eyes to the new culture, exposing them to the language and its customs in an entertaining and accessible way.  

Using the arts to teach children languages can make learning more enjoyable. Follow the child’s lead and you can find ways to integrate learning a language with their love of dance, music, painting, or their favorite film. After all, it’s common knowledge that children are more inclined to learn something when the learning is fun!

Author bio:  Lizzie Davey writes for Languages Abroad and Teenagers Abroad, which offer language schools all over the world, from China to Italy to Mexico. Last year, she spent time in Madrid learning Spanish and realized that in order to successfully master a language, language learning has to become a part of everyday life. She now writes about creative ways to learn a language and, most importantly, ways to keep it fun, effective, and accessible. 

Children dancing – Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503155381@N01/2700242045

Festival – Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46392003@N07/6123346612

Painting1 – Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46104149@N07/4249568462

Q: Who? Baba Ganoush? Ali Baba?  Yo Gabba Gabba?

A: No…Baba Yaga.

Q: Never heard of her.

A: Well, she’s a mysterious figure from a range of different Eastern European folk tales.  In some, she’s very much the villain: an evil witch with iron teeth who will happily kidnap you and keep you prisoner if she gets the chance.  In others, she’s…well, she’s still the same old iron-tooth crone, but she can be a source of wisdom, help, and advice.

Q: Did you say… iron teeth?

A: Yeah, she uses them to eat up little Russian children, or so the story goes.  But that’s not the strangest bit.

Q: Really?  What is the strangest bit?

A: That would probably be her use of a pestle and mortar to fly through the sky instead of the traditional broomstick.

Q: Huh.  And where does she live?

A: Just in your average creepy hut in the woods.  That stands on chicken legs.  Which let it roam around wherever she pleases.

Q: Naturally.  So why should I read more about this Baba Yaga lady?

A: She’s a pretty fierce, one-of-a-kind female character in folklore; she’s genuinely scary; she was first referenced in writing in 1755—so she’s likely to stick around a little longer!  …with her terrifying teeth…

Q: Ok.  Any book recommendations?

A: Sure!  Try Tashi and the Baba Yaga by Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg and Kim Gamble.  Or check out Baba Yaga and the Stolen Baby, by Alison Lurie.  Another good bet is Baba Yaga the Flying Witch, by Susanna Davidson.

Every Head Start teacher has the privilege and responsibility to make his or her children feel valued and comfortable from day one in the classroom.   Enrollment form information can help with this: knowing all you can about a student’s background will help you to help them get used to their new school.  Sometimes, it’s not easy to be sure you are getting the most accurate information.  Many families who speak a language other than English or have another culture in their home do not include this information on their enrolment forms. They may write instead that English is their only or primary language.

Why?  It’s a good question.

Experts suggest that some Head Start families don’t report the whole truth because they think that English is what they are expected to speak.

Many may genuinely try to put their heritage languages aside and speak only in English to their multilingual children at home because they believe this will help their child succeed – as though these heritage languages are something to be ashamed of!

Most teachers don’t get to know what’s going on in the home, but the Head Start home visiting component can be especially helpful when getting to know multilingual families.  The more you know, the more you can do to make your classroom comfortable for bilingual and multilingual children and their family members, and to honor their needs and their backgrounds.

Welcoming families starts with that first warm conversation: a simple “hello” in the family’s home language will do so much towards breaking down barriers and awkwardness, and showing families that their cultures are valued.

So what next?

There are plenty of things that you can do to help people from all cultures feel at ease in your classroom:

• Classroom displays

The first thing that any parent or caregiver experiences about a Head Start class is the way the room looks, of course!  If all they see staring at them from the walls is the English language and American imagery, it stands to reason they might feel they don’t fit in.

Why not fill your room with colorful artwork and photos that depict subjects from around the world?  Try different flags, drawings of animals from different continents, national landmarks, or folk art from different cultures.  You could even get parents from the community to make posters for you in their home languages which welcome the newcomer into your classroom.

