English Learner | Imagine This!

Monday, January 10, 2011

The difference a year makes: Khalid’s story

As part of our One Year Later series, we’re sharing the stories of four students who have made remarkable progress with Imagine Learning English in just one year. This is the second post in a four-part series; read part one here.

In November 2009, I met Khalid Ali. We hadn’t actually planned on filming Khalid’s story – his teacher, Susan Rudolph, was speaking with us about a different student, but in the course of our interview she mentioned a boy from Yemen who was using Imagine Learning English.

Posted by Carter in EdTech, English Learners, ESL | 5 Comments »

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Best of the blog: Top posts from 2010

Winter break—it’s finally here. Eager students (and teachers) can enjoy a break from school to rest, rejuvenate, and prepare for the New Year.

Now that school is closed in many districts, you teachers might find yourselves with some extra time on hand. Want to not only enjoy your holiday but also stay sharp with classroom ideas? How about taking a break from holiday festivities to catch up on some of our best blog posts from this past year?

Posted by Paige in English Learners, Struggling Readers | No Comments »

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Why sign language is great for your (hearing) students

It seems logical that sign language—language that conveys meaning visually instead of acoustically—is the natural language of people who are deaf. But what does sign language have to do with your hearing students? Although they might not have a unique need for sign language like deaf children do, your hearing students can certainly still benefit from learning signs.

Learning how to speak, to read, and to write are all very demanding and difficult tasks, but they can be fun and rewarding tasks, too. Teaching with sign language and finger spelling is an excellent way to make language learning enjoyable, and it can also help your students in these three areas: Read more »

Posted by Camille in Early Childhood Education, English Learners, ESL, Lesson plan ideas, Students with Disabilities | 1 Comment »

Thursday, December 2, 2010

New proof supporting summer reading programs

My dad looked like the proudest grandpa in the world as he told my mom and me about spending the afternoon with my seven-year-old niece. He told us about how she had completely wowed him by teaching him something new about orca whales— specifically, the methods they use to hunt. “I just don’t know how she knew all of that,” my dad said. And then my mom revealed the secret to my niece’s whale knowledge: my sister had assigned her children book reports over the summer to keep them school-ready for the coming year. As a seven-year-old, I probably would have considered this idea cruel and unusual punishment. As an adult and education advocate, all I could think was, “My sister is a genius!”

And my niece isn’t the only proof that summer reading programs are working. School Library Journal recently released some interesting results about the proven effects of summer reading.

Posted by Brenda in Early Childhood Education, English Learners, ESL, Struggling Readers, Students with Disabilities | 1 Comment »

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Know-stalgia: Links to my favorite educational clips

If you were a typical kid in the seventies, you watched a lot of Sesame Street and The Electric Company. These two children’s programs taught us how to spell and read using humorous sketches, cartoons, fuzzy puppets, and catchy songs.

I spent many afterschool hours in front of the TV watching Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster, and Bert & Ernie on Sesame Street. After that, The Electric Company’s stars, Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, and Rita Moreno, taught me about reading while making me laugh. These many years later, I still remember (and sometimes can sing along to) my favorite clips.

Whether you work with English learners, students with disabilities, or early childhood education students, these clips are still a great resource for introducing new literacy, spelling, and punctuation concepts in a fun way. Here’s a list of five of my favorites:

Read more »