ESL first day

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2001 : August : 17

ESL first day
By Julianne

Amory,
I don't think your lack of Spanish is a huge problem. I teach a mixed group of ESL and English speaking students. I've picked up a bit more Spanish to add to my two long-ago years of high school Spanish.

On
our first day we make sure everything is labeled in English. We haven't labeled in Spanish, but you could. We try to seat English speakers next to non-speakers. (You might not have many or any English speakers, so that might not be possible for you.) Be sure there is someone Spanish-speaking in your school you can go to if you have an injured or frightened student.
We start right

out speaking English to our group and encourage them to join in when we sing or chant. We don't expect them to verbalize in English other than that until they are comfortable. We use lots and lots of examples, demonstrations and hands-on activities. We "show and tell" everything. If your whole class is really non English speaking, you'll have to start by introducing simple words like numbers, colors, body parts, etc. Songs and chants are perfect for this.

First day activities include working on the calendar, doing a calendar related art project, taking a tour of the school and demonstrating the proper way of using different areas of the building like the playground, bathroom, library, etc. We go to lunch, play an active outside game, write our names several times, practice counting from one to ten using a number line, create and discuss class rules, do a simple science experiment that will relate to the month's theme. (In our case the theme will be trees and apples.) By this time school is usually over. If you have specific questions you can e-mail me. I can try to help, though, as I said, my group is mixed rather than entirely non English speaking.