• Songs

Bingo and Old MCDonald certainly have their place in the preschool music repertoire.  But wouldn’t it be much more interesting to include kids’ songs from other cultures too?  Ask students to get their parents to help them memorize a song in their home language to sing to the class.  The whole class can practice it and sing with them.  Bring out instruments so everyone can get involved, even if they find the language of the song difficult to replicate!

• Visitors

It’s such a treat to have someone from the local community (or even further afield) visit the classroom to show the students something interesting or teach them about careers, community, nature – or anything else you can think of! But these visitors don’t always have to speak to the children in English, especially if they are doing a demonstration or making something. Can you find a local fire fighter who’s bilingual and could show the students pictures and fire fighting gear while speaking to them in his or her heritage language?  What about a chef from a restaurant that cooks food from a different culture?  Which brings us to…

• Culture/Food events

What an amazing opportunity to spend time with multilingual parents and caregivers in your newly-(and multiculturally!) decorated classroom!  Families can bring in exciting dishes for everyone to try and discuss.  If you get a list of what’s being made ahead of time, you can start to talk to the children about different ingredients before the event and get them excited to try new foods.

Many of you may already hold a multicultural celebration of food, so try this twist: link your event with multilingual and multicultural books from your library.  Why not read Lima’s Red Hot Chilli, and make sure families bring in all the foods the book mentions, like jelly, mango, and of course, something a bit spicy?   Or choose Grandma’s Saturday Soup, a Jamaican tale, and ask everyone to bring in food that reminds them of their families!  There are so many other food books to choose from; click back to our main site and have a look.

Obviously, if you are going to try this activity, you are going to need a fantastic multilingual library, right?

• Library

You’ve got to make your Head Start library an inviting place for all students – not just the ones who speak English.  As your children are learning to read, they need to see the words and print of their home languages as well as English.  They need to see images of gender, ethnicity and culture that they can relate to on the covers of books.  And when families visit your classroom, they need to see reflections of themselves.  A family from South Korea might not feel welcome if they visit a classroom where only English and Spanish books are on display in the reading area.  But seeing some books with the language and images they recognize (have a look at this book, The Crow King, for an example in Korean) even if their child cannot read yet, will help them to feel that your Head Start classroom is a welcoming place for their whole family.

As Head Start teachers, and teachers of preschool more generally, you are so lucky to share and shape formative experiences with so many children.  Let’s make sure those experiences are inclusive of every child and every family, so that future enrollment forms will reflect families’ pride in their heritage languages and cultures.

For more information, have a look at this document from the National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness:

Head Start DLLs

On a sunny day in London, when the streets are crowded with people enjoying the rare warmth, you can hear an abundance of different languages from the majority migrant groups in the city: families discussing the school day in Somali; teenagers gossiping in Turkish; imams greeting each other in Urdu.   But passing by the shop fronts boasting posters in languages from Polish and Bengali, you won’t hear German or Cape Verdean creole – not unless you go to Andrea and Xaxa’s for tea and cake.

Andrea and Xaxa met on Cape Verde, an island country off the west coast of Africa.  They now live with their eight-month-old baby, Bruno in London.  London is a city in which there are plenty of services and community groups for more commonly found home languages, like Bulgarian and Punjabi, but little availability of these amenities in less-common heritage languages like the ones Bruno will grow up speaking.  Andrea says she wants Bruno to have “the ability to converse with his family both in Germany and Cape Verde when visiting…and to pick up further languages more easily at school”, so she is determined that he will be able to use all three of his languages even though he won’t hear them spoken by his friends and the people he meets in London.  “I speak German to him when alone with him, singing German nursery rhymes and reading German books.  Xaxa speaks Crioulo to him and sings in Crioulo.”

