Imagine This

We've moved!

2010-04-28T16:39:00.000-06:00

Come visit our new blog at www.imaginelearning.com/blog for more language and literacy tips you can use to help your English learners, students with disabilities, struggling readers, and early childhood education students.

NSBA is this week!

2010-04-04T13:07:00.000-06:00

The 2010 NSBA Conference begins this week in Chicago, Illinois. We'll be at booth #750, so be sure to stop by for a special offer. We'd also love to hear your feedback and discuss how we can better serve you and your students. Hope to see you there!

This 70th annual conference is sponsored by the National School Board Association.

Tips for Overcoming Test Anxiety

2010-03-26T15:47:00.002-06:00

Sweaty palms? Check. Racing heart? Check. A bad case of butterflies in the stomach? Check. It must be test time.

Many students struggle with test anxiety, but those feelings of panic and dread can be even worse for your English learners, students with disabilities, and struggling readers who struggle in the classroom. So what can you do to help your students relax and do their best on tests?

Let Parents Know When Their Children Will be Taking Tests

Keep parents informed of when their children will be taking tests. Encourage parents to make sure their students get plenty of sleep before their tests and have a healthy breakfast before school. If your test is in the afternoon, ask your students to make sure they eat a good lunch. Well-rested minds and well-fed bodies will help students stay calm and focused.

Help Your Class Relax
Take a moment before a test to help your class relax and focus before they pick up their pencils. Here are a few ideas.

Deep Breathing
This is one of the easiest and most effective methods of relaxation. It can be used in combination with many other techniques.

1. Instruct students to sit up straight in their chairs.
2. Using a calm voice, ask your students slowly inhale through their nose. Students can do this at their own pace or, if it is helpful, ask your students to inhale as you count, and then slowly count to three.
4. Instruct your students to hold their breath for one or two seconds.
5. Ask your students to exhale slowly through their mouths. Again, students can do this at their own pace or they can exhale as you slowly count to three.
6. Wait one or two seconds, then repeat the cycle.

Tense and Relax
1. Ask students to sit up in their chairs with their feet flat on the floor. Ask them to grab the edge of their seats with both hands.
2. Instruct your students to pull up with their hands as they push down with their feet, making their whole bodies tense. Count to five slowly.
4. Ask your students to relax in their seats. Count to five slowly.
5. Repeat the procedure two or three times.

Picture a Relaxing Scene
1. Ask your students to close their eyes and gently put their palms over their eyes. It's important that they not press too hard on their eyes.
2. Ask students to think of a relaxing scene. It can be real or imaginary; maybe they are out in their back yard looking at clouds or maybe they're on the moon looking at the earth. Let them imagine this scene and picture it as if they were actually there. If you think it would be more helpful for your students to have some guidance, you can describe a peaceful scene in a calming voice.
4. Have your students sit quietly and visualize this scene for one to two minutes.

TESOL is this week!

2010-03-21T13:01:00.005-06:00

The 2010 TESOL Conference begins this week in Boston, Massachusetts. We'll be at booth #922, so be sure to stop by for a special offer. We'd also love to hear your feedback and discuss how we can better serve you and your students. Hope to see you there!

The 44th annual convention boasts the world's largest gathering of TESOL professionals. This year's theme is Re-imagining TESOL.

Students with Disabilities Find Independence with ILE

2010-03-19T18:14:00.007-06:00

Students with disabilities at Bryce Valley High School are now using Imagine Learning English with great success. Behavior problems are decreasing, scores are soaring, and confidence is on the rise. Special education teacher Phoebe Wiseman believes Imagine Learning English has helped her students gain greater confidence.

“They’ve found a place,” says Wiseman. “They’ve got something where they can put on earphones, and they can have this independent time where they’re learning at their own level--and they’re succeeding at their own level. They don’t have to be like the child next to them; they don’t have to be like the students in the other classes. They can just spend that time gaining for themselves. And because of that, they’re doing overall better in school."

Click here to see what high school special education teachers and coordinators are saying about Imagine Learning English.

April Fool's Day!

2010-03-19T12:52:00.000-06:00

What other day of the year do major websites, newspapers, and corporations have the excuse to spread laughable hoaxes? (One of my favorites was a few years ago when Google announced a new service: Gmail Paper, because, as they said, “Whatever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman?”) What other day can coworkers, kids, students, and parents get away with playing harmless pranks on each other? Though no one’s exactly sure how April Fool’s Day started, now it’s a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world with the aim to trick, fool, and get a few good laughs.

Are you looking for a good way to celebrate April Fool’s day in your classroom? We've got some ideas.

You could always send home a permission slip for a fake field trip to outer space. Or, for a more educational and less mischievous way to celebrate the day, you could read Imagine Learning’s story April Fool’s in your classroom. This story is about April Fool’s Day traditions and the pranks people play all over the world. Follow the instructions below to access the story in Imagine Learning English. And happy fooling!

Accessing Level 1 Texts
To access any story in Level 1, click the Imagine Manager icon on your desktop. In the menu on the left, click Support, then Teacher Guides, and finally Level 1 Resource Guide. This will open a PDF of the entire guide. Click through the first few pages until you reach the Table of Contents. You will see a listing of every story. To view the story, click the title in the Table of Contents.

Adapting Instruction for Cognitive Disabilities

2010-03-18T12:32:00.004-06:00

How can you help meet the needs of your students with disabilities without neglecting their peers in the same class? We referred to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) for some answers.

Teachers often make adaptations to their instruction when the content or the method of delivery proves a barrier to learning. But ideally, as Keith Lenz and Jean Schumaker in a 2003 edition of CEC Today say, these adaptations would be “designed into curricular materials by the developers” to relieve teachers of this complex and time-consuming task. Imagine Learning English was developed with an adaptive curriculum that automatically assesses and provides appropriate instruction and feedback. This is great for one-on-one instruction, but what about when you meet as a group? Adaptation strategies make it easier to include students with varying abilities.

Lenz and Schumaker note that adaptations should be “broad enough and flexible enough to assist students regardless of their disability.” This is quite a task to tackle on your own, so they have provided a nine-step method to implement effective adaptations in the classroom. Read the complete article here, or continue reading for a synopsis of the first few steps.

Make a plan for adapting materials. Involve your curriculum coordinator, other teachers, parents--anyone who may need to be involved--and assign responsibilities. The better plan you have, the more likely the implementation will last.
Define the problem. There's no point in coming up with solutions before you know what you're trying to fix. Observe how your students interact with instructional materials. Are they having trouble getting information from a text, remembering information for later, or sharing that information with others? Each issue will require a different adaptation.
Make goals. Adaptations are just short-term solutions. Kenz and Schumaker advise that the ultimate goal is to "promote the student's independence as a learner and [...] reduce the need for adaptation." All short-term goals should advance this mission.
Decide whether to adapt content or format. A student's Individualized Educational Program, as well as state standards, determine whether or not content is appropriate for that student. If the curriculum is appropriate, then consider adapting the format, or vehicle by which content is delivered.

Thank You, Mrs. Pritchard

2010-03-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

I’ve always had an active imagination. I used to make up games and friends and stories to keep myself occupied as a little girl. But when I was in third grade, my teacher Mrs. Pritchard taught me that a good imagination and creativity could be used for so much more than playing (though playing is good, too).

Mrs. Pritchard gave everyone in my class a spiral notebook. As a regular class exercise, we would each bring our notebook up to Mrs. Pritchard, who would open it to a clean page and draw random squiggles and designs with her marker. Our assignment was to turn the squiggles into a picture and write a story about it.

I loved the exercise; it was my favorite part of class. I waited in anticipation as Mrs. Pritchard drew on my paper, wondering what the designs might be. As soon as I finished my picture and story, I would hurry up with my notebook to Mrs. Pritchard for another. She always admired my story and artwork first and then sent me back with another doodle. Sometimes she encouraged me to create sequels or additions to earlier doodles, challenging me to think even harder.

Mrs. Pritchard always encouraged us students to use our imaginations, to think, and to read. She read books to us out loud, we read books together out loud, and each week we were encouraged to choose and read a book on our own from Mrs. Pritchard’s bookshelf. My third grade teacher is one of the reasons I like reading and writing so much today. So thank you, Mrs. Pritchard, for helping me turn doodles into drawings and always encouraging me to use my imagination.

CABE is this week!

2010-03-07T12:56:00.001-07:00

The 2010 CABE Conference is this week in San Jose, California. We'll be at booth #820, so be sure to stop by for a special offer. We'd also love to hear your feedback and discuss how we can better serve you and your students. Hope to see you there!

This statewide conference is sponsored by the California Association for Bilingual Education.

ASCD is this weekend!

2010-03-03T12:45:00.006-07:00

This weekend marks the beginning of the 2010 ASCD Conference and Exhibition Show in San Antonio, Texas. We'll be at booth #854, so be sure to stop by for a special offer. We'd also love to hear your feedback and discuss how we can better serve you and your students. Hope to see you there!

The 2010 Annual Conference and Exhibition Show is sponsored by ASCD and is titled Critical Transformations.

Utah Students Love ILE

2010-03-01T12:42:00.003-07:00

On February 27, the Daily Herald published an article about how Utah teachers are using Imagine Learning English (ILE) to help their English learner population. Click the picture below for the full article and to see what students are saying about their experiences on Imagine Learning English.

Three Hot Keys to Help You Pause, Stop, or Get Loud

2010-02-16T15:49:00.013-07:00

Hot keys are quick commands you access on your keyboard to make everything go faster. With the press of a button, you can switch from one browser to another, copy all the text on a page, or tell your printer to start printing.

There’s a hot key for just about anything, and Imagine Learning English has its fair share of hot keys to help you function faster. Read on to find the secret steps of how to pause the program, stop a session, and bring up the volume.

Pause = F10
If a student needs to go to the bathroom, or you need to make an announcement to the class, pause student session times by pressing F10 (or F4 on a Mac). As soon as the password prompt appears, the session time will freeze. This won’t count against student session times, so students will still get the instruction they need.You can resume session times by clicking "Resume student sessions" or by exiting the pop-up menu.

Stop = F10
End a student session by also pressing F10 (or F4 on a Mac), entering your password, and clicking "Stop this session." You can even end the entire classroom's sessions in one click, rather than travel from computer to computer.

Also, if a student accidentally clicks another user’s icon, you haven’t passed the point of no return. Simply click the little red X in the top right corner of the password screen, and students can log in under the right user.

Adjust Volume = CTRL+ALT+(up/down arrows)
If the volume is too loud or too soft, hold the CTRL key down and press the up or down arrows. This hot key is especially helpful when listening to student recordings.

ELs and the Common Core State Standards

2010-02-16T15:49:00.012-07:00

With Kentucky’s official acceptance of the forthcoming Common Core State Standards just last week, national curiosity about the standards is rising. Governors and education leaders from every state save the two largest landmasses, Texas and Alaska, have committed to develop common standards for grades K-12.

The committee tasked with creating these standards is made up of education experts from organizations like ACT, the College Board, and the National Association of State Boards of Education. Their goal is to develop standards that will align with current research, international benchmarks, and expectations from universities and the work field.

Though the finals standards are still in revision, we’ve taken a look at the drafts to see what these new standards have in store for English learners. Here's a brief look at some of the resources English learners will need access to under the current draft of the Common Core State Standards:

Requisite coursework to prepare for post-secondary education
Coursework that is made comprehensible
Trained teachers and others
Well-designed opportunities for classroom discourse
English speakers who provide models and support
Ongoing assessment and feedback to guide learning
Language proficiency standards to guide instruction

We're thrilled to see the special needs of English learners being considered, especially with our nation's steadily increasing EL population (and steadily decreasing graduation rates of said population). This March, the committee plans to release a preliminary draft for public comment here, so you can share your own expert recommendations. If you were a member on the committee, what would you recommend adding to this list?

