I'm a regular classroom teacher and I just received a new, five year old boy who doesn't speak any English. His parents speak English but the language they use at home is Korean. They said they will start tutoring him in English. I have some time twice a week where I can do special things with him to get him "caught up." Where do I start?!? (I was thinking about starting with parts of the face - with pictures & a song but I'm really not sure!) Help!
Scholastic.com offers a $3000 program you can buy...or you can download the scope and sequence for the program and make up your own lesson plans. Here is the link:
Under each section you can see the link to download three levels of the program's scope and sequence. I use this as a guideline in my classroom, where my kiddos speak a total of 15 different languages!
I made my student flashcards that he could carry from class to class with a picture and word of "everyday school things" This way he could easily communicate with all teachers. As he became more comfortable, he also had to say the word of the thing he needed (bathroom, pencil, etc.) However, this took several months.
I actually used a lot of resources from this website:
The child first needs to learn what we call "survival language" like the previous poster stated. Also, you are going to have to start him with learning the alphabet and how to spell his name. If the parents do what they said that they would do, he should pick it up fairly quickly. In all honesty, he may have to repeat kindergarten.
Thank you for all your advice - keep it coming. He's been in my class for one week now and he can count to three in English. It seems that he's picking things up but he cries alot because he's scared. He's attached himself to our TA and she helps him alot. I need her for other things too though.
I've started giving him the picture cards Becca mentioned - he responded well.
I agree with survival language. Pictures are a wonderful thing. I always make use of my digital camera and of clip art. Have your TA work with him one on one if possible on things such as saying "I need to use the bathroom" "I'm sick" things that he will need to be able to say to get through the day. They do pick up fast and he'll be talking in no time.
does anyone have a list of what kinds of pictures they use? I have some like school tools, bathroom, daily schedule (lunch/playground, reading, etc.), fav foods, sick, tired, etc. but I feel that I'm forgetting some. what are some other survival phrases he should know?
I too am a regular ed teacher that just received a 5 year old girl from Mexico. She does not speak any English, nor do her parents. Like your student, she cries frequently, but is forming a friendship with two little girls.
I have noticed that she is more willing to try new things with the guidance of her peers. So, I have the two students helping and giving cues. I have a Spanish/English primary, picture dictionary that is very helpful and I have downloaded a bunch of pictures and labeled them. (Have the parents write the Korean translation,too.)
I would begin with the alphabet, counting to 10, simple conversational
phrases, and objects. Your general classroom routine is great exposure.
You have a great resource with his parents...utilize them!
I have found with past experience, it really depends on the child. Some catch on very quickly and others need the repetition of kindergarten.
I hope things are going well. I have a 5 year student who only speaks Vietnamese this year. It has been very challenging since her parents know little english. The website starfall.com was a good tutoring assistance during computer lab time (esp. the abc part). I took photos of her and all of the students and made her a book with their names and photos. I also took pictures around the school and labeled them and sent them home. Now I am using the pictures with a written sentence ie. Julie is a girl. Mark is a boy. Julie is standing. Mark is in line. I made one BINGO board with pictures of body parts and another with school supplies and another with alphabet letters. She can play these with a mom helper or another student. Good luck. I am having trouble getting her to say the ending sound of words. If you have any advice for this please let me know. I have given up on her learning rhyming words at this time.
What we did when we had a similar situation was send home books that focused on one letter with real images. The C book had cat, car, cake, coat, etc. So week 1 we sent C. Week 2 we sent C and S, week 3 we sent S and T and so on. That got him rolling on phonics. When we had one on one time we looked at a spanish-english picture dictionary. He "taught" us the words in spanish and then he tried them in english. This was not only vocabulary and concepts about print, but he got more and more comfortable.
When you know what kind of vocabulary is coming up, you can preteach to help the student feel more comfortable. It may take a while for him to participate, but at least he can listen and look for things you have worked with him on already.
01-19-2008, 02:28 AM
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