Volume 2, Number 3, Term 3, 2001
A newsletter for coordinators and teachers of English as a Second Language in Victorian government schools
Further down the stream
Two years after ESL in the Mainstream
At least half of the
Teachers talked about being culturally
approximately 250
inclusive in classroom organisation and
students at Altona
curriculum content, as being important
North
Primary
long term outcomes from the course, as
School are from language backgrounds
well as knowledge of the students’
other than English, many of them from
backgrounds and life experiences. There
Arabic and Vietnamese speaking families.
have also been developments in the way
First impressions of the school certainly
Multicultural Education Aides work within
suggest that this is a school which is aware
the school.
of, and values, the diverse cultural
Before ESL in the Mainstream, there was a
backgrounds and experiences of its
strong body of knowledge within the
students.
school about who the students were and
The school motto is “Consider others”. Wall
what they needed. A number of practices
hangings in the foyer show students’
and structures to support those students
interpretations of the motto. There are
were already in place. The course has
brochures about English classes for parents
further developed and reinforced those
in the local community and explanations in
elements of whole school and classroom
more than one language on the school’s
practice. It has contributed to shared
introductory brochure. Signs to the office
understandings
between
teachers,
are in English, Vietnamese and Arabic.
administration and support staff, and
about the school in which they work and
In 1999, the staff undertook the ESL in the
its diversity.
Mainstream Teacher Development Course.
Two years after the fact it is difficult to pin
down exactly what part of the school
culture or practice is attributable to what.
As one teacher commented, “I’m not
consciously aware where my practices
come from. I know ESL in the Mainstream
still permeates my thinking and planning,
and my awareness of being culturally
inclusive. We have a lot of explicit talk
about
specific
cultural
practices,
celebrations for example and I’m always
aware of trying to reinforce and value all
cultures and broaden their horizons.”
The ESL in the Mainstream Teacher Development Course is still being run in Victorian
schools. For further information, see http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/lem/esl/eeslm.htm
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Professional development opportunities in term 3!
ESL activities:
Date
See www.sofweb .vic.edu.au/lem/esl/epdact.htm for further details.
Event
Venue
August 21
Reading and Writing with ESL Learners in Years 3 and 4
LMERC
August 28
Supporting ESL Learners in the Middle Years
LMERC
September 4
Shakespeare – the play’s the thing
LMERC
Multicultural Education activities:
See www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/lem/multi/mprof.htm for further details.
August 9
Inclusive Early Years Numeracy Games
LMERC
August 16
Racism No Way!
Concord School
August 23
Sticks and Stones Forum: Tackling Racist Bullying
LMERC
August 30
Folktales and Storytelling
LMERC
September 6
Racism No Way!
Oakleigh PS
VATME activities:
See www.acta.edu.au/vatme/pd1.htm for further details.
August 8, 15
and 29
Advanced web-site maintenance
Princes Hill PS
Tuesdays, from
July 17
Early Literacy and the ESL Learner
Wallarano PS
August 16
Using Newspapers in Year 10 – VCE classrooms with
ESL Students
LMERC
September 1
VCE ESL student day
University High
School
September 5
Use of on-line discussion forums for Multicultural
Education Aides
To be
announced
And coming up in Term 4…
October 8 - 14
Refugee Week
Refugee Week is an annual event on the AUSTCARE calendar. A range of
events is planned in various locations around Victoria . For further
information, see http://www.austcare.org.au.
October 9
Mohammed Ali’s Happy Day Feast
LMERC
This activity will highlight the work of the Red Cross
Tracing Service with refugees in Australia and around
the world.
November 11
and 12
ESL Conference – see page 3
Promoting Parnerships: the ESL learner and schools
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Hilton on the
Park
Promoting Partnerships:
The ESL Learner and Schools
November 11 and 12, 2001
Why the English language is hard to learn…
Perhaps it’s because, in English;
• your nose runs and your feet smell,
• you fill in a form by filling it out,
English is the great
vacuum cleaner; it sucks
• an alarm goes off by going on,
in anything it can get.
• you recite at a play and play at a recital,
• you ship things by truck and send cargo by ship,
David Crystal
• a slim chance and a fat chance are the same,
• sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat,
• there is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger,
• quicksand can work slowly,
• boxing rings are square, and
• when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they
are invisible.
Or perhaps there are other reasons. Associate Professor Kate Burridge from the
Department of Linguistics, La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus will explore
some of the reasons for the complexity of the English language and learning it in her
keynote address on the first day of the ESL Conference for 2001.
The conference, Promoting Partnerships: The ESL learner and schools, will be held on
November 11 and 12, 2001 at the Hilton on the Park, Wellington Parade, East
Melbourne. The first day’s program will also include the opening and welcome to
the land, addresses by five featured speakers and the conference dinner.
The second day of the program will begin with a keynote address by Professor
Beverly Derewianka, Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong (currently
seconded to Hong Kong University), on the topic of the literacy and ESL
partnership. This will be followed by two sessions of workshops and papers, with a
closing ceremony to finish the day and the conference.
Calls for papers have been distributed to schools and include a return form for
individuals to express interest and then receive a registration brochure. It is
anticipated that registration brochures will be mailed to schools in mid August with
early bird registration available until mid September.
For further information see www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/lem/esl/econf01.htm or to
register your interest and receive a registration form, contact the ESL Conference
Secretariat, Professional Conference Services, telephone 9530 6777.
