May

Welcome to English Language Development class Level 1!

In this class, we learn the academic skills expected across all classes - vocabulary and sentences to describe or explain or compare characters or science experiments or historical periods - by applying them to the everyday vocabulary we need in order to grow our English language skills.

In May we continued working on comprehending Literature, reading more chapters of When Stars Are Scattered, the real life story of Omar Mohammed and his brother. They were refugees from Somalia’s Civil War in the 1990s and the story is about their experiences in a Kenyan refugee camp before they move to the United States. I am hopeful that we will finish the book by the end of the year, and then students will have completed reading a 250-page book in English.

Students have done an excellent job paying attention to the story which is read entirely in English, talking about what they understand, answering comprehension questions, and explaining their answers by referencing the book.

We also did a mini-unit on talking about culture. We learned new vocabulary related to culture and multicultural events so that we could talk, read, and write about it.

As we head towards the end of the year, many of the clusters are holding special events and field trips for their students. It’s a special time for students. Please message me if you have questions or want help registering your student for events.

I am Diana Karamourtopoulos, your student's ESL teacher. In this class, we work on improving our English in all 4 domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. We did a mini-unit on the harmful and beneficial aspects of Video Games. We learned new, academic vocabulary and had a discussion. Next, we will finish off the year with another mini-unit on technology and its uses. The students will complete the year with a product review of a piece of techology!

The month of May has been busy with lots of testing, especially for our 8th graders! But our ELD class has worked hard on vetting a new curriculum and experiencing learning at a different angle. While we explored the new materials, students had the opportunity to practice working with a specific partner for a few days at a time, they had very targeted oral language practice with structured daily routines, and were challenged with new vocabulary and word study activities. While covering the topic of Women in Sports, students developed new vocabulary and language structures to argue a point of view and express an opinion.

On Tuesday of this week we started a new unit about the Impact of Fear. Students will be reading about different natural disasters and researching specific events to document. Next week we will have Watertown Week and the Washington DC trip, so 8th graders will be participating in one of these events all week.

I look forward to the next two weeks of school as students finish up activities and say goodbye to a productive year of learning!

If you wish to get in touch with me, you can email me at keila.camposdeoliveira@watertown.k12.ma.us