Teaching Math to English Learners

As a teacher it was hard enough for me to teach math to young students, let alone teaching math to students at the lower levels of proficiency in English. As I became more skilled in teaching math, I learned that I was just teaching math in a "memorization" type of way and the main issue as to why students were unable to attain long-term mastery of mathematical concepts was because I was not teaching them conceptually in an in-depth manner.

Teachers must remember that English learners who are acquiring a second language have a double burden: they must keep up with grade level content at the same time that they are acquiring a second language. Not only do students need practice with mathematical skills, they also must learn the mathematical vocabulary and grammatical/language structures of the mathematics content area.

One way that teachers can expose students to mathematical vocabulary is through the use of songs, poems and chants. Teachers can create their own basic chants and rhymes with well-known, traditional songs for children. For teachers who might not be musically or poetically inclined, there are also a variety of books that have songs, poems, and chants for students about mathematical concepts, such as:

• Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems
• Circle Time Poetry Math
• Math Poetry: Linking Language and Math in a Fresh Way

Students who have authentic, meaningful practice with mathematical vocabulary and concepts through the fun use of chants, songs, and poems will be more inclined to store mathematical vocabulary and concepts in their long-term memory.

An additional way to develop language and math in a simultaneous way is to integrate literature and non-fiction books that contain mathematical vocabulary, concepts or real-life use of math. In the upcoming months, we will be creating a '"teaching math to English learners" section to the main ELDStrategies.com website where we will review many literature and non-fiction books that are recommended for using with English learners. In the meantime, you can also find some recommended titles in the ELD Strategies store by clicking here.

You can find additional resources for teaching mathematics to English learners from kindergarten through high school, as well as poems and some recommended children books in the ELD Strategies store.

Happy New Year!
teaching math to English learners, math and English learners, eld, teach math to english learners, esl, math books for children, teaching math, teach math, english language development

Activating Prior Knowledge and Building Background

Yesterday we uploaded a page on "Activating Prior Knowledge and Building Background" onto the ELD Strategies main site. We quickly explained the distinction between activating prior knowledge and building background. Activating prior knowledge signifies that teachers find out what students know, don't know or have misconceptions about regarding a topic of study. When it is determined that students may not have background on a certain topic, teachers can employ a variety of activities to build background and understanding of the topic.
The SIOP model has a "Building Background" component and gives a variety of strategies that teachers may use to build background. For teachers who have attended Project GLAD training, the focus/motivation strategies such as the inquiry chart and observation charts are designed to activate students' prior knowledge, and the cognitive content dictionary (ccd) and teacher-made big books can be used to build background knowledge.

SIOP explains that one component of building background is the teaching of academic vocabulary. According to SIOP, academic vocabulary consists of three elements: 1) content specific words; 2) functional language; and, 3) morphological analysis and word study. One excellent strategy to teach content-specific words and morphological analysis is the cognitive content dictionary (Project GLAD).

Please visit the main site and check out the resources that we are creating about building background. The site is currently under-construction but we are currently working on adding additional details about academic language, specific "how-to" information about building background strategies, resources for teachers about how to provide morphological analysis on selected academic vocabulary, as well as additional ELD strategies that be used during ELD time. You can visit the Building Background page that we have created by clicking here.
eld, english language development, eld teaching strategies, project glad, siop components, cognitive content dictionary, the difference between project glad and siop, siop and project glad, eld lessons, building background for english learners, esl

Developing Language and Literacy With Multicultural Holiday Books

Happy holiday season! We've uploaded a number of holiday books about Christmas around the world, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in our ELD Strategies store so that you can read about them in your classroom, or with your very own children! The holiday season is a great time to make connections with students about how they celebrate the various holidays in their family, and it's a excellent opportunity to also learn about how other people celebrate. These books are a fun way to promote literacy and language development while having fun and engaging students at the same time!

As a follow-up to many of the books, students can write about how they celebrate the holidays in their house, or they can write an expository essay or shared writing about one of the holidays that they learned about.

You can find the holiday book in the ELD Strategies store by clicking here.

Language and Literacy Online Resources

Today when I was looking at the sites of public library sites online I found an interesting online resource that I thought has great potential for teachers of English language learners. The resource is called the "Tumblebook Library". It's an online database of digitalized and animated books for children in English and multiple other languages. The stories are appropriate for many English learners because it has the text on the screen at the same time that someone is narrating the story. In addition to the animated books, the site has audio books, games and quizzes and other resources.

The online resource is free if it is accessed through one of the local libraries that has purchased the resource. You can find more information about the "Tumblebook Library" and find out how to access the online library free of charge on our sister site, Multilingual Mania. Click here for more information.

We Would Greatly Appreciate Your Feedback

We are currently working on our main site "ELD Strategies" and uploading content and information slowly. We have tons of great ideas as to what we want to include on the site, including a section about SIOP, sample SIOP lesson plans and activities, information about Project GLAD, videos about effective instruction for English learners, recommended books and materials, a teacher networking forum, and many other features.

However, we don't want to make the site all about what we think that teachers like you want, so we are requesting feedback from teachers of English learners about what they would think would be useful to them as teachers of second language learners. We want to know about your frequently asked questions, things that you don't understand or find difficult about educating English learners, questions that you have about English language development or SDAIE, etc. We want to hear your suggestions so that we can create the best site for you that will meet your needs!

Please visit our main site in order to fill out a quick survey about who you are and your suggestions! We would greatly appreciate your feedback. Supporting the unique needs of teachers of English learners is our priority and your feedback helps us accomplish that goal!!