Corey eit Ieee aie H A ND BOO KINTRODUCTION Benoa chain tenis bo? Ttean bea daunting prospect tobe faced with a student who can speak no English. It might make you fee helpless, maybe even resentful. When a »ew student enters the classroom, you ask yourself: What can Ido with this stuclent? How ean [teach him anything if he isnot able to understand ‘even the simplest words in English? How can I, who can’t speaka wont of fis language, communicate with him? What can I best do to help him ‘become a member of this class? Many times our frst impulse is to panic and say, “Send him to someone else—anyone!—who knows what to do.” But resources are not always avallable. There may not be anyone in your dlistrct who can speak your students language. There might not be an ESL specialist available. Even if your school or district has an ESL teacher, she* may be able to spare only two half-hour sessions a week for your student. Or your student may be getting ESL help, but may already have been mainstreamed into your science, math, or socal stlies clas. Ready (oF not, he is there Many books have been written for ESL teachers, but these almost always presuppose a working knowledge of second-language theory, methods, and techniques—and that the teacher is working solely with ESL students. For regular classroom teachers these books are not helpful. You may have ‘sventy-fve students, fifteen native English speakers, and the rest non English speakers. This means that you must meet the needs of many types and levels of students—your regular students who can understand the language and keep up with the mandated curriculum, and your ESL students, who may oF may not have any English at ll, who may or may not know how to read. Being successful with this range of studlents Toquires a totally diferent set of strategies, Chapter Overview This book has been written for those of you who are regular classroom teachers, both elementary and secondary to give you a place to start, and {enough knowledge and strategies to help you cope and to help your ESL students learn. There are things you can do, using the resources you have in the classroom and the community to help. {Town writings clay wil ensuring gender tolans, plural pronouns have Becn ua ‘whenever posse When ube avid geunc singular panne have cen ase -mssculine pronoun reference o students and fern pronouns fees ore‘THE MORE-THANJUSTSURVIVING HANDBOOK In this book we have undertaken to ‘2 Distill the latest research on firs-and second-language learning, literacy theory, and integrating the skils of reading, writing, speaking, and listening ‘= Apply the latest research to the regular classroom that contains both native-Englsh speakers and non-English-speaking students = Suggest activities to foster language acquisition within the context of the regular curriculum. “The activities and methods we suggest have been selected because they are appropriate for both English-speaking and ESL students, Chapter 1, “Fitst Days,” introduces you toa hypothetical classroom made up ofa range of students (both native-English-speaking and ESL students) ‘we have known over the years. We discuss strategies for coping and for helping your ESL students get acquainted with school and classmates. ‘Suggestions are made regarding, immediate activities to occupy these students until they can pick up enough English to function as regular students, This chapter also discusses priorties—things they must know first—as well as how to set short-and long-term goals. Chapter 2, “Testing and Placement, i of special interest to principals ancl counsclors, as well as classroom teachers. We address the issues of placing, the student in the most appropriate grade; measuring reading, writing, speaking, and listening fluency; and strategies for grading, Chapter, “Language Learning —Stuctents and Teachers,” discusses the principles of second-language learning; the factors that affect the suocess (Of the learner, what the teacher ean do to promote success; and behavior— how to understand and assist your student when his behavior is inappropriate. (Chapter 4, “Literacy and the Four Skill,” deals with basic literacy and promoting learning in every class from English to math, Chapters 5,6, and 7, “Reading,” “Writing,” and “Speaking and Listening,” seuss in detail these four skills. We answer frequently asked questions, fgive suggestions for teaching, and show when and how to correct errors. Chapter 8, “Content Area Instruction,” is written specifically for content teachers. We show how to modify lessors so that students, who are not fully fluent in English, can succeed in content-area classe. Chapter 9, “Resources,” discusses the most effective use of other schoo! personnel, such as the ESL teacher, aides, interpreters, and how to tap the resources of your school and community.