Hello colleagues, I'm grateful that we have LINCS to share information and resources with one another during this difficult time. Thanks to all those who share! I am drawing your attention to some valuable discussions in our community that you may want to check out in case you missed them.
Lower Levels of ESL -- at a Distance! How are you managing?
Our wonderful colleague from Minnesota, Patsy Egan, invites all teachers working with low level learners at a distance to share their questions and well as how it’s going for them and the learners. In this thread we are hearing anecdotes from teachers about what’s working as well as what’s not.
In this thread, you can read about how teachers are using the following digital tools:
- Zoom
- Canvas
- Other
Come join this discussion to share your questions and your effective practices!
Information on Coronavirus in Multiple Languages
There are valuable websites --as well as a link to a Google doc compiled by our great colleague from Rhode Island, Janet Isserlis-- offering information in multiple languages. Check out this thread to locate those materials and to share additional resources.
- At the links provided, you can find information in at least 24 different languages to share with the learners you serve.
- If you know of other valuable resources available in various languages, please post them in this thread.
Our creative colleague, Paul Rogers, from California started a thread about effective ways to move ESL instruction online with all levels of learners. We are hearing from many teachers across the US who are learning new technology skills along with their students.
- Check out this robust discussion – which is not limited to ESL-- to get many useful tips and share your own!
Please stay safe, everyone.
Regards, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP
Comments
Hi everyone,
Are there any ideas or resources to help EL parents who are supposed to help their children who are home with distance learning? I have heard of Google classroom tutorials where you can change the language but not all school districts use Google. Any help would be appreciated.
Hello Susan and others,
Can you tell us more about this?
I may have other questions once I see your replies and can better understand what you want to accomplish, and what human resources, technology and online or hardcopy mailed content may (or may not) already be in place.
David J. Rosen, Moderator
LINCS CoP Integrating Technology and Program Management groups
djrosen123@gmail.com
Hello David, the question came to me from a provider who has a family literacy program. The parents are mainly of pre-K through elementary level students. I believe she would like to provide the parents with resources since we are socially distancing and schools are closed. Parents who don't have a mastery of the English language are expected to help their children with learning at home. So Google classroom has some tools to help and there are many languages that can be used for translation of those tools. Not all districts use Google. I just found a web site called ReadyRosie which had some videos modeling parents helping children and they are in English and Spanish . I think that is what we're looking for. I'm assuming the parents have internet besides we are already providing many resources regarding internet access. My thoughts are how do we help those beginning level EL students and their children keep up with English speakers during this time of distance learning.? Anything we can provide our adult learners would be helpful. Thanks
Hello Susan and all, One website that I'm aware of that has resources for parents and kids who are both learning English is the bilingual website Colorín Colorado. In the section of the websites devoted to Parents and Families, you'll find many resources that might be useful to the families in your program including:
The section on "Learning Together at Home" features the following topics:
From a Google search, I located this British Council webpage for parents to support their childrens' learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here's the introduction to this section of the website:
"The LearnEnglish Kids team want to support parents at this challenging time. Many parents around the world are spending a lot of time at home with their young children. If you're in this situation, our website can help you support your child's English learning at home.
Here are some ideas for short activities that your children can do by themselves and/or with limited guidance. Don't worry if you don't speak English – you can give your child the instructions in your own language, and at the end of the activity they can also tell you about it in your own language. The most important thing is that while they are doing the activity, they are using English."
There are some pretty amazing resources for kids learning English at this site including a series of "How to" videos made by children with accompanying trascripts, games and other learning activities. For instance, there are "How to" videos on how to grow a bean plant, how to brush your teeth, how to make a stick puppet, how to make a bookmark, how to play hopscotch, and how to tell time among others.
There is ton of learning games and other resources on a wide range of topics from A to Z on the site. I've taught family literacy, and if I were teaching family literacy now, I would love to find ways to leverage this site for families remotely. Please let us know if you do so!
Stay safe, everyone.
Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP