All posts by languagelizard

Classroom, Holidays, International Folktale Characters, Lesson Plans, Teacher Resources

Celebrate World Folktales and Fables Week: Five Fun Activities for the Classroom

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Image from Hansel and Gretel

Next week marks World Folktales and Fables Week (March 19-25), a week where we encourage everyone to learn more about the lessons and cultural background of folktales, fables, and other traditional stories from around the world. Are you looking for fun and interactive ways to celebrate in the classroom? We have put together five ways to excite your students about the week!

Continue reading Celebrate World Folktales and Fables Week: Five Fun Activities for the Classroom →

Classroom, Dual Language, Language Lizard Announcements, Teacher Resources

New Bilingual Books Help Readers Discover Earth’s Diverse Biomes

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Dive into the ocean, trek through the desert, and journey to the jungle with Language Lizard’s new Habitat Series. Each book in the series explores one of our planet’s most diverse biomes: coral reefs, deserts, and tropical rainforests. These vibrantly illustrated and fact-filled books allow readers to “visit” these biomes found in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Sahara Desert in northern Africa, and the Tropical Rainforests in Central and South America, to name a few.

Continue reading New Bilingual Books Help Readers Discover Earth’s Diverse Biomes →

ELLs / DLLs, Language Spotlight, Multicultural

Haitian Creole Language: Interesting Facts and Resources

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Image from Vaccines Explained

Let’s learn about Haitian Creole! We’ve gathered some background information and interesting facts about the language. Check out our newest children’s books available in Haitian Creole.

Continue reading Haitian Creole Language: Interesting Facts and Resources →

Classroom, Dual Language, Holidays, Multicultural, Schools, Teacher Resources

Colors and Chinese Culture

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January is the month of new beginnings, including the Chinese New Year! According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2023 marks the year of the Rabbit, symbolizing longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. The most popular lucky colors for 2023 are green and blue, while pink and red are also very lucky. (Check out this Language Lizard blog post for ways to celebrate the Chinese New Year.)

In this guest post by Daniel Nalesnik, founder of Hack Chinese, we look at the symbolic meaning of colors in Chinese culture while delving into the connection between color and the Theory of the Five Elements. 

Continue reading Colors and Chinese Culture →

Classroom, Idioms, Multicultural, Teacher Resources

Learning English Color Idioms and Their Origins

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It’s almost Idiom Week! We look forward to celebrating idiom week all year because learning idioms is fun, and it’s a golden opportunity to celebrate what makes the English language unique. 

Continue reading Learning English Color Idioms and Their Origins →

Classroom, Holidays, Multicultural, Schools

5 Ways to Celebrate the Winter Solstice

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The winter solstice marks the two times the sun’s path is the farthest south in the Northern Hemisphere (late December) and the farthest north in the Southern Hemisphere (late June). In other words, it’s the shortest day and the longest night of the year! The winter solstice has inspired celebrations and rituals worldwide since the beginning of time. While different cultures celebrate in different ways, they all welcome the “sun’s rebirth” and the return of the light.

Continue reading 5 Ways to Celebrate the Winter Solstice →

Classroom, Holidays, Lesson Plans, Multicultural, Teacher Resources

10 Easy Ways to Practice Gratitude and Kindness in November

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Food, Food, Fabulous Food by Kate Clynes, illustrated by MW

Autumn is the season of giving thanks and being grateful. Whether celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States or Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan, the idea is the same. It’s a festive time rooted in history to bring people together to give thanks and be grateful. And, since gratitude and kindness go hand in hand, it’s no coincidence that World Kindness Day falls in November as well.

Continue reading 10 Easy Ways to Practice Gratitude and Kindness in November →

Classroom, Language Lizard Announcements, Multicultural, Teacher Resources

Multicultural Music Book Celebrates Diversity

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Musical Instruments from Around the World, our newest release, is another incredible addition to our Explore collection. The Language Lizard Explore collection helps readers discover the world around them. It includes non-fiction topics with engaging illustrations and amazing facts that appeal to younger and older language learners. In addition, all of the titles in the Explore collection include access to free lesson plans, English and Spanish audio, and fun activities to support multicultural education and celebrate diversity.

Continue reading Multicultural Music Book Celebrates Diversity →

At Home, Dual Language, Families, Multicultural

Learning Chinese Language and Culture in Hong Kong

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A firsthand account of raising expat kids in Hong Kong by Albie Ashbrook.

These days I am a librarian in northern New Jersey, with three children in college. But before this stage of life, our family lived all over the world with our children attending international schools and moving every couple of years. While we always spoke English at home and the kids’ primary language at school was English, all our kids studied multiple other languages at school every day, and we tried to incorporate cultural awareness into our daily life. Continue reading Learning Chinese Language and Culture in Hong Kong →

At Home, Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Giveaways, Holidays, Lesson Plans, Multicultural, Schools, Teacher Resources, Uncategorized

October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month!

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October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month, providing a unique opportunity to recognize and celebrate the wonderful aspects of bilingualism and multiculturalism. We are offering fun activities,  handouts and more to celebrate this special month!

Continue reading October is Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month! →