Fairytale Fun with Finger Puppets

Promoting oral communication is paramount in the early stages of learning a new language and what better way to promote this than with the retelling of a fairytale. While the content of fairytales may vary in minor ways, the key ideas are similar. These foundation speakers are able to role play the parts of Red Riding Hood, Grandma, the wolf and woodcutter. The dialogue went as follows: Teacher: Where did Red Riding Hood go? Child: Grandma house. Teacher: Why did she go to grandma's house? Child: Grandma sick. Teacher: What did Red Riding Hood take to grandma? Child: A basket with cookies and cheese. Teacher: What did she pick in the forest for grandma? Child: Yellow flowers. Teacher: Were they daffodils? Child: Yes Then role play demonstrated what the children knew about what took place in grandma's house. The children were able to recite the lines from the story that related to the wolf's eyes, ears and teeth. They had much pleasure in talking about the outcome for the wolf. Their wolf had a very sore head at the end of the story. Naturally Red Riding and grandma lived happily ever after. The children were asked to sequence the story before their role-play.

Finger puppets bring the characters to life:

Our Farewell Shared Lunch

On Wednesday 12th of August, 2015 a number of our Year 3-6 ESOL students came together to farewell two of their friends and wish them well in their new home and school. It was an opportune time to celebrate cultural diversity within our ESOL community and sample different ethnic foods in the form of a shared lunch. We thank the wonderful parents for their contribution of food, and to those who also found the time to come in and join us. Some students have reflected on the different dishes they sampled and how they felt on the day. "Yah," I thought. "It's good that mum has made Kokis. They are a fried sweet treat made in Sri Lanka. You can find the recipe and instructions on Utube. I really liked the sushi. I found the rice pudding (Kheer) a little strange. I was really happy that we could try foods from different countries. It was great that we were able to get together for lunch. Reflection by Nethasa (Year 4) At the shared lunch, I thought that I would try the sushi. It tasted a bit different. It was reasonably spicy and sweet. I liked the chicken in it the most. The seaweed had an unusual flavour. I kind of liked the sweet rice pudding. One thing I didn't like about the Kheer were the nuts. I am not used to having nuts in rice. Kheer is a very popular rice pudding in Nepal and India. Reflection by Ron (Year 4) I was so happy that my dad was a chef because he made some really yummy Indian food for us to taste. At the shared lunch I saw lots of scrumptious food like; Pecora, Samosa and Sushi. When we tasted the food we found it interesting. I don't really like the tumeric flavour but I did love the Samosa and Pecora. It was great that mum and dad came to share lunch with the ESOL children. Reflection by Vianca (Year 4) On Wednesday the 12th of August we had a shared lunch. It was great that my brother could come too. Friends and families each cooked something to bring. At the shared lunch there were many delicious dishes. Yum! I tried Briyani and Reza tried Sushi and Kokis. He ate many other dishes as well because he hadn't tried them before. I found the Sushi quite different because I hadn't eaten it before.

Comparing and Contrasting Foods

When children come to New Zealand from different corners of the planet, they bring with them a rich knowledge of the foods that they have begun to know as quite specific to their cultural group. Many children brought up in New Zealand are unaware of the reasons for food preferences across religions and cultures. The food pyramid was used in order to get the students to consider which foods were included in their own diet and which were normally omitted. It was reassuring to note that across cultures, children enjoyed a number of fruit varieties and grains. Meat and fish consumption was very dependent on historical and family beliefs as was dairy. Vegetables were popular with most children and easily identified. Then onto learning how to combine good foods into one meal. The children compared and contrasted fruit smoothies and mango lassi. Here are some of the photos taken during the making process. The Results: Banana smoothies were very popular as were strawberry combined with banana. The children thought that they were better than the McDonalds shakes. Mango Lassi was not as popular with 50% of the group who taste tested. They did not have an acquired taste for mango and thought that the yogurt was too strong. They thought that this drink was not like a smoothie or milkshake. The positive outcome was that they had tried a drink that is popular on an Indian menu. They also learned that Indian people use yogurt as a cooling agent.

Preparation for our Production

These photos give you an indication of the fun and cooperation involved in putting a production together. This ESOL group have been rehearsing for a number of weeks. After working together on a shared project the communication between the students is relaxed. Everyone has the same goal, to tell a story and entertain.

Getting Ready for our Performance

An effective way to develop spoken English and writing simultaneously is to have students work out how they can adapt a well known story for Reader's Theatre or a drama.

One of our ESOL groups have done just that. They have read Margaret Mahy's book 'Shopping with a Crocodile',  and adapted it for a narrated play.  
You may like to find out more about Margaret Mahy by visiting this site: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/mahym.html

After a lot of writing and rehearsal, the students are ready to perform their work. St Albans ESOL parents are invited to attend the afternoon performance on Friday 26th June 2015 at 2:10 pm.

Learning about Autumn and Trees

It is important to remember that while ESOL students may have reached a good level of competency with everyday conversational language, they may have limited knowledge of the terms that relate to scientific phenomena.

A walk around the school during autumn provided evidence that students were unable to name parts of a tree beyond branches and leaves. What an exciting discovery.

These photographs were taken during our exploratory walk.

All those different colours

That's bark!

Can we keep them?

