Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Libraries, Schools, Teaching Resources,

A NEW WAY OF ORDERING BILINGUAL BOOKS!

October 17, 2013

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  Language Lizard is thrilled to announce a new way of ordering your bilingual books: we now offer Language Book Sets! Tailored to meet the language needs of teachers and librarians, they make ordering easy and eliminate the work of trawling through our site to find the perfect books for your classroom or library. We’ve hand-selected groups of books based on our site’s most popular choices to support learning in each domain.  With just one click, you can even choose between sets of five and ten to match............. CONTINUE READING

Book Reviews, Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Schools, Teaching Resources,

FROM HICCUPS TO TUK-TUKS: OUR SELECTION OF CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE BILINGUAL CHILDREN’S BOOKS

October 1, 2013

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photo credits: Farah Aria @ flickr. com, Anir Pandit @ flickr. com, Jensen Chua @ flickr. com Picture this: you’ve recently moved to a new country where you are just learning the language, and you are feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost. One day, a colleague approaches you with something she thinks will remind you of home. It’s a book in English, and it’s all about “American culture”! Excited (and homesick), you open the book and read a sweet story all about............. CONTINUE READING

At Home, Community Support, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Libraries,

FROM SUMMER SLIDE…TO READING PRIDE!

July 31, 2013

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photo credit: KOMUnews @flickr.com “ is what reading is all about: yes, it will make kids smarter and give them a better start in life than non-readers, but for me that’s not the point. The point is that reading is fun…” This is a quote from a recent article in British newspaper The Guardian by Charlie Higson, author of a variety of YA fiction including the Young James Bond series. Sure, as a writer he might have a vested interest in promoting reading, but............. CONTINUE READING

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Book Reviews, Classroom, Dual Language, Families, Libraries,

HOW BIG IS YOUR DADDY? BOOK REVIEW OF MY DADDY IS A GIANT

June 30, 2013

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www.languagelizard.com Book Review: My Daddy is a Giant Written by Carl Norac Illustrated by Ingrid Godon Ages 1-5 Available in paperback and hard cover, depending on the language Review by Maureen Pugh The first thing I noticed about My Daddy is a Giant was its dimensions (8 ½ inches wide by 12 inches tall) and its sturdy cover and quality binding. The vertical format and large pages provide an ample backdrop for the illustrator to portray a little boy and his playful, larger-than-life father. The simple, yet boldly-drawn illustrations............. CONTINUE READING

Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Schools, Teaching Resources,

BILINGUAL BOOKS OPEN UP A WORLD OF COMMUNICATION AND CONFIDENCE

June 18, 2013

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Our last blog posting focused on how teachers can use bilingual books to create preschool links to the K-12 Common Core Standards, specifically in listening and reading (click on the link if you missed this piece). In this article, we will focus on another key area in which bilingual books can help in the preschool to kindergarten transition: interpersonal skills. Reading seems like such a solitary activity;............. CONTINUE READING

Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Schools,

NO KIDDING! BILINGUAL BOOKS HELP PREPARE DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS FOR KINDERGARTEN, SAYS NEW CECER-DLL REPORT

June 4, 2013

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    photo credit: woodleywonderworks @ flickr.com A scary new building.  Big kid chairs.  A terrifying new teacher whose smile may or may not be genuine.  Swarms of giant children rampaging around an unfamiliar playground.  And my daddy’s just gone off and left me… The first day of kindergarten is tough! …Now imagine how much tougher it is for dual language learners (DLLs), lost in an aural fog of language they don’t understand.  Not to mention that they will now be expected to meet a whole............. CONTINUE READING

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

USING THE ARTS TO TEACH BILINGUAL CHILDREN

May 23, 2013

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  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............. CONTINUE READING

Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Schools,

WHAT’S THE REAL HOME LANGUAGE STORY? MAKING YOUR HEAD START CLASSROOM WELCOMING FOR MULTILINGUAL KIDS

May 3, 2013

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  photo credit: meadowsaffron at flickr.com 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............. CONTINUE READING

Community Support, Dual Language, Families,

BRINGING UP MULTILINGUAL CHILDREN WITH LESS COMMON HOME LANGUAGES

April 15, 2013

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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............. 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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