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How do you spell relief for strugglingEnglish language learners?

“A-k-e-e-l-a-h.” That’s what KimberlyTan recently discovered. The first-yearESL teacher from P.S. 161 in New YorkCity took her fifth-grade students to ascreening of Doug Atchison’s 2006 filmAkeelah and the Bee, about an 11-year-old African-American from South LosAngeles who dreams of winning theNational Spelling Bee. The unusual fieldtrip to the cineplex was particularly

IMMIGRANTSTEACHING AMERICA’S

What’s the biggest challenge facing schools today?Many say it’s helping the one in five students

who are immigrants realize their potential.By Pamela Wheaton Shorr

TO COME

H INSTRUCTOR AUGUST 2006 47

meaningful for Tan’s students. “Therewere so many parallels! Akeelah had tolearn to speak a whole new languagebecause she spoke street slang,explained Tan. “Like our students, shestruggled with the ‘nerdiness issue’—with achievement being undervalued andeven, sometimes, resented.” Most of all,Tan’s students saw someone who reallyhad to work hard on her languageskills—just as they do, and who wasgiven strategies for improvement. “It

gave them such hope,” she says. “Theywere applauding at the end.”

Whether through movies, stories ofimmigration, or a myriad of other out-of-the-box ideas, teachers like Tan are find-ing ways to help immigrant students cre-ate new futures in a new country.

“What’s different for us now, asopposed to when I started teaching 25years ago,” Nevada teacher JanetLeopold told us, “is we all teach ESL.”The numbers bear out Leopold’s observa-

tion. In 2000, one out of five children inthe U.S. was born abroad—more thanten million students. Another seven mil-lion children are U.S. born to foreign-born parents. Overall, the total foreign-born population has more than tripledsince 1970, changing the composition ofour classrooms, especially in whatresearchers call the “new-growth states,”such as Nevada which, in Las Vegas, saw a jump of 214% in new immigrantstudents between 1993 and 2003.

MIGRANTS

Similarly, Nebraska saw a 125% increase,and South Dakota’s immigrant studentpopulation doubled.

These are numbers none of us canafford to ignore. We looked at schoolsaround the country to find truly creativestrategies for teaching immigrant stu-dents that work for ESL specialists andregular classroom teachers alike.

STRATEGY: GIVE KIDS FAST-PACED, HIGH-INTEREST TOPICSTEACHER: TRINA GUNZELSCHOOL: PAYSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, ARIZONAOn the very first day of school, ESLteacher Trina Gunzel sends her studentson a hunt for an unusual treasure: water-melon. As the kids search the school,they internalize the layout and meeteverybody from the janitors to the frontoffice staff.

For Gunzel, the beginning of the yearis all about team building, giving kidsownership, and getting them to under-stand their place in the classroom. Eventheir names are included on the class“word wall.” Kids are asked what theywant to be, their favorite color andfoods—questions that tie them to theexperience of learning new words. It’s important to lower a child’s “affec-tive filter,” says Gunzel, to build a safe,non-threatening environment in which anon-proficient English speaker feels safeenough to make mistakes. Still, somechildren will not speak for a long time.“There is a silent period some childrenwill go through as they learn a secondlanguage,” Gunzel notes, “however, I still encourage them to speak and provide hands-on activities that willinclude them.”

Once the comfort level is established,Gunzel uses a whole language/phonicscombination tied into high-interest-themes to teach her students English asquickly as possible. Speed is important,because the mandate in Arizona is thatstudents must be mainstreamed after ayear in a Structured English ImmersionProgram. Everything is included in thesethemes, Gunzel says: math, spelling,

48 INSTRUCTOR AUGUST 2006

Top: P.S. 161 in Harlem is a 2006 Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Finalist (left toright: Assistant Principal for bilingual education Olga Gonzales, teachers Myra Latis andIgnacia Almonte, and their dual language kindergartners). Above left: Kindergartners at P.S.161 split their time between English- and Spanish-speaking classrooms. Above right: Sixth-grader Marjorie Lozada was the winner of the national Spanish-languagespelling bee. Below: Bilingual teacher Nazda Medina keeps her fifth graders on task.

immigrant students

reading, writing and speaking. Shealways uses non-fiction ideas becausethe kids are then learning real words andconcepts from the curriculum. Take thewatermelon treasure hunt: the childrenlearn real names for different areas ofthe building, deconstruct the wordwatermelon to make new words, and theolder kids in her program do a unit onfractions once the melon is cut up.What’s more, part of the watermelonactivity is sharing a special treat. “I findthat eating together also helps to loweranxiety, Gunzel explains, “and it brings aclass together as a community.”

