Supporting All Students

What Some Teachers Are Doing to Help Non-English Speaking Students

The 2001 No Child Left Behind initiative requires that all public school help students become proficient in English in order that they meet State and National achievement standards. English as a second language (ESL) programs use more supplies than standard English courses including additional teachers, which puts a strain on school budgets. During difficult economic times, schools are finding it more and more difficult to stretch their dollars and provide quality education for all children including ESL students. With classrooms becoming more diverse, experts predict that, by the year 2020, 50% of all students in American public classrooms will come from non-English speaking homes. While funds may be, limited and ESL instructors stretched, public school teachers are doing all that they can to maintain quality teaching and meet the needs of ESL students.

Teaching Through Art

Art is an excellent medium through which to teach any student. All children are intrinsically creative and this makes art an excellent activity for teaching the English language. At the most basic level, art is easily incorporated into a lesson the primary and secondary colors, white, black, red, blue, yellow and green, pink, orange, brown, purple and gray. Younger children enjoy making pictures with certain colors and then practicing naming the colors. Another valuable activity is to have students bring in a piece of artwork from home and tell everyone about the piece. This art sharing activity helps promote many important language skills, in addition to public speaking skills.

Teaching With Songs

Everyone loves music, and it spans all cultures and languages. Music and songs have long been a staple in the classroom. Songs are not only entertaining but also a useful tool to teach and help children memorize key facts. Early grade songs teach the days and months of the year, numbers and even the alphabet. Older children will benefit from the use of songs to learn vocabulary. Many teachers combine songs with worksheets to make learning more engaging and interactive.

Using Magazines

An excellent ESL activity that will not strain the classroom budget involves the use of magazines. Magazines are easy to acquire and provide countless learning opportunities. Young students can cut out pictures they like and paste them into a vocabulary booklet. Older students can scan magazines for familiar words and phrases and use them as story prompts or topics for discussion. Another popular activity for older students is to collect news magazines and discuss current events, popular people, and political figures.

Partnering and Group Activities

While some people say that classroom immersion is not the best tool to teach a foreign language, as it is time consuming for teachers, group activities seem to propel non-English speaking student’s ability to master English. ESL students placed in groups or with English-speaking partners can do everything from playing simple card games to working on vocabulary and spelling words. Group activities help ESL students feel accepted and build the necessary confidence that is needed to learn a new language.

Call for Creativity

As budget cuts continue to hit hard, teachers across the country are joining to acquire new and creative ways to improve on ESL activities in order to teach “all” children and leave no child behind.

About the Author:  Susan Patterson is a home school mother of three who is passionate about her children learning a second language. She has done a great deal of research on the bestway to learn French and has a daughter who receives French instructions via Skype.