![]() It’s almost summer vacation! Which means parents are starting to think about how to keep their children entertained for the long holiday. Summer is a time for kids to take a break from academics and recharge. However, we don’t want kids glued to their iPads all summer! Reading everyday is always recommended, but what else can your child do to continue their language development? Here are 25 fun ideas to try this summer! ![]()
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This month at KISJ, all elementary students and their parents will get a chance to participate in "Student-Led Learning Exhibitions," which you may also know as "student-led conferences."
What is Student-Led Learning Exhibition? This is an opportunity for students to lead a conference about the academic progress they have made over the school year. The key is that this event is student-led. Teachers will be present in the classroom but will not be discussing individual grades or progress, as the students will be in charge of leading the discussion with their families. Why is it important? Students will take ownership of their learning experience, showing their families what they have learned, and leading the discussion (vs. a traditional conference where the teacher leads discussion). This is an opportunity for students to reflect on their goals and the growth they have made this year. This format promotes the KISJ Fundamental 4 Dragon Values: respect (showing respect to parents by welcoming them as guests in their classrooms), responsibility (students taking responsibility for their learning), collaboration (students collaborating with parents to have them participate in engaging learning experiences), and communication (communicating about goals and progress made). How are Student-Led Learning Exhibitions powerful for ELL students? This format is student-centered, focusing on what the student can do. Student-led exhibitions build confidence and independence, and allow ELL students to take pride in their success and reflect on the growth they have made. During the exhibitions, students can communicate in their home language with parents to show their learning and talk about their goals. This rich conversation can begin at school and continue at home. Student-led learning exhibitions are a celebration of student success. Parents will receive more information on Student-Led Learning Exhibitions at KISJ from teachers in the coming weeks. We all look forward to welcoming you back to KISJ for this exciting opportunity! In case you missed our "Alternatives to Hagwon 3: Supporting Reading at Home" presentation. Below are a few barriers and tips to help motivate your child in reading. Remember, you are also a role-model. It is important that you model a positive attitude towards reading at home as well. Read aloud to your child, set family reading times, or listen to your child read and discuss the book together.
Confidence is a tricky idea. It is something that everyone needs in order to achieve the goals they set, improve their skills, and even start friendships. So much in school, and in life, requires a person to be confident in new and challenging situations. But what does confidence actually look and sound like? I define it as having the belief that you have the ability to reach your goals or meet challenges. It is a difficult idea to define but without confidence a child will not be able to reach their amazing potential. How do we as educators and parents build confidence in our children?
1. Focus on your child's strengths. At any given moment in a student's education there will be skills and understandings that they need to work on and get better at. Yet we shouldn't focus completely on the work a child has to do. Our students, especially as English learners, need to know that what they've been doing is challenging and celebrate the progress they've made. Meeting the rigorous standards that are set at our school in an additional language is a tremendous challenge and I am impressed every single day I work with the students at KISJ. Remember to remind your child that you are proud of their effort and resilience in their studies. The following are some ideas for the type of praise you could give your children to help build their confidence:
2. Set, track, and reflect on goals. Successful learners set goals for themselves and measure their progress. Most importantly they reflect on the work they’ve put into achieving the goals and learn something about themselves. It is helpful to set goals that focus on the process of learning rather than the product of learning. For example, a goal that can help build confidence in your child could look like: “I will read an English book for thirty minutes, five times a week.” We know that successful readers keep a reading habit. By setting a goal for daily reading and tracking his or her progress, your child can learn to see that they have control over their learning. This, in turn, will help develop their sense of confidence. The following are some reflection questions that might help in the process:
3. Remember to focus on the process of learning, not the product of learning. We are showing your children how to become independent learners, not simply to comply with what we ask of them. When your child shows improvement in a subject, no matter how small, this is something to feel good about. Elementary school is a formative experience. When your child receives a grade that they’re not satisfied with it is an opportunity for growth, nothing else. Becoming a confident and independent learner takes time and effort. Education is much more like a marathon than a sprint and it helps to remember this. With patience and understanding, we can help our children become more confident learners. ![]() When we see an iceberg, the portion which is visible above water is, in reality, only a small piece of a much larger whole. We often view culture in the same way; identifying a culture by only what we see. Immersing ourselves in international schools requires us to engage with different cultures as much as different languages. In order to truly succeed we need to learn about one another’s cultural core values (what’s below the surface of the iceberg). As teachers in an international school we need to learn about our student’s cultures to better relate to and gain their trust and confidence. We can do this through conversation, journal writing, and incorporating cultural aspects into projects and class activities. By getting to know our student’s cultural core values we can better respond to their needs and differentiate our instruction. It is also important for students and their families to learn about their teachers and classmates varying cultures as well. By having a better understanding of different cultures, students and parents can have a clearer vision of the school and teacher practices. Education is a team sport; we need to all work together to ensure students receive the best education they can. By taking a vested interest in each other’s cultures, we can work together as a stronger, more unified team. ![]() As ELL teachers our main job is to support language development. We help students develop their English skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. As parents at KISJ you are very familiar with the fact that for the past year and a half the ES ELL teachers have focused their support in Reader’s Workshop. So, let’s talk reading. The components of reading are: decoding, fluency, rate, comprehension, and metacognition. Decoding is the ability to break apart the sounds of a word in order to in order to say that word. Decoding is related to pronunciation. Fluency is the ability to read as we speak, in a smooth way and with expression. Rate is how fast or how slow you read. Comprehension is the ability to understand what you read. Background knowledge and vocabulary are key aspects of comprehension. Finally, metacognition is thinking about how you think. Metacognition in reading is the ability to talk about how you figure something out in the text. It is important to note that some components of reading, like decoding, are more emphasized in younger grades, as students engage in the study of phonics. In older grades, an important switch happens. In lower Elementary students are learning to read and in upper Elementary they read to learn. Because of this switch, comprehension and metacognition are reading components that are greatly capitalized in the older grades. Although Reader’s Workshop is a method to teach reading, it provides us, ELL teachers, with the perfect platform to help develop all four domains of language. Within the Workshop students engage in meaningful activities that not only support reading, but also support the development of writing, listening and speaking. Together with the Homeroom Teachers we ensure that students are engaged in relevant activities and have the language to be successful in them. At school, on a daily basis, your child is engaged in activities that will help improve his/her academic English. As a parent it would be beneficial if you could provide your child with opportunities to practice his/her social English. Say, a holiday trip to an English speaking country. Now, wouldn’t that be fun! While we are very proud to be developing our students' English skills in all four language domains (reading, writing, listening, and speaking), it is important for us to recognize the value in maintaining students' home languages. Did you know that being bilingual (or multilingual) has some amazing benefits?
