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In This Issue:
• Feature Article: Teaching Social Language to English Language Learners
• Language Lizard Update: World Folk Tales and Fables Week
• Product Review: Lion Fables
• Lizard Recommends: Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
• *Subscriber Special Offer*: 10% Discount on popular folk tales and fables
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Language Lizard Update
Dear Reader:
After a long winter, spring is (finally!) right around the corner - and so is "World Folk Tales and Fables Week." This week (March 22-28, 2010) is a great time to encourage children and adults to explore different cultures and the lessons taught by folk tales, fables, myths and legends from around the globe. To make that a little easier, we are offering Culture Connection subscribers a 10% discount on three of our most popular folk tales and fables (see special subscriber offer below for details).
In addition, those of you who wish to teach children about different cultures’ holidays and festivals will enjoy our 2010 Festivals Calendar, which was reviewed in our November newsletter. This beautiful and colorful calendar is now available at a discounted price while supplies last (see http://www.languagelizard.com/2010_FESTIVALS_CALENDAR_p/festiv.htm for details).
Also, read on for an insightful article that discusses the importance of teaching social language to English Language Learners. Educator and author Judie Haynes provides examples that will help teachers think of ways to encourage social language use and to improve the overall educational experience of English Language Learners.
Happy reading!
Anneke Forzani
Founder and President
Language Lizard, LLC |
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 Book Review: The Lion and the Mouse
Written and illustrated by Jan Ormerod
Paperback
Ages 4-9
Review by Maureen Pugh
This book contains both the Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse, as well as the Malaysian fable The Hare’s Revenge. The stories are retold and illustrated by award-willing author and illustrator Jan Ormerod. The Lion and the Mouse tells the familiar tale of a little mouse, who captured by the self-acclaimed “King of the Beasts,” bargains for his life with an offer of friendship and aid should the lion ever have need of him. Amused by the offer, the lion lets the mouse go, never thinking he actually will need the aid of such a small creature. Yet in only a matter of days, the lion is captured in a hunter’s net. The mouse sets the lion free by nibbling the rope in two, and the lion is humbled and grateful.
The Malaysian fable The Hare’s Revenge is a bit darker. In this tale, the lion is a “bully and a fool,” who boasts and rages about how strong and brave he is. His poor neighbor, the hare, can stand it no longer and decides to get his revenge. He tells the lion about another lion who has declared that HE is the King of the woods. The hare leads the boastful lion to the new lion’s “hiding place” at the bottom of a well. Tricked by his own reflection, the enraged lion flings himself down the well never to be seen again.
The illustrations of both stories are dramatic, with the lion’s head sometimes taking up the whole page. Jan Ormerod is able to depict the different backgrounds – arid desert and lush Malaysian countryside - with minimal brushstrokes. The illustrations instead focus on the animals and are quite striking and expressive.
Between the two stories is a page that has teacher’s notes, with some interesting tips on how to talk to children about the stories. Although they are designed for classroom use, the suggestions would be of interest to parents teaching their own children as well.
Lion Fables is available in English with Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese-Simplified with Pinyin, Chinese-Traditional, English Only, Farsi, French, Lithuanian, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese
If you’re interested in purchasing this book please visit the webpage at http://www.languagelizard.com/Lion_Fables_p/lion.htm |
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Special Subscriber Offer: 10% Discount on three popular folk tales and fables
Through April 30, 2010 we are offering a 10% discount on the following books:
Simply apply Coupon Code CCS-FFB upon checkout to receive the discount. |
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Feature Article: Teaching Social Language to English Language Learners
By Judie Haynes
Isobel is an English language learner (ELL) from Colombia who attends a suburban middle school. She is a good student who works hard and has quickly acquired academic English. She only socializes, however, with classmates who speak Spanish. Her social language in English is slow and hesitant, and she has difficulty initiating conversation in English. Isobel does not know how to communicate for social purposes during the school day. Her Indian classmate Aditya, on the other hand, is athletic and plays soccer with the boys from his class. Because Aditya interacts with many English-speaking teammates, his social English is quite fluent. He has made an excellent social adjustment to school and has many friends from all different backgrounds.
In many situations, ELLs may need to be taught specific interpersonal skills, such as how to greet people, give and receive compliments, apologize, and make polite requests. They also need to understand nonverbal language and the use of personal space. This goal is important because many ELLs must learn the appropriate voice tones, volume, and language for different school settings.
Let’s watch Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Arena teach her students simple language for social interactions. She stands at her classroom door at the end of the day, shakes hands and says goodbye to students as they leave. She uses each child's name and intersperses her farewells with comments.
“Goodbye, Diego. Have fun at the park,” Mrs. Arena says.
“Goodbye, Mrs. Arena,” replies Diego. “See you tomorrow.”
Mrs. Arena makes an everyday classroom routine a valuable lesson in social interaction and small talk. As students leave the playground after school, they say goodbye to each other using the same farewells modeled earlier by the teacher.
Role playing, teacher modeling, peer modeling, and videos are all good tools for teaching ELLs to interact with their classmates. Teachers can encourage newcomers to observe their peers as models of correct behavior. Teachers should set expectations for these behaviors by using real incidents that come up in the class.
Let’s visit Ms. Paterson in her third-grade class. One of her students, Jae Hyung, is reticent to speak even though he has been in a U.S. school since the beginning of second grade. He is obviously a shy child, who needs encouragement and support.
Ms. Paterson decides to set realistic expectations for routine social exchanges in the classroom. She does not want to single out Jae Hyung, so she adds lessons in social language for the whole class. She begins by explaining that everyone is going to practice greetings with their classmates. When they come into class in the morning, they will say “Hello, how are you today?” to the teacher and to the students who sit at their table. She asks several children to act out the greeting. After a week Jae Hyung successfully participates in this activity. Ms. Paterson gradually adds other lessons with examples of social language needed in the classroom.
Social language comes easier to students who have real reasons to speak with their classmates. Teachers should encourage the ELLs in their classes to join organized school activities, such as sports teams, band, and chorus. Any activities - even informal after-school and playground activities - that facilitate interaction with their classmates, will help ELLs gain social skills in English.
Judie Haynes taught ESL in a K-6 school for 27 years. She is the author and co-author of six books for classroom teachers of English language learners. Judie provides professional development programs to K-12 school districts throughout the United States and her award-winning website www.everythingESL.net just celebrated its 11th year. |
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A Favorite Quote
"One free lunch in the world is to learn another language in early childhood."
-Stephen Pinker, The Language Instinct |
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Lizard Recommends
For those of you interested in reading more from Judie Haynes, her most recent publication is Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (ASCD, 2010) with Debbie Zacarian. This book provides teachers with strategies, tools and tips to help English language learners flourish in mainstream classrooms.
To read the first two chapters online for free or to order a copy, visit www.everythingESL.net/books/. Judie also writes a blog about teaching English language learners at http://everythingesl-everythingesl.blogspot.com/ |
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About Language Lizard
Language Lizard, LLC aims to enrich children's lives with language and culture. The Company believes that children will be inspired to learn languages and connect with other cultures if they are exposed to fun and creative learning materials early in their lives.
Language Lizard currently offers award-winning dual-language children's products in over 40 languages. To find out more about our company and products, or to sign up for this free e-newsletter, please visit www.LanguageLizard.com.
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