This Children's ESL Journal will track the course of a child's progress in her ESL studies during her first year of residence in the United States. The purpose of this journal is to provide a first-hand account from a child's point of view. This information will be valuable in a number of ways: as a means of comparison for other ESL educators, for parents as a guide to the challenges their children face, for the unique voice only an ESL learner can provide.
Background
Age: 8
Grade: 3
Previous Education: Italian through 2nd grade
Katherine moved to the USA on July 8, 2005. Her first language is Italian and she has a good grasp of basic English. She has ESL help at the elementary school five days a week.. This journal will trace her progress over the course of her first year in the US public school system.
Progress Snapshot: First two weeks September 6 - 16
Objectives: Numbers, telling short stories, speaking about yourself
Exercises: Visual cues using cubes, story dictation for spelling, repeating information gathered from other children's stories (i.e. "His name is Peter. He comes from Germany." etc.), personal drawing with follow-up explanations, group bookreading about families.
Katherine's comments about school in general: "I enjoyed it because I felt part of a group with lots of friends. I feel better when they help me. We laughed sometimes and I like it when everyone help people."
Weeks One and Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Weeks Six, Seven and Eight
Weeks Nine and Ten
End of First Trimester
