|
|
|
In
This Issue:
• Feature Article: Multicultural Lesson Plans Celebrate Language and Cultural Diversity
• Language Lizard Update: Lesson Plans and Activities Now Available on the Language Lizard web site!
• Product Review: Floppy’s Friends
• *Subscriber Special Offer*: Discount on the “Floppy” Series
• Upcoming Exhibits: NJLA, MALA, NJBE
• Lizard Recommends: Great Spanish product for the baseball season
Please add [email protected] to
your address book or whitelist in your email program so that
you receive all future issues!
To change your subscription, see link at end of email.
If this issue has been forwarded to you, please sign up here
to receive our e-newsletter.
|
|
|
Language Lizard
Update
Dear Reader:
Spring is finally here!
Along with my pleasure at the arrival of warmer weather, I’m thrilled to introduce our new multicultural lesson plans. These lesson plans are the result of a project with West Chester University of Pennsylvania to design instructional units that introduce children to the world’s diverse languages and cultures.
Teachers can use or adapt the units to their classroom curriculum. In addition, families can use activities presented in the lesson plans to help their children appreciate diversity. Read more about the lessons in our feature article below.
And with Spring here, you may wish to introduce your children to young “Floppy”, a lovable rabbit who comes to terms with the fact that he looks “different”, and learns that his friends love him for who he is. Read on for a book review of Floppy’s Friends and a special offer on the Floppy series for our Culture Connection subscribers.
Please forward this newsletter to friends, family or teachers who are interested in raising and teaching multicultural kids. They can sign up by visiting http://www.LanguageLizard.com.
Happy reading!
Anneke Forzani
Founder and President
Language Lizard, LLC
|
|
 |
 Book Review: Floppy's Friends
Authored and illustrated by Guido van Genechten
Ages 2-8
Review by Maureen Pugh
In Floppy’s Friend’s, little Floppy loves to play with all his bunny friends, no matter their size or color – white, gray, brown or black. But the other bunnies only play with bunnies that look like themselves. Floppy wishes all the bunnies could just play together.
When new bunny Samy arrives, Floppy introduces himself and invites Samy to play. But Samy doesn’t know any of the games the others are playing. And what’s more, Samy doesn’t look like any of the other rabbits – he is dappled, brown and white. Floppy shows Samy one of his games, and Samy shows Floppy a new game that he knows. When the other bunnies see Samy, though, they begin to make fun of his spots. Floppy bravely steps forward and stops the teasing, telling the other rabbits about Samy’s new game. All the rabbits then join in to play Samy’s “cool” game, finally coming together.
Van Genechten’s bold and colorful illustrations will delight younger and older children alike, while parents will appreciate the story’s message of tolerance.
Floppy’s Friends is available in English with translations in: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese-Traditional, Chinese-Simplified+Pinyin, Croatian, Farsi, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Shona, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Twi, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yoruba
If you’re interested in purchasing this book, please visit the Floppy’s Friends webpage at http://www.languagelizard.com/Floppy_s_Friends_p/flofhb.htm.
|
|
|
Special Subscriber Offer: 10% Discount on the “Floppy” Series
Through May 1st 2007 we are offering a 10% discount on the following three popular Floppy stories:
Simply apply Coupon Code CCS-FLO upon checkout to receive the discount:
To see the difficulty level of these and other Language Lizard books, please visit our “Book Suggestions” page at http://www.languagelizard.com/images/Childrens_Bilingual_Books.pdf
|
|
 |
Multicultural Lesson Plans Celebrate Language and Cultural Diversity
Unique curriculum units and activities available on-line
by Heather Leaman and Anneke Forzani
As students bring a rich diversity of language experience into schools, teachers and children can benefit from an awareness of languages and cultures that may be new to them. Yet language diversity can result in an initial fear for new teachers who are unfamiliar with languages beyond their primary language. Teachers may also find it challenging to secure quality resources and develop lessons that encourage children to learn about and appreciate the diverse nature of our communities.
In order to help teachers celebrate and incorporate language and cultural awareness in the classroom, Language Lizard, LLC joined students and faculty from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in a project to bridge language diversity, cultural appreciation and classroom learning.
During the project, eleven student teachers in the Elementary Education Teacher Preparation program at West Chester University designed five creative units of instruction for use in grades 2-5. Each unit includes a set of integrated lessons that can be implemented in classrooms.
The five units are titled:
- Cultures and Customs
- Cultures and Folklore
- Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences
- Building Community in the Classroom
- Appreciating Diverse Cultures and Religions
Each unit uses Language Lizard’s bilingual children’s books and CDs to teach about diversity of culture and language. The lessons highlight languages including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Czech, English, French, Gujarati, Japanese, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu and Yoruba, giving both students and teachers experience with a variety of languages spoken in the United States and world wide.
The units can be implemented as designed or adapted to meet the needs of a particular student body or grade level. Teachers may choose to adjust the languages introduced in the lessons to better reflect their own diverse communities. Families can also use the activities presented in the lessons to help their children learn more about the world around them.
Language Lizard titles used include popular world folk tales (Dragon's Tears, Giant Turnip), faith stories (Samira’s Eid, The Swirling Hijaab, All Kinds of Beliefs), and other stories that introduce different cultural traditions and promote an acceptance of diversity (That's My Mum, Floppy, Floppy's Friends, The Wibbly Wobbly Tooth, Mei Ling's Hiccups, Welcome to the World Baby).
Curriculum units can be accessed through the Language Lizard Website at http://www.languagelizard.com/lessonplans.htm.
Heather Leaman is an Assistant Professor in the Elementary Education Department at West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a special interest in incorporating diversity education in elementary school curriculums. She also spent eleven years teaching sixth grade social studies.
Anneke Forzani is President and Founder of Language Lizard, LLC.
© Language Lizard, LLC. 2006
To see more articles and archived newsletters, please visit http://www.languagelizard.com/newsresources.htm.
Want to use this article in your e-zine or web site? Contact Language Lizard President and Founder, Anneke Forzani, at [email protected].
|
|
 |
A
Favorite Quote
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
- Albert Einstein |
|
 |
Visit Language Lizard - Upcoming Exhibits
Language Lizard will be exhibiting at the following conferences. Please stop by for a visit. If you would like to see specific examples in your language of interest, drop us a note at [email protected] before the event.
- New Jersey Library Association Conference – Long Branch, NJ – April 24-25, 2007
- Massachusetts Library Association Conference – Sturbridge, MA – May 2-4, 2007
- New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages / New Jersey Bilingual Educators (NJTESOL/NJBE) Spring Conference – Somerset, NJ – May 22-23, 2007
|
|
 |
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. |
|
 |
Lizard Recommends
With baseball season starting, Spanish teachers and learners will enjoy Chispa Production’s “La Chispa del Béisbol”. This 12-minute DVD features interviews with four native Spanish-speaking players from the minor league baseball team, the New Jersey Jackals. The interviews touch on topics such as geography, clothing, numbers, age and family, all in the context of baseball. Purchasers of the DVD also will receive access to a downloadable 12-page Teacher’s Guide with lesson plans, listening comprehension sheets and more. Available from http://www.chispaproductions.com.
|
|
| |
|