Valentina, who emigrated from Italy, reads to her son Isaac every day in her native language, Italian, hoping that he will grow up to feel “natural and comfortable” with his two tongues.  She’s gone out of her way to to stock up on Italian books and tries to speak to him only in Italian, even when spending time with her English-speaking friends and their children.    It worries her a little that he will miss out on the subtleties of Italian and that “we could be missing a whole level of communication between us” but overall she feels that “the positives of raising a bilingual child outweigh the challenges.”  She’s excited for Isaac to communicate with his Italian family, have the opportunity to travel meaningfully around Italy, and to have the deeper “understanding of his own heritage” that only speaking the language can really bring.

These kinds of experiences happen in many different countries, including the U.S., and in small towns as well as in cities.  Irene lives in Norwich, a smaller, much less ethnically diverse city two hours’ drive northeast of London.  Her son Matthias is growing up bilingual.  “I want him to love both his languages equally.  But I think it is probably unrealistic because he will probably be exposed to it so little and need it so little.”  She says that though she tries “to speak to him in Danish as much as possible”, she regrets that she’s “not always good at being consistent.”  Her husband Roger is English, so she feels, “I always forget and automatically switch to English.  I know this is not good, but it simply happens.”  Like Andrea and Xaxa, Irene sings and reads to Matthias in Danish, including alternating the language of his bedtime story every night.  But she admits that it’s a “major challenge” not being part of a language community: “I do hope I can find some other Danish speakers at some point – kids he can play with.”

“Research says that growing up with more than one language is like exercise for the brain,” reports national early childhood expert Karen Nemeth of www.languagecastle.com.    “It builds thinking skills in school-age children and keeps the brain agile in late adulthood, but meeting the challenge of maintaining home languages is just as important for strengthening the family bond and honouring the family culture.  It really is worth the extra effort,”

This article from the New York Times describes research about the benefits of being bilingual that also supports the efforts that Valentina, Andrea and Irene are making to keep their home language growing with their babies:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html?_r=0

So what can Andrea, Valentina and Irene do to ensure their boys feel proud of and confident when speaking their heritage languages?  Nemeth says that these moms and their partners are already doing the right thing by singing and reading to their children in their heritage languages.  This is especially important for Xaxa, whose mother tongue is not Cape Verde’s official language and is only spoken rather than written.  For Matthias, Isaac and other children with one English speaking parent, bilingual books can be a great way to share the same story in two languages with their two parents (or a parent and a teacher)

Bruno, Isaac and Matthias are also benefiting when their parents have conversations with them that are 100% in one language; it’s much less useful to simply identify objects for the child in one language, then another.

To add an extra boost of German, Italian, Dutch or Crioulo conversation power for their children, these parents can also search online for local groups who meet up for chats in their heritage languages.  Valentina’s already looking for playgroups in her area: “having friends who speak Italian too will be invaluable!”  And if they can’t find any ready-made groups, website www.meetup.com allows them to create their own local group and advertise it to others in the community.   They could stop into their local library to ask about family activities in different languages too – they may even be able to work with the library to start their own.

As the children get older, their local schools can be a great connection as well.  Parents like Andrea, Valentina and Irene may meet other families who speak their language at the school gates. They can also use their experiences and the books, stories and songs they’ve collected to bring their culture and language to the school as a valuable resource for all of the children.

The cultural and linguistic make-up of diverse cities like London is constantly changing — and maybe one day you’ll be able to hear Dutch on the street corners and Italian in the cafes.  But until then, kids like Bruno, Isaac and Matthias will continue to be special and unique, and lucky to be growing up with parents who are so invested in ensuring they grow up multilingual.

By Anneke Forzani
Photo credit: Murgelchen94

Children love folktales and fables. With their simple characters and settings, as well as an enticing conflict early in the story, folktales immediately grab a reader’s attention. Recall The Three Billy Goats Gruff, in which all three goats need to get to the other side of the bridge for food, but a hungry troll stands in their way. The stories develop quickly, and often obstacles seem insurmountable before, in the end, everything is resolved to our satisfaction. Good triumphs over evil.

The repetition and rhythm we see in stories such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat, also are very appealing to children. And, of course, everyone loves when humor and cunning are used to outsmart an adversary.