1. Being bilingual has positive effects on the brain! Studies show that being bilingual has cognitive benefits, such as having a better attention span and being able to multi-task better than monolinguals. Bilingualism can also reduce the risk of having a stroke and less cognitive decline as one ages. Children as young as seven months who are exposed to more than one language tend to adjust better to changes in their environment. 2. Bilingualism gives you an educational advantage! Many of the cognitive benefits mentioned above can also mean that bilinguals have an advantage at school or further education. Many studies show that those who speak another language are more likely to be less distracted and more focused on tasks. Even bilingual children who are educated in their second language have been seen to outperform monolingual students in their native language! 3. Languages are highly valued in the workplace Speaking another language has many employment benefits. Being bilingual means that there are more job opportunities. Communication in the workplace is important, and more companies are considering bilingualism a high priority. 4. Being bilingual has been linked to health benefits There have been many studies proving that being bilingual can benefit your health. Researchers recently found that there is growing evidence to suggest that bilingualism can delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Other benefits of being bilingual include things such as a faster stroke recover and lower stress levels. 5. Speaking more than one language makes you more open-minded! One of the benefits of being bilingual can mean that you see the world in different ways. Bilinguals are used to constant change. This means that they are usually less effected by changes in the environment, and more open-minded to new things and new experiences because they have more than one view of the world already. 6. Speaking a foreign language can be highly beneficial when you travel Being able to communicate with the locals and immersing yourself in the language and culture of your travel destination can make your travel experience so much more enjoyable! 7. Being bilingual opens up new social opportunities Bilinguals can make friends in more than one language, meaning more opportunities to meet new people and enjoy different hobbies and activities. Being able to communicate with people from other cultures can open up many opportunities in life. 8. Knowing more than one language helps you to learn additional languages An amazing benefit of being bilingual is that you can learn additional languages more easily than monolinguals. This is because language skills reinforce each other, so if you have learned a second language already, then learning a third means transferring those skills over. 9. Being bilingual means you can raise bilingual children What better advantage than being able to pass on your languages to your own children so they can gain the benefits of being bilingual, too! 10. You are not the minority if you are bilingual! Being bilingual means you are NOT the minority, as more than half the world speaks more than one language on a daily basis. In many countries, bilingualism is considered the norm. Everyone should have the chance to learn a second language and gain the benefits of being bilingual! Source: https://bilingualkidspot.com/2017/05/23/benefits-of-being-bilingual/ During the ELL Coffee Talk, we mentioned the importance of play & Language development.
Below are links to further readings and research regarding the importance of play. Here is an article from The Atlanta Speech School with strategies for parents. Playing With Words 365 offers some more ideas and strategies for parents help their young children to develop language through play. Literacy trust outlines ten reasons why play is important to language development. "Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold." Joseph Chilton Pearce If you need help with vowel sounds, here is a great resource from our ES Learning Specialist, Ms. Ko. Check out her blog here! One concern we often hear from KISJ parents is about their children's English pronunciation. How can their child improve his or her pronunciation? How can their communication become clearer? How can a parent help at home? In today's blog post, we are going to discuss a few practical strategies you can use to help your child's pronunciation. Read Out Loud Reading at home is a major part of a child's reading and language development. Hopefully your child has access to enjoyable and level-appropriate books at home and has developed an English reading habit. A simple yet effective way to help your child is to have them read their English books out loud. English learners need practice with the mechanics of forming English words. As your child reads out loud, he or she will practice forming the English words with their mouth and this will help them in natural conversation. If you want to take this practice to the next level, you can record your child reading aloud and listen to it together. You can listen for particular words that are difficult and work specifically on those. Get into English! Another way to help your child's pronunciation is to increase the amount of time that he or she encounters native English speakers. This means that watching English movies, listening to English radio and podcasts can actually help your child learn! English learners need models for correct pronunciation and the more time that your child spends listening to a native English speaker, the easier it will be for him or her to recognize English sounds. Below we have listed a few child friendly websites that have fun listening exercises: http://www.elllo.org/ https://www.esl-lab.com/ Practice, Practice, Practice English learners need practice pronouncing English sounds. The most successful English learning speakers are those that practice at school. You can help your child improve by encouraging him or her to speak English while at school. Your child has a great opportunity each day to become a better English speaker! Here is a link where you can find many speaking apps. (Tell About This is very good!) If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact your child's grade level ELL teacher. |
AuthorThe Elementary ELL team! Archives
March 2019
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