What does your kid read? (ESL)

amother

Snow

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 8:33 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

For the last two posters, in Israel english is started in schools in 3rd or 4th grade. By 7th, I would hope they are past those books.
Rappel are they not past the above books? That would be a bit weird if not.

In terms of topics, yes they are childish, but not in terms of language part.
It would be nice to have books for teens written in basic language.

amother

Snow

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 8:34 am

Rappel wrote:

Emotionally/intellectually - they're healthy 7th graders, maybe a bit on the naughty side Smile

Reading level - no, they're not past rhyming picture books. That's the sad part. They've had terribly fragmented instruction so far, and their teachers have focused more on grammar rules than language acquisition (probably because they weren't English teachers themselves.)

I'm not a certified teacher either, but they were scraping the bottom of the barrel by the time they called me, and I'm trying to do my best by them.

So now I'm looking for books with 4-8 lines a page, a lot of explanatory pictures, and subject matter that will interest a 12 year old. It's a bit of a challenge :/

I am a certified teacher though:)

amother

Watermelon

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 9:41 am

Have you considered looking into the English reading schemes? In the UK they teach the children to read phonetically and they have reading books to complement the reading schemes. You also want to be teaching them the skills around reading-rhyme, rhythm, being able to differentiate between the different sounds etc. Dr Suess was great in that a lot of his words are nonsense words but you get a great understanding of rhyme.

amother

Turquoise

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 9:58 am

I taught groups of 10- 12 yo chassidish boys who are essentially ESL students though not as weak as your students seem to be.

Flat stanley is a fun concept and might amuse the students even if it's for younger children.
I always love teaching English songs because they are repetitive, fun to learn, a good way to practice proper pronunciation and often have high vocabulary words. Just One Shabbos, Ten Tikva lYeled, A Yid, High Hopes (Frank Sinatra)...
I recommend reading a novel to them that's about two grade levels above their current reading level. What grade level are they currently reading independently?

I hope you are not using a balanced literacy or whole language approach and that you are focusing on phonics. I know it's controversial, but in my experience it is really important.

amother

Snow

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 10:46 am

amother Watermelon wrote:

This is not a focus in ESL.

amother

Cognac

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 10:52 am

Ok, If I understand you correctly, you are looking for books to read to/with a class of Hebrew Speakers who have lots of holes in their knowledge.

Regular American books like Cam Jansen etc. will be too difficult for them (as will books like Berenstain Bears...). You children's books are way below their intellectual level.

Do you have a rakezet? English room/closet? I am asking because what you need are graded readers (ספרונים) on level 1. The stories are more sophisticated but adapted for ESL. If your school doesn't already have them, do they have a budget to buy a few for you to read with your class?

I am linking some examples on YouTube that I have used.

https://youtu.be/ucZm7y5Gn8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYD9bRCfbfU

https://youtu.be/eLG-bs4yMGE

*I am an English teacher in Israel and I teach 7th grade Hebrew speakers*

Good luck!

Rappel

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 1:04 pm

I love you all.

Your suggestions are wonderful, and I'm looking them all up now. Amothers snow, baby blue, cognac - really, thank you for these titles and readers. These are exactly the tools I need to give them a context for broadening their vocabulary.

If I may ask the teachers in the forum:
*how do you divide up the class into smaller groups for more individual education? What do you use as the marker for skill levels?
*How do you maintain discipline in the other groups while you're teaching in one? I can imagine things getting pretty wild if I tried to focus on groups, but I don't know how to give the students attention on each level otherwise.
*How would you structure a "read a book" activity for such varied backgrounds? What skills should I be drawing out of these girls - reading comprehension, vocabulary, oral recitation, writing, critical thinking - anything else? Should everyone be doing the same book, or should every girl do a different one according to her taste?

amother

Cognac

Sun, Oct 30 2022, 2:10 pm

I don't divide the class based on skill levels. Sometimes it helps to prepare a few things and let the students choose where they think they should be. Are you teaching a הקבצה or a full כיתת אם?
There is something called "station rotation", you can look it up. Basically, you split the room into a few zones and put an activity in each one (example: one is a worksheet, one is a game, one is watching a clip, one is doing something on the board etc.) the students get 5-10 minutes in each station and then they switch. You can either walk around helping the girls (and then you will get a chance to get a sense of their level because it will be a smaller group), or you can make one station working with you, so you will be able to assess their level (ask them to read to you and explain what it means, or ask questions about the text to see if they understand).

Don't talk in front of them a lot with nothing for them to do at the same time. Students love copying from the board, it makes them feel productive and keeps them busy so they won't talk. So start the lesson with a vocabulary list (taken from the chapter in whatever book they are learning - I mean the textbook, each reading has a vocabulary list), and have the girls copy the list from the board. Then ask them to write sentences with five of them. See who wants to share out loud (that will also give you an impression of each girl's level...). Then tell them to find the words in the text and write the translation above them. Then show a short clip connected to the text. Only after that can you read the text with them and they will feel empowered because they will already understand some of it.

Each student should be able to choose their own reader so they can choose something on their level and read something they are interested in at their own pace. You can try to give 10-20 minutes of reading time at the beginning or end of the lesson. Does your school have a library? It might be nice to take them there to read once in a while to mix things up. You can do a trial class where they get 10 minutes with a few different books and then choose one that they like.