Challenges We Overcome

My first and second grade learners wrote about challenges in their lives that they or their families are working to overcome. We tried to start sentences different ways.

Learner 1:

Olaf barks at night. He is noisy and he is also mischievous. One time Olaf jumped on me. One time Olaf when he was little he pulled my hair with his teeth. I folded my arms and my eyebrows went down. I scrunched my eyes. I wish that Olaf would stop barking at night. Do you mind dogs that bark?

Learner 2:

My little sister is mischievous. My little sister takes my toys without permission. Next she pulls my hair. Then one day my sister took my lego car and I told my mom, “Ponla mirando la pared.” Put her looking at the wall. I felt frustrated and I folded my arms. I crunched my eyebrows down. Last I hope my sister stops taking my toys. That will be phenomenal.

Learner 3:

My dog Oreo is hyper. He gets on me when I try doing my homework. One time Oreo jumped on my lap. I put him on the ground. He just came back. When Oreo gets on me I feel annoyed. I clench my fist. I hope he doesn’t get on me. It will be phenomenal.

Learner 4:

Sometimes taking care of baby girls and boys is hard work. My baby goes in my room because she wants to take my toys. She does it a lot. Also when I ask her to not take my toys she started to know to not take my toys. By the next morning she was watching TV but my baby was watching fun movies. But when I went down my baby sister changed the movie channel. I was very excited. I was jumping up and down. Also I was smiling a lot because I was very excited. All in all taking care of babies is fun and hard work. What are you going to do when you are a babysitter?

Learner 5:

    My uncle doesn’t speak English. My grandma helped my uncle speak English. He was embarrassed. We wish he knows better.

Learner 6:

    I don’t know how to talk in Spanish. I tried to say Merry Christmas in Spanish. I felt sad. Someday I wish I can say it the right way.

Learner 7:

    Every time when I speak to him he doesn’t understand me. One day I was speaking and I had to say it two times. I felt annoyed. I wish I can say it one time.

Learner 8:

    My family doesn’t speak English! One time in the car I was helping my mom. Another day on her phone someone was talking in English. She felt confused. I wish she could talk in English.

Research and Persuasion

Second and third grade ELLs researched local places of interest and wrote about their findings. See if the learners are effective future marketing specialists who have convinced you to go!

Learner 1:

Visit Sky Zone. Sky Zone has many activities like the wall. People wear special shoes. Then you climb up the wall and nothing to hold on to climb. Some pricing is expensive and some is inexpensive. Gift cards are $20. $20 for jumping 120 minutes which is 1 hour. If you want to contact them here is their contact info. Their mail is skyzonelancaster@skyzone.com. Their phone number is (717)208-8922. Their address is 1701 Hempstead Rd #102 Lancaster, Pa zip code 17601. Sky Zone is always closed on Mondays. I want you people to go to Sky Zone. It sounds fun. If you have gone to Sky Zone good but if you did not go to Sky Zone try to tell your parents to take you to Sky Zone.

Learner 2:  

First, Sky Zone is a fun trampoline park. Next Sky Zone has a lot of activities. 1 is glow. Glow is a game where you wear glow shirts and it is a basketball court. #2 is Sky wars is where we fight with Nerf Guns. #3 is ultimate dodge ball. Next is the prices for some activities and the minutes. To jump 2 hours, it cost 20 dollars and climbing to play Sky wars cost 6 dollars and a gift card cost 20 dollars. Next is the contact info. Want to call Sky Zone for tickets? Here is the phone number 717-208-8922 and the address is 1701 Hempstead Rd #102 Lancaster, pa 17601. Last that’s why you have to go to Sky Zone.

 

Mentor Texts

Some 1st grade learners used Laura Numeroff's If You Give... books as mentor texts for story organization and transitions. They are excited to share their own books with each of you! (Shout out to StoryBuddy2).

Adding Style

Recently several of my students have learned how to add style to their writing. Enjoy their writing below. Can you spy similes, onomatopoeia, and adjectives? 

Student 1:

One year ago me, N, and E were playing until Kiy, Peppa and Tasy came out. Kiy was looking for a spot to bury his snack. Then he came toward us.

Kiy backed up and jumped over the fence. N called out, “Jessica!” Kiy did it but I did not know why Kiy jumped over the fence. He did it because the fence was short.

Then me, N and E climbed the fence. We found a chew toy in thorny bushes. We threw it to him so he could stop but it didn’t work.

After that I had a sandwich. In the sandwich there were eggs and mayonnaise. E yelled out “throw sandwich.” I threw my sandwich to Kiy. Kiy ate it.

We found doggy biscuits. We made a trail with them to Kiy’s yard. Last we went in the pool. We had fun.

 

Student 2:

I had lost tow Mater. I had looked everywhere but I didn’t find my toy. Looking in the living room I tried my room and outside. I had tried the attic. It was in the attic. I said, “Boom shaka laka.”

 

Student 3:

The lights went out last night like a wink. J yelled, “Help!” I found my brother in the kitchen. “Ouch!” We bumped into each other. We went out the door. Mom and dad were outside. “Uh-oh, J! We lost mom and dad.” We tried to find them but me and J were waiting until the lights came on. “Yes, J we found mom and dad.” Soon, the lights came back on.

Student 4: Spring

I see pink flowers and white blooms.

I hear woo of the wind and bulbs crack open.

I smell fresh blooms.

I feel a ticklish ladybug and bumpy bark.

I taste juicy strawberries and juicy berries.

Student 5: Spring   

I see pink flowers.

I hear loud quacking.

I smell sweet buds.

I feel soft blooms and hard baseballs.

I taste yummy blueberries and delicious strawberries.  

Summarizing Learning

Summarizing is a crucial skill for all learners, but especially those learning English. Recently, several of my students used technology to summarize their learning. Enjoy these blurbs about tomatoes and famous Americans. Special thanks to Story Buddy 2 and ReadWriteThink!

First grade:


Fourth grade:

Winter Opinions

Second grade students were working to persuade their families to allow them to do some winter activities. Listen to their reasons to see if you are convinced!

Student 1:

Student 2:

Student 3:

Short Stories

A fifth-grade student recently noticed the use of dialogue and detail in short stories-- and applied it to her own personal narrative. Enjoy!

      When I was little, I was at my cousin’s house for her birthday party. The kids were playing tag in the backyard and hide and seek. The moms were talking and eating outside. We ate chocolate cake, ice cream, and opened gifts. When she opened her gifts, her mouth was open and her hands were on her face.

Now we came back outside. We played a game called sur o mar. There are two sides and the person who stands in front of the people who are playing says sur o mar. One side is for sur and the other is for mar. They told me to play with them but I didn’t want to play because I thought that if I lost they would laugh at me. I started crying. I was sniffling, covering my face. I was as sad as if someone takes a banana away from the monkey. One person said, “Please come play with us,” but I said, ‘’No.” The other person said, “It’s ok if you lose. We’re not going to laugh.”

We all played the game. One person said, ‘’Mar,’’ and someone moved to sur. We both lost. I wasn’t the only one. The person said,’’Sur,’’and the boy went to mar and the boy lost.