STRATEGY: REACH STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE TEACHER: OLGA GONZALEZ AND THE TEACHERS OF THE BILINGUAL ACADEMY SCHOOL: P.S.161 IN HARLEM, NEW YORK CITYP.S. 161 is a Pre-K–6th grade school, inthe heart of Harlem, with nearly 900 stu-

dents, half of whom are ELL students. Soevery teacher needs some strategies forworking with English language learners.Olga Gonzalez, Assistant Principal andhead of the Bilingual Academy, says theschool starts by making every effort tomeet kids and parents where they are,with three separate learning ‘tracks’ forELL kids: a dual language program, abilingual program, and an ESL program.What’s the difference? The ESL programis English only— the children are fullyimmersed in English. The bilingualclasses offer core instruction in bothEnglish and Spanish. “Content learningstarts early because there is no languagebarrier,” Gonzalez explains, and parentsconcerned about children keeping up inmath and science as they learn a com-plex new language seem to like thisoption. The third program, dual lan-guage, is the newest offering, and it pro-vides monolingual English- and Spanish-

speaking kids the opportunity to learn asecond language together. Children inthe dual language program move backand forth between two classrooms—oneEnglish-only and the other Spanish-only.Core curriculum is covered in bothrooms—but in different languages andwith two different teachers. The roomslook and feel different, too, with thewalls of the Spanish-only classroom cov-ered with flags and posters from a widevariety of Spanish-speaking countriesthat represent the native lands of manyP.S. 161 students and their families.

No matter which track children are on,P.S. 161 teachers believe that differentiat-ing instruction and offering multipleways to grasp core concepts is critical.“We all focus on modeling and giving oneexample after another until the childrenunderstand,” says teacher Amy Tan. Shealso recommends filling the classroomwith visual learning opportunities—a big

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world map, multicultural art and photo-graphs, and number and word charts.Visual clues really help children pick upon words, says Tan.

STRATEGY: TEACH ENGLISH ON THE STAGETEACHERS: PRESCILLE BROISVERT, DAN KELINSCHOOLS: HAWAII PUBLIC SCHOOLSWhen you’re in a foreign country anddon’t know the language, what’s the firstthing you do? Act out what you want tosay! That’s the idea behind a wonderfuldrama program being used with immi-grant students in West Hawaii.

While most Americans think vacationnot immigration when they think ofHawaii, the nunber of immigrant familiesthere is growing quickly. Incoming stu-dents are primarily Filipino, Marshallese(from the Marshall Islands), and Spanish-speaking students whose parents emi-grated from Mexico and South America

to work in agriculture. ESL Resourceteacher Prescille Broisvert’s programappeals to all of them.

Working with the Honolulu Theatre forYouth (HTY), Broisvert and Director ofDrama Education Dan Kelin are givingnew immigrant students the chance tocreate their own theatrical pieces—whilelearning English!

“Dan insists on collaboration and groupwork,” Broisvert explains, “which allowschildren with different levels of profi-ciency to gain confidence.” The childrensuggest ideas that they would like to seedeveloped—sometimes acting out whatthey can’t say in English—and the group

works together to develop charactersand story arcs. The more fluent childrentake bigger speaking parts, but everyonegets a role. “Comprehension doesn’tseem to be a problem,” Broisvertbelieves, “because they think it’s somuch fun!” The collaborative processpairs kids with limited English withthose who are more fluent, which alsohelps them develop their language skills.

Now in its fourth year, the theater pro-gram reaches students all over Hawaii—Kelin works with ESL students in threeschools per day. Kelin makes sure thedramas use language from a variety ofschool subjects, linking content

In Hawaii, new immigrant students act out skits and plays in English. Comprehension isn’t aproblem, because the kids are having so much fun.” ““

vocabulary from social studies to a polit-ical drama, for instance. So, you say youdon’t have a local theater group to helpyour own budding thespians? You canget some creative ideas for includingdrama in your language program at:www.prel.org/eslstrategies

STRATEGY: MENTORS FOR ELL STUDENTSSCHOOL: ROLLING TERRACE ELEMENTARY GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN“Rolling Terrace is a mini-U.N.,” saysElaine B. Lessenco. An InternationalMagnet School, this Pre-K–5th gradeTitle I school serves about 700 students,with about one-quarter in the ESOL pro-gram. The school offers many programsto help students learn English, but oneof the most effective is a simple mentor-ing program that pairs area senior citi-zens with young immigrant protégées.“It’s fun!” Lessenco says enthusiastically.

Here’s how it works: Children meetfor one hour a week with their English-speaking mentors, playing Scrabble andother games or doing worksheets, learn-ing about American culture, enjoyingmusic, dance and other events. Mentorsdon’t necessarily have to know anotherlanguage to work with the kids. “They gothrough an initial training and have peri-odic in-service meetings,” Lessencoexplains, noting that they also conferwith the ESOL teacher. “What the tutor-ing program does is offer students thathard-to-find one-to-one support.”

