Classroom, Lesson Plans, Schools, Teaching Resources,

NEW (FREE) LESSON PLANS SUPPORT MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

November 11, 2014

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Just when you’re looking for new ways to bring more multicultural education to the classroom while meeting the Common Core Standards, we are thrilled to announce that we have another wonderful lesson plan to share, created by our friends at West Chester University. This newest unit uses two popular and beautifully-illustrated books, Handa’s Hen and Handa’s Surprise, to teach students about Kenya and, at the same time, to help them identify and use descriptive writing. Using this............. CONTINUE READING

Giveaways,

CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNER OF $100 BILINGUAL BOOK GRANT

November 5, 2014

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Thanks to all those who entered Language Lizard’s $100 Bilingual Book Giveaway! Congratulations to our winner Robin Vander Groef from NORWESCAP Head Start in Newton, NJ!  Robin is planning to use the funds to buy books for use in the Head Start classrooms.  She is interested in bilingual children’s books in Spanish, Chinese and Urdu, and authentic books that represent the culture. Based on the great response and the clear need for dual language books, we are planning on holding additional giveaways in the............. CONTINUE READING

• bilingual books

• bilingual child

• bilingual classroom

• bilingual students

• giveaway

At Home, Classroom, Holidays, Lesson Plans, Schools,

CELEBRATING HALLOWEEN AROUND THE WORLD

October 22, 2014

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Kids love Halloween: the costumes, the candy, the parties! The excitement and holiday spirit surrounding Halloween provide an ideal opportunity to inject some multicultural education into the mix. We know that American children don costumes, carve pumpkins and go trick or treating, but where did this holiday start and what do other countries do to celebrate? Also called Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve, Halloween is observed in various countries every year on October 31, the eve of the Western............. CONTINUE READING

• bilingual child

• bilingual children

• classroom

• cultural traditions

• Halloween

• Halloween traditions

• multicultural holidays

At Home, Classroom, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Giveaways, Libraries, Schools,

CELEBRATING THE BILINGUAL CHILD MONTH – $100 GRANT AVAILABLE!

October 1, 2014

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photo credit: Katherine Dykstra @flickr.com October is “Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month”! To help you celebrate, Language Lizard is offering a $100 Gift Certificate for Bilingual Children’s Books! Books are available in over 40 languages and it’s easy to enter. Simply go towww.LanguageLizard.com/bilingual-book-grant-2014.htm to submit the form for entry.  And don’t forget to let your favorite teachers and local librarians know about the giveaway! If you’re looking for other ways to celebrate this month, read 10 great ideas in our blog post: Celebrate the Bilingual............. CONTINUE READING

International Folktale Characters,

INTERNATIONAL FOLKTALE CHARACTER: CURUPIRA

September 10, 2014

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What’s that awful squeaking noise? Oh, you can hear that too? It’s just Curupira. Annoying, right? And what, may I ask, is a Curupira?  Not a what – a who. His name means “child’s body” or “covered in blisters”, depending on which Tupi-speaker you ask. Back up. Tupi? Yeah, it’s a family of languages spoken by American Indians in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Sorry for interrupting. Continue. He’s a Brazilian tree spirit who looks like a small man or dwarf and defends the............. CONTINUE READING

At Home, Classroom, Community Support, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Families, Schools,

THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT: ANOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT BOOK SHARING

August 26, 2014

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photo credit: Mary Ann @ flickr.com “Come here, little huggy bear!” “Are you ready for bed, my little coconut candy?” “Let’s put your coat on, my flea!” If you’ve ever used any of these terms of endearment with a child, English probably isn’t your first language! And if English is your first language, you probably can’t imagine calling your baby a “tiny elephant”, like they do in Thailand, or “breadcrumb”, which is popular in Finland. Whether you are used to calling your loved ones “pumpkin”,............. CONTINUE READING

Families, Giveaways,

NEW GIVEAWAY: READ TO ME!

August 8, 2014

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Would you like to receive a free reading guide for young children? The Read to Me! Program in Nova Scotia, Canada recently put together a wonderful month-to-month Guide to Reading with Your Baby in the First Year.  Each month gives information about a baby’s development, tips, recommended books, and rhymes.  And the guide is even provided to children in Arabic, Chinese and French! The Guide is a wonderful resource for early childhood educators and new parents alike, and now you can win a FREE copy.............. 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

International Folktale Characters,

INTERNATIONAL FOLKTALE CHARACTER: FINN MCCOOL

July 8, 2014

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photo credit: Mattman4698, Brendan Cullen, both @ flickr.com Name: Finn McCool (or Fionn mac Cumhaill) Age: Roughly 1,414 years – but a good mythological cycle never reveals its real age. Appearance: Handsome, with very light colouring. Also a giant? Maybe. Definitely a big, powerful guy with a big, powerful beard. Oooh, I do love a guy with a beard! Is he in some kind of ancient alt-folk band? Does he wear plaid shirts and listen to Mumford and Sons? You’ve got it all wrong. Finn............. CONTINUE READING

Language Lizard Announcements,

IT’S TIME TO ANNOUNCE OUR GIVEAWAY WINNERS

June 19, 2014

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 photo credit: lakennlinnea @ flickr.com Thank you all for participating in our SMILE giveaway for a free copy of Augustus and His Smile. Congratulations to our winners – Karen L. from Indiana (Haitian Creole edition), Connie N. from Washington (Spanish edition), and Eman B. from North Carolina  (Arabic edition). Don’t miss our next giveaway… sign up for our newsletter at http://www.languagelizard.com/newslettersignup.htm.  And continue to check our Facebook page and Twitter postings!   .......... CONTINUE READING