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Language Acquisition

It is important to understand the role that phonological awareness plays as children with limited English proficiency (LEP) learn to read, both in their native language (L1) and in their second language (L2).
.

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Language Acquisition

Phonological awareness in the native language (L1) predicts successful literacy acquisition in both L1 and a second language (L2) (August & Hakuta, 1997; Durgunoglu, Nagy, & Hancin-Bhatt, 1993; Gottardo, 2002; Quiroga, Lemos-Britton, Mostafapour, Abbott, & Berninger, 2001).

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Instruction

Helman (2004) recommends beginning instruction for bilingual children with the sounds and patterns that the two languages share (p. 456). Teachers can then move on to sounds and patterns that are different in the two languages

Helman, L. A. (2004). Building on the sound system of Spanish: Insights from the alphabetic spellings of English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57 (5), 452-460

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Some Lyrics

Lonely Spider

In a cave there lived a spider. He liked to drink warm apple cider. He liked to think about his life. He wondered if he’d ever have a wife. Lonely spider.

You can hear the song at:

http://www.etseverywhere.com/category/kid-songs

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More lyrics

The Croc

In the river there lived a croc. He liked to lie (3X) upon a big flat rock. He dreamed of going for a walk, But he had no shoes and he only had one sock

You can hear the song at:

http://www.etseverywhere.com/category/kid-songs

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Movement song and game

Close your eyes Open your eyes  Give a nod Give a wink Make a frown And then blink  Put your hand on your chin and really think Open your mouth Close your mouth Show your teeth Wrinkle your nose Brush your hair back Stick out your tongue Blow a kiss to someone

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Why use games with ESL students?

There are many advantages of using games in the classroom:

1. Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class.

2. They are motivating and challenging.

3. Learning a language requires a great deal of effort. Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning.

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Games continued

4. Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and reading.

5. They encourage students to interact and communicate.

6. They create a meaningful context for language use.

http://www.teflgames.com/why.html

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Games and the classroom

'Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson.

Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages.

Games have advantages and are effective in learning vocabulary in many ways. Games bring relaxation and fun into the classroom. Students learn and retain new words more easily.

http://www.teflgames.com/why.html

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Choosing games

How to Choose Games (Tyson, 2000)

A game must be more than just fun.
A game should involve "friendly" competition.
A game should keep all of the students involved and interested.

http://www.teflgames.com/why.htm

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Morning Meeting games

Morning meeting activities that promote community and help ESL students hear the language in a different format.

This document is attached to the website.

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Choosing games

A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language rather than on the language itself.
A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language material.

http://www.teflgames.com/why.htm

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Flash Hangman Games

These are interactive Hangman games that can be used on the computer with ELL students. There are many categories available:

httphttp://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/games/khttp://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/games/k/

http://www.manythings.org/e/easy.html

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Interactive picture match games

Students can move pictures of objects to the matching word. This is an excellent way for students to learn to match sounds and pictures of familiar objects.

http://www.manythings.org/lulu/

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Thai/English Vocabulary

These quizzes are designed for Thai students to translate English to Thai. The quizzes are interactive.

http://iteslj.org/v/th/

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Vocab games

Vocab Review Game for ESL Students

Write the vocab words on a flip chart of some sort.
I use an old notebook and write one word/page.
Divide the class up into teams.
I find that 5-8 people/team works well.
One student from the team comes and sits at the front of the class facing his or her teammates

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Vocab games

I show one word at a time to the team but not the person sitting at the front.
The team has to give hints about the word, in English only, using no body language. An example: EYE. Hints students give: 2, on face, I can see.

You can do 2 or 3 rounds of 1 minute each and the goal is to get as many words as possible in that 1 minute.

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Interactive spinner game

This site has some spinner games that will entertain the ESL students and help them to acquire vocabulary. There are many games on this site. Be patient when you load it.

http://www.eslgamesworld.com/ClassroomGames.html

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Sample Ice breakers

Setup for Candy Introductions

Purchase several variety packs of candy, enough for each person to be able to have at least five pieces. They can be any candy type, but not too many choices (limit it to around five or six different varieties). Alternatively, you can buy gummy bears, life savers, gum drops, skittles, m&ms, or any other candy that already has a variety of colors.

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Sample Ice breakers

Instructions for How to Play

Pass around the candy and tell each participant to choose anywhere from 1 to 5 pieces of anything that they want. Instruct them not to eat it yet, though. After they have chosen their candy, you will tell them what each candy type/color represents.
If there is a whiteboard or chalkboard present, write on the board the following:

Red – Favorite hobbies

Green – Favorite place on earth

Blue – Favorite memory

Yellow -Dream job

Orange – Wildcard (tell us anything about yourself!)

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Four Corners

Setup for Four Corners

Distribute a pen and sheet of paper for each player.
Each person divides the sheet into four boxes/squares either by folding the paper in half twice (vertically and horizontally) or simply by drawing a horizontal and vertical line that crosses in the middle.
For each square, each person will describe themselves in the form of drawings.