The program helps build confidenceand competence in the kids, and therelationships with mentors can last formany years. It’s currently being used intwo elementary schools and a middleschool in the district. “One year, Iworked with a young girl from theDominican Republic, and we communi-cated solely with a Spanish/English dic-tionary,” Lessenco shares. “But by thesecond year, she was fluent!”

Interested in starting your owntutoring program? Tap a local seniorcitizens center. All of Lessenco’s volun-teers are over 55 and love spendingtime with young students.

52 INSTRUCTOR AUGUST 2006

immigrant students

Armed with simple strategies, you

can make a crucial differerence in

how immigrant students and their

families relate to your school. Here

are five strategies recommended by

the Northwest Regional Education

Laboratory. For more ideas, visit

www.nwrel.org

1PAY HOUSE CALLS Even if you visit only once and

briefly, seeing your students’ homes ben-efits you and your students in two ways:You get invaluable insight into a child’sfamily life and support system, and youmake a dramatic demonstration of caringand interest. What better way to fostercooperation between you and parents?

2VISIT ECUADOR!Or Mexico or Ghana or Poland.

Virtual travel, through in-class readingand discussion, will not only make yourimmigrant students feel they have some-thing to share with classmates, but it willalso familiarize you with the customsand culture the kids bring with them.Consider inviting children to bringbooks, games, and music from theirnative land to share with your class.

3LOOK BOTH WAYSIt’s important that your immigrant

students master English, but it’s alsoimportant that the entire class becomemore fluent in today’s multicultural,multilingual world. Consider introduc-ing a few words of Spanish (or Chinese,etc.) into a related social studies unit, oreven during your lesson on fractions!

4BE A RECRUITER Get the word out—through your

church, students’ parents, communitygroups, and neighbors-—that both paidand volunteer positions are available inyour school. You may be able to recruitpeople from within the immigrant com-munity to become certified staff andteachers’ aides, thus providing your stu-dents with great role models and pro-viding you with invaluable assistance.

5INVITE OUTSIDERS INDo you know a Peruvian physician

or a Dominican firefighter? Tap intoexpertise within the immigrant com-munity when planning Career Day pan-els, for help in incorporating immigrantculture into your lesson plans, or astutors and role models.

5 WAYS TO REACH OUT TO ALL YOUR STUDENTS

(Continued on page 75)

STRATEGY: LET KIDS TELL THEIR OWN STORIESTEACHER: BRIAN MARCHANTSCHOOL: MARTIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,GREEN BAY, WI

Children want to read stories about peo-ple like them, and that’s not always easywhen you’re dealing with immigrantsfrom faraway lands. But necessity is themother of invention. Just ask BrianMarchant, who has been an ESL teacherfor the past 16 years, and who workswith a relatively large population ofHmong refugees at Martin, a school ofaround 400. Marchant and his wifeHeather took a trip to China andThailand to visit a refugee camp in the1990s, then wrote a storybook about ayoung Hmong boy who ended up fleeinghis grandfather’s home and going toschool in America.

A Boy Named Chong is written in both

English and Hmong and relates a movingtale that is all too familiar to many of hisstudents. It is the first of six books thatMarchant has created and self-publishedto celebrate his remarkable studentswhile simultaneously teaching them toread, write, and speak the English lan-guage. All the books include translationsinto Hmong, Spanish, or both, and arebased on stories or experiences that arefamiliar to the children. They are illus-trated by local Hmong artists, includingone first grader from the Martin school!Because the books are written mainly inrhyme, they are easy to memorize anddramatize in a ‘reader’s theater.’

Chants and songs, stories, and gameshelp kids use the words they’re learningin a fun way, says Marchant. His booksare just the tip of the iceberg. “I like touse all kinds of paths to the brain,” henotes. In addition to the rhyming books,Marchant also created a Candyland-type

board game that includes high frequencysight words.

He also came up with a uniqueapproach to teaching the English alpha-bet. He asked a friend fluent in Hmong torecord a CD for him that teaches kidsthe phonetic sounds for each letter.Marchant uses the tape in conjunctionwith a picture chart to get kids familiarwith the sounds of English letters beforehe introduces letter names. The sound-first approach is so powerful, saysMartin Principal Karen DeJardin, that theschool has begun using Marchant’smethod for all beginning readers. Bymaking the effort to create his ownlearning tools, Marchant has seen hisstudents blossom. “I’m so pleased,” hesays. “Some are now reading better thanthe English language kids!” nn

PAMELA WHEATON SCHORR IS A FREELANCE WRITER WHO

CONTRIBUTES REGULARLY TO INSTRUCTOR AND SCHOLASTIC

ADMINISTRATOR MAGAZINES.

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