Reading world folktales and fables is not only a wonderful way to entertain and bond with children, it is also an effective way to educate them. The stories in classic folklore offer both social lessons as well as an opportunity to teach about cultures and languages. Folktales provide an excellent way to teach kids about the consequences of good and bad behavior, the importance of cooperation, and the rewards of courage and ingenuity. In one of my favorite stories, The Giant Turnip (an adaptation of the Russian story The Enormous Turnip), a class grows a huge turnip and works together to figure out how to pull it out of the ground. The story helps young children grasp the benefits of community and working together.

Folktales also offer a great entry point for teaching children about other cultures. For instance, the fable Dragon’s Tears is a wonderful starting point to explore Chinese Culture. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves can be used to begin teaching and learning about Arabic culture.

Bilingual editions of these traditional stories allow the parent or teacher to expose children not only to a different culture, but also to another language. I like to use Language Lizard’s bilingual version of the Indian folktale Buri and the Marrow (in which Buri wears an Indian sari) to expose my children to traditional Indian stories and foreign language scripts. The audio CD even lets them hear the story in Bengali and other foreign languages.

Folktales and fables have survived the test of time for a reason. So pick up a story, sit down with a child, and enjoy!

Anneke Forzani is President and Founder of Language Lizard, LLC. Language Lizard offers a complimentary e-newsletter for parents and teachers interested in exposing children to other languages and cultures. The company also offers bilingual children’s books in over 40 languages, including a wide range of folktales and fables from around the world.

© Anneke V. Forzani, Language Lizard, LLC. 2007

Want to use this article in your e-zine or web site? Contact Anneke Forzani at info@LanguageLizard.com.

To see more articles and archived Language Lizard newsletters, please visit http://www.languagelizard.com/newsresources.htm.

By Karen Nemeth, Ed.M.
Photo credit: christine (cbszeto)

Learning to talk is one of the biggest jobs a baby has to do – so wouldn’t learning two languages be confusing? The answer is: No!

According to the latest research, babies’ brains are so well prepared to analyze, absorb, and make sense of language, that learning in two languages simply comes naturally.

Through their research, Dr. Patricia Kuhl of Washington University and her colleagues have found that infants who grow up bilingual maintain brain plasticity for a longer period of time as they develop two distinct yet connected languages. We also know from York University’s Dr. Ellen Bialystok’s research that this early experience helps children get to school with more advantageous self-regulation skills and can benefit brain function even until old age.

That’s why growing numbers of parents and childcare programs are endeavoring to raise children who are bilingual right from the start. 

With this trend in mind, I wrote the book Many Languages, Building Connections: Supporting Infants and Toddlers who are Dual Language Learners (2012). Whether you are a parent or a childcare provider, you need ideas and resources to help you meet your bilingual goal with your children. The best ideas for building early language and literacy with bilingual babies begin with books.

• When babies are younger than 6 months, they enjoy sitting on your lap and patting or turning the book while you talk about it.
• It is important to stick with one language at a time. Even if the book is written in two languages, pick one language at each sitting to read and talk about the story.
• Infants may understand real photos in books before they can understand illustrations. For the young infant, look for books with easy-to-recognize, uncluttered photos to help them learn the language in the story. As they grow, introduce books with beautiful illustrations to your daily reading activities.
• Stories carry so much more than vocabulary. Look for books in the child’s home language and the new language that provide wonderful rhymes, rhythms, and interesting words.
• Stories and books are also important tools for understanding and celebrating culture and traditions. Look for books that authentically represent the culture with the language. These traditions become part of the child’s understanding of who he is and where he fits in the world around him – even at a very young age.

Most 1-year-olds can understand about 50 words – often before they’ve clearly said any words at all. By the age of 18 months, many children understand 300 or more words. So, infants and toddlers really do understand more than you may realize. When they are growing up with two languages, they may know some words in one language and some words in another language. In the first couple of years, bilingual children don’t always know how to translate from one language to the other. It is a good idea to practice clear, strong speaking habits to help them make sense of all the language they hear.

