Thursday, October 6, 2011

Wednesday October 12, 2:50-3:40

Mr. Braggett will be presenting a workshop in navagating the TAS ESL webiste in Mr. Millard's room

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the Grade 5 ESL blog. This is where we will be communicating with you about what is happening monthly in Grade 5 ESL that includes all five sections of ESL including the classes of Mr. Andersen, Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Martin, Ms. Peters and Mrs. Moulton.

We have adjusted well to the routines of writing and reading workshops in our first units and just completed our second unit on using tone in our writing and doing so through the use of literary devices. Understanding these literary devices and when and how to use them can be very tricky for new language learners. In the classroom, all three of us have worked towards helping the ESL students understanding these literary devices and when and how to use them in their own writing to create tone.

ESL support class meets nine out of our ten day schedule. We have been supporting your child to absorb the Grade 5 curriculum primarily by helping our students strengthen their reading and writing skills. Skills reinforced this month included story elements: questioning, predicting and summarizing. Ms. Blais’s class is using blogs to communicate with their partners, while Mr. Gurecki is using Google Apps. Science vocabulary is always a focus in support class. This past month, we have focused on developing the vocabulary of the mixtures and solutions and will continue along this path for the rest of the quarter. As always, we also use this time to focus on grammar skills that ESL students show they need to improve upon to be successful in the mainstream curriculum.

We hope you have a safe and relaxing Ten/Ten Holiday. Please be sure your child is reading every day of vacation.

Regards,
Mark S. Gurecki Virginia Blais Lynn Somers