Aardvark's English Forum: ESL, EFL, ELT, TESOL, TEFL, TESL Why Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning Differently Copyright © 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. On a holiday Monday, it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Today in Your Health, how different cultures think about the struggle with schoolwork. In this encore presentation, NPR's Alix Spiegel compares learning in the United States with learning in Japan and China. ALIX SPIEGEL, BYLINE: In 1979, when psychologist Jim Stigler was still a graduate student studying teaching, he went on a trip to Japan to do some research and found himself sitting in the back row of a crowded fourth grade math class. JIM STIGLER: The teacher was trying to teach the class how to draw three dimensional cubes on paper. SPIEGEL: In America, it's usually the best kid in the class who's invited to the board. STIGLER: I was sitting there starting to perspire because I was really empathizing for this kid. STIGLER: They've taught them that suffering can be a good thing. UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Mm-hmm.
'Because I Had a Turban' Printer-friendly version In American society, as in many others, religion shapes and informs everything from our language to our social habits. For us, one particular religion plays the hegemonic role: Christianity. It is celebrated both in our calendars — where school breaks often coincide with Christmas and Easter, but rarely with the major holidays of other religions — and in our curricula, through "seasonal" art projects and activities like Easter egg drawings and "holiday" pageants. Christianity is present in the turns of phrase from "turning the other cheek" and being a "good Samaritan," to being a "sacrificial lamb." Taken together, these activities and experiences cause students who identify with Christianity to find their identity affirmed in school. My research into the life experiences of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh students of Indian American backgrounds uncovered the hidden cost of this "normalcy" in public schools. Consider the voice of a 13-year-old Hindu girl from Ohio: 1. 2. 3.
W-APT W-APT stands for the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test. It is an English language proficiency "screener" test given to incoming students who may be designated as English language learners. It assists educators with programmatic placement decisions such as identification and placement of ELLs. Features W-APT test items are written from the model performance indicators of WIDA's five English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards: Social & Instructional Language Language of Language Arts Language of Mathematics Language of Science Language of Social Studies Test forms are divided into five grade-level clusters: Kindergarten Grades 1-2 Grades 3-5 Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12 Each form of the test assesses the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The W-APT is designed to be individually administered and adaptive, meaning that parts of the test may be discontinued as soon as the student reaches his or her performance "ceiling." The Kindergarten W-APT Cost Purpose and Use
English Club ELL/ESL: Getting Started - Set Up an Effective ELL/ESL Classroom Getting Started - Set Up an Effective ELL/ESL Classroom Tobey Bassoff The primary goals of an ESL classroom are to make students feel accepted and safe, while building their English language skills. To this end, I offer a few suggestions when building your classroom to meet the needs of the ESL student: 1) Label everything. 2) Make Number Cards. 3) Make signs that read: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth with the corresponding 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 4) Take pictures of your students and feature them on a board or a door. Questions or comments?
Keyboarding Games for Kids - Learning to Type Games for Kids Keyboarding Games Keyboarding Games Kids love typing games for kids! In fact, these are our most popular learning games on site. Learning Games for Kids presents Typing Adventure. This amazing online learning game for kids is perfect for getting the skills needed to master keyboarding. Each game supports correct finger positioning and encourages reach and keyboard memorization. Though our keyboarding games are used by school districts all over the U.S., many children are using online learning at home as a their main method of education.
USA Geography - Map Game - Geography Online Games "I stumbled upon your fun interactive geography games from a link on the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance Website. Since then, your games have become quite a hit with my competitive colleagues!" --Candice Gomes, Education Outreach Coordinator, Boston Public Library Sheppard Software's geography games were featured in the Boston Public Library's 2006 Exhibition on Mapping! "Terrific online educational games, especially geography." "I am a middle school social studies teacher who also sponsors a geography club after school. "Awesome site... it is the only reason I am passing my World Geography class!" "We love your interactive maps and are using them for 10th grade world history." "Let me say that you guys have an awesome website.
Comic Strip Printables Print comic strip templates and choose from 34 comic layouts that vary from equally sized panels with up to 20 panels to varied sized panels. The files are created by Donna Young of donnayoung.org, home to thousands of high quality printable files. Sequential Art A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or to form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions.1 Books: Expressions and action in comic strips are represented or implied with lines and shapes. Page Contents, The Templates Set: Classic - Comic Strip Templates Set: Arch Top - Comic Strip Templates Set: Set One - Comic Strip Templates Set: 2008 Comic Strip Layouts Below is a printable with many blank circles on which a child can practice drawing facial expressions. Cartoon Faces Printable Cartoon panels The printable comic panel pages in this group feature 1/4 inch gutters with equally sized panels. Under the open top is an arched panel.
Free Printable Stationery for Kids Here we have a growing collection of Autumn / Fall writing paper that you can print and use with... You won't be stuck for inspiration when you explore our huge range of printable bird writing paper... We have two fun designs of writing paper perfect for all your Bonfire Night writing projects. These Chinese New Year writing paper designs and frames come in three formats - blank, with... We have a collection of red, white and blue inspired writing paper for Fourth of July - use to... These Halloween stationery pages are fun for kids to use for thank you letters as well as writing... Here are some colourful writing paper designs for you to print and enjoy with the kids at Hanukkah... We have four cheerful Harvest writing paper designs, all available in lined, handwriting and plain... Print out our special Mother's Day writing paper and frames so that your children can write a... Three writing paper designs specially for St Patrick's Day, useful for all sorts of writing...
Power Points Directions for Adding Music to Power Points: 1. Save the song from the CD on your computer (you might already have done this if the song is in My Music) 2. Open the power point to the first slide. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Your music should play now when you view the slide show. English Grammar Blog - Stay posted when grammar rules change! Sheppard Software: Fun free online learning games and activities for kids. XtraMath