We know that hearing stories and having conversations with loving, responsive adults helps make this amazing vocabulary development possible. We also know that children under the age of two learn little, if any, vocabulary from watching videos or listening to recordings. Apparently, the give-and-take relationship between child and adult is absolutely necessary for good language development.

I recommend that you make the most of that interactive relationship by following the child’s lead, responding to his interests, and sharing discoveries together. If you open a book and begin to read a story, but the child wants to keep focusing on the last page, go with it! That’s the difference between your presence and just playing a recorded version of the story. You are right there to capture the child’s interests and to build on them for a powerful language learning experience. Here are some other good ideas to try:

• Use the pictures in a book to show the child what you are talking about.
• Gestures like pointing, touching, and patting the right picture help the child to be sure that the image is connected to the words you are saying.
• When the baby learns those gestures, he can clearly show you that he understands when you say, “pat the bunny,” or “touchez le chat.”
• Use props to add to the meaning of words in the story. If it’s a story about cooking, bring over some measuring spoons, pots, or ingredients to show the connection between the real object and the items in the story.
• Picking stories with repetition, participation, and rhythm can really engage a child and make it easier for him to learn and to understand the words. That’s one reason why traditional tales have been so effective throughout history. Children are familiar with the story already, and they know when the next page will have the wolf saying, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” or “Son para verte major, querida!”

Language is the foundation for so many connections, and you can lay this foundation with a cozy cuddle of a child on your lap. Let stories in different languages help you get closer to your child; let them open windows to the world of languages!

Karen Nemeth, Ed.M. is a nationally-known speaker and consultant from the Philadelphia area, who has published several articles and books about supporting early development in first and second languages. Learn more about her work, including her new bilingual iPhone/iPad app “20 Welcome Words” at her website www.languagecastle.com.

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 get bilingual students talking.

A wonderful way to encourage bilingual students to share information and thoughts is to have them narrate about familiar topics. The more a student knows about a topic, the more inclined he or she is to want to share information about it.

The key is finding topics that are of interest to each student, which is not an easy task for a busy teacher with many students in class. One way to go about this is to give your students opportunities to talk about things with which they are intimately familiar: Favorite stories, preferred activities and beloved toys can get even the quietest bilingual student narrating in detail.

Another approach is to ask bilingual students to tell you and the other students about favorite stories, books or chapters that they read (or had read to them). The idea is not to require the student to remember key elements from the story; rather, the goal is to simply get the student talking!

Another benefit of narration is that students will remember things so much better than when they are passively listening. As soon as a student starts to narrate about something, images are created in their minds that will stick around for a much longer time and have more impact.

Here are some tips on having bilingual students narrate: 

• Books: Bilingual students are often eager to share a story that they read, or one that was read out loud to them. It doesn’t matter if the whole class has already heard the story. In fact, this may make the narration even more enjoyable. It also doesn’t matter if the student only mentions a few of the key elements of the story. Let him or her share his or her personal rendition of the story, even if parts are embellished, slightly altered or missing all together. Once the student is done narrating, give other students an opportunity to share additional bits of the story.

• Activities: Give bilingual students the chance to share with the class a specific activity that he or she engaged in recently or in the past. Help the student stay focused on an element of the activity that can easily be described in a relatively short narration. For example: a specific day of skiing, one bicycle ride with family, what he or she did on a recent snow day, etc. Make sure that the student is familiar and excited about the activity. It is hard to do a narration about something in which we have little interest.

• Event: Help students remember an important event in their lives and have them narrate about it. A new baby brother or sister coming home for the first time, a visit from grandma and grandpa or a trip to visit family in a nearby town are examples of events that might be easily narrated.

