Research in Second Language Acquisition tells us learning the academic language necessary to meet the rigor of content-related, grade-level skills at the secondary level may take between 4 and 8 years.
As a teacher of English learners, I need to foster their interest in using the new language, acquire it quickly, and become independent learners as fast as possible. My students' academic knowledge cannot develop if they do not acquire the basics of English proficiency in my ESL classroom, exposed to Second Language Acquisition strategies, so that they can successfully function in the rest of the core area classrooms -such as Math, Science, and Social Studies.
I constantly create manipulatives, flashcards, language games, jigsaw reading activities, and use visuals every step of the way. In order to make all of the teaching materials appealing to my students, I need color. A color printer is much needed not only to make visuals more comprehensible but also to hook up struggling learners into looking at materials with interest so engagement follows. Color will hook up anybody, much more if you are a language learner who is constantly having to rely on visuals, context, bold letter, color coding, highlighting, photos and the like in order to acquire meaning.
My students are often also reluctant readers. They need to see the front cover of appealing language-leveled readers and language learning magazines to be hooked into reading. I have a plan to turn my classroom walls into book displays, so they will want to pick a different book every day -and read, read, read! With your help, I will set up floating ledges and fill those walls with books to catch their eye and catch their interest in picking that one book that will entice them to keep reading and learning.
About my class
Research in Second Language Acquisition tells us learning the academic language necessary to meet the rigor of content-related, grade-level skills at the secondary level may take between 4 and 8 years.
As a teacher of English learners, I need to foster their interest in using the new language, acquire it quickly, and become independent learners as fast as possible. My students' academic knowledge cannot develop if they do not acquire the basics of English proficiency in my ESL classroom, exposed to Second Language Acquisition strategies, so that they can successfully function in the rest of the core area classrooms -such as Math, Science, and Social Studies.
I constantly create manipulatives, flashcards, language games, jigsaw reading activities, and use visuals every step of the way. In order to make all of the teaching materials appealing to my students, I need color. A color printer is much needed not only to make visuals more comprehensible but also to hook up struggling learners into looking at materials with interest so engagement follows. Color will hook up anybody, much more if you are a language learner who is constantly having to rely on visuals, context, bold letter, color coding, highlighting, photos and the like in order to acquire meaning.
My students are often also reluctant readers. They need to see the front cover of appealing language-leveled readers and language learning magazines to be hooked into reading. I have a plan to turn my classroom walls into book displays, so they will want to pick a different book every day -and read, read, read! With your help, I will set up floating ledges and fill those walls with books to catch their eye and catch their interest in picking that one book that will entice them to keep reading and learning.
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