In Muncie, Indiana, the number of ESL students at Northview elementary school continues to increase. The ESL teacher at the school, Karen McKinney, uses new and different techniques to engage their students into learning.

McKinney repeats things often, sings lots of songs, and uses gestures, cards and books to teach her students. “You engage the child,” McKinney said. “You really want that language to become a part of them and make it comprehensible and real.”

They do things such as cook using a cook book that has lot’s of descriptive words, for example, “a plump red tomato” or a “juicy orange carrot.”

Speaking from experience, I know that it is activities like this that students learn from the most. In my high school French class, we always used songs to learn the conjugations of verbs and other things and until today, I use those songs when I am stuck. Things like music and videos are both entertaining and fun for the students, and they help them learn the language.

Northview has ESL students from many different countries and speaking about 10 different languages, including Hindi, Vietnamese, Spanish, and French among others. Since music is a universal language, it appeals to all of these students from their different backgrounds to help them learn English.

Number of ESL Students Growing Locally

The Star Press

November 30, 2008

 

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