Math Picture Books

Using picture books to enhance content instruction is a great strategy that works with learners of all ages. Here are a few reasons why:

• Visuals that typify picture books help make the content more comprehensible for ELLs
• Length of text is shorter than books written for adults or even young adults
• Variety of formats that may engage even reluctant readers
• Wide range of topics covered in picture books

For example, in the K-12 ESL Lending Library, we have a range of picture books about math topics. I have seleted two to highlight as examples of the kinds of books and how you might use them in the classroom.

Cut Down to Size at High Noon 
by Scott Sundby

Book Summary
This corny book set in the Old West is not about a gunfight as you might think from looking at the cover. Rather, it is about scale drawings done by barbers for elaborate haircuts. One barber enlarges small items such as insects to fit on a person's head while the other reduces big objects like a stagecoach complete with a team of horses. As the barbers explain their methodology for their scale drawings, an inset page with graph paper displays their calculations. In addition to "scale," the book also explains the terms "equivalent, proportion, and ratio," all great math vocabulary terms for students in upper elementary grades or older.

Although the conflict in the book pitted the barbers against each other in the tradition of an Old West shoot out, the message of the book is actually about the value of cooperation. So even though the book is primarily about math, the story also teaches a social lesson.

Using the Book in Class
Here are some ideas for how you might use this book with students.
ESL lesson plan
5th Grade Geometry Lesson download

Once Upon a Dime 
by Nancy Kelly Allen

Book Summary

Farmer Worth's tree grows coins and bills. How much money will it produce? As he changes the nutrients provided to the tree, it responds by growing different denominations of U.S. money.

We all know "money doesn't grow on trees," but this book extends the idiom while helping kids become more familiar with U.S. money. For ELs who come to the U.S. from another country, this is an important topic. Students will be engaged by the story as they calculate how much money has grown on the tree each day.

Using the Book in Class
Here's a lesson plan for high school students from the Federal Reserve Bank which references Once Upon a Dime as a related text.

How to Find Books

• Read this TESOL blog post by Judie Haynes about using picture books with ELLs. Check out the links in the post to other book recommendations.
• Visit your local library or school media center and ask for recommendations. Often libraries have recommended booklists available already, or they can assist with a special request.
• Follow teacher bloggers like Pernille Ripp who blog about picture books they have used with students.  See her post, 10 Picture Books That Spark Empathy.
• Search #titletalk on Twitter for all sorts of book recommendations.

Do you have any favorite picture books you've used for a content-focused lesson? I'd love to hear your recommendations in the Comments.

Tips to Make Texts Accessible for ELLs

Once students reach the upper elementary grades, much of the information we share with them is provided through written texts. Whether it's a reading passage, directions for an assignment, or important information about classroom procedures, there is content we expect them to read and understand on their own.

For English Language Learners (ELLs) at lower proficiency levels (e.g. Levels 1-3), they can only make meaning from key words or possibly short excerpts of text. So how do we present written information to them so they can understand? Do we have to have everything read to them or shorten it up so much that it lacks all detail? No, there's a better way!

Steps for Making Texts Accessible to ELLs

1. Remember the different levels of English language proficiency? Take a look at materials provided to you such as the ESL roster at your building and the poster from Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners by Fairbairn & Jones-Vo. Reasonable expectations based on a student's proficiency level by sub-score (e.g. reading, writing, listening, or speaking) are explained in more detail on the poster and in the book. This will help you determine which types and how much text the ELLs in your class can comprehend.
2. Collaborate with an ESL expert such as your building ESL teacher or the district ESL instructional coach. You can check not only about the levels of the ELLs in your class but also how you might best support your ELLs.
3. Sometimes you'll determine that you need to provide a version of the text with additional supports or scaffolding. If that is the case, there are several different approaches. Consider the following:

• Add visuals (Actual photos with students are awesome but even clipart or icons are helpful.)
• Use laddered text sets (texts at different levels about the same concept). The K12 ESL Lending Library has some materials aligned to content areas that Ames teachers can borrow by request.
• Elaborate the text using a site like Rewordify. (See previous blog post for tips on how to maximize use.)

Communicating with Parents Who Have Limited English Proficiency

I have come across several great blog posts recently about how schools and teachers can reach out to parents who may have limited English proficiency. I'd like to share these links with you here.

As a former ELL herself who has since become an ESL teacher, Anabel Gonzalez shares strategies that are culturally sensitive in her EdWeek post, Tips for Connecting with Non-English Speaking Parents.

In a similar vein, Edutopia published an excellent blog focused on communicating at parent-teacher conferences, 7 Helpful Tips for Conferences with Parents Who Speak Minimal English.

Finally, I'd like to mention two technology-related posts to build off Gonzalez's 2nd tip for using technology to help with communication in other languages. First is a post by AHS Technology Integration Coach, Patrick Donovan, about updates to Google Translate App - Scaffold for ELL Parents/Students. Second is a post about Remind Translate. Together, these two apps can provide support for communicating with parents with limited English proficiency.

What's in a Name?

