This week, I am talking to the teachers of each of the 3 schools we are working with in Guatemala.
Many students come to the school with a maternal language that is not Spanish. In the area of San
Marco, it is usually QueTche. The school district, FUNDAP and the teachers welcome this maternal language to the schol, and teach the younger grades in this language, as it is both part of the heritage of the child, it makes school more welcoming for the student and also for the parent.
As part of the curriculum, Students are also introduced to a 2nd language. That language is usually Spanish. It can also be English.
The teachers however, do not have much material, nor foundation on English. So the purpose of this week's conversation is to find the right material to support hte teachers i.
The resources we are looking for need to have the following caracteristiques:
Marco, it is usually QueTche. The school district, FUNDAP and the teachers welcome this maternal language to the schol, and teach the younger grades in this language, as it is both part of the heritage of the child, it makes school more welcoming for the student and also for the parent.
As part of the curriculum, Students are also introduced to a 2nd language. That language is usually Spanish. It can also be English.
The teachers however, do not have much material, nor foundation on English. So the purpose of this week's conversation is to find the right material to support hte teachers i.
The resources we are looking for need to have the following caracteristiques:
- Level of Basic to Intermediate English
- Suitable for Elementary school students
- Free
- Downloadable
- The same material for the teacher to learn than for the student to learn (aka: no ESL).
The best resource I have found so far is EnglishAnyone. It is simple, but clear, 2 to 8 min videos that cover some of the fundamentals of the English language. It can be downloaded. It is not specfically targetted to 3rd to 6th graders though. If you know of other resources, I am interested.
At the end of the discussion, the teachers informed me that they had composed a song, related to the computers (2) and virtual connection that they now have thanks to TINFA.
Such gratefulness is amazing, almost overwhelming.