Teaching English Language Learners K-12

The valuable classroom experience in the authors background and a genuine sensitivity for his students needs are evident on every page of clear prose. The practical information included here addresses the major issues in educating language minority students, without overloading the new teacher with extraneous matter.

What a gift this book will be to ESL teachers . . . How I would have loved such a book when I was charged with the responsibility of teaching ESL students in years past.

Entertaining and straightforward, Teaching English Language Learners K-12 guides teachers past common pitfalls and into what actually works for English learners, whether they are learning through immersion or bilingual methods.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jerry Jesness's commonsense guidebook for teachers of English Language Learners. It is easy to read, jargon-free, and clear. Anyone who helps children learn English as a second language will find this book to be immensely helpful.

In Jesness' twenty-five year career as an educator, he has worked with English learners in a number of environments. He has taught ESL in public middle and high schools, special education for bilingual children at the elementary level, and language arts and social studies in classes that included both English learners and regular education students. Jesness has also taught students privately, ranging from preschoolers to top executives of multinational corporations. Over the years, he has worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, for public schools near the Texas-Mexico border, for Berlitz Language Schools, and for small, privately owned language schools in Mexico and Japan.

Jesness holds a BA in English from the University of Minnesota, Morris, and earned an MA in Spanish and an ESL teaching endorsement from the University of Texas, Pan American. He was the first non-Hispanic to earn a graduate degree in Spanish literature from UT Pan American. Jesness currently lives in League City, Texas with his wife and three daughters, and teaches Spanish and ESL at Victory Lakes Middle School. His email address is furnes@yahoo.com.

Preface Acknowledgments About the Author 1. The Joys and Challenges of Teaching English as a Second Language The Joys of Teaching ESL The Challenges of Teaching ESL Travel the World With or Without Leaving Your Classroom It's More Than a Job, It's a Mission 2. Your Students ESL, ELL, LEP, and Other Acronyms Placement in Bilingual and ESL Programs SEP Students (Someone Else's Problem) Inclusion and Support in Regular Classrooms 3. Your Toolbox The Textbook Other Books Realia: Pictures, Maps, Charts, Toys, and More Audio Tapes and CDs Gadgets Galore Paying for Your Tools Getting Help from Volunteers Getting Advice and Help from School Personnel 4. How Much? How Soon? How Fast? BICS and CALP Pie-in-the-Sky Goals Is One Year Enough? When Should Students Exit to Regular Classes? Steep Hills and Frustrating Plateaus Motivation Inside and Outside of Class Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 5. Using the Learners' Native Language in the Classroom Don't Force Them to Go Mute What Works Best in the Students' Native Language Consider the Language and Culture of the Community Use Time Limits Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 6. Natural and Unnatural Approaches to Learning English The Natural Approach: Learning English by Hearing It and Speaking It Applying First Language Skills to Second Language Learning Balancing Experiential and Analytic Approaches Using Total Physical Response (TPR) Language in the Foreground and the Background Winning Over the Skeptics in Your School Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 7. Building Vocabulary: They'll Need Lots Enjoying the Path to a Large Vocabulary Learning from the Movies Teaching Vocabulary with Picture Dictionaries Using Vocabulary from the Native Language Using Vocabulary From the Native Language Using Vocabulary from the Native Language Building Vocabulary with Word Blocks Idioms and Other Confusing Expressions Look It Up!: Learning English with Dictionaries Electronic Dictionaries Those Boring Vocabulary Lists Layered Vocabulary Learning Sidebar: Working with Younger Students Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 8. Grammar: The Skeletal System of the Language Me Very Grammar When to Start Grammar Lessons English Grammar Isn't as Tough as We Think Freebies: When English Grammar Matches the Learner's Native Language The Garden Path to English Grammar Pronoun Cases Implicit and Explicit Grammar Instruction Pattern Practice Makes Perfect: Well, not Really, But It Works Grammar in Action: Questions, Answers, Jokes, and Conversation Tag, You're It: Converting Statements to Tag Questions Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 9. Listening Skills: The Gateway to Language Learning with a Tape Recorder or CD Player Learning with Software: The Rosetta Stone, Instant Immersion, and Other Programs The Great ESL Film Festival Dictations Encouraging Listening as a Stand-Alone Skill Teaching with Minimal Pairs: Bit, Bet, Bait, Beet, Bite Sidebar: Working with Younger Students Chapter 10. Now Say It: Teaching Spoken English The Direct Method Controlled Conversation Role Playing Student-to-Student Teaching Recitals Using Media and the Language Lab Teaching Pronunciation (Speech Therapists Can Help!) Using the International Phonetic Alphabet Error Correction: When and How Often Let Your Students Correct You Too Speaking Practice Outside of Class Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 11. Teaching Reading When Students Are Struggling Readers in Their Native Language Quick-Start Phonics for English Learners The Constant Consonants Those Tricky Vowels Decoding Skills and Background Knowledge Graphic Organizers Sidebar: Working with Younger Students 12. Writing It Right Getting Started Writing Begins with Spelling Gadgets and Media Again Th