A New Home for Imagine Learning, Inc.

2010-02-12T18:51:00.003-07:00

January 2010 was more than just the beginning of a new decade for all of us here at Imagine Learning. It was the beginning of a new chapter in our company history. After five years of incredible growth, we packed our boxes and moved out of our original headquarters location and into a new building. And what a building it is, too-- more than twice the size of our original location!

This transition took place after a year of remarkable growth for Imagine Learning. In 2009, a difficult year for many U.S. businesses, Imagine Learning’s revenue increased by 55 percent over the previous year. The number of full-time employees grew by more than 26 percent. And we feel okay bragging about that, too, because those numbers mean that more and more students around the world have the opportunity to use Imagine Learning English.

Here are a few quick pictures of our new home.

Home sweet home!

Can you believe this view?

And we're right next to the Provo River, too. There were fly fishers right beside me when I took this picture. Talk about scenic!

Language and Literacy Conferences to Attend

2010-02-05T12:06:00.006-07:00

This week, we've been at the 39th Annual Conference of the National Association for Bilingual Education in Denver, Colorado. If you couldn't attend this year, stay tuned for our report on the latest news in bilingual education. And if you are attending, be sure to stop by our booth to say hi!

Look for us at the following conferences across the US:

February
NCLB, Chicago, Illinois, Feb 9-11
The No Child Left Behind Statewide Conference is held annually in Chicago.

AASA, Phoenix, Arizona, Feb 10-12
This National Conference on Education is sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators. The theme is Build a Stronger Future.

ETC, Modesto, California, Feb 27
The Education Technology Conference theme for 2010 is Content Standards + Effective Technology Integration = Student Achievement!

March
ASCD, San Antonio, Texas, Mar 6-8
The 2010 Annual Conference and Exhibition Show is sponsored by ASCD and is titled Critical Transformations.

CABE, San Jose, California, Mar 10-13
This statewide conference is sponsored by the California Association for Bilingual Education.

TESOL, Boston, Massachusetts, Mar 24-27
The 44th annual convention boasts the world's largest gathering of TESOL professionals. This year's theme is Re-imagining TESOL.

April
NSBA, Chicago, Illinois, Apr 10-12
This 70th annual conference is sponsored by the National School Board Association.

IRA, Chicago, Illinois, Apr 25-28
This 55th annual convention is sponsored by the International Reading Association. The theme is Reading in Many Languages.

NETC, La Vista, Nebraska, Apr 29-30
This conference is sponsored by the Nebraska Educational Technology Association. The theme is Creative Journeys to Learning.

AERA, Denver, Colorado, Apr 30-May 4
This conference is sponsored by the American Educational Research Association. The theme is Understanding Complex Ecologies in a Changing World.

Hope to see you there!

The iPad and Education: How Tablet Computers Might Change the Classroom

2010-01-27T14:35:00.017-07:00

When I was in seventh grade, one of my teachers assigned my class to write about what school might be like in the future. Calling upon my creativity, I dove into the assignment with gusto (open-ended writing assignments were my favorite). In my day-in-the-life narrative of a future middle school, students teleported to class, ate hot lunches served from a giant machine, and instead of textbooks, had their own personal, lightweight computers.

I didn’t know then that one of my ideas about the future might come sooner than I had realized. Today, Apple just announced their new iPad—a tablet computer they call their “most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device.” With the interface of an iPod Touch but the size of a laptop screen, it’s interesting to think what technology like the iPad might mean for schools and education.

So what’s this new iPad all about? Here’s a breakdown of some of the features and how they might impact education:

A large, multi-touch screen is the only user interface, which means all you need is your finger to operate the iPad. A simple interface is user-friendly even to children.
A calendar feature is included in the iPad; students could use it to keep track of assignments, activities, and tests.
The iPad includes a new application that allows you to find, download, and read e-books. With such easy access, the iPad could be a lightweight alternative to textbooks. (Rumor has it that McGraw-Hill has already been collaborating with Apple to bring e-textbooks to the iPad.)
The high-resolution screen is designed to impressively play videos and show pictures. If used in the classroom, the iPad could enhance students' learning experiences by allowing teachers to use media to teach.

But there are some reasons why the iPad might not work as well for education:

The iPad’s access to the Internet could come with a monthly service fee, which could get expensive.
Though the design is sleek and streamlined, such a lightweight, portable tablet means that it could be much more breakable than a computer (especially in the hands of children).

Drawbacks or no, it’s interesting to think about how technology like the iPad might change classrooms. If students had their own tablet computers, think of the huge store of e-textbooks they could carry around with ease. All the informational texts students would need would be on their tablets. And what if those textbooks were interactive? Students could do more than read educational material: they could view images, watch videos, even play interactive games. All of this will of course depend on the content suppliers make available, but the possibilities are intriguing.

I don’t think we can deny that technology like the iPad will largely affect the rising generation, including their education. And with Apple’s practice of starting new technology at low prices (the iPad starts at $499), the impact could spread faster than we think. But how far do you think this new technology will spread into the actual classroom? How do you see the iPad and its technology advancements affecting education in the near future? Please share your thoughts; we’d love to hear them!

Five Best Practices You Need to Know

2010-01-20T17:22:00.007-07:00

If your students used Imagine Learning English in 2009, you already know the difference thirty minutes a day can make. Now we've got a few extra tips to help them excel even more. Start off the new year by trying these five best practices that are sure to help meet your best expectations.

Click and save.
Our class summary and individual reports are great references for seeing what your students have learned. With just one extra click, they can also be used to track how far students have come. After opening a report in Manager, the report will appear as a PDF. Simply save the PDF to a folder on your desktop with the student or class name and date in the filename. Within a few weeks, you'll have a running record to compare the before and afters.

Take charge of your time.
When you set up your class at the beginning of each school year, you set a session time for each student. Ideally, students will use the program for thirty minutes a day, but how do you find time for every student when a school assembly takes precedence for the day? A new feature in Manager, the override session option allows you to temporarily change the session time for the whole class, so your students don't have to miss out.

Stop and listen.
As students begin reading in Imagine Learning English, they have the option to record themselves reading the stories aloud. But if they think no one is listening, why bother recording? Let your students know that you'd love to listen to them read to you, and then they'll start taking it seriously--and improve along the way.

Leave a comment.
The same goes for writing assignments. Imagine Learning English offers hundreds of printouts for students to expand their literacy and writing skills. But if students don't get any indication of the importance of these assignments, they won't try their hardest, if at all. Let students know you care by leaving a meaningful comment at the end of a completed assignment. It only takes a minute, and the result lasts much longer.

Involve parents.
Parent reports are periodically printed throughout the year, but how often do parents actually see them? Have students bring back a signed copy to ensure parents are involved and informed.

Reassessing EL Assessments

2010-01-19T17:19:00.001-07:00

Federal education leaders gathered with educators and assessment experts from around the country last month in Denver, Colorado, to reassess the way English learners are tested. In addition to mentioning Denver Public Schools' partnership with Imagine Learning, speakers gave recommendations for improving the assessment process. To read the entire 216-page transcript, click here. For a quick, more digestible overview, read on.

Currently, English learners must take state reading tests after attending U.S. schools for one year, at which point schools are accountable for the results under the No Child Left Behind Act. Reading proficiency levels are not taken into account before assessment.

Researchers--including University of California professor Jamal Abedi, George Washington University director Charlene Rivera, and WestEd senior researcher Robert Linquati--called for change and gave several recommendations on how to proceed:

Use English-language-proficiency (ELP) tests as proxy to state tests until students have enough proficiency to "meaningfully" take the state tests.
Set a minimum score on the ELP tests to indicate whether or not a student is ready for the state tests--tests that traditionally have not addressed the needs of English learners.
Administer computer-adaptive tests that would adjust for a student's language-proficiency level and give a more accurate score.
Align ELP standards and English language arts standards. Language acquisition experts were not consulted in the development of the first set of common core standards, even though, as Ellen Forte commented, "academic language proficiency affects the performance of all students, not just English learners."

What changes do you think education officials should consider when revamping assessment policies?

National Handwriting Day

2010-01-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Happy National Handwriting Day! It might not be an “official” national holiday, but people have been celebrating National Handwriting Day since 1977, when the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association established the holiday to “re-explore the purity and power of handwriting.”

National Handwriting Day is celebrated on January 23 in conjunction with the birthday of John Hancock, whose large, famous signature was the first to adorn the Declaration of Independence. It’s a wonderful day to celebrate and practice handwriting in your class—or to ponder the controversies regarding handwriting in schools today.

One controversy that has surrounded handwriting is to what degree cursive should be taught in schools. In the Saturday Evening Post, Caitlin Carpenter claims that the art of cursive “is an endangered species,” especially given the rise of technological communication and simpler handwriting models. Though some studies claim cursive writing can lead to higher academic performance, such as higher SAT scores, others argue that such studies are misleading and that cursive shouldn’t be taught over other handwriting models.

Still others claim that the most efficient way for anyone to write, including children, is with a keyboard. One professor from Carpenter's article claimed that if students “spend less time thinking about their handwriting and more time writing, they will have longer compositions and better grammar and planning.” It’s definitely true that since I’ve left school, the vast majority of my writing and composing takes place at a keyboard. But how early should keyboarding education begin in schools, and at what cost to instruction in handwriting?

Some have argued that the issue isn’t the kind of handwriting taught, but children’s ability to produce neat and eligible handwriting. As one principal stated, “It's a dangerous path to go down if the only way you can communicate or record information is electronically or with printed letters.” Though technological communication is so prevalent, I agree with the director of the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association when he said, “nothing will ever replace the sincerity and individualism expressed through the handwritten word.”

What’s your take on handwriting and cursive in schools today? How do you teach handwriting and encourage good penmanship when text messages and e-mails rule the halls? Please share your thoughts, and in the meantime, you can try some of these ideas to celebrate National Handwriting Day with your class:

Encourage your students to write and deliver a nice handwritten note to a family member, friend, or role model.
Learn about John Hancock as a class. This great leader played a key role in the American Revolution, and his signature on the Declaration of Independence is so famous that today a person’s “John Hancock” is his or her signature.
Have your students create, practice, or change their own John Hancocks. Your class can try signing their names in new ways (big, small, loopy, messy, or neat).

Motivating Students: Three Tips You Can Try

2009-12-15T16:02:00.008-07:00

Do your students suffer from a lack of motivation? In the midst of holiday parties and on the brink of a break, it’s difficult to focus student attention on learning rather than plans of vacation.

Before you reach your breaking point, try these tips to motivate students and keep them interested in their own learning. Because once they can see their progress, students are more likely to want to progress. Take a look at these tried-and-true ideas teachers across the country are using to motivate their students.

Graph Their Growth
A teacher in California had her students make graphs of their grades after every reading assignment. Though skeptical at first, she saw great improvement as the weeks passed:

Every time they read and answered questions, my students tallied up how many they got right and posted it on their personal graphs. They could see their scores improve and dip, and it was amazing to see their reaction to that. They went from being a very reluctant group of readers to achieving a very remarkable reading status. I did this for years, and it works.

Students of any age can graph out their scores, whether by bar graph, line graph, or even pictograph.

