SUPPORTING EAL IN THE CLASSROOM

PUPILS PRODUCING THEIR OWN BI LINGUAL BOOK

Pupils can make their own books using Clicker 5 or iPhoto which are on most school PCs and iBooks. They can either take their own photographs for download or draw their own pictures, which can be scanned.

I-PHOTO

iPhoto is easy to use as the photo album facility allows for a variety of formats. The book is saved as a PDF file making it easier to duplicate or e-mail.

CLICKER 5

Clicker 5 can be used to produce a talking book, with either automatically generated speech or using the pupils’ own recorded version. (Note: the books can only be read on computers with Clicker software.)

BENEFITS

The writing process can generate discussion about the language needed and the teacher can learn more about the pupils’ literacy skills. Writing bilingual text can take some time but the finished product will boost the pupil’s self esteem and can also be used with other pupils. Parents could also produce books like this for use in schools. This is a way of getting them involved and saving money on buying commercially produced bilingual books. Bilingual books are an excellent way to support literacy in the home language, which is important for the acquisition of English.

MORE INFORMATION

A school in Canada runs a website to showcase bilingual books produced by its pupils. Many use the children’s own drawings.

http://thornwood.peelschools.org/Dual/index.htm

Download the original Word document. Supporting EAL in the Classroom (2pages, 90KB)