English Lesson #1

Today I met with my newcomers (i.e. students who just moved to the U.S. and don't speak any English) for the first time. The four students are all brothers/sisters/cousins. The two girls are in the fifth grade and the boys are in first and second.

I picked them up for the 37.5 minutes. We sat in a circle on the rug in my library and I introduced myself saying "Hi. My name is Ms. M." Then I gestured and encouraged one of the girls to introduce herself. We had to say "Hi. My name is" a few times together before she got it. Then the other sister tried. By this time the younger ones had caught on to what we were doing and introduced themselves. (I had previously tried to do this with just the first grader alone and he just looked at me with a scared, confused look on his face.) Next, we practiced going around the circle introducing ourselves and then shaking hands saying "Nice to meet you." It took a couple of times to get that we only shake hands when saying "Nice to meet you" and not "My name is."

Next I showed them a book and said "book." They each repeated the word quite easily. Then, I shrugged my shoulders and turned both of my palms up and asked with a confused look on my face, "What is this?" I answered myself "This is a book." After modeling a few times, I finally was able to ask the students "What is this" and have them respond "This is a book." Then they took turns asking and answering about a pencil and a paper.

And that was the end of our time.

This method of teaching English is what I learned teaching in Italy at a private language school called Inlingua. It works really well for learning English from zero because students start speaking right away. Slowly the vocabulary builds up until they can make sentences on their own.

I was really pleased with how today went. I wasn't exactly sure how it would work out having not only family members together but such a difference in grade level. It actually was a good combination because the older ones catch on more quickly to what we are doing and the little ones can follow their lead. When they are really confused the older ones can give an explanation in Spanish ("No. Don't repeat what she said. Answer the question. 'This is a book.'"). Also, all four of them were so happy to see each other at the end of the day. After spending six and a half hours in a room with strangers and being spoken to in mostly English all day I can imagine that it must have been a relief to see familiar (Spanish speaking) faces. They did get quite a case of the giggles during the last five minutes so I'll have to watch out for that.

I'll be seeing these four together for thirty minutes each morning and then after school for 37.5 minutes. I'll also see them with their grade level groups throughout the day.