Stick to It
Stickers. You’ve used them to track progress before, but did you ever wonder if they actually motivate? A literacy coach from Ohio shared one teacher’s experience with her high school juniors:

I tried implementing a rewards chart using stickers. The first couple of weeks I could not see any response. Then one day, I forgot to update the chart. One of my “tough” guys came up and said, “Hey, where is my sticker?” Since then I have noticed how often the kids are actually talking about the stickers and congratulating each other. Works…even for the old kids.

Use this sticker template and 1-inch round sticker sheets (Avery 5410 work well) to print your own stickers from home or school.

Reward Good Behavior
An ESL teacher in Oregon used Imagine Learning English as a motivator for one first grader.

In the past, he did not respond to disciplinary measures. But now, since he loves this program, he can be reminded that he needs to behave to use the program. A hyperactive student like Pepe, who is impulsive and has trouble sitting still, can still focus and learn. The pace of the program, the games, the music, the visuals all appeal to a very active student and keep him motivated to learn.

Though some students will do anything for candy, the best rewards are ones that continue to encourage learning. Rewards like computer time, unique learning games, and team projects add something new to the day and help motivate students to pay attention the rest of the day.

What techniques have you used to motivate students in the classroom? Do your students respond better to rewards or penalties?

Preparing for 2010

2009-12-14T15:59:00.004-07:00

We all want to start out the new year right, so don’t let the winter break get in your way. As excited as your students may be for the time off school, they may not be prepared to fill all that time—at least not productively. We’ve prepared a few projects your students can start before they leave and can share when they come back.

For more ideas, check out last year’s activities, each designed to keep those literacy skills sharp.

Help students create a reader’s theater script from one of your favorite holiday short stories, and encourage them to share it with their families. Free prepared scripts are also available on the Internet.

Challenge students to create a concrete poem in the shape of a gift, snowman, or other holiday symbol.

Have students create a holiday bookmark, and take them to the library to check out a book to read over the break. Students can later present brief oral book reports on books they highly recommend.

Have students look at a number of winter- and holiday-themed picture books. Encourage them to write down the best moments of their holiday, and from those thoughts create a picture book to display in the classroom. (If these turn out well, you may want to speak to your media specialist about displaying them in the media/library center.)

New Year's Around the World

2009-12-11T16:05:00.010-07:00

I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season as much as we are at Imagine Learning! I can’t believe how quickly the holidays came this year. In only a few weeks we'll be starting off a brand new decade!

New Year’s traditions are so interesting to me. It’s amazing how one holiday can be celebrated in so many different ways. Every family, country, and culture has unique traditions and customs, and it's a lot of fun to learn about the different ways people ring in the new year.

In my family, we all gather around the table with glasses of apple juice mixed with lemon-lime soda. (Nothing else can be substituted for that—it’s tradition!) Each person says a wish for the year to come, and we all toast and cheer then move on to the next person. In Lisa’s family, everyone eats black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for luck. They also eat a traditional Mexican soup with meat, bone, potatoes, and corn on the cob. When Shar was growing up, her family celebrated by making donuts, watching movies, and playing games.

Here are some fun ideas for the classroom:

Ask your students about fun New Year's traditions they enjoy with their families. If you have English language learners in your class, you can ask them to talk about their culture and what they do for the new year.
This is also an opportunity to teach students who have recently moved to a new country about the customs in their new country. Have students compare and contrast traditions from their country with the traditions in their new home.
Teach a special lesson about New Year's traditions around the world. Ask your students to pretend they could go anywhere in the world for New Year's. Have them talk or write about what country they would choose to visit and why.

I’ve been doing a little research of my own, and I thought it would be fun to let you know about traditions from some of the countries that speak the languages we support in Imagine Learning English. Are you ready for your trip around the world?

Arabic
Not everyone celebrates New Year's on January 1. Many people living in Arabic-speaking countries celebrate the new year on the first of Muharram, which is the first month of the Islamic calendar. This year, Muharram begins December 18, though it doesn't officially begin until the sighting of the first crescent moon of the year.

Most people observe Muharram by fasting, offering prayers, reciting fatiha (which is the first chapter of the Koran), and singing elegies to honor the memory of martyrs. In some areas, people have begun to exchange cards and gifts on the first of Muharram as well.

Many families celebrate by wearing special clothes and having holiday feasts with special sweets.

English
In English-speaking countries, the new year is traditionally celebrated with a big midnight party-- either at home with the family, with friends, or with the community at big, city-wide parties that are commonly called First Night.

One tradition is called First Footing. The idea behind First Footing is that the first person to step over the threshold of a house on New Year's day will determine the luck of the family members for the coming year. Tall, dark-haired, good-looking men bring the best luck, and are even better luck if they bring a small gift, like a lump of coal, coins, or an evergreen sprig.

Another English tradition is the song "Auld Lang Syne," which comes from a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns. Do you know all the words?

French
The French celebrate the new year in style with a special feast called le Réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre, which is meant to bring prosperity to the house in the coming year.

There is a huge, two-day festival that takes place in Paris, where thousands of performers parade through the streets and meet under the Eiffel Tower on January 1. In southwestern France, people attend evening mass, then join in a torchlight procession to the vineyards for mulled wine.

Haitian Creole
On New Year's Day Haitians wear new clothing and exchange gifts to bring wealth and prosperity in the coming year. There are also displays of fireworks and community parties with games, contests, and entertainment.

Japanese
People in Japan spend New Year's Eve cleaning their homes and preparing special decorations called Kadomatsu, which are made up of a pine branch that symbolizes longevity, a bamboo stalk that symbolizes prosperity, and a plum blossom that symbolizes nobility.

One fun tradition is the Red and White Year-End Song Festival, which is a singing contest between male and female teams of celebrity singers. Japanese people also send colorful postcards to their friends and family so that they arrive on New Year's, making it a very busy day for the postal system!

Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so they can see the first sunrise of the new year.

Korean
The Koreans traditionally follow the Lunar calendar, which means that this year, Korean New Year is on February 14. People place straw scoopers, rakes, or sieves on their doors and walls to protect their families from evil spirits in the new year. The next morning, on New Year's Day, everyone dresses in new clothes, which symbolizes a fresh beginning.

Families gather together at the home of the eldest male family member to celebrate together and play games. Ancestral memorial rites are held, and the younger generation bows to elders in the family and wishes them good health and prosperity in the coming year. Parents typically reward this gesture by giving their children money and offering words of wisdom.

Mandarin
Chinese New Year is also celebrated according to the Lunar calendar, which means people all over China will be celebrating on February 14. It is the longest and most important festivity in the Lunar calendar and the most important traditional Chinese holiday.

Within China, there are many different regional customs and traditions for the new year. People wear new clothes, exchange presents, and decorate their homes with red paper cutouts. They also clean the house to sweep away any ill-fortune for the coming year and welcome in good luck.
On the Eve of Chinese New Year, families feast together on delicious food and sweets, then light fireworks. On New Year's Day, children wish their parents a healthy and happy new year and receive money in red paper envelopes.

Marshallese
On the Marshall Islands, people celebrate the coming of the new year by decorating their homes and having large community parties with dancing, traditional food, and entertainment. Friends and strangers alike wish each other a happy new year and prosperity for the coming year.

Portuguese
In Portugal, people traditionally pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. This ensures twelve happy months in the coming year. In Northern Portugal, children go caroling from home to home, singing traditional songs to bring luck. They are given treats and coins for their carols.

In Brazil, lentils are believed to signify wealth, because they look like coins. So on the first day of the new year, Brazilians eat lentil soup or lentils and rice to bring good fortune and prosperity.

At the De Iemanjá Festival in Brazil, people wear white clothes and light candles that they send out to float on the water.

Russian
In Russia, some people celebrate New Year's twice-- the official new year on January 1 (according to the Gregorian calendar) and again on January 14 (which is January 1 according to the Julian calendar).

Russian New Year's traditions include a decorative tree known as Novogodnaya Yolka. It is decorated with sweets and has a star on top. Another tradition is the arrival of Father Frost and his granddaughter, the snow girl, who bring gifts to put under the New Year's tree. Children sing songs for Father Frost.

Families come together for delicious meals and fireworks and to listen to the New Year Speech by the president of Russia on New Year's Day.

Spanish
Spanish New Year's Eve celebrations usually begin with a family dinner, traditionally including shrimp and lamb or turkey. The countdown to midnight is focused on the clock on top of the Casa de Correos building in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. It is traditional to eat twelve grapes, one on each chime of the clock, to guarantee good luck. This tradition is common throughout Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico, Peru, and Columbia.

Another New Year's custom is to prepare a special cake shaped like a ring, with a prize inside. The cake is divided up, and the lucky person who finds the prize in his or her piece is blessed with good luck all through the year.

Spanish tradition also says that wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve brings good luck.

In many Spanish-speaking countries, it is also common to take baths, clean the house, and even clean cars and pets to ensure a fresh start in the new year.

Vietnamese
The new year in Vietnam is celebrated according to the Lunar calendar on February 14. The celebration lasts for at least three days and has a lot of similarities to the Chinese New Year.

Many Vietnamese prepare for the new year by cooking special holiday foods and cleaning the house. People visit temples and pay their respects to relatives and ancestors, and children receive lucky money for the coming year.

Beyond Three Cups of Tea Part 2: Female Literacy

2009-12-04T13:39:00.012-07:00

In a previous post, I discussed one part of a lecture given at Brigham Young University by Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea.

During the lecture, Mortenson shared his belief that education is the key to promoting peace and should be our top global priority. He explained,

There are 120 million children in the world today who can’t go to school because of slavery, religious extremism, gender discrimination, corrupt governments. Seventy eight million are female…We can drop bombs, we can build roads, we can put in electricity, we can put in computers, but unless girls are educated, a society will never change.

What Illiteracy Means
As a mother, I shudder at the thought of my girls being unable to attend school and gain an education; as a lover of books and reading, I cannot imagine being unable to read. Yet in small villages like Korphe—where Mortenson built his first school—the female literacy rate is only about five percent. Half the men leave their homes to get jobs in other towns, with the women left to shoulder the work. As a result, women’s workloads have doubled in the last two to three decades. They may have a desire to learn, but the demands of taking care of their family’s basic needs are more pressing. But this lack of education takes its toll: when women suffer from illiteracy and malnutrition, their children and their communities suffer as well.

In such villages, one out of three children dies before the age of one. Jobs are scarce. And without a good prospect for the future, boys often leave their families to join extremist and terrorist groups, including the Taliban.

What Literacy Means
There is a solution, and Mortenson contends it is education. Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Kolenda of the US Army is a former commander in Afghanistan, and he has seen the changes that education is bringing there. In an email to Mortenson he wrote:

I am convinced that the long term solution to terrorism is education. This is a conflict that will not be won with bombs and bullets, but with books and ideas that excite the imagination towards peace, tolerance, and prosperity. The thirst for education is palpable, and it is education that will make the difference whether the next generation grows up to be educated patriots or illiterate fighters. The stakes could not be higher.

If education is the key to promoting peace, then women are the key to education. Mortenson quoted an African proverb that states: If we educate a boy, we educate an individual. If we educate a girl, we educate a community. He said, “Several global studies show that educating girls does three important things:

Reduce infant mortality.
Reduce the population explosion.
Improve the quality of health and life itself."

With such high stakes riding on literacy, and specifically female literacy, Mortenson’s work becomes not only individually important, but globally so. The schools that he builds in Pakistan and Afghanistan have begun to make a difference.

The Desire
In 2000, at the height of the Taliban, there were 800,000 children in school in Afghanistan—mostly boys age 5–15. Today, there are 8.5 million children in school there, including 2.5 million girls. This is the greatest increase in school enrollment in any country in modern history. Mortenson gives proper credit for the astounding results, stating that “the real reason is because there is such a fierce desire for education.”