 The leaves are yellow

What are these marks?

From our Nepalese Children

In Christchurch, we know what emotions are felt when a natural disaster wrecks havoc on your environment and with your lives. Our thoughts go out to the Nepalese people as they struggle to come to terms with the devastation that surrounds them and to find the energy they will need to rebuild their homes and lives. Our thoughts are with you.

Some of our ESOL students leave messages of support for the people of Nepal. A number of these students have immigrated to New Zealand from Nepal, leaving grandparents and other relations behind. It has been reassuring to hear that their families are safe. Our hearts go out to you.

The children’s messages:

To the people of Nepal

I too come from Nepal.  I feel so sorry for you all because I can imagine that it must have been so bad.  My grandparents live in the Central Development Region, which was close to where the earthquake struck. I am so lucky that I wasn’t there at the time. My aunty has told us that our house in Nepal was badly damaged. I do hope that they are managing. There was a bad earthquake in Christchurch only four years ago so we know what it can be like.  The people here are all thinking of you.   Nisha

To the Nepalese People

I am very sorry that you have lost so many people. We have heard about what has happened to lots of large buildings and houses in your country.  I am glad that they are able to find people alive.

 Try not to be too sad. We had a terrible earthquake here in Christchurch four years ago, but the people didn’t give up. I am from India and I wish that I could help.   From Vianca

To the Nepalese People

I am sorry about what has happened to you all because of the earthquake. I know that some people are injured or lost. I hope that your families are safe. Maybe some Christchurch people might come to help you.  Christchurch people know how it feels to have had an earthquake.  Thinking of you – Arozo

To the people of Nepal

I was so sad to hear about the earthquake in your country. I do hope that you have shelter, food and water. I feel bad for Nisha, and her grandparents. I have two friends that come from Nepal and India so I hope everyone is safe.

From Aisha

My name is Jashanpreet and I come from India. I hope that the people from my country come to help you. I know that you will need lots of help. We are thinking about you here in Christchurch.

 Our Nepalese Students at St Albans School 

Our thoughts:

           

'Lest we Forget'

While ANZAC day was quite foreign to a number of ESOL students who had recently immigrated to New Zealand, the concept of loss or war was not. Senior students who were able to listen to stories and discuss the content were able to write their own interpretations of the conditions young soldiers may have faced when they landed in ANZAC cove. These students were using imagery to improve description in their writing.

Nethasa writes:
The boat starts to creak with the weight of the men.
"Oh no!" we're here. I don't like this. I hate war. It's scary. My gun is so heavy and my boots are also heavy and wet. Now what is going to happen? It's turning very cold.

Aisha writes:
I see nothing but the night sky as we roll into the shore. Splash! My mate has a sip of water from his water bottle. Bang! The water turns red. What the heck is going on? Bodies are floating under the surface. "Jump!" Splash! As we hit the water, there's an explosion, then nothing but silence.

Arozo writes:

I see people coming to this foreign country in wooden boats. They run with guns along a rough beach. I hear guns shooting at shadows. 

Nisha writes:

People talking randomly to each other in this boat. Talking about what they are going to do. Not able to see anything but the stars in the sky, not even the sea. But they hear a sound, a loud splash as the front of the boat drops away.








These pictures were taken of the junior group as they created their pictures of poppies:

Capturing those Creative Moments

We post some photographs taken during a writing session.  While the children communicate about the design of their stories, teaching moments are used to explore the use of descriptive language and reinforce English syntax.

Ben and Victor (Russian first language) discuss the size of an object.

Radha and Sahi add the finishing touches to their artwork. (Hindi first language) 

Creating artworks that inspire vocabulary growth, discussion and ideas for writing

This year a group of Year 2 ESOL students shared a number of stories with their ESOL teacher about dinosaurs and dragons. Each child was asked to decide whether they wanted to create a dragon or a dinosaur and to provide reasons.

Producing the artwork provided an opportunity to discuss specific vocabulary like foreground, background and horizon. The shapes used to create their subject also become a mathematical focus.

The group discussed some of the adventures that a dinosaur or dragon might have. Would these creatures have friends like they did?  How might their experiences affect how they felt?

We share with you their results:

Victor

One day my dragon went to a new school because he got too old for his other school. He was happy to go to the new school. His friend was coming to the same school. They were going to play together. 

Sahi's  dragon story

Yesterday my dragon took me to a circus. My dragon blew fire into a hulahoop. 

One day a girl went to Riccarton and bought a dragon toy. She made a dragon garden and she played with it. She put the new dragon in the garden and it looked like a real dragon garden. At night the dragon turned into a real dragon. It flew up into the sky. There the dragon found and married a princess. They lived happily ever after. 

Radha

My dragon was happy because she was hurt and a girl helped her. Her leg was bleeding so the girl put a bandage on it. The girl and the dragon were friends. They went to the playground to play on the swings. 

 Ben

Bingo the dinosaur was off to Dinosaur School to learn how to run faster so that he could beat the Tyrannosaurus Rex.  One day 32 dinosaurs were playing tag with their teacher when Bingo ran back to his classroom. He did not want to play any longer. He saw Kritosaurus and Bingo ran away. He ran to my house. I opened the door. Bingo ran in.  He locked the door and went into my room. What would he do?