Welcoming Linguistic Diversity In Early Childhood Classrooms: Learning From International Schools (parents' And Teachers' Guides)

When young English language learners speak a variety of home languages, welcoming them into the classroom can be very challenging for teachers and English-speaking pupils. This book, written by teachers experienced in addressing the needs of this group, is a vital resource for new teachers working in a multilingual classroom for the first time. Contents Preface Introduction Section 1 Chapter 1. Young Children Have Stories to Share Chapter 2. Using Multilingual Strategies in Monolingual Early Childhood Classrooms Chapter 3. A Year with Five Beginners: Excerpts from the Journal of a First-Grade Teacher Chapter 4. Developing the Basic English Language Skills of Young Children in a Linguistically Diverse Classroom Chapter 5. An International School Celebrates its Diversity Chapter 6. An Amazing Journey: Making English Language Learners Successful Chapter 7. The Importance of Maintaining Mother Tongue and Culture in the Classroom Section 2 Chapter 8. Young Mathematicians: Global Learners Chapter 9. Meeting the Needs of Young Second-Language Learners who Struggle Chapter 10. The Benefi ts of Sign Language in the International Preschool Curriculum Chapter 11. Addressing Transition and Mobility Issues with English Language Learners in the Early Childhood Years Chapter 12. Music: The Universal Language Chapter 13. Italiano Sì! Sì!: Teaching Italian through PE Chapter 14. The Role of the Library in Supporting Young Language Learners and their Families Chapter 15. Breaking the Silence: One School’s Solution to a Noncommunicative Class Chapter 16. Library Programming for Young English Language Learners Section 3 Chapter 17. Listening to Parents: Acknowledging the Range of Linguistic and Cultural Experience in an Early Childhood Classroom Chapter 18. Writing and Implementing a Language Policy in the Primary Section of a Linguistically Diverse School Chapter 19. Maintaining Mother Tongue and Home Culture in a Child’s School Experience Chapter 20. Joining the Mother-Tongue Conversation from an Administrator’s Perspective Chapter 21. Native Languages and the International Baccalaureate Chapter 22. If You Ask a Silly Question You Sometimes Get a Serious Answer Teachers in multilingual classrooms have been working for some years to improve their repertoire of ways to address the needs of very young children who enter school not speaking the language of instruction. The work of 22 seasoned teachers and administrators in international schools all over the world, this book contains a wealth of information for classroom teachers, enabling them to face a new school year with confidence, and for administrators to understand more clearly what is involved in the teaching of young children who do not yet understand the school’s language. Written by teachers well experienced in addressing the needs of this young and vulnerable group, this book will come as a boon to new teachers presented with a multilingual classroom for the first time.