

Lesson Plans

we call it ESOL

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
Ron Pachter (rpachter)
Thu, 4 Jul 1996 23:07:57 -0400

State of Florida had a lawsuit that claimed we weren't doing enough for
students who had English as a second language. So we now have a whole
separate certification for ESOL--English for Speakers of Other Languages.
It was hastily (in my opinion) put together at first, but the University
system has at least embraced the need and there are classes available. I
was lucky, having taught some English here at first, I was "grandfathered"
and had to only take some video classes and write some papers for 60 hours
of credit. ANYWAY--if I can find the folder or retrieve it from who I
loaned it to, there are not necessarily some lesson plans, but some common
sense items on how to "reach" the ESOL student. Most good teachers I know
were doing many of these things anyway, for example, having the student sit
near the front of the room, assigning a peer helper, using demonstrations
when possible, synonyms, patience, etc.

In art, there are probably fewer problems than in other disciplines due to
the sheer nature of the stuff we do. (stuff we do--now that was real
intellectual)If you or anyone needs some "supplemental" paperwork, let me
know and I'll try to retrieve my files. At worst, we actually have an ESOL
teacher at my H.S. who works with these kids and targets their problems.
I'm sure this is a problem for selected states while others would have very
few. By that, I mean, for instance that California, Texas and Florida have
such a large immigration population that in some schools there is a
significant population of ESOL students, while other states wouldn't have
nearly as many. I am open to be very wrong, just an observation. I've
rambled. Let me know if I can help anyone. I've found this list to be very
informative to me already. Hope to help back.
Marlyn Foell
Art teacher, Florida's Space Coast (where it's HOT.)