Calculated Risk for ESL Teachers

                 What is a  calculated risk? It's a noun defined as:  

1 : a hazard or chance of failure whose degree of probability has been reckoned or estimated before some undertaking is entered upon

2: an undertaking or the actual or possible product of an undertaking whose chance of failure has been previously estimated

              https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

For us teachers,a calculated risk is giving ourselves and our students a chance to try something different that is defined in the text book.

Find new activities to try. There is a lot of activities to search for on Pinterest, for example. I always find inspiration to create the resources. Instagram is also a great place to see what other teachers are doing, I am happy to find new ways to use the resources. In a personal level, I loved creating the booklet with my students. Now, I include a booklet in all the units, it's fun and creative. It's nice to have a personal collection of books to read over and over again in class or to send home. 

Innovate in your classroom. I know, sometimes it's hard to find innovation for our class. You might say, I have tried everything, but there's always more to give it a try. I love to bring in a new resource to the young learner's class. The feed me box are so cute and I am sure that your students will light up when they see it. It's easy to assemble and carry around with you. This one is made out of a cereal box.

Change practices. A little twist in our lesson planning works wonder with the little ones. I love to include crafts. Yes, it's messy but organization is key. Make the craft yourself and bring it in already done and you will notice the steps to make it easy to recreate with your students in an easy way. 

Try a new method. A new way to do things in class with your preschoolers,to move on to the next activity faster is important.Those extra 5 or 10 minutes are horrible if you don't have anything in hand. That's where games will help you. I have lots of printable  games for you to keep in a bag just for those extra minutes, students can play by themselves and speaking English. I have dominos, game boards, file folder games, Bingos, half card games, puzzles and more.

All my resources are here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

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Facebook groups: 

ESL/EFL Preschool Teachers : https://www.facebook.com/groups/26091497243

ESL/EFL Elementary Teachers

https://www.facebook.com/groups/193945227294353

 

Tailor to your English Language Classroom

 As we write the lesson plan for our specific learners we have to tailor the materials to the students that we have in front of us, to their specific needs, to their abilities and to where they are in their English abilities.

David Nunan "It has been realized that there never was and probably never will be a method for all, and the focus in recent years has been on the development of classroom tasks and activities which are consonant witn what we know about second language acquisition and which are also in keeping the dynamics of the classroom itself"

As a materials writer I keep in mind that each school year your students are completely different from the ones you had last year. I add different resources for different abilities for the Preschool and kindergarten students so you can choose the ones that you need. You can also adapt the materials to your specific group.

I suggest games, the more games that you have the better. Here are the ones available for the transportation unit. Print and have them available for each class. Games usually meet students to the stage they are at their language abilities. Adapt your games to your specific group, challenging them.

The text books for English Language Learners sometimes are short in Practice materials. I used to copy lots of extra worksheets and even made them to suit my students needs, even more for the younger students. I like to include review of previous units, such as numbers, shapes, colors and more.

I got hooked on printable books when I was teaching English to kindergarten in my hometwon, there weren't many English books available and the ones around we so expensive, so I used to include printables as much as I could and send them home to read with their parents. Here is one of the printable book from my resources.

Crafts for each unit. A good way to add fun to any group and to keep their interest. Some groups are so bored and a craft just changes the pace of the lesson.

The Holidays are always there to integrate culture to language. I have seen that the most celebrated Holiday in the English class around the world is Halloween. I love to do Halloween along with specific units.

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End of the School Year Photo Booth for Teachers

 The end of the school is coming for many teachers around the world and a teacher break might be around for others. 

I made this set of photo booth props for the Teacher Appreciation Week Party, get together or reunion. It's fun to take pictures in any gathering and to celebrate that the mission of school year is over.

It's easy to assemble, just glue or tape a barbecue wood stick behind each cutout. That's me ! I had a picture taken for my Instagram and Social Media. 

I was in charge of the photo both which added a fun activity to the Teacher Appreciation Dinner. I also made the photo frame by adding Aguayo fabric to a piece of styrofoam. The theme was Bolivian Culture for the American Teachers that we were appreciating.

 I put all the props in a vase for the teachers to pick any one up and start taking pictures.

The best props are here for FREE! 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-School-Year-Photo-Booth-for-Teachers-8048685

Hope they are helpful for your gathering and I would love to see your pictures. Please tag me or send me an email: ei98srl@gmail.com

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Total Physical Response for Elementary ELL

 A lot has been said about Total Physical Response. Teachers usually do it at the beginning of the school year with their students. It has so many benefits for you and the learner.

I have done it with my classes and even more with the Kindergarten students. It's a way for no translation to the native language. I used to make flashcards with magazine cutouts, yes! no printer around those days. I moved on to make flashcards using clip art, the ones available for FREE. Nowadays, I have included the Commands Flashcards on all the resources from the Kindergarten Series 1 to 30.