Mortenson illustrated this desire by describing how he has seen a mother carefully unfold the newspaper that has been wrapped around meat and vegetables at the marketplace, then ask her daughter to read the news to her. It is empowering to any individual to be able to read the news and understand what’s going on around her.

The Fear
But with desire comes opposition. In the last two years, the Taliban has bombed or destroyed over 800 schools in Afghanistan and 650 in Pakistan. Ninety percent of them are girls’ schools. "Why is a group of men so terrified of littls girls going to school?" Mortenson asks. "Because their greatest fear is not a bullet but the pen.” They fear that girl growing up, getting an education, and becoming a mother. They fear how her education will be passed on in her community. An educated mother educates her children; an educated mother refuses to allow her sons to be involved with terrorism or violence. The Taliban knows this, so they target illiterate, impoverished societies in order to more easily gain control over the young boys they recruit to fight.

The Hope
Of the schools targeted and destroyed by the Taliban, only one has been Mortenson’s. That is because the schools he works to build are built by the community. The individuals in each community work hard to help build their school. They sacrifice and sweat for it. They are invested and involved, and they will not allow it to be destroyed.

Haji Ali, the chief of Korphe, said to Mortenson, “It’s my life’s greatest sadness that I never learned how to read and write. It is my life’s greatest hope that my children and my grandchildren can learn to read and write. These words in these books make the stories that make wise the fools.” Such hope, such desire, is strong in the hearts of many.

Of Haji Ali, his friend and mentor, Mortenson explains, “This man who had only one time in his entire life left his village to go on a pilgrimage, who had no radio, no phone, no postal system, no internet, no newspaper… he had the vision and foresight to know that education is the lantern and the candle of hope for the future.”

The challenges many of you face in educating children may not involve terrorism and destruction, but they may be as difficult to overcome. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for contributing to this goal of an educated world. Thank you for doing your part to carry that lantern, that candle, that hope.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T13:38:00.045-07:00

At Imagine Learning, we're thankful for:

Customer support calls (even the ones that come in at 4 AM) because the feedback helps us to continually improve our products and services.
Working extra hours on tight deadlines because it means we can serve more people and reach out to more children.
An office building that's just a little too small because it means we're a growing company.
You and all your dedicated work to help children achieve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Denver's Turnaround Strategy

2009-11-19T17:44:00.002-07:00

Imagine Learning English is now an important part of Denver Public School District's turnaround strategy. At Place Bridge Academy, students come from 40 different countries and need intensive language training. The following news clip shows students using Imagine Learning English to help bolster those skills.

Writing with ELs

2009-11-17T11:04:00.009-07:00

Writing may seem like the last step in language and literacy development, but according to Katharine Samway’s book When English Language Learners Write, research shows just the opposite. Young children, whether native English speakers or not, can begin to write before being able to read and even before being orally fluent. Of course, children understand more than they are able to write, but even English learners are fully capable of expressing complex thoughts in writing.

With this in mind, we’ve searched for ways to help your ELs get their thoughts out on paper. Whether your students have never before picked up a pen or they’ve already got the basics down, this list of research-based writing activities has something for everyone.

Storytelling
Don’t discount those crayon-scrawled drawings. Remember, the first writing systems were little more than graphic representations of ideas. Have your students draw a picture of a story and explain it to the class. This allows them to tell a story (first on paper, then orally), interact with their peers, and gain self confidence.

Mixing Observations
In a science class, don’t limit English learners to writing in paragraph form. Mix styles of writing (lists, pictures, captions) to allow multiple vehicles for meaning. This way, students can record their observations in a variety of ways, which may help them express more complex ideas.

Retelling
If your students hesitate to write, it doesn’t mean they don’t know how. Some students simply don’t know what to write. Help them gain confidence in their abilities by allowing them to write and retell a beloved story they know.

Wallpapering
You’re familiar with the word wall—take it one step further to teach sentence structure. Place basic headings at the top of the wall: article, noun, verb. When your class learns a new word, write it on a blank card, and put it under the appropriate heading. You’ll start to form funny sentences as time goes on. Once students are familiar with the most basic sentences (like, The mouse laughed), add new headings: adjective, adverb, direct object, and prepositional phrase. Students will love creating new sentences, and pretty soon they won’t have to use the wall as their sentence reference.

Journal Responding
Imagine Learning English provides students with important writing opportunities too. After every story students listen to or read, they receive an age-appropriate printout to help them explore their reactions to the story or article. When younger students read about a spooky adventure, they are asked to write about or draw a time they were scared. When older students read about Benjamin Franklin, they can use a word bank at the bottom of the printout to help them discuss ways they can help their community.

Access blackline masters of these printouts in the Level 1 Resource Guide and the Level 2 Supplemental Guide.

A Brief History of Emoticons : )

2009-11-16T10:17:00.016-07:00

Emoticons. You may think of them as a recent fad-- something invented by the Internet generation or Generation Text. But emoticons have actually been around a lot longer than you may think. How long, exactly? How about the nineteenth century?

Way Back When
A New York Times article from earlier this year talked about a recently-discovered New York Times transcript of a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 that contains a mark that some have suggested might be a winking emoticon. Some experts have argued that the mark might just be a typo or a legitimate form of punctuation, but some believe, based on its location in the text, that it could be one of the first documented emoticons.

Even if that sly little wink in the New York Times transcript wasn't on purpose, all you have to do is fast-forward a few years to 1881 to find an indisputable use of emoticons. In March of that year, an American satirical magazine called Puck included suggestions for humorous typographical emoticons. (Just to give you a little frame of reference, that was seven months before the famous cowboy gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Can you imagine Doc Holliday using emoticons?)

Turn of the (Twentieth) Century
In 1912, Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil's Dictionary, suggested a punctuation mark similar to a horizontal parenthesis that he called "the snigger point, or note of cachinnation." The mark was meant to represent "as nearly as may be, a smiling mouth. It is to be appended, with the full stop, to every jocular or ironical sentence; or, without the stop, to every jocular or ironical clause of a sentence otherwise serious."

If that's not an emoticon, I don't know what is.

In our Lifetime
Various emoticons were used as shorthand throughout the seventies, including -) as a symbol to indicate "tongue in cheek." But the emoticons that we're most familiar with (our old friends :-) and :-( ) were created and proposed by Scott Fahlman in a proposal posted to the Carnegie Mellon University computer science general board on September 19, 1982. Yes, you read that correctly. He actually made a formal proposal for the use of happy face emoticons.

The number of emoticon variations seems to be endless. I can't tell you how many times I've been talking with someone on instant messenger or through text and they send me an emoticon that I have to turn every which way to decipher. Usually, though, I can figure it out using context clues. Hooray for reading comprehension skills!

What are some of the crazy emoticons you've run into? What are some of your favorites to use? Let us know! It's always helpful to get a few more additions to our emoticon vocabulary.

Beyond Three Cups of Tea

2009-11-06T13:27:00.018-07:00

We often hear that it only takes one individual to make a difference and affect change. But do we really believe that we can be that individual? I have been guilty of thinking, I’m just one person. I can’t change the world.

Or can I? There are plenty of people who have proved that one person can make a world of difference. And on a rainy Tuesday morning in Provo, Utah, Greg Mortenson proved it to me.

A Promise
Mortenson, bestselling author of Three Cups of Tea, was guest lecturing at Brigham Young University. For those unfamiliar with his book, as I was, it is the story of a mountaineer turned humanitarian. After a failed attempt to climb K2, Mortenson found himself dangerously ill. He was taken in and sheltered for several weeks by the small village of Korphe in Pakistan. And there, the story of one man making a world of difference begins.

In this small village, he watched as a group of eighty-four school children—seventy-nine boys and five girls—worked diligently to complete schoolwork as they sat on the frosty ground. They had no building to call school; a teacher came to teach them only a couple of days a week. Yet there they sat, scratching their work in the sand with sticks, trying to gain an education. Mortensen recalled, “When a young girl came up to me and said, ‘Could you help us build a school?’ I said, ‘I promise I’ll build a school for you.’ Little did I know that it would change my life forever.”

Building a School
When Mortenson flew home in 1993, he began the process of raising $12,000 to build the school he had promised. He wasn’t sure how to begin, so he decided to send out letters to celebrities. From 580 letters, he received only one check for a grand total of $100. He continued working and saving. Then in 1994 his mother invited him to visit the elementary school where she was principal. As he prepared to leave, a fourth grader named Jeffrey approached him and said, “I have a piggy bank at home, and I’m going to help you.”

Mortenson said of the experience, “I didn’t think anything of it. What can a fourth grader do?”

But six weeks later, the children had raised 62,340 pennies.

“It wasn’t celebrities. It wasn’t adults. It was children reaching out to other children halfway around the world,” he said.

With the students' donation, Mortenson felt his luck was beginning to change. He was able to raise the full amount needed to build the school in Korphe, and it was completed in 1996. Since that memorable day in the village, Mortenson has spent 16 years working in very rural, often volatile, areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including approximately 75 months in the field, in order to bring schools and education to the children there. To date, he has helped build more than 90 schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pennies for Peace
After the experience with Jeffrey and his fellow students, Mortenson started the program Pennies for Peace. In 2008, the service-learning program was in 278 schools around the US. In 2009, that number has grown to 4,450 schools. The program encourages kids to get involved in local organizations and to go out and do something on their own.

And kids are making a big difference. Here are some of their stories, shared by Mr. Mortenson.

Little Red Wagon Foundation
Eleven-year-old Zach, from Tampa, FL, participated in Pennies for Peace for two years. When he was eight, he was bothered by the fact that there were homeless kids in his own community. So he created the Little Red Wagon Foundation to help raise awareness for homeless kids in the US. He started by walking from Tampa to Tallahassee, collecting donations along the way. This year, he completed the “My House to the White House Walk,” raising $74,000 for his cause. Next year, he hopes to raise one million dollars by completing his coast-to-coast walk.

Peruvian Hearts
Sixteen-year-old Ana Dodson is originally from Peru. Left an orphan when her mother died, she was adopted at age three by American parents. Anna participated in Pennies for Peace at age twelve. After visiting an orphanage in the city where she was born, Ana was determined to help. She started Peruvian Hearts, a nonprofit organization aimed to provide orphans with education, clothing, food, and hope for the future. Today, her organization does that and more.

A young man who went for a climb, a boy who went for a walk, and a girl who visited an orphanage all prove that individuals can make a difference in the world. I can make a difference in the world. It just takes one promise, one step, one school, one person at a time.

Daylight Saving Time Travel

2009-10-30T12:49:00.005-06:00

When I was in high school, I, like most seventeen year olds, knew everything. I knew how to drive (very fast), I knew how to iron my clothes (with just a squirt bottle), and you better believe I knew how to get the most out of my "extra hour" when Daylight Saving Time ended each fall.

While most people changed their clocks back and enjoyed another hour of sleep, I kept my normal schedule. My clock didn't change, and I woke up and went to bed according to its time. You see, I was saving my hour. For a time when I really needed it. Come November or December, when I had a big paper to write and the time was running out, I would finally set my clock back one hour and, just like that, traveled back in time.

Of course, not everyone sees the opportunities of DST like I once did. In 1947, author Robertson Davies wrote:

I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it.

The controversy surrounding Daylight Saving Time is rich and long-lived. And while it may have had a positive impact on me in high school, recent studies have detected adverse effects that could take a toll on education.

