Lesson Plans, Schools,

BILINGUAL BOOKS IN MULTICULTURAL LESSON PLANS

July 28, 2011

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Reading bilingual books with bilingual children can be a wonderful way to help expand comprehension and vocabulary in more than one language. As you read in Dual Language Books Benefit Bilingual Children, children who can read the same story in more than one language reap many benefits. For example, they can transfer their comprehension and vocabulary of a story read in a stronger language to comprehension and vocabulary in a............. CONTINUE READING

Community Support, Schools,

SUPPORT EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY IN INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM

July 20, 2011

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We’d like to share with you a great opportunity to support early childhood literacy and language development to children in need with bilingual books and educational supplies! Our friends at Give and Surf Inc. are starting a preschool for ages 3-5 in Bocas del Toro, Panama.  The preschool will be educating children from the indigenous Ngobe villages of this underserved area. Their preschool will be the first of its kind in the area. We all know the importance of early reading for children,............. CONTINUE READING

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Families, Schools,

BILINGUAL CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM SUMMER FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

July 13, 2011

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Whether bilingual children speak both of their languages well or are in the process of learning a second language, summer foreign language programs can be a great way to help them become more comfortable in their languages. Without the need to focus on daily schoolwork, summer provides a wonderful opportunity for bilingual children to experience a daily language bath without the pressure of assessment. The key is to find a program that works well for your child. The first step is to............. CONTINUE READING

At Home, Families, Libraries, Schools,

10 WAYS TO USE BILINGUAL BOOKS WITH CHILDREN

May 16, 2011

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Research continues to show that support for the home language is an essential element in supporting children’s academic skills. Parents who engage with their children in their home language through discussion, reading books out loud and in everyday activities help children to do better in school, even if the school language is different from the home language. This is in contrast to research many decades ago that encouraged parents to speak the community language at home with their............. CONTINUE READING

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Lesson Plans, Schools,

A CHILD’S PLACE IN THE WORLD – PART I: USING DUAL LANGUAGE BOOKS AS A TOOL FOR TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

May 15, 2011

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By guest author: Heather Leaman Elementary schools in the United States typically use the expanding environments approach to teach social studies in grades K-5. Under this curriculum plan, children learn about self and family in Kindergarten and first grade. In second and third grade, children learn about neighborhood and community. As they progress through the upper elementary grades, children expand their understanding of the world by learning about states and the nation. During the past decade, the National Council for Social Studies has............. CONTINUE READING

At Home, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Schools,

A CHILD’S PLACE IN THE WORLD – PART II: USING DUAL LANGUAGE BOOKS TO INITIATE SOCIAL STUDIES LEARNING AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL

May 15, 2011

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By guest author: Heather Leaman Schools and families have acknowledged the importance of extending children’s learning beyond an understanding of our country to include an understanding of the world. While social studies is an ideal school subject to help children understand the world around them, many schools have significantly reduced their social studies instruction due in part to the influence of No Child Left Behind. However, reducing class time for social studies instruction does not mean that teachers must eliminate instruction about our world............. CONTINUE READING