• Hobby/Sport: Bilingual students who have particular hobbies or sports might really enjoy narrating something that revolves around those. The key is to help your students identify what aspect of the hobby or sport they are going to narrate about. Help your student to focus on a small element so that the narration can be and directed. Maybe the student will talk about the equipment needed to play a specific sport or the tools needed to engage in his or her hobby of choice.

• Favorites: Sometimes a student will be eager to narrate about something that is special to him or her: a favorite toy or book or even a stuffed animal. Help the student decide on what, exactly, will be the most interesting elements to narrate about. Will the student talk about why the toy is a favorite? Or maybe the focus will be on the personality of the stuffed animal? There are so many different ways to approach this. The key is helping the student decide on the narration’s focus ahead of time so that the narration will come more easily and comfortably.

• Write it down: Feel free to write down what your students narrate! Make sure not to interrupt them while they are narrating since it can upset the natural flow. You could record their voice and then type up what they wrote from the recording. Or you can type it directly into a word processor while the student is talking (if you can type fast enough). You can print out the narration and give it to each student’s parents, or first offer the printout to the student to draw a picture to go with the narration. There is nothing more enjoyable for a young student than to have their own words written down for posterity!

It is important that the student narrating is not interrupted during the narration for any reason. Other students should not be allowed to ask questions or correct details while another student is narrating. Only after the narration is done can other students make comments and start up discussions. A student who is narrating will feel much more relaxed knowing that he or she can follow through to the end without having to engage in any kind of dialog along the way.

It is also important that students understand that nothing that they narrate is being evaluated for quality or accuracy. The point of narrations is to give students the opportunity to open up and use their language in a comfortable, safe environment while talking about something that they are interested in. The more that your bilingual students understand this, the more inclined they will be to want to share their thoughts and information with the class as often as possible. It’s a win-win situation all around.

Photo credit: Casina Royale

Now that the New Year has arrived and school is back in full swing, students are sure to be filled brimming with enthusiastic stories of what they did during their winter holiday. Ice skating in the park, opening gifts at the fireplace, lighting candles in beautifully wrought candelabras are just a few  activities that children might share with an overjoyed twinkle in their eye. How could they not?!

As we all know first-hand, getting students to engage in conversations works best when they are inspired and excited about the topic.  This is particularly true of bilingual students, especially those who may still be mastering the community language. What better time than now to get your bilingual students talking with you and one another? Their minds are so full of wonderful memories from the holidays, they will most likely want to share as much as possible.

Here are 5 tips on how to help your students direct their holiday excitement into fun language opportunities:

• Mini Circle Chats:  Have your students sit together in circles of 4-5 students each. They can either go around the circle to share their favorite memories from their winter holiday, or they can pick out names from a jar to decide who goes next. If your students are reluctant to talk in a group setting, give them a list of fun questions that encourage more than single-word answers. Let students know that they can engage in discussions together as a group. This will give them the opportunity to talk about their similar or different holiday activities and celebrations.  If you have a very diverse classroom, ensure that each circle includes a mix of cultures so that children can experience a variety of traditions.

• Word Play: Ask students to write 5-10 words (in any language) that relate to their winter holiday. Have each student share one of their words with the class. Ask the student to explain why he or she chose to write down that word. Does it represent a feeling or an event that took place during the winter holiday? Find out how many other students wrote down the same word and why they wrote down that word. Go around the classroom so that each student shares at least one word from their list and discusses why they chose to write it and share it with the class.

• Memory Drawings: Have students start by drawing some of their favorite memories from their holidays on a piece of paper. Let them draw as many or as few things as they want. Then have them present their picture to others at their table (or to the whole classroom), explaining the different elements of their picture. Make sure to allow each child to finish their picture presentation before allowing other students to ask questions and share their thoughts.

• Wall Mural: Rather than having students do individual pictures, spread out a long piece of paper and have students draw their holiday memories at the same time! Encourage them to draw as many memories as they want. When the time is up, hang the mural up on the wall and let everyone spend a good amount of time looking at it up close and talking about it. Eventually you can have the students sit down on the floor in front of the mural and talk as a group about what they see and what thoughts come to their minds.