A study published in BMC Physiology last year found that adults ages 20 to 40 had a harder time adjusting in the fall if they were "morning" people and a harder time adjusting in the spring if they were "night owls." This year the Journal of Applied Psychology reported that workers get 40 minutes less sleep and sustain more injuries--with increased severity--the Monday following the switch to DST. While both of these reports studied the effects on adults, the underlying message may be applied to school-goers as well: If the time change causes restless nights, the restless nights will lead to restless bodies the next day.

Regardless of whether your students arrive groggy or wide-eyed (or an hour early), DST ends this Sunday, November 1 at 2 AM. So set your clocks back one hour, and then leave us a comment. What have been your experiences with Daylight Saving Time in the classroom?

After School at Imagine Learning Academy

2009-10-23T14:25:00.003-06:00

Class is in session. No, we’re not a few months behind in our newsletter topics. Although many schools started regular classes a few months ago, students in Washington, Colorado, and Hawaii are starting something new this month — Imagine Learning Academy. So what is Imagine Learning Academy, and why are we all so excited about it?

Imagine Learning Academy is an afterschool program that helps English learners, struggling readers, and special education students strengthen reading and language skills. We combine two forms of instruction for twice the impact: an engaging software program and individualized tutoring. Students begin by working on Imagine Learning English. When they need a little extra help, top teachers from the child’s own school are there to guide them. This combination provides a fun environment, individualized attention, and effective instruction.

Imagine Learning Academy is a supplemental educational services (or SES) program. SES programs were created as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, enacted in 2002. These tutoring programs are designed to give additional academic support to students at absolutely no cost to parents.

Title I schools may qualify for SES tutoring services if the school is in School Improvement Year 2 or higher and is subject to Corrective Action, Planning for Restructuring, or Restructuring. Students who receive free or reduced-priced meals in these Title I schools may be eligible to receive tutoring.

“We are facing being restructured if we can’t hit our benchmark in this year’s State Test,” writes Laura Vines, Principal of Kalihi-Waena Elementary School in Honolulu. “However, with Imagine Learning Academy as an SES provider, we have found a way to get our non-proficient students more time on a program that will help to close the achievement gaps for our subgroup populations.”

We are so excited to watch the progress of Imagine Learning Academy students not only in Hawaii, but in other Imagine Learning Academy schools across the country as well. This is going to be a great first month for all of us. Stay tuned next month, when we’ll bring you updates from the great students, parents, and teachers who are working with Imagine Learning Academy.

What's Your Take on Idioms?

2009-10-20T11:17:00.000-06:00

We all want to give our English learners a leg up in life, and teaching academic vocabulary helps them get ahead of the game. But if you really want to go the extra mile, breathe new life into the classroom by teaching idioms. Research shows that many languages share similar, if not identical, idioms, and students often need extra help to connect the dots. Read on for our crash course on idioms, complete with classroom tips, and you'll be good to go.

(If you're not yet convinced your English learners need to learn idioms, take a look at how prevalent they are, and you might change your mind. In this article alone, we've already used nine. At a loss? Make that ten.)

Idioms are phrases we use each day that are not to be interpreted literally. They have a new meaning that is commonly understood by one culture. For example, if you read a book you think a friend would like, you might say to this friend, "I just read a book that is right down your alley." Of course, that doesn't mean your friend will find the book in the alley behind her house, but rather that the book seems to fit her interests.

English learners especially have difficulty with idioms because, while some are pretty transparent ("I was so hungry, I pigged out on some pizza"), some idioms can be very abstract. For instance, if someone told you to "put all your cards on the table," you might go searching for the nearest deck of cards, when all he or she really wants is for you to be honest about what you're thinking.

This example reveals another problem English learners may struggle with when interpreting idioms. Very often, idioms are based on culturally significant things, requiring some background knowledge. In the previous example, a knowledge of poker or a similar card game is essential to understanding the true meaning of the idiom. Think of all the sports-related idioms we use. Without a knowledge of football, your ELLs may be confused when you tell them to "tackle a problem" or "take the ball and run with it."

Idiom Ideas for the Classroom

Create an idiom book. Assign each student an idiom (try searching here for ideas), and ask them to draw the idiom's literal meaning on a piece of paper. Write the idiom being illustrated across the top of each page, and then write the true meaning on the back. Compile the students' creations into a book, and read a few pages to the class each day.
Play concentration. Using 36 note cards, write 18 idioms (one on each card) and their corresponding meanings on 18 more cards. Let your students take turns trying to match the idioms to their meanings. If they find a match, students must use the idiom correctly in a sentence before they can earn a point for their team.
Only teach students one or two idioms in a day. Anything more can be overwhelming. After teaching the idiom's true meaning, as well as the reasoning behind it, go around the room and let each student use it in a new way. Or, ask each student a question that would allow them to use the new idiom. For example, if you taught the phrase "not on my watch," you could ask each student questions like "Does your dog chew on your backpack?" or "Are their fights out on the playground?" Using the phrase themselves in response will help students remember the idiom easier.

Thank You, Mrs. Ghessi

2009-10-15T10:12:00.001-06:00

I still remember my first day of the second grade. I had just moved from California to Pennsylvania and didn’t know any of the other kids at school. The school was being remodeled and looked terrifying—all torn apart and covered in plastic sheeting like something out of a movie. It smelled like cement and new carpet, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. My mom held my hand as she walked me to the classroom, and I remember the surge of panic I felt when she let go. I also remember that as soon as her hand slipped away, another hand took its place. The hand belonged to a pretty, blond woman named Mrs. Ghessi– my second grade teacher.

I think we all have a teacher who is particularly special to us, and who had a huge impact on our lives. Mrs. Ghessi was one of mine.

Mrs. Ghessi was the first person who suggested to me that I might want to be a writer when I grew up. She saw how much I loved story time and how I gobbled up the books on the reading shelf. She noticed how I turned my school supplies into characters with personalities and would tell stories about them to my friends. (My pair of safety scissors was quite the Romeo.)

Mrs. Ghessi taught me how to write my stories down. As soon as I finished one, she would read it and talk about it as if it was the best book she’d ever read in her life, and then she’d ask me for more. She asked what happened next, or she’d ask me “what if,” and then I’d write another story for her.

Just in case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m a writer here at Imagine Learning. I don’t think there’s been a day since the second grade that I haven’t written something down, and as you can see, I’m still telling stories.

Maybe I would still be a writer, even if I’d had a different teacher in the second grade, but I can’t help but think that Mrs. Ghessi had something to do with it. She saw a little seed of passion in me, and she watered it and cared for it until it took root. And goodness gracious, those roots go deep.

I guess this post is kind of my thank you– not only to Mrs. Ghessi, but to all of the teachers and school administrators who are reading this post. Thank you for caring, and for choosing to help children find their ways in the world and reach their potential.

Some day, your students are going to look back and remember you as one of the people who changed their lives.

Celebrating Halloween in Schools

2009-10-08T13:07:00.001-06:00

Crisp apples and fat pumpkins, brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges waving from the trees, and cool, sharp breezes signal one thing: Fall is here. And that means costumes, candy, and more candy. Halloween is coming. Children across the country are drawing pumpkins and ghouls in their notebooks, planning their maximum-amount-of-candy routes, and creating their version of the coolest costumes ever. My daughter is no exception.

Yet for many school administrators and teachers, Halloween isn’t as much about enjoying the festivities as it is about surviving the battle. Charles Haynes, Senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, explains it well: “They’re caught in the crossfire between parents who support and parents who oppose Halloween observances in the classroom.”

In an attempt to avoid controversy and appease parents, many schools have chosen to cancel costume parades and Halloween celebrations. While I enjoy Halloween and allowing my daughter to dress up, I can see that perhaps the celebrations of the holiday might be better kept at home. Dave Chilson, principal of Roosevelt Elementary in Binghamton, NY, explains, “We forget sometimes there are kids who feel pressure by dressing up, and that it’s not the best holiday for every kid in the world. You can be a hobo only so many times.”

I do, however, believe that school should be a place of learning and fun. Celebrations can help foster a feeling of community in the classroom, encourage explorations of creativity, and allow everyone to just be a little silly (I especially like that last one). Gratefully, many schools agree. Here are some of the alternate celebrations happening in schools across the country.

Fall-o-ween Festival
Dave Chilson cancelled the Halloween parade at Roosevelt Elementary but replaced it with a Fall-o-ween Festival that celebrates the harvest and seasonal change. This could also be an opportunity for students to bring in different types of food and celebrate cultural differences within the classroom.

Literary Parade
Washington Elementary Schoolin Raleigh, NC, holds a “curriculum-driven” literary parade. Students can still enjoy dressing up while celebrating some of their favorite story book characters. This is also a great way to celebrate literacy.

After-school Carnival
Palmer Elementary school in Denver, CO, sponsors a Halloween Carnival that includes food, fun, and a chance for families to learn and play together. Former principal Mike Crawford explained, “We get a very full house, but those who want to opt out can.” Parents might even use this as a safe and enjoyable alternative to traditional trick-or-treating.

Halloween World History Assembly
Odyssey Charter School in American Fork, UT, holds an assembly where students dress as a person from world history who has made a significant contribution to society. In order to participate, students must write a brief report on their chosen character, answering questions such as “What kind of clothing would the character have worn?.” “What was the character’s major accomplishment or contribution to society?,” and “Why did you pick this character?” This type of celebration can help students correlate learning with having fun.

What kinds of celebrations are happening in your school right now? Leave a comment to let us know!

Obama's School Year Expansion

2009-10-01T10:47:00.001-06:00

When President Obama announced his plan to expand the number of hours students spend in school, he was met with mixed reactions. "I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president admitted. "But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan fully supports the idea. "Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Arne told the Associated Press. "I just want to level the playing field."

Currently summer break can last anywhere from eight to twelve weeks. Children who make significant improvements in achievement during the school year often find themselves underachieving after a summer of TV and video games. Others may spend the summer lonely, hungry, and especially bored -- none of which foster a safe environment for learning.

Despite arguments against a schooling expansion, scores of schools across the country have already adopted a longer school day or year. Children who attend KIPP schools typically begin at 7:30 a.m. and stay until 5 p.m. -- with huge success. According to this article, Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution found that countries that added just minutes to each school day found significant improvement in math scores.

Centuries ago, one of America's first education reformers felt the system was "in a state of disrepair." Horace Mann (1796-1859) fought to add six months more schooling in places where students only attended a few weeks during the winter. Over time, rural areas continued to increase the number of school days, while urban areas cut away, leaving us with the 180 day school year most U.S. students observe today.

So where do you stand in the debate? Will extra school days lead to higher test scores and more educated students or overwhelmed teachers and stressed families? Somewhere in between?

Tell Me an ExposiStory: Transitioning from Narrative to Expository Texts

2009-09-15T13:04:00.002-06:00

Nothing captures a child’s attention like a good story—if only expository texts could hold the same attention. Starting in the fourth grade, and continuing into adulthood, informational texts are the most prevalent texts your students will encounter. How can you prepare them to comprehend exposition and enjoy the experience?

To encourage successful expository readings, and possibly lessen that fourth grade slump, we referred to Ogle and Blachowicz's article in the 2002 Comprehension Instruction: Research-based Best Practices and compiled a list of storybook approaches that students can transfer to informational texts. Read on for classroom tips and Imagine Learning’s approach.

Study the pictures
Just as storybooks entertain kids with pictures on each page, expository texts are packed with tables, diagrams, maps, and photos that students can use find extra information.

