Immigrants leaving Nevada as economy sours
Local Hispanic immigrants, both legal and illegal, are heading back to their home countries as the U.S. economic climate worsens, community members, advocates and school officials said.
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Those who remain are sending less money to their families abroad as construction and service industry jobs dry up.
“What traditionally happens is that people come here to work when the economy is thriving,” said Leslie A. Mix, former general manager for Univision. “People will work two, three jobs at any given time to save whatever they can and then send that money home to any family they’ve left behind.
“In the current economic times, we’re currently losing a portion of the (Hispanic) population. People have to move on to find jobs or they’ll move back to their families.”
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English-language students celebrate American holiday, some for the first time
At 25, Anay Carrillo experienced her first Thanksgiving on Friday. The wife and mother of four from Mexico is studying English while in America on a tourist visa, and she said she has much to be thankful for. “I am thankful to live here where I can have fine food, good clothes,” she said. Pausing to find the right words, she added: “I love to take showers. No hot water where I live in Mexico.”
Carrillo and more than 80 other adult education students came together at the Alta Vista Library in Abilene to celebrate Thanksgiving. Some, like Carrillo, had never experienced an American Thanksgiving.
Class members create digital stories on iPods
Caller Times - English students learn with device. Forget dictionaries and textbooks. Moody High School sophomore Luis Sandoval uses an iPod to learn English.
Sandoval, a Mexican national who has lived in the U.S. for a month, recently used the device to create a documentary for his English class.
“It’s really neat to get to use technology and learn at the same time,” Sandoval said. “I like to download photos and audio.”
Since August, English-as-a-Second-Language program students at the five Corpus Christi Independent School District high schools have used iPods to learn English. The devices are used for viewing, listening to, and creating digital stories, as well as downloading educational materials.
The iPods are part of a $25,000 grant AT&T awarded to CCISD in the spring. About 50 iPods have been distributed at the campuses. Each high school has received different numbers of iPods based on the number of the program’s students on each campus.
WatchVideo iPods in the Classroom
“Bucket Words”
November 22, 2008 by admin
Filed under Featured, Tips for Teachers
Playwright Howard Barker wrote, “Some words, like buckets, slop with meaning.” (The Castle).
When you communicate with language learners remember to put your “bucket words” first.
This form of speech is also likened to “motherese” or in our case, “teacherspeak.”
Avoid modals (will, should, would, could) and especially idioms (Get out! No way! What’s up?).
For example, instead of saying, “You may not hit your friends.” to young language learners say, “No hitting.” For now, the words yes and no and the focus behavior are all that need to be said.
Another example is to try “Black crayon?” (using intonation) instead of “Would you like the black crayon now?”
Please and thank-you are great words to learn, but say them AFTER the bucket word, not before. For example, “Yes, please,” or “Sit down, please,” and “No, thank you.”
Point and say the word, but do NOT use the phrase, “Say…” this will lead to students repeating everything including the word “say.” Use single command or labeling words and repetition if necessary.
In linguistics, the morpheme is defined as the smallest meaningful unit of language that may or may not be a word, but it conveys meaning. Suffixes, prefixes, pronouns, nouns, etc. can be morphemes if they carry meaning.
Studies show one of the first morphemes acquired is the progressive –ing. Words that describe what you are doing are a great start. Try labeling your actions throughout the day, “walking, crying, coloring, etc.”
Enjoy your English language learners. They offer such a wonderful perspective to our daily routine. We can all benefit from recognizing the many “buckets of meaning” we carry and pass on to our students.
by: Elizabeth Dowling
Christmas is a season in the Hispanic culture
November 22, 2008 by admin
Filed under Tips for Teachers
Christmas, or Navidad, is a season rather than a day in the Hispanic culture. Celebrations begin in mid-December and culminate with the feast of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, which is celebrated on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas.
As many of you are aware, it is a family tradition for students to leave for several weeks during December and January. Rather than allow ourselves to be frustrated by the loss of instructional time, we can look for ways to incorporate this tradition into our classrooms.