• Multicultural Traditions:  Have students sit together in a circle. Start the conversation by asking a student to share one of their winter holiday traditions. Have the student explain how their family celebrates the tradition. Then ask others in the circle if they also participate in the tradition with their family and if so, whether or not they celebrate it in the same way. Once one tradition has been discussed, ask students to share another winter holiday tradition. Help students notice that not everyone has the same tradition during the winter holiday season and that even the same traditions can be celebrated in different ways.

They joy of having students talk about their favorite winter holiday memories helps to make the transition back to the classroom lively and joyful. It also helps everyone remember and appreciate the wonderful diversity of our bilingual students’ multicultural celebrations and traditions during the winter holiday season. The excitement with which children share their favorite memories is sure to make the first few days and weeks in class memorable events themselves!

Photo credit: Meindert Arnold Jacob

What are your tips for using holiday celebrations to get your students talking?

The holidays are right around the corner. For many of us, the most difficult part of this busy time of year is figuring out the perfect gift for friends and loved ones. For those of you looking for bilingual and multicultural products, we have put together a list of some customer favorites that make perfect holiday gifts for young language learners, multicultural children, or a special teacher.

Board Books

These heavy-duty bilingual books are perfect for babies and toddlers, giving parents the chance to encourage bilingualism at an early age. Here is a list of some board books that babies and parents are sure to enjoy:

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and ToesRow, Row, Row Your BoatDear Zoo (a “lift-the-flap” book)The Wheels on the Bus

Folktales and Fables

Who said picture books are just for kids?

Even though all of the following are picture books, both children and adult language learners will enjoy and learn from these bilingual books. Some customer favorites are:

The Giant TurnipGoldilocks and the Three BearsThe Three Billy Goats GruffThe Elves and the ShoemakerGoose FablesLittle Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat

Themed Books

Sometimes you come across the “perfect book” that connects with a child at just the right point in his or her life. Do you know a child who is….

About to lose a tooth?
Check out: The Wibbly Wobbly Tooth

New to school?
See Tom and Sofia Start School and Sam’s First Day

Of mixed heritage?
Consider That’s My Mum

Welcoming a new baby at home?
Look at Welcome to the World Baby and What Shall We Do With The Boo Hoo Baby?

Dealing with bullying?
See Ellie’s Secret Diary

Favorite Storybooks

These books are just plain fun! The storylines are catchy and the pictures are whimsical. Give one of these books to the child (or adult) in your life who enjoys a good story:

Farmer Duck
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
I Took the Moon for a Walk
Walking Through the Jungle
Handa’s Hen

Picture Dictionary with CDRom

Always a favorite gift, My Talking Dictionary with CDROM engages young language learners as well as older learners who benefit from “visual” interactive learning.

• Children can look at words in the illustrated dictionary and can practice them on the computer.
• The dictionary is arranged by theme (e.g., playground, seasons, animals, etc.).
• Available in many dual-language editions.

Multilingual Posters

Teachers, daycare providers, and “worldly” families truly appreciate our beautifully-illustrated, multilingual posters. They make any classroom or playroom more multicultural and welcoming to all children.

Posters focus on different themes, such as individual words (e.g. “Hello” or “Thank you” said in multiple languages), Colors, Playground, Happy Birthday, Festivals, Weather, Global Warming and much more.

For the full range of posters, please see: http://www.languagelizard.com/Posters_Maps_s/20.htm

And Last, but Not Least…

Can’t figure out what to choose, or looking for a last-minute gift idea? Language Lizard Gift Certificates are a great choice! Use them for any of our bilingual books, CDs, or multilingual posters. We’ll email it to you or to your gift recipient within one business day. Simply follow these easy steps:

(1) Go to this link and select “Add to Cart” (or go to www.languagelizard.com and search by title – Gift Certificate) (2) Select whether you want the gift certificate to be sent via email or by post (email recommended for speedy delivery). (3) Choose the amount of the gift and, if you like, write a gift message. (4) Make payment and place your order.