Classroom Tip: When introducing a new text, take students on a guided tour of the unique visual elements. Explain what captions are and encourage them to figure out how each photo or diagram helps tell a story, or prove the author’s main idea.
ILE: To help students read charts and tables, check out the leveled texts Picture This and The Record Breakers in our Level 2 Review Menu. For help with time lines, read Create a Timeline and then Exploding Mountain. These articles not only explain how to interpret visual aids, but they also give students more exposure to informative text.

Question the author
In between each page of an exciting story, kids question what happens next. Although informational texts are not structured in a story arch, students still gain valuable critical reading skills by asking meaningful questions.

Classroom Tip: Ask your students to write down 5 questions after every article or chapter they read. These questions can go any direction, from questioning why an author included certain information to what important information might have been left out.
ILE: Before each of our leveled books, students take a look at the cover and title with Alex, their Imagine Museum buddy. Alex asks questions about the title and guesses what the article might be about. This thought-modeling encourages students to do the same when they encounter a new text.

Learn the organization
The same story can be told in very different ways depending on how it’s organized: think of a fairy tale in picture book form, then a chapter book, and finally a novel. It's the same with expository texts. Donna Ogle and Camille Blachowicz emphasize that "young readers need to know how informational texts are organized externally (table of contents, headings, chapters, etc.) and internally (text structure: problem-solution, cause-effect, and so forth."

Classroom Tip: Pick a topic and bring several informational books on that topic, intentionally varied, to class. Divide the class in groups and give one book to each group. Ask the students to look at external features first: Are there any headings? Is there a glossary or index? Ask why these features might be helpful. Then move on to internal features. By pointing out how information is organized internally, students become sensitive to text structures and recognize them more easily in the future.
ILE: After every article students read, they are given a graphic organizer. These printouts ask students to map the main idea with supporting details, identify a problem and solution or cause and effect, or organize the main points of the article in other ways.

Read, read, read
Children must hear a myriad of stories before they understand the structure of a good story. They’ll need at least as many examples of expository text. The more encounters, the better.

Classroom Tip: Everyday, share an interesting article you read that day. Take it from the newspaper, a magazine, the Internet—just make sure it’s varied and inviting. When they see all the fascinating facts you can learn, they’ll begin to wonder what they might find.
ILE: Our leveled texts are read in pairs, with the first giving background information to prepare for the second. With scores of expository articles in the curriculum, students are exposed to a variety of topics and formats. And with all the scaffolding we provide, including clickable glossary words and pretaught vocabulary, students get all the experience they need to tackle exposition on their own.

In the Wake of Katrina: An Unlikely Success

2009-09-15T12:02:00.002-06:00

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest to ever hit the Gulf Coast, left thousands of people without homes, jobs, and a sense of security. Eighty-five percent of homes and 90 percent of schools in Pascagoula School District of Mississippi were flooded.

Says Glynda Smith, ELL Specialist at Jackson Elementary, "people were living in tents in their yards. Parents were tearing out their walls, and we knew we had to get the kids back in school. They needed to be safe, have something to do, and be out of their parents' way." Twenty-seven days after the storm hit, schools reopened their doors to some new challenges.

School supplies, including lesson plans and student data, were lost in the floods, and teachers were unprepared for the influx of English learners. Smith recalls, "we went from about 125 ELs to almost 600 that year." The school quickly requested Imagine Learning English to meet this new demand. When support staff came to install, they brought with them donations for new uniforms and supplies. "It was so touching for us," Smith says. "It brought back a sense of what America is all about and how people pull together in times of need."

Now, four years later, though some buildings may still lie in ruin, the children at Jackson Elementary stand as symbols of resiliency and success. To see some of their stories, click here for the full video.

What's New 2009

2009-08-12T10:40:00.004-06:00

While summer slowly closes its doors, schools across the country open theirs to a new year. Because we want this year to be your best yet, we've worked hard to make Imagine Learning English even better with new activities for students and functionality for teachers and administrators. Take a look at this sampling of new features below, click here for more information on these features, or click here to view an online demo.

For Students

New listening comprehension activities
Chants
Expanded literacy instruction
Instruction in Arabic, Vietnamese, and Marshallese

For Teachers and Administrators

New management features
TrueData reports
Reorganized activity menu

Pick It Apart: How to Teach Word Parts and Why

2009-08-12T09:08:00.004-06:00

Un. Re. In. Dis. Learn the meaning of these four prefixes, and you've just unlocked the meaning to over 1500 new words. It's no wonder vocabulary development experts, including Patricia M. Cunningham of the What Really Matters series, stress the importance of learning your prefixes and suffixes.

Think of it. Teach un and suddenly your students can read and understand uncommon, undo, undecided. It's unbelievable. When you consider the efficiency this brings to vocabulary instruction, you may wonder why more curriculum isn't focused on teaching word parts. Unfortunately, as Cunningham points out, teaching word parts often just isn't "very engaging or motivating--for teacher or students."

Until we tackled the task, that is. Imagine Learning is proud to introduce three new activities dedicated not only to teaching word parts but also to exciting and motivating your students. Learn more about the research behind these activities and how we mixed martial arts with some serious affix action.

Word Chop: Introduction to Prefixes and Suffixes
In her book What Really Matters in Vocabulary, Cunningham explains that the main goal in teaching word parts is to "help your students become morphologically sophisticated.... When they come to a big unknown word in their reading, they should ask themselves the key question: 'Does this new word have any parts I know?'"

In this activity, Nick, a character from Imagine Museum, transforms into a martial arts master to help students figure out a good strategy to read and understand challenging words. Nick teaches a four-step strategy to reading big words, including "chopping" the word into smaller parts and checking the context.

Fix It Up: Use Prefixes and Suffixes
Now that students know the Word Chop strategy, they're ready to make some words of their own. In this activity, students learn the meaning of new affixes and try creating new words with them.

Of course, not every word can take every affix. As Cunningham points out, "knowing the opposite meaning of im helps you build meaning for impatient and improbably, but not for imagine or immense." Nick steps in again to explain this concept and show students that there are some exceptions to the rule.

After students create a few new words with an affix, they put these words into a paragraph to complete a funny story.

Affix Action: Practice Prefixes and Suffixes
This is where students really get into affixes. They create words from a list of prefixes, base words, and suffixes in order to answer a prompt. For every word they answer correctly, students choose a martial arts move they want to see Nick perform. At the end of the activity, Nick performs each move in order, creating a unique (and often silly) routine.

Teach and Enchant: Using Chants with English Language Learners

2009-08-12T08:12:00.002-06:00

They’re jazzy. They’re catchy. And most importantly, they’re memorable. Jazz chants were developed by Carolyn Graham, an ESL expert from the American Language Institute at NYU, in order to reinforce language conventions and the proper intonation of English. Students learn lyrics quickly by connecting English's natural rhythm to a catchy jazz beat. And the lyrics stick.

Which is why we’ve added six brand-new chants to our curriculum this year. These chants, accompanied by live-action video or captivating animations, focus on essential topics for English learners, including pronouns, plurals, and multi-meaning words. Best of all, students can record the chants on their own, so they can have a fun and safe environment to practice advanced language constructions without an audience. Read on for more details or watch the online demo for a sneak peek.

After students watch their first chant, they enter the recording studio to practice the chant for themselves. With two different speeds to choose from, students can record at their own pace and then listen until they're content. Our chants cover a variety of topics, including:

Counting
This chant teaches students how to count as high as they want.

Multi-meaning words
Would you sock a sock? Can a bat bat? This chant discusses words with dual meanings.

Plurals
This chant uses magic to teach students how to make words plural.

Be verbs
These verbs can be tricky to identify, understand, and use. This chant simplifies the task by giving students an easy way to memorize and use be verbs.

Pronouns and possession
This chant sets the record straight about the difference between me and mine, he and his, and you and yours.

And more!
Preview each chant in the Imagine Learning English Activity Menu. Click Level 2, then Chants in the left menu, and let the exploring begin.

Word Journals

2009-06-17T10:16:00.000-06:00

Just like you never see SpongeBob without his SquarePants, your students should never be found without their word journals.

At the beginning of the term, each student should make their own book, using folded sheets of paper and a few staples. Then, every time students hear an unfamiliar word throughout the day, they should write it in their journal. At the end of the day, set aside one half hour for students to define, draw, or paste a magazine picture next to each word to help describe its meaning.

By using word journals, students will not only paste pictures into their books but also cement the meanings into their minds.

Letter Card Competition

2009-06-17T10:15:00.000-06:00

This card game tests teamwork, tempo, and intellect. It’s where speed meets Scrabble, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

Divide students into teams of three. Give each team a deck of 26 index cards—each card has one letter of the alphabet on it. Start Round 1 by reading a vocabulary word. Teams must sort through their cards to find the letters they need to spell the word and place the cards in the correct order in front of them. If a word uses the same letter more than once, students can use the blank side of an unused card to represent the second or third instance of that letter.

The first team to correctly spell the word and raise their hands wins one point. Play as many rounds as you have vocabulary words.

Category Scramble

2009-06-17T09:13:00.001-06:00

You can’t go wrong with this familiar favorite, a game that will leave your students chattering for more.

Take turns asking students in the class to contribute a category (fruits, animals, jobs, etc.) for the game. Have each student write the decided categories on a sheet of paper. Pick one student to mentally say the alphabet, over and over. When a second student says stop, the first student reveals what letter he or she stopped on. Use a timer and give students two minutes to write down words that start with the chosen letter—one word for each category. For example, if ‘L’ was chosen, and one of the categories is Fruits, you could write “lemon” or “lime.”

At the end of the two minutes, compare student answers. Original answers earn one point each.

Success at Discovery

2009-05-15T14:22:00.001-06:00

Students at Discovery Elementary, and throughout all of Utah, are now enjoying the benefits of Imagine Learning English. With support from Utah legislators, the State Office of Education has offered Imagine Learning English free of charge to any English learner in the entire state. As a result of this offer, over 21,000 students in Utah now have access to the program. Click here to read Discovery Elementary's story.

15 Summer Break Strategies

2009-05-14T14:26:00.005-06:00

You've worked hard all year to close the achievement gap between your high- and low-income students. Want to make that last? Then it's time to take a closer look at one of student progress's biggest threats: summer break.

A recent study at Johns Hopkins University reveals that any gaps that may exist during the school year are only exacerbated by the very different experiences high- and low-income elementary students have over their summer break.

Starting in elementary school, this summer learning discrepancy accumulates, resulting in a higher dropout rate and lower college attendance rate among low-income students than that seen in their high-income counterparts. Says sociologist Karl Alexander, “The good news is that disadvantaged kids’ test scores improve at pretty comparable rates during the school year.” So don’t let the summer slow their progress.

But how can you keep all your students sharp over the summer? We put together a list of activities available to families of any economic status, guaranteed to keep kids on track. And don't miss our parent handout below, designed to raise awareness on the issue and offer helpful suggestions.

Recommended Activities

Get a library card, and check out a new book each week.
Visit your local bookstore or library for storytelling hour.
Read in front of your children, even if it's just the newspaper or a magazine.
Leave books around the house for easy access.
Visit a museum. Most museums have free or discounted days over the summer.
Enroll your child in a summer sports team.
Assign daily chores.
Go to the park.
Encourage educational TV shows and websites, like www.imagineisland.com, and restrict usage to no more than two hours at a time.
Check out community programs for free craft days, cultural events, and festivals.
Visit a retirement home to listen to stories, and share a few of your own.
Start a reading rewards program. For every five books your child reads, reward the accomplishment with a trip to the zoo or something equally satisfying.
Attend an outdoor concert. Most cities offer these free in the summer months.
Watch a play. Many theatre companies have free dress rehearsals open to the public.
Write your own books. Whether they're poetry, narrative, or illustrations only, share your books with each other.

