Inspired by World Kit Lit Month, the annual celebration of world literature for children and young adults, use the month of September to travel the world and explore other cultures through literature, food, games, and more!
Tag Archives: ell
Kinyarwanda Language: Interesting Facts & Resources
Today we feature the Kinyarwanda language! We have gathered some background information and interesting facts about the language. We also have information on our newest bilingual children’s books now available in Kinyarwanda.
Continue reading Kinyarwanda Language: Interesting Facts & Resources
UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE: INTERESTING FACTS & RESOURCES
Let’s learn about Ukrainian! We’ve gathered some background information and interesting facts about the language. Check out our newest bilingual children’s books available in Ukrainian.
Continue reading UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE: INTERESTING FACTS & RESOURCES
Multicultural Lesson: The Chinese New Year
In the West, we call it the Chinese New Year. In the East, they most commonly refer to it as the Spring Festival ( 春节 ). Whichever way you choose to say it, this celebration will take place from Tuesday, February 1, 2022, until Tuesday, February 15, 2022. At Language Lizard, we put together a lesson plan to pair with our bilingual book, Li’s Chinese New Year.
Back-To-School for Bilingual Students
This year, Language Lizard looks back at where we have been in order to understand how we can support our bilingual students right now. Today, we will talk about how you can prepare your classroom for bilingual students and reimagine their education beyond modern crises. Continue reading Back-To-School for Bilingual Students
Introducing #WorldKidLit Month
Language Lizard is partnering with World Kid Lit to talk about world literature for young readers. This collective of volunteers is dedicated to sharing fiction and nonfiction from aroun the world! Today, we’ll talk about why that is so important. Continue reading Introducing #WorldKidLit Month
Idioms, Figurative Language, & ASD
Let’s look at the challenges that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience when trying to learn figurative language. More specifically, we will look at how Language Lizard’s Idiom Series can support these young learners! Continue reading Idioms, Figurative Language, & ASD
NEW MULTILINGUAL “TALKING” CHARTS: English, Geography, STEM (for use with PENpal Recorder Pen)
Language Lizard is pleased to announce new multilingual “talking” charts that allow students to hear explanations of key terms in English, geography, math & science in many different languages, including English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.
These charts are invaluable resources for teachers who support a linguistically diverse student body. Using these charts with the PENpal Audio Recorder Pen, newcomers and English Language Learners (ELLs) can hear key terms explained in their native languages, allowing for a better understanding of subject matter content.
Students simply select the language that they want to hear from the right side of the chart with the PENpal, and then tap a subject term to hear an explanation of the word in the selected language. Teachers and students can also use “talking labels” (recordable stickers) to add their own recordings of additional information to the chart.
There are four new Talking Charts, and they can be purchased separately or in a value pack of 4 Multilingual Charts.
English Multilingual Terms Chart
The English Multilingual Terms Chart includes explanations and examples for terms such as alliteration, apostrophe, conjunction, differentiate, figurative, imagery, narrative/narrator, onomatopoeia, personification, preposition and synonym.
Geography Multilingual Terms Chart
The Geography Multilingual Terms Chart includes explanations for erosion, estuary, habitat, infrastructure, landscape, latitude, longitude, pollution, settlement and much more.
Math Multilingual Terms Chart
The Math Multilingual Terms Chart includes terms such as adjacent, circumference, coordinate, decimal, denominator, diameter, equilateral, fraction, isosceles, perimeter, perpendicular, radius, ratio, symmetry and vertical.
Science Multilingual Terms Chart
The Science Multilingual Terms Chart includes absorb, amphibian, circulation, condensation, combustion, evaporation, friction, nutrient, organism, particles, respiration, vertebrate and more key terms.
Multilingual Phrases for School Talking Chart
These new charts work alongside our popular Multilingual Phrases for School Talking Chart which allows teachers and administrators to communicate more easily with student language learners as well as parents who do not speak English well.
The following languages are available on the charts: Arabic, Czech, English, Farsi, French, Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovakian, Somali, Spanish, Sylheti, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yorub
You can get more detailed information on these multilingual “talking” charts, and also check out all of our PENpal products and literacy value sets.
