Live Readings

This past week I finished reading 3 Read Alouds with my ELL's.

6th grade:  Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Di Camillo

7th grade:  Flip Flop Girl by Katherine Paterson

8th grade:  Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Although many times my voice gives out, and I wonder how I'm going to finish, recorded readings are no substitute for live ones. I've tried the recorded readings and they don't work with ELL's.  It's vital that we make the text comprehensible.  A recorded reading will not provide that for them.  I like to have a class set of the title so the students can follow along.

Here are some tips that have worked for me during Read Alouds:

1.  Pause after each incident to summarize what has happened.  Keep track of students' faces. Confused or tuned out looks are cues for quick recaps.

2.  Pause after finishing a chapter.  Have students choose a title for the chapter or change the titles already used by the author.  This is a great way to reinforce main idea vs. supporting details.  

The Teacher's Purpose

I had an unforgettable surprise today.

An unexpected visitor popped into my 3rd period class,

a former ELL student.

He came to us when he was in 6th grade.  He barely spoke English. Scared, frightened and insecure about what this country would bring, he started his new journey.  

I remember his first year in our class, for most ELL's it's tough.  The struggle is not only with the new language, but with a completely different culture and set of social rules.  To make matters worse, it's middle school.  

By the second year he was showing great progress. 

By the third year, he was mainstreamed into regular classes.

Capeside

My son,

Aaron William Reyes,

is a musician, singer, music producer, a great guy and a wonderful son.  I can't repay the Lord for the blessing He gave us in our amazing children.  As I mentioned before in previous posts, I've had moments of  second guessing myself, regrets for blind mistakes and would give anything to have a do over.  But God always reminds me,  "Your children are mine first".

What a relief, God loves my children in the purest and most perfect way.  His love is  holy and His presence in my son's life is forever.  He's in the best of hands.