Parent Handout in English

UPDATE: Spanish Version

History Speaks

2009-05-14T14:23:00.004-06:00

What do Mount St. Helens's eruption, Lewis and Clark's expedition, and masking tape's invention have in common?

They each had famous beginnings in May. And not only that--we've got just the tools to make these historically significant events come alive in your classroom. Each event can be paired with one of our beautifully illustrated leveled texts and lead to some meaningful classroom discussion. Read on for instructions on accessing the texts and a list of topics worth talking about. Then let history speak for itself.

Accessing Level 2 Texts
To access any article or story in Level 2, click the Imagine Manager icon on your desktop. In the menu on the left, click Support, then Teacher Guides, and finally Level 2 Supplemental Guide. This will open a PDF of the entire guide. Click through the first few pages until you reach the Table of Contents. You will see a listing of every story and article in the program. To view the simplified version of a story or article, click the title name in the Table of Contents. To view the advanced version, click the 'Advanced Text' link underneath the title.

Eruption of Mount St. Helens: May 18, 1980
Read The Exploding Mountain. This article features a timeline of events leading up to and following that historic day. It also explains some of the causes and effects of volcanic eruptions.

Discussion Topics: natural disasters, emergency preparedness, effects on the environment, timelines

Expedition of Lewis and Clark: Began May 14, 1804
Read Don't Fence Me In. This article details a few reasons why early settlers moved to America. It also covers westward expansion and development of the West.

Discussion Topics: pioneers, explorers, freedom

Invention of Masking Tape: Patented May 27, 1930
Read Inventions. This article tells the story of three different inventions and the role serendipity played in important discoveries.

Discussion Topics: famous inventions, technology, problem solving

2009 Telly Award Winner

2009-04-25T10:02:00.006-06:00

Imagine Learning's TV show, Imagine Island, has done it again. After last year's Telly Award nomination, Imagine Island came home with a bronze medal. In 2009, the TV show was awarded with two silver medals--the Telly Award's highest honor--in Best Children's programming and Best Educational programming.

This accomplishment is the result of thousands of hours of hard work and creativity. Now broadcast to countries all across Central and South America, Imagine Island can provide a solid foundation in English development for millions of children. Click below for a sneak-peek at some of our award-winning episodes.

Oral Reading Records

2009-04-10T14:44:00.002-06:00

In the early 1970s, Dr. Marie Clay introduced the idea of oral reading records: While a child reads to you, take note of any words that are omitted, substituted, self-corrected, or cause hesitation. This information, along with the amount of time it takes for the child to complete the task, helps inform a teacher on what strategies students already use.

Though informative and helpful, these records can be difficult to maintain. You don’t often have the time to sit next to every student in the class as he or she reads an entire book. And with “teacher” by their side, tallying mistakes, some students feel enough anxiety to skew their scores.

With Imagine Learning English, you don’t have to sit by your students’ side with a stop watch. You can track their progress at your own convenience. Using specific stories, student recordings, and our reading record equations in your Supplemental Guide, you’ll have all the resources you need to analyze student progress. We’ll show you how.

First, log on to Imagine Manager and click Reports in the left menu. Then click Student Recordings. You will see a list of classes and students. Click the student whose recording you want to analyze, and then click View Recordings to see a list of songs, chants, and stories this student has recorded.

Every sixth story your students read is recorded without a model to emulate. Use one of these to keep a running record--it will reflect how your student reads without the help of a native speaker to mimic. Before you listen to the recording, you'll need a pen, a stopwatch, and a printout of the story text. (You can access story text in Imagine Manager. Simply click Support in the left menu and then Teacher Guide to get pdfs of any story.)

Now you're ready to start. When the recording begins, start your watch and pick up that pen. Cross out every word the student reads incorrectly. At the end of the recording, stop the clock. Then fill in the chart below, found at the bottom of the story text printout, to score for speed and accuracy. Keep this on file 'til the next time you track, and you'll soon have enough information to analyze student progress.

Teaching Poetry

2009-04-10T14:29:00.004-06:00

Roses are red… and some poetry is stale. Celebrate April, also National Poetry Month, with a return to creativity.

Check out these classroom-friendly ideas on how to teach some of the more fun, lesser-celebrated poetry forms, including free verse, cinquain, and tankas.

Free Verse
Anything goes with this free-spirited, no-restraints form of poetry, but its relaxed nature is exactly what makes it so difficult to master. Give your students a little direction by first exposing them to plenty of examples. Imagine Learning English now features a free-verse poem entitled Searching, by Nicole Drysdale, with a graphic organizer to get your students' thoughts going. Click below for the full text.

After reading this and other great examples, give your students a similar topic, and then set them free!

Cinquain
This five-line poem is more structured than free verse, but it's just as fun. This poem often describes a person or object. One variety of cinquain works like this:

one noun
two adjectives
three "-ing" verbs
one phrase
another noun

The first and last lines are different nouns for the same subject. The middle three lines describe this subject in a fun or interesting way. For example:

snake

scaly, hungry

slithering, hiding, waiting

my favorite pet to feed

Pete

The formulaic nature of cinquains makes them fun and easy to write. You can also play fun games with them. Once your students write their own cinquains, write a few on the board, but leave the first and last lines empty. Then have each student try and guess what the missing lines could be.

Tanka
Meet the haiku's more extreme cousin. Like haiku, tankas begin with three unrhymed lines, the first being five syllables long, then seven, then five. But where the haiku ends, tanka continues with two more unrhymed lines of seven syllables each. This Japanese lyric poem is well over 1200 years old (its more popular counterpart, haiku, is around 300), and it often involves metaphors and other figurative language.

Prepare students for this form of poetry by doing a quick overview on syllables and then "speaking" in tanka. Have students sit in a circle. The first person will start the conversation, but each line must fit a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern. For example:

Student 1: Have you read tankas? (5)

Student 2: No, I've never heard of them. (7)

3: They're interesting. (5)

4: It's fun to count syllables. (7)

5: But only if you can count. (7)

Have students count with their fingers as they speak. You also may want to write "5-7-5-7-7" on the board and point to each number to help students keep track of how many syllables to use. When a student uses too many or too few syllables, they are out, and the game continues. Students will not only be speaking in tanka, they'll be thinking it too. Writing should be no problem.

Success in New York

2009-03-17T15:30:00.001-06:00

"Our students are using Imagine Learning English, and their growth is overwhelming. The things taught are really mastered by the students. Very few are lagging behind. We noticed that the children who are hyperactive, have IEPs, and have emotional issues are very calm with this program.

"The program moves the students along at a pace that they are able to handle and they don't get bored. They are really absorbed by it and are constantly practicing English out loud. It's great to see them singing songs and responding to the machine. We love it! The students love to use Imagine Learning English!"

Teri Zenos
New York Public Schools

Language Mag Meets ILE

2009-03-17T15:29:00.003-06:00

Imagine Learning English is making headlines! Language Magazine, the journal of communication and education, featured Imagine Learning English in their TESOL edition.

This four-page spread discusses RTI, its history, downfalls and successes, and how ILE is helping schools nationwide with their struggling readers and English learners. Check out this link and then click "Responding to Intervention" to read the full article.

Getting Familiar with RTI

2009-03-17T15:27:00.003-06:00

There's been talk of a new player in the educational ring, and you'd do well to get yourself acquainted. If you haven't already, it's time you met RTI.

RT-what, you ask? RTI, or Response to Intervention, is all the buzz in the education world this year. And that's because it's bringing results. Good ones. The basic mantra of RTI is to monitor student response to the intervention methods you're using and then take action if students aren't responding well. While each school implements RTI in a stylized way, there are four basic components that are key to effective intervention. This month, we'll examine the first three and how Imagine Learning English meets each requirement.

Tiered Instruction
Tiered instruction applies to the level of intensity devoted to the student in order to improve learning. Tier 1 refers to well-crafted classroom instruction. If students don't respond well to this, they move to Tier 2, small group instruction. Tier 3, usually individual instruction, is reserved for students who still struggle in Tier 2.Students from any category will benefit from Imagine Learning English. It’s likely that if a student from Tier 1 were to be given Imagine Learning English, the need to switch to a more intensive form of instruction might be eliminated. The type of instruction delivered by Imagine Learning English imitates that offered at Tier 3, since it is one-on-one instruction with immediate feedback and automatic differentiation of instruction.
Ongoing Student Assessment
Imagine Learning English includes assessment activities embedded throughout the courseware. Students’ scores are collected and reported within two main reports: individual reports and the class summary report. Since performance is reported the instant a student completes an assessment activity, teachers can retrieve up-to-the-minute status. The class summary report allows teachers to compare student performance with the rest of the class. The individual summary report shows student placement within the courseware, their placement test scores, and their scores for skill groups. The detailed summary report lists individual skills, mastered and/or unmastered.
Parental Involvement
Imagine Learning English makes it easy to communicate with parents through regular printouts written in students’ home language. Printouts itemize students’ accomplishments with reminders to practice and review important skills. Skills are listed and references to them are translated, so parents will be able to assist their child with review and practice.

Bring Difficult Narrative to Life

2009-02-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

You wouldn’t give your 4th graders Tolstoy or Dostoevsky to tackle. And why not? They’d be left in the wake of complex sentences and compounds. So how can you avoid putting that same burden on your struggling readers and English Learners (ELs)?

While you may not be giving your ELs War and Peace, the transition from picture books to early readers to chapter books can seem equally daunting. If you’re looking to make difficult narrative more accessible, take a look at these research-based, helpful hints for the whole class.

Try Reader’s Theater
Reader’s Theater is a type of performance that requires no props, costumes, or scenery. Players don’t interact directly with each other but rather read each line to the audience, in character.

Reader's Theater is ideal for ELs and struggling readers. They must follow along in the script to know when their part comes, but they’re only directly responsible for reading a certain number of lines. This allows them to feel more comfortable reading out loud in public. It also gets students excited to be involved as a class. In your Resource Guide, you'll find the script for Missing Manny, a mystery play with funny characters perfect for Reader's Theater. Download the entire script here.

According to Cara Bafile at Education World, Reader’s Theater “blends students’ desire to perform with their need for oral reading.” In her article, Reader’s Theater: A Reason to Read Aloud, Bafile offers stories and tips on making your Reader’s Theater successful. But remember: Reader’s Theater is not a last minute project. Preparation is key. Be sure to include the following steps when introducing each new script:

Make one copy of the script for every student.
Read the entire script out loud while your students follow along.
Label repetitive phrases as “All” and encourage the class to read those sections together.
Help students highlight their assigned lines, so they can practice reading it out loud.

Play It Up
Now go one step further and put on a full production. Students will get excited not only to make the scenery and costumes but to practice their lines (translation: more reading) and rehearse for the big day. They won’t even realize they’re increasing their fluency and comprehension.

Make Your Own
Looking for more scripts and coming up short? After the success of your Reader’s Theater, your students are bound to want more. Look no further than your nearest bookshelf. You can take a harder narrative and transform it into a reader’s theater script. Just look for dialogue-dense sections (which usually correspond with the funniest or most dramatic parts) and perform different scenes from the book. As narrator, you can give students background to build up the next scene.

The Glossary that Talks Back

2009-02-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

Fifty years ago, multiple-choice tests were graded by hand, not scanned. Overhead projectors ruled the classroom, and PowerPoint or interactive whiteboards only ruled our dreams. When students didn’t understand a word, they slogged through the monstrous, pedestaled dictionary in the library or lost their place to seek out a glossary in the back. And when they didn’t understand the definition, it most certainly wouldn’t talk back.