Supporting Oral Language Development in the Classroom & At Home
The process of language development in children is an amazing one, and full of so much complexity. Here, we offer 5 fun activity ideas that can help the oral language development of the kids in your home or classroom.
Oral Language and Literacy
So much of language is learned in the early years of life, simply by listening to and interacting with those around us. As time goes by, our oral language skills improve through practice and formal instruction. Oral language is made up of three parts: phonological (how sounds are combined), semantic (the smallest components of words), and syntactic (how sentences are put together).
Literacy begins with good oral language skills. In a classroom setting, it may feel counter-intuitive for a teacher to allow students more time to talk in groups, but there are a number of advantages to doing so. They gain valuable practice with new vocabulary, enhance conversational proficiency, and improve their ability to express their ideas. Also, kids often feel more relaxed when speaking to their peers because they aren’t so worried about giving the “wrong” answer. As such, they are more open to absorbing and learning from what’s being discussed, in turn improving their overall language skills.
Activities for Oral Language Development
No matter the type of activity, keep these guidelines in mind when planning:
- Keep the activity free from anxiety by creating a positive environment to limit the fear of embarrassment.
- Provide clear instructions, possibly in different formats, so that all learning types can understand what’s expected.
- Keep activities engaging by introducing fun or dramatic elements.
- Lastly, remember that kids will need lots of repetition to practice their oral language skills.
Here are 5 activity ideas, from our post about language development in the classroom:
- Mini Circle Chats: Have your students sit in circles of 4 or 5. Give them a list of fun questions that encourage more than single-word answers. Let students know that they can engage in discussions together so they can talk about similarities and differences. If you have a very diverse classroom, ensure that each circle includes a mix of cultures.
- Word Play: Ask students to write 5-10 words (in any language). Have each student share one of their words with the class, and 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?
- Memory Drawings: Have students draw their favorite memories, then share with the rest of the class, explaining the different elements of their picture. Or, spread out a long piece of paper and have students draw their memories at the same time on a wall mural. 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 to share one of their cultural or family traditions. 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. Help students notice that not everyone has the same traditions, and that even the same traditions can be celebrated in different ways.
Differentiated Instruction
For those times when group or peer interaction isn’t realistic, an individualized learning tool like the PENpal Audio Recorder Pen can be invaluable in providing the differentiated instruction needed to help teachers reach every student, of all skill levels, in an effective way. Free video and print resources on the Language Lizard website help educators and parents use the Talking Pen to effectively develop and assess oral language skills, as well as build fluency and improve phonemic awareness with their students.
“Girl Talk” by Dean Wissing via Flickr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/6r3SmY
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Nepali Language & Nepali Books: Facts, Figures and Resources
Today’s spotlight language is Nepali. Below, we offer background and interesting facts about the language, as well as information to help you find Nepali books.
Where is it spoken?
Nepali is the official language of Nepal, a country in South Asia. It is also spoken in Bhutan, Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), and India. There are about 17 million Nepali speakers around the world.
How Many People Speak Nepali in the US?
There are relatively large Nepalese communities in New York, California and Texas. According to the US Census Bureau’s most recent estimates in 2014, over 120,000 people in the US identify as Nepalese. Of these, about 25,000 are school-aged children.
Interesting Facts About Nepali
In the past, Nepali was called the Khas language and Gorkhali.
One of the most well known words in Nepali is “namaste,” which means hello. It is usually spoken with a slight bow and palms pressed together. It can be used as a greeting or a goodbye. A more casual greeting is “Tik chha,” which means “How are you?”
Nepali Books – Bilingual Children’s Books
Teachers frequently ask for suggestions on some of the best bilingual Nepali books for children. Here are some popular and engaging stories with text in both English and the Nepali language as well as a Nepali English dictionary for children.
Do you speak Nepali, or know someone who does? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!
“Nepal – Evening lights at Bhaktapur” by Dhilung Kirat via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/6gHdSS
“Nepal-map-blank” By CIA World fact book (Image:Nepal-CIA_WFB_Map.png) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANepal-map-blank.png