So, if you are teaching the Farm Unit, review, reinforce or introduce the classroom commands using the Flashcards.

Teacher: Stand up like the pig!

             Sit down like the sheep! 

         There's also the goat, the cow, the horse and the hen.
             Here is the blog post for more on the flashcards:   https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2022/04/farm-unit-flashcards-for-kindergarten.html

If you have new students, the Greetings unit for Kindergarten English Language Learners have the very basics Classroom Commands that you can place around your classroom. LINK: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2020/08/greetings-theme-for-kindergarten.html

Show your students a command flashcard and have the class mime the action. These are great for those first weeks of the school year. LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Colors-Unit-for-Kindergarten-Holistic-English-Series-2-5956256

There are units that we can use TPR using the flashcards to review the new vocabulary. Here is an example:  Place several Town unit flashcards around the classroom. Show the students the command flashcard and have them go to that place doing the action.

Teacher: Run to the post office!

LINK: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2021/11/town-unit-flashcards-for-kindergarten.html

You can bring the Commands Flashcards for the Playground unit to the playground. Use them to have the students mime each action that they do in the playground.
        Teacher: run! (students mime running in the class)     

LINK: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2021/10/park-playground-unit-flashcards-for.html                                           

           

A lot of more examples at my other blog for Kindergarten English Language Learners that can be used for older students with success. Take a look: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/

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Free Resources for the Elementary ELL

 I have several freebies for you! They are part of the permanent collection at the Teachers pay Teachers  store. There are other freebies that I post for only a few days, so take a look once you are there. LINK to the store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

FREEBIE 1: This is an easy printable book for the early beginners.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Book-for-Kindergarten-EFL-1237468

Remember to leave a comment after you download the resource to get extra credits at the TPT store for when you want to make any purchase. Also leave comments for any other resource that you have downloaded either free or paid from any other seller in the store and grab your extra credits.

FREEBIE 2: This is a free resource for the Beach Unit. It comes with Beach Numbers 1 to 12 flashcards, and a printable sentence association game.

LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beach-Numbers-for-Elementary-EFL-4079286#show-price-update

It is part of the Beach Resource for Elementary ESL Students.https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2018/09/beach-unit-for-elementary-esl-learners.html

Freebie #3. As EFL Teachers we should have little Birthday Certificates to give away. Just print and fill them out ahead of time and ready to hand in throughout the school year. There is more to this free resource. Check out the blog post and follow the LINK! 

https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2013/02/birthday-theme.html

Freebie #4. Community Helpers Flashcards in Spanish. I know that many teachers need flashcards in Spanish, which is my native language. I can make more upon request. LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Community-Helpers-Flashcards-in-Spanish-5619518

take a look!

Freebie # 5. There is a group of teachers that need Flashcards in Spanish. I made these available for FREE, but I will accept requests for any other theme of flashcards that you might need. Download your flashcards here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/El-Clima-Flashcards-The-Weather-Flashcards-in-Spanish-5342516

Freebie # 6. Easy to print and put together Family Members Puppets. Here is the link to download the file.   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Family-Unit-Puppets-4824345

Here is a closer look of the puppets.

Freebie # 7. Getting your students ready to write their name on worksheets, handouts or anything else. Here are 3 FREE worksheets to introduce the name. CLICK here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Name-Worksheets-for-the-Kindergarten-EFL-2836216

Here is the link to the blog post: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2016/10/name-worksheets-for-preschool-ela.html

Freebie #8. I made a new resource for the same Seasons unit and just put this one for FREE to use with your Elementary English Language Learners. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Seasons-Unit-for-Elementary-ESL-5403227 

It includes: Seasons Flashcards, Spelling Bingo, Tracer Book, Picture and words cards, worksheets,clothes book. Check the blog post: https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2020/04/seasons-unit-free-resources-for.html

Freebie #9. This is a short printable book for the end of the school year that wraps up the units worked on. Download it here for FREE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-For-Elementary-EFL-5934773

Here is a video on the book.

Freebie #10. These simple like plates are great to sort the fruit likes or the food items likes. You can even use it for the pets likes or any other. I used paper plates and the cutouts. It is free!!!   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fruit-likes-plates-2357249

Freebie #11.There are many spelling activities that you can do with the bottle caps. The template is for FREE. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Number-Bottle-Caps-2155938

Freebie #12. This is a resource that can go along your Birthday Unit. Just balloons! It includes: Number balloons Flashcards from 1 to 10, a Class Book and a Memory Game. All in black and White and colored versión.

Get it for free:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Balloon-Theme-for-Kindergarten-EFL-854092

Freebie #13. End of the school year props for pictures.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-School-Year-Photo-Booth-for-Teachers-8048685

I will add more freebies to this list so check back often and also on social media. Follow me!!