Re: New to ESL -- suggestions needed

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On 7/22/11, Sandy/PA/Title I wrote:
> I am the only ESL certified teacher in my district. I got
> my certification three years ago because we had a Chinese
> student in kindergarten. He wound up not even qualifying
> for ESL services, so I have never taught ESL. But I was
> just notified by my principal that two students are moving
> here from Puerto Rico and they speak very little English.
> They are in fifth and sixth grade.
>
> The principal told me there's money to get materials and
> let her know what I need. Having never actually taught ESL,
> I really have no idea where to begin. Any advice,
> suggestions, etc. are appreciated!
>
> Thank you

There are textbooks such as Hampton Brown's High Point or
Heinle's Visions which are good. They cover reading,
vocabulary, grammar (which is a separate workbook), some
writing, some listening and speaking.
The main focus is reading/vocab and they have four levels, so
you'll need to know which level your students are at. (Have
your students taken a diagnostic or placement test yet?)
In both series, Level A is actually the second level; the
first one is Intro for Visions and Basic for High Point.
If they need a lot of general/basic vocabulary, a picture
dictionary is a good idea. Some good ones are the Heinle
Picture Dictionary and the Oxford Picture Dictionary. Both
come with workbooks too (two levels - Beginning and
Intermediate) which you purchase separately and they also have
other teacher materials if you want them - audio CD's,
posters, etc.
Since your Chinese student three years ago ended up not
qualifying for ESL services, I would suggest you wait until
you really know these students' levels before ordering
materials. Or if you have enough money, order several levels
so that you'll have material for the students to "grow into"
as they advance and so that you'll have them for any future
students you get as well.
I'd also suggest getting a standard bilingual dictionary
(English-Spanish and Spanish-English) for the students to use
as needed.

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