Sing Your Way Through the ABC's!

What better way to build oral fluency??  

Sing a fun song to go along with any phonic, alphabet theme.  

26 A-Z Songs and Fingerplays

These include 26 animals song and finger plays will delight your students from Alligators, bears and cats to foxes, yaks and zebras!  If you use Zoo Phonics, this is the packet of songs for you!

Create a songbook center. Students can record themselves singing a song! It will become a class favorite!  

Add student recordings to your blog or class website!  

How about creating a class play? The uses are limited to your imagination. 

Need ideas...contact me...I'm the idea girl!

I love it when my students break into songs when they are doing independent activities like coloring, cutting, etc.  My class favorites... 5 Little Gorillas and 3 Little Joey's Jumping in Mama's Pouch!

Visit my store:  LOL with ESL for Lots of Learning!

                   Jill

  

Quickly master GOOGLE TRANSLATE app with your level 1 ESL students!

Everyone seems to have an iPad or Smart Phone.  They can be a life-saver in your Newbie Survival Kit!  Teach your new level 1 ESL students to use the GOOGLE TRANSLATE app in a few quick activities/worksheets. Adults to Secondary to Elementary Language Learners will enjoy learning how to use this powerful tool!

I'm sure your time with ESL students differs from mine.  Every school and every year is different.  Well, when I get a student new to the U.S. with little to no English skills, I try to pull that student from the regular classroom to stay with me or my assistant for much of the day for at least a week.  During this time, I have a grab-bag of activities.  The very first thing I do is train the student to use GOOGLE TRANSLATE to help the student communicate needs, understand content/directions, and to get to know the student.

I'm lucky to have two iPads in my classroom.  I assign one of the iPads to the regular classroom teacher to keep locked up and charged each night.  The student can carry the iPad with them for a few weeks until they adjust.  Then, I start to ween them off the app using it mostly for understanding content.  When I get multiple new to U.S. Students, I have to make decisions on who gets the iPad (with the bigger screen).  I have a few old 4G iPhones I can use with other students.  But, most of my classroom teachers have Smart Phones they will use with students too.

As you know, you can't just hand the student an iPad and expect them to know how to use it.  These activities and worksheets help you and your students master the GOOGLE TRANSLATE app from the very first day of learning how to locate the app, turning on the device to responding to school-type
content.  You will learn to use the camera, microphone and handwriting tools within the app.

The activities and worksheets include:

1.Building Background:  Teach the English vocabulary needed, Voice Volume, Locating App

2.Using Speaker Function:  Interview Questions teach students to respond in native language clearly.

3.Using Camera Function:  Translate words/phrases, match picture 

4.Use Camera Function: Translate passage and questions

5.Use Camera Function: Translate Math directions/questions

6.Use Camera and Scribble Function: Respond in writing

So, try it out today:  How-To-Use Google Translate app with ESL

The worksheets and activities are designed to start simple and progress to advance skills needed in classroom settings.  The objective is students will be able not only communicate basic needs, but also to have access to content presented in classrooms.  

First 2 worksheets/skills do not require student to read or write.  

Last 4 worksheets are most effective for students who have basic 3+ grade level reading in their dominate language.  

Not all languages are available on google translate.

Visit my TeachersPayTeachers store:  LOL with ESL for lots of learning activities!

Jill

Freshen up your CLASS with Themed Alphabet posters, borders, etc!

Get your classroom ready 

with a fresh new look!   

Traditional Style Alphabet Posters

Real Animals            or                 Cartoon Animals 

from A - Z follow along any phonics program...even ZooPhonics!

Large 8 x 11 PHOTO Alphabet Posters                   Large 11 x 8 CARTOON Alphabet Posters

Medium 4 x 8 PHOTO Alphabet Posters                Medium 4 x 8  CARTOON Alphabet Posters

  Small 3 x 5 PHOTO Alphabet Posters                     Small 1 or 2 page CARTOON Alphabet Poster 

Not just an Alphabet Posters, use the posters in unique ways to teach phonics and as a writing resource.

See my store:  LOL with ESL on Teachers Pay Teachers

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening and Speaking
• ESL
• Kindergarten
• WIDA Practice
• ZooPhonics Supplemental Resource

          Jill

Fresh Start with a Freebie!