We hope these ideas will help you find just the right gift for your bilingual and/or multicultural loved ones this year. If you have any questions about products, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to help you make your choice!

Happy Holidays!

What a perfect time of year to focus on gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness! Having family and friends to share our lives with, food on the table, clean water to drink and a roof over our heads is something that adults and children alike can take time to reflect on during this holiday season.

In bilingual classrooms, the topic of thankfulness can involve language learning as well as cultural sharing. Not only do we say “thank you” with different words, the way we show our appreciation differs from culture to culture as well. What a wonderful opportunity for students to learn more about cultures around the world this week!

Here 5 activities to help your students focus on thankfulness during this holiday season:

• Thankfulness Landscape: Roll out a long piece of paper on the floor, scatter pens along it and let your students go to it! Tell your students that this landscape will be a place to draw the people, places and things that they are thankful for. Have students sign their name somewhere on the landscape and then display it along the wall in your classroom. When the landscape is up, have students look at it and discuss what they see and how it makes them feel.

• Thanksgiving Traditions: Many cultures around the world have traditional events that focus on giving thanks. Ask students what celebrations take place in their families that have to do with being thankful. Ask them what foods are involved, what kinds of clothing are worn and whether or not there are specific rituals that are performed. Find out what time of year the events take place and who participates (e.g. the whole community together or each family alone). If you have students from the same linguistic or cultural backgrounds, find out if they all celebrate the traditions the same. Sometimes traditions are celebrated differently in different parts of the same country or from family to family.

• Showing Thanks: Start off by talking with your students about how people in the United States show gratitude, appreciation and thanks. Then ask students how they show gratitude, appreciation and thanks in their cultures. For example, what gestures, facial expressions, tone and words are involved? Compare how these are expressed in the United States with how they are expressed in other cultures. Talk about how misunderstandings might arise between cultures due to our cultural expectations of how gratitude, appreciation and thanks should be expressed.

• Saying Thank You: Learning how to say “thank you” in different languages is a wonderful way to expose children to new languages! Do a little research to find out how to say “thank you” in a variety of different languages and, if possible, how to write it out in each.  Then, when students are in class, have them share how to say “thank you” in their language(s) and have them write it on the board if they know how. Talk about the different sounds and how many words are included. Also ask the students if the words mean something specific (for example, “much appreciation” or “gratitude to you”). When the students are done, share with them additional ways to say “thank you” in the different languages that you researched.

• Thankfulness Quilt: This activity comes from Maria’s 100 Days of Bilingualism posts. In week 10 she shares a wonderful activity that involves making a thankfulness quilt. Start off by having your students talk about what they are thankful for in their lives. Then give each student 10 squares of blank paper and ask them to draw things that they are thankful for on each square. If students get stuck, help them by talking about the endless possibilities of things to be thankful for. Once everyone is done with their squares, paste the edges together in a large grid to form a large square or rectangle (you can paste the squares onto a large poster board or paper if that is easier). Let it dry and then find a prominent place to display your students’ thankfulness quilt!

There are so many ways to use this holiday season to help your bilingual students become more aware of what they are thankful for in their lives. Remind them that often the things we take most for granted in our lives are the most important: family, friends, warmth, food, clean water and shelter.

Before your students head home for the holiday, make sure that you show them how thankful you are to have them in your class. It is such a wonderful time of year for us to share with our bilingual students how appreciative we are for what they bring to each and every classroom around the world.

Photo credit: muffintinmom

For ideas about discussing and celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with your multicultural students, make sure to read our post Thanksgiving and Immigrant Cultures!

And make sure to visit the following link for a MULTILINGUAL THANK YOU POSTER to brighten up a multicultural classroom: www.languagelizard.com/Thank-You-Poster-Multilingual-Edition-p/frthank.htm

What are your favorite ways to focus on thankfulness with your bilingual students?