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Text list now a database
A list of texts being used for text study purposes with secondary ESL students
has been available on SOFWeb since Term 4, 2000. This list has now been
annotated and the information converted to a database which appears on
SOFWeb at www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/lem/esl/index.htm.
The database provides teachers with information about texts which are
currently being used in a number of Victorian secondary schools. The titles of
the texts and year levels at which they are being used were supplied by twenty
secondary schools in a survey completed in Term 1, 2000.
Included on the database are bibliographic details about the texts and
annotations, which list alternative versions (abridged or full length texts, film,
TV or video, audio tapes) and support materials which are available. Those
resources held in the LMERC library are marked with an asterisk.
Searching the database
The search options page contains the
following fields:
• Print type
• Title
• Year level
• Author
• Director
• Type of text
• Theme
Criteria can be entered in any one or more of these fields to perform a search.
Once criteria has been entered, clicking
on the search button produces a list of
results. Each text is displayed with
author, print type, year level/s and
brief abstract. The title is hyperlinked
to the full record for the text which can
then be printed out. Buttons for
returning to the search listing or
performing a new search are found at
the bottom of each page.
Adding to the database
Teachers are encouraged to make further contributions to the database and
can do so through SOFWeb. Tips or comments on using particular texts which
are already on the database would also be welcomed and included in the
notes on the text.
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Classroom ideas
Games for Primary ESL Students
Tina Varga, Blackburn English Language School
We all know how good games are for ESL students for their language and
social development. The games listed below are commercial games I’ve used
successfully with primary aged students and can highly recommend. There is
minimal, or in most cases, no reading required so the games can be used with
students with little or no English.
Guess Who (Milton Bradley) is a game for two players whereby each student
must guess the identity of a character chosen by the other student by asking
questions and working through a process of elimination.
Twister (Milton Bradley) is a game for two to six players but four is optimal.
Twister reinforces left and right and the colours red, yellow, blue and green. It is
enjoyed by students of all ages and is also a good game for the LOTE
classroom.
Secret Square (University Games) is a game for two to eight players. This
game is made up of 96 tiles with pictures of everyday objects. A red token is
hidden under one of the tiles and students must guess where the red token
has been hidden by asking questions such as, ‘Is it something you eat?’ or ‘Is
it an animal?’
The Cat in the Hat (University Games) is based on the book by Dr. Seuss, and
is for lower to middle primary students. It reinforces the vocabulary in the
story and the recognition of letters in the alphabet and is for two to four
players.
Green Eggs and Ham (University Games) is also based on the book by Dr.
Seuss. This game is good for middle to upper primary students. It reinforces
rhyming words from the story and can be played with two to four players.
Quizmo (Sight Words – Set 1, Media Materials) is a Bingo game using the first
110 sight words, which can be used with a large number of students and
enjoyed by students of all ages.
Stone Soup (Gamewright) is based on the traditional tale of the same name
and is suitable for middle to upper primary students. The game consists of a
pack of cards with pictures of the ingredients, including stones, going into the
soup. The cards are dealt equally among the players and the aim of the game
is for players to get rid of all their cards, especially those with a stone. To do
this they must play the ingredients of the soup in the required order, and if
they can, try to sneak in a stone. They are allowed to bluff, but if their bluff is
called they must collect all the cards in the pile. A very entertaining game.
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White Rabbit (Ravensburger) is a very basic game for young children but
older children enjoy it as well. The aim of the game is to get six rabbits by
rolling the dice, moving around the octagonal board and picking up the top
card. The cards are numbered one to six and there is also a white rabbit. The
player who picks up the white rabbit can take a card from one of the other
players. This game is for two to four players and can be used successfully
with new arrival students.
Two Way (Smart Kids) is a good game for middle to upper primary students
with some English and knowledge of three letter words. The game is made up
of letter tiles (yellow tiles for the consonants, red tiles for the vowels) and a
series of cards for the tiles to be placed on. Players must make two three letter
words (one vertical and one horizontal with a common letter). The player
with the most completed cards is the winner.
Antonyms (Smart Kids) comes as a box with twenty self-correcting puzzles
with words and pictures of opposites. These puzzles can be used with one or
more students at a time. Students can work either individually, in pairs or a
small group and the games is suitable for all ages.
Animal Babies (Smart Kids) also comes as a box with twenty self-correcting
puzzles with words and pictures of animals and their young. Like Antonyms,
it can be used in a number of ways and is suitable for all ages.
Fish (Fundex Games) is a card game for two to four players of all ages. Each
player must ask another player for a card of a particular fish. The aim is to get
a set of four cards. The player with the most sets of four is the winner.
Snakes and Ladders is a classic game for two to four players and suitable for
students of all ages. It is good for learning numbers up to one hundred and
can easily be played with new arrival students.
I hope you find these games useful for your children. They certainly have
been for mine.
THANKS
Have fun playing!
Many thanks to Tina Varga for making the
time to share her ideas on games and to Don
Smith, Elisabeth Paterson, Lynette Soto and
Glenyce Brooks of Altona North Primary
School for their time and comments.
Tina Varga
Blackburn English Language School
Feedback and contributions
Feedback on this edition of ESLinformed and contributions for future
newsletters are very welcome.
Contact
[email protected].
Further information
For further information about ESL
support in Victorian government schools,
including contacts and an electronic
version of this newsletter, visit
www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/lem/esl/index.htm.
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