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Four Corners

Choose these four topics in advance. For example, in the top left square, everyone could draw “favorite hobbies,” while in the top right, people could illustrate “favorite place on earth for vacation,” the bottom left could be something like “if you were an animal, which one would you be?” and the bottom right could be something like “what are the most important things in your life?
Allow five to ten minutes to draw.
When everyone is finished, gather them together and share the drawings as a group.
This icebreaker is an excellent way for students to show-and-tell what makes them unique!

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Deserted Island

The situation is serious — following a shipwreck, everyone has been stranded on a deserted island!
Each person is allowed to bring one object to the island — ideally something that represents them or something that they enjoy.
The first part of this icebreaker is simple: each person is asked to describe what object they would bring and why.

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Deserted Island

This need not be realistic; if someone loves music, he or she might choose to bring a guitar, or an animal lover might choose to bring a dog, a food lover might choose to bring sirloin steaks, and so on.
Encourage people to be creative.
After everyone has introduced their object and why they have chosen that object, the teambuilding portion follows. Divide into smaller groups and ask everyone to work together to improve their chances of survival by combining the various objects that they introduced.

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Interactive Word Games

This site has phonological awareness games with letter substitutions that will help the students acquire new vocabulary.

http://www.ego4u.com/en/chill-out/games/doublets

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More Interactive games

This site has an interactive voice component. Students can choose a category and hear the pronunciations of words and other phrases when they press the microphone icon.

http://www.learningchocolate.com/

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Nursery Rhyme resource

This site has many activities that teachers might want to access using nursery rhymes in the ELL classroom.

http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/ReadingFun3-6/ReadingFun_FairyTalesFablesFolkTales.htm

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Activities for Middle Level

FOR MIDDLE LEVEL & ELEMENTARY • GRADE 4-9

Materials: Paper plates  How To Play: Give each player a paper plate and have him write his name in the middle of the plate. He will then exchange his plate with another player who will write an acknowledgement of him. Exchange plates as often as time permits. The final writer returns the plate to the player whose name is on it. If possible, give students time to read and reflect on what has been written.  Plan for Success: Review what constitutes an appropriate acknowledgement before plates are exchanged.
http://www.originsonline.org/educator-help/buffet

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Middle and Elementary Activity

Secret Partners

FOR MIDDLE LEVEL & ELEMENTARY • 4-9
Materials: Name cards  How To Play: Players are given another player's name at the beginning of the day or week. They are not to reveal the name they have received to anyone else, as this other player is to be their Secret Partner. Students pay attention to what their partner does and says, so that at the end of the day or week each can share an acknowledgment of her partner, either verbally or in writing.  Plan for Success: Passing out the names on Monday, gently reminding players to continue to observe during the week, and acknowledging secret partners on Friday is a popular way of using Secret Partners. The gentle daily reminders are helpful, especially the first time.

http://www.originsonline.org/educator-help/secret-partners

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Sample elementary song

My Bonnie lies over the ocean

My Bonnie lies over the sea

My Bonnie lies over the ocean

Bring back my Bonnie to me

You can adapt this song and use a different name each day to emphasize a new consonant.

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Games

One person is chosen to leave the room as the detective. The leader then chooses someone to be person who commits a crime. Each person in the circle creates an alibi.
The detective returns and goes around the circle and listens to each alibi. Then goes around the circle again. Everyone keeps their alibi the same except the guilty child. (ie.” I went to the park” and then changes to “I went to the pool”)
The detective has to identify the person that committed the crime.

This is a great way to have children use language and listen carefully

http://www.slideshare.net/MandieFunk/morning-meeting-activities-karie

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Group Word Game

Using familiar letters for an acrostic

You will need paper, pencils and index cards

How to play:

Assign partners
The partners are given a category (animals, fruit, colors) and they need to think of a four-six letter word.
The partners then will create a sentence using the first letter of each word. (BEAR- Better eat and run)
Each partnership shares their sentence with the group.

This activity reinforces working in partners and using words.

http://www.slideshare.net/MandieFunk/morning-meeting-activities-karie

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Charades

Acting out a word or phrase
Students are given a word or phrase and act it out for the rest of the class.
They can work in teams or partners and guess the word or phrase.

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Memory Game

Students are in a circle and participate in this memory game.

Begin by saying either: “I am going on a trip or I am going to the store.” (ask the children what they would pack or buy)

The children will then say one item at a time while the next member states the previous items and adds another.

Students then continue to go as far as possible while remembering the items. (ie I will pack my bike and the next child says: I will pack my bike and my teddy bear)

This is a wonderful way to use words and to listen to classmates

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Math counting game

Students are in a circle. It is determined what number they will have as a multiple. (2’s 5’s,10’s etc).
The students count by 1’s and when they get to a multiple they say “pop”. (ie. If counting by 5’s, they say “pop” when they get to 5, 10, 15 etc)
This is a wonderful way to reinforce math facts

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Further resources

There are many additional resources in the document attached to the website entitled: ESL resources