 It has been a busy year for LOL with ESL.  Cary and I have decided to split ways and remain good friends.  Now, I am getting ready to load many exciting products.  Let's start with a new freebie.

Try out a new product:  Listening and Speaking Storyboard with Isabelle the inchworm.

click here

This product was born from the need for my students to practice listening and speaking in way that is similar to the way they are assess with WIDA ACCESS and WIDA model.  I found I not only use this with my Kindergarten students, but also with my ESL students level 1 and 2 students.  Since I use parts of the ZooPhonics program to teach non-readers to read, I use the same animals in many of my products.  While it is not Iggy the inchworm, I think your students will adore his cousin Isabel as she changes and grows in this unique storyboard inspired by WIDA and ZooPhonics.

I also liked have lots of options to my products. So this one you will have many choices:
1.  color or blackline master
2.  sit next to student scripts OR sit across the table from student script
3.  the original all-in-one 14 X 8.5 size paper, or 2 page letter size version.

So, your printing and usage is very flexible.

The freebie is one panel of the full story board.  It is the level 4 panel.  The student views and responds using the picture while you read from the script. Listening and Speaking Freebie

click here for freebie!

For the full storyboard get it here:

  Listening and Speaking Storyboard with Isabelle the inchworm.

click here

Classroom decor with ZooPhonics Posters

So the new school year started, and our  ESL classrooms had to be set up. What better than our Animal Posters, one of our TPT products, which is a great supplemental material for the ZooPhonics Program. Now, if you don't use this program, no worries. This goes great with whatever classroom decor, especially for grades K-1, ESL and Sped. You can set them all together in a wall like I did. Or you can run them across the wall above your board. It just depends on the use you will give them. I like to point at the animals and letters as I teach, so having them more accessible works best for me.

Visit our Teacherspayteachers store "LOL with ESL" and buy it today.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lol-With-Esl

 

Check out our other ZooPhonics products, and WIDA ACCESS and Common Core aligned products.

Cary Wright

Back to School SALE!!!

Hello teacher friends!!

Today starts the TeacherspayTeachers sale!!

All the products in our store are 20% OFF.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lol-With-Esl

We would love for you to come check our store and get our FREEBIE. Also, Jill and I have been busy uploading new products that can help you with your lessons targeting reading, writing, and one of our favorites...PHONICS.

It was so exciting when this week, as we were loading products, I realized I could scroll down our store!! I know that sounds silly, but to us that is a great milestone since we've been investing so much of our time to create useful and appealing products for teachers just like you!

THIS IS HOW OUR STORE LOOKS NOW! 

SO EXCITING!!

I wanted to have a catchy signature for our blog and store, to match our LOL logo...you know "Lots of Learning", so look what Jill came up with at the end of this post.

Cary

Our first TPT products are up in the store!

By: Cary Wright

So this has been quite an interesting crazy summer!


Both Jill and I had planned family vacations, but hers was in June and mine was in July (plans were made before we embarked in this journey). This meant that our meetings for planning and collaboration had to be crunched to a few weeks in late May and late July. Thank goodness for internet, email, and google drive!

As teachers, it's great to have our summers off and have a chance to relax and spend time with our families who live far from us here in Clarksville, TN. But with our new venture on board, things got just a bit more hectic than we expected. Did I mention that Jill fractured her foot and has been in a wheelchair for the past 6 weeks???  :(   I know this was the last thing Jill had in mind for the summer, and I keep praying for her foot to heal so she can gain back her mobility.

Regardless of the limited time we've had to meet in person, we have managed to make this happen. And today we were able to upload our first products to TeacherspayTeachers. YAY!! Al fin!!
So now Jill and I invite you to visit our store "LOL with ESL".

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lol-With-Esl

So look for our cute button, "LOL with ESL" and you will find Pre-K through 5th grade materials targeting reading, writing, phonics, ESL and RTI.

We are so proud of how our Letters in the Zoo products are coming along. They are unique! During the past months, we took the time to acquire some of the best animal photographs to be incorporated into our phonics materials. Check out the Alphabet Mini Posters and the Alphabet Poster at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lol-With-Esl

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lol-With-Esl

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog, which tells the story of how 2 teacher friends became "partners in crime"...hasta pronto!