In the past, sending large amounts of class work has proven ineffective. Quite often, students lose the papers on the journey. Sometimes students “play school” with their cousins in their native country and all sorts of scribbles return. Consider assigning a “follow-up” report about the festivities or the journey. Try sending a disposable camera they can bring back for you to develop and have them share what pictures they have taken. Or, have the student create a journal with drawings and notes. Give students mathematical challenges to solve (estimate mileage, or the cost of gasoline, etc.). If you wish to send homework, choose content you are certain is review rather than new material.
Be creative and supportive. Many children are torn about leaving their friends in the US and are unnecessarily worried about what repercussions they will face for missing school. Understanding and working with diverse cultures gives everyone the opportunity to form positive school and home relationships.
Province funds adult ESL
The provincial government is providing nearly $2.6 million to Richmond school district agencies for the delivery of basic English training services to adult newcomers. “All of us in Richmond know the dynamism that comes from so many people of diverse backgrounds being able to communicate and work together,” said Richmond Centre MLA Olga Illich. “It’s one of the many factors that make our city so great.” Fellow Richmond MLA John Yap says he knows from experience how vital strong English skills are for immigrants.
Piscataway teachers earn certifications to teach English as a Second Language
At the end of the school day each Wednesday, Randolphville Elementary’s 500 students head out the door while about two dozen teachers from across the district make their way to the school’s media center.
Advertisement The 26 prekindergarten, kindergarten and first-grade teachers are taking classes to earn their certifications in teaching English as a Second Language.
The program is a district initiative being offered through the College of New Jersey at no cost to the teachers.
“Between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, our ESL (English as a Second Language) population went up 15 percent,” said Carolyn Keck, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “So we were saying, “How are we going to be serving these students, and shouldn’t we be building an infrastructure to serve them?” ‘
At the time, ESL teachers either pulled non-English speakers out of the classroom for special instruction, or “pushed in” to the classroom to offer assistance to the students during regular instruction times.
Hartford Schools’ English Language Learner Program In Transition
School officials this week told parents and board of education members that the city’s English Language Learner program — for students whose dominant language is something other than English — is in transition. Officials are trying to move from a “sending-receiving” system — in which some schools have established ELL programs and others simply send students to those “receiving” schools — to one in which every school has the ELL services state law requires, according to Penny MacCormack, the district’s chief academic officer, and Bethany Silver, the deputy chief academic officer, who addressed the board of education Tuesday.
State law requires schools with 20 or more students who speak the same non-English language to offer a bilingual education program in which the students are taught in a mix of their native language and English. Other schools should offer English-as-a-second-language programs, which use English for instruction, and may have native-language tutoring for students.
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Some Patchogue-Medford students see racial tension
There’s a hallway inside Patchogue-Medford High School where only Latino students hang out. That’s not because it’s considered their turf, but because English-as-a-second-language classes (ESL Classes) are concentrated there, the district’s superintendent said.
“Some people have said there’s a Spanish hallway,” said Superintendent Michael Mostow. “It’s that kind of hysteria that’s foolish. You wouldn’t have reason to walk there if you don’t have an ESL class.”
Mostow finds himself defending the high school’s racial dynamics after six seniors and a junior were charged in a gang attack Nov. 8 that left a 37-year-old emigrant from Ecuador stabbed to death. Suffolk prosecutors have said the teens were bent on harming a Hispanic.
ESL / EFL Podcast on Personal Finances
AN excellent series of on the challenging nature of typical English Financial terms. Fifteenth in a series of English language lessons from Jennifer Lebedev
Jennifer Lebedev (jenesl)
EXPRESSION No.1: TOO RICH FOR MY BLOOD
It’s not always easy to remember the difference between what we want and what we need. Some products or services can have an incredible appeal, but if the cost of an item makes you gasp in surprise or wince in pain, then it’s simply out of your price range, that is, beyond what you can afford. You need to admit: “THAT’S TOO RICH FOR MY BLOOD.”
EXPRESSION No.2: FEEL THE PINCH
What can be really hard to accept is the fact that what you once used to buy is now too rich for your blood. Perhaps you used to have a gym membership and go out to nightclubs, for example. But if you changed jobs and get paid less, you’ll start to FEEL THE PINCH and you may have to give up your workouts and your weekend fun. To FEEL THE PINCH is to be affected by financial hardship. You have less money than you’re used to, so you have to pinch or tighten your budget.
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