Imagine two different scenarios. 1) You’re new to your job, and your boss keeps butchering your name. You finally give up correcting him and just answer anytime he says anything close to your name. 2) Your unique name isn’t easy to spell, and sometimes people pronounce it wrong, too. However, your new neighbor keeps asking repeatedly until she gets it right. The next time she sees you, it takes her a minute, but she remembers how to say your name correctly. Which situation makes you feel more welcomed and accepted?

While it’s true that many English Learners (ELs) have names that are difficult for native English speakers to pronounce, that doesn’t mean teachers shouldn’t put effort into learning how to say their names. Take for example a program at the University of Iowa’s College of Business where professors are being taught how to pronounce the names of their Chinese students. (Scroll all the way down in the site for some audio clips demonstrating proper pronunciation of Chinese names.) How much more welcoming and engaging is a classroom where the teacher knows how to say a student’s name correctly? Or consider the situation of one Burmese student whose name was incorrectly recorded on her documents, effectively changing her name and altering her identity.

Sometimes ELs are uncomfortable correcting teachers who mispronounce their names, so be diligent in asking if you’re saying it correctly. See the tips in Teachers' Strategies for Pronouncing and Remembering Students' Names Correctly for some practical advice (and also research about why it matters). Another common problem occurs when teachers are not aware of which name (or part of the name) to use for a student. Sometimes teachers ask about a student and confusion arises because different names are being used in different classes for the same student. ESL teachers can often help you with which name to use and how to pronounce it.

Some ELs will elect to use an American nickname. While we should honor the family’s decision about what name to use, we can certainly encourage greater understanding about names and their cultural significance in our classrooms. Consider this sample lesson for elementary students. For more information about naming traditions in different cultures, read Judie Haynes’ blog post, 7 Naming Customs from Around the World. And of course, you can always ask students (and their parents) to tell about what their names mean. They often appreciate you taking the time to ask!

For resources about honoring students' names, take the My Name, My Identity pledge and check out REL Northwest's reference guide, Getting It Right. Hear Names is another site where you can search for the pronunciation of names by gender and origin (e.g. Vietnamese boy names, girl names, and surnames). Colorin Colorado's post about NameCoach is another great resource.

Resources for Learning about Other Cultures and Languages

One of the foundational pieces for learning more about your English Language Learners (ELLs) is finding out more about their cultural background and learning some about their native language (L1). There are resources available online to help you learn more about languages and cultures. Here are a few.

• Rhode Island Teachers of English Language Learners (RITELL) has compiled short Powerpoints about languages and countries from around the world in conjunction with M.Ed. TESL students at Rhode Island College
• Frankfurt International School's Language Differences page provides info on 16 different languages
• Ethnologue provides detailed information on over 7000 living languages from around the world
• Culture Crossing Guide provides basic information about cultural practices including a specific section for students
• Culture Grams is the classic resource now available online courtesy of Heartland AEA Databases (NOTE: Requires login using Heartland login credentials specific to your building)
• Cultural Orientation Resource (COR) Center provides publications about various refugee populations
• Cultural and Linguistic Resources for ELs in Connecticut (and beyond) 19 country cards created through a TAT Program grant at Southern Connecticut State University
• Bridging Refugee Youth & Children's Services (BRYCS) Refugee Populations Resources

We also have some resources available in print in our K-12 ESL Lending Library. Click here to read about them. Colorin Colorado suggests other ways for Educators to learn about their students' backgrounds in their article, and Educational Leadership published an article on the topic, too. Often families are pleased to share more information about their culture if someone shows an interest, so just ask!

Quizlet

Quizlet is a website that allows you to create your own sets of flashcards (including pictures and sound) to practice vocabulary, key terms, or even words in a foreign language. There are four main ways to study the terms plus two different game formats that make studying more exciting. Quizlet even has its own free app that you can download from Google Play or iTunes for study on the go.

Consider how to encourage your students to go beyond just rote memorization of vocabulary terms, though. See the Vocab QR Project made in collaboration with Kathleen Ary, Jeremie Knutson, and Shaeley Santiago.

Another great feature of Quizlet is that you can study sets created by other users. I know there are several Ames teachers who already use Quizlet. Here are usernames for AHS & AMS ESL teachers so you can see the variety of sets created for students: Kendall Schuldt, Shaeley Santiago, and AMS ESL. 

Elaborated Text Using Rewordify.com

One issue that content teachers deal with frequently is finding appropriate, adapted text to use with students who have lower English proficiency levels. Using adapted text allows English Language Learners (ELLs) at lower levels to still have access to core content. The concern is where to find text that doesn't "dumb down" the content but instead uses scaffolding or supports to make complex content accessible to students at lower English proficiency levels. 

This is where the Rewordify website comes in. It allows you to copy and paste (or type in) a text, and then it automatically "rewords" or elaborates the text. An elaborated text is one that contains additional information such as definitions of challenging vocabulary or phrases, images, charts, maps, graphs, or other supports. This allows ELLs to be exposed to academic vocabulary and complex syntactical patterns while providing additional explanations to help them understand. 

Rewordify has multiple styles to display the adjusted text, but I recommend either Inline or Two Column. For more details including a step-by-step description of how to elaborate text, see the document below. 

Example text