Well those days are gone, and glossaries are silent no more! The interactive glossary words in Imagine Learning English give students up to six new pieces of information to help them grasp the meaning and context. To find out exactly how this glossary is talking back (no disrespect here), read on.

5 New Interactions

Definition Audio: What good is a definition if you can’t read all the words? Just in case students are unsure of a word, we make sure each definition is read aloud, so students can easily follow along.
First-language Translation: For those students who have a wider vocabulary in their first-language, each glossary word is translated and read out loud.
Part of Speech: No glossary would be complete without this helpful information. Students become more familiar with how nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs function as they see more examples of each.
Illustration: For those visual learners, definitions and translations might not cut it. Just in case the meaning still escapes them, we’ve included illustrations for every glossary word possible.
Extra Information: To make sure students get a deeper understanding of each word, we include synonyms and antonyms and identify idioms and compound words.

When students read leveled text, glossary words are bold and clickable. At any time, they may click a glossary word to learn more about it. And the best part? ILE holds their place in the story, so students don’t have to. Going five steps beyond the traditional glossary, the ILE interactive glossary allows students to get past the vocabulary and into some meaning.

Note: You can explore the interactive glossary through the Level 2 Activity Menu. Click "Reading Fluency and Comprehension" on the left and then the "Leveled" Listen and Read icon. Open any book and you'll see glossary words in bold. Click any glossary word to explore its meaning.

Building Friendships in Illinois

2009-02-20T15:31:00.001-07:00

"At the beginning of our school year, I had two new girls come from different countries, and I started them on Imagine Learning English. Conveniently, I work in a computer classroom in our building that only has computers set up with the ILE software. Our ELL students (K–5) come every day to do their lessons with me.

"I randomly seated these two students next to each other. One student is from Germany, the other from Korea. A wonderful unexpected friendship has blossomed during their time spent sitting next to each other. They check each other’s computer screen to compete, and they wait for each other to walk back to their main classrooms. They are now speaking English with each other and have whole conversations; I hear them as they are walking out. Wow! I cried tears of joy. Imagine Learning English helped these two girls from completely different countries to have conversations and just express themselves as girls do."

Mary Augustine
ELL Assistant
Naperville, Illinois

Testimonial in Texas

2009-01-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

"As the Kindergarten bilingual teacher of 24 wonderful students in an early exit district, life can be a little stressful. Imagine my delight when the time came to begin transitioning my students into learning their letters/sounds in English: Imagine Learning English had already gone before me and done just that!

"Even though I had spent relatively little time focusing on the English alphabet, most of my students knew most of the alphabet (letter and sounds)! In the third six weeks of school, most of my students are very successfully beginning to read in English. They have mastered the mechanics of reading in Spanish and continue making excellent progress in that area.

"What makes it even more wonderful is that they love to "play" Imagine Learning English. They have no idea that they are actually learning. Thank you for your hard work in helping my students to be successful in acquiring and mastering a second language. You are greatly appreciated!"

Marie Lowry
Bilingual Kindergarten
Royse City, Texas

Go Graphic

2009-01-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Literacy all begins with letters and sounds. But after learning to recognize letters, then words, then phrases, sentences, and even paragraphs, a student’s journey is still far from over. It’s time to make some meaning out of it all. Time for connections. Time to go graphic.

Each of our new forty-four leveled texts come with a graphic organizer, found conveniently in your Level 2 Resource Guide. Graphic organizers teach students not only how to organize ideas but how to find ideas and meaning in the first place. And according to the April 2007 Reading in a Foreign Language article by scholars Xiangying Jiang and William Grabe, graphic organizers are especially helpful for English learners, who struggle with meaning more than their native-speaking counterparts. Check out the type of graphic organizers we use and how you can incorporate them into your curriculum.

Compare and Contrast
Sequence/Timeline
Main Idea and Supporting Detail
Information Table
Story Map
Cause and Effect
Problem/Solution

Struggling readers are likely to see the same text structures over and over without even realizing it. Says Jiang and Grabe, "the limited variety of discourse structures and their recurrence across texts enable teachers to provide explicit instruction to students in text structure knowledge, and students, once familiarized with the major textual patterns, can transfer their knowledge across texts and content areas." Graphic organizers make these text patterns more accessible, so students find meaning easier.

Download a sample graphic organizer here:

Making Resolutions Reality

2009-01-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Another year has come and gone. And so have last year’s resolutions. That’s not to say you didn’t have some great ideas—even the greatest intentions fail without the right plan of action. But if one of your goals this year is to get your students learning, reading, and loving it all… well, we’ve got just the game plan to make your resolution a reality.

Take a look at yet another study that demonstrates students who use Imagine Learning English test better and learn more than students who don’t. Then renew your resolve to put your ELs on Imagine Learning English everyday. Because if you make time in 2009—Imagine Learning English will make results.

ClearVue Research Independent Assessment Study Research Results for an Illinois School District:

Kindergarten students using Imagine Learning English had a median improvement in the pretest to posttest ISEL score of 40%. In comparison, kindergarten students without Imagine Learning English gained less than 20% during the pretest to posttest period.
First grade students had a median improvement in their pretest to posttest ISEL composite scores of over 30%; while first grade students without Imagine Learning English gained 15%.
An additional measure of year-to-year differences validates the increased benefit of Imagine Learning English: Kindergarten ISEL pretest to posttest scores from the 2005-2006 school year (before Imagine Learning English was implemented) had a median improvement of 22% compared with the 40% growth achieved by Imagine Learning English students the following year (2006-2007).
Imagine Learning English has a gap-narrowing effect. Students selected to receive Imagine Learning English were the most needy as evidenced by pre-test scores. However, post-test scores show that this gap is narrowed considerably due to the progress of Imagine Learning English students.

And Illinois isn't the only state seeing these results. English learners across the country are closing the learning gap with Imagine Learning English. So while we can't help you with your other New Year's Resolutions, we can help your students with literacy and comprehension. This year, be sure to put Imagine Learning English on your priority list.

Submit a Story

2009-01-01T17:47:00.014-07:00

Teachers spend their lives encouraging, guiding, and mentoring their students. Take this opportunity to share how one special teacher did this for you, and we'll post it in our Teacher Appreciation Section.

E-mail all stories to feedback@imaginelearning.com.

Contact Us

2009-01-01T17:33:00.005-07:00

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or topics you'd like to see more on this blog, e-mail us at feedback@imaginelearning.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Contributors

2009-01-01T16:23:00.036-07:00

Lisa Salazar
Lisa loves the English language and all its quirks and idiosyncrasies. She has taught English as a second language in the US and abroad and for a period of time attempted to teach Spanish (a language she used to know well) to a class of Hungarians (in a language she barely knew). Needless to say, she quickly developed a deep respect for all language learners.

After a brief stint as a magazine writer, editor, and freelancer, Lisa joined the team at Imagine Learning. When she’s not scrutinizing sentences for comma splices, she enjoys writing music, watching documentaries, and experimenting with ginger and cilantro.

Read Lisa's articles here.

Shar Petersen
Shar has been a writer her entire life but only started getting paid to do it eight years ago. She documents the Imagine Learning products (the paid part), makes a lot of to-do lists (the unpaid part), and blogs about life with a two-year-old (the paid-but-not-in-$$ part).

Shar loves a lot of things, but best of all children and books and reading. She has worked at Imagine Learning since it began in 2004 and thinks it's the perfect place for combining those three passions. The only things that might rank a little higher on her favorites list are her husband, their two daughters, and ice cream.

Read Shar's articles here.

Brenda Johnson
Brenda comes from a family of bookworms and was bitten by the book bug early, thanks to bedtime stories and family reading sessions. Because of this, her main interests include writing, reading, writing, and reading. She also has a passion for storytelling, cooking, graphic design, and gathering useless trivia.

Brenda has written countless bits of poetry and short stories, which are only "countless" because most have been lost to disorganized hard drives or old notebooks. Her favorite book is Peter Pan, and she's begun a personal crusade to make sure everyone in the world reads it and loves it as much as she does.

Read Brenda's articles here.

Paige Lyman
Paige has loved reading and writing since she was a little girl with a very active imagination. Now she's grown, but her imagination is still active, and she puts it to good use writing, planning, and organizing. Her love for the English language has grown as she studied English linguistics and editing, and she thinks that languages are fascinating.

Paige likes dreaming up exciting stories about adventure and writing down her own life's adventures (which may not be as exciting, but are just as good). She also enjoys taking pictures, trying new foods, drawing, and playing games.

Read Paige's articles here.

Winter Break Writeups

2008-12-14T16:32:00.001-07:00

As winter break approaches, teachers meet it with mixed emotions. The time off does wonders for you, but when your students come back hyped up on holiday treats—and their concentration completely derailed—it sometimes makes you wonder what happened.

Deter their mental meltdowns with six fun assignments designed to keep student literacy skills fresh over the break.

Keep a holiday diary. Even if they just write one sentence a day about what they did, this will get them spelling words and composing sentences, and they’ll have the memories on record.
Make a traditions list. Have them keep track of everything they do every year—or things they wish they’d do again next year.
Read to a grandparent, younger sibling, or someone who could use the holiday cheer. Not only will they feel good for helping someone else but they’ll get good practice and probably some encouragement too.
Choose books to read from a class list. When you give your students a list of books to read over the holidays, they may not read them all, but at least they’ll have an idea of where to go when they’re in the mood. Check out the Children's Choice books here.
Complete a reading journal. Give them a fill in the blank printout, with prompts like, When I first saw the cover, I thought this book was about ___ and My favorite part was ___.
Make up a carol. As they combine rhythm and melody, they may actually be humming when they write the lyrics down.

Four Months for Lizdalys

2008-12-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

In September of this year, five-year-old Lizdalys Santiago of Puerto Rico entered Jackson Elementary feeling scared and alone. A recent immigrant to Mississippi, Lizdalys didn’t know any English or anyone’s name. With so many new faces and customs, the only thing she was sure of was that she was far from home.

After only four short months of using Imagine Learning English, Lizdalys has undergone a dramatic transformation. She not only can participate in class but now uses her newly acquired English skills to translate for another young girl who also recently emigrated from Puerto Rico. Though this fellow classmate doesn't yet speak any English, she's not alone. Lizdalys is by her side to show her the ropes and give her hope of what is to come. To watch a video on this remarkable story, click here.

Otay Elementary: An Update

2008-11-19T16:53:00.001-07:00

Six months ago, Otay Elementary School of southern California received accolades for their ELL population’s improvement, made possible, in part, by Imagine Learning English. To see why teachers and administrators alike attribute this success to Imagine Learning English, and to see how Otay Elementary continues to improve today, click here.

Rhyme on a Dime

2008-11-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

As part of your Imagine Learning English package, two guides are included to make your life easier. The Resource Guide (for Level 1) and the Supplemental Guide (for Level 2) are each packed with printouts and activities to use in the classroom. Access them through the Imagine Manager icon on your desktop.

Look for future Resource Reminders in Imagine This! to highlight dozens of fun activities—all readily available and in your Resource Guide. This month’s reminder: rhyme books. They’re hands-on for your students and handy for you.

Rhyme books are a fun, easy, and inexpensive way to teach vocabulary and word families. Students learn principles of print as they fold their printouts into mini books with four rhyme sets each. Once students go through each rhyme book, they can create an original book using the same layout. See what kind of rhymes they can come up with on their own!

Download rhyme book printout

Letter Shapes and Sounds that Stick

2008-11-19T16:37:00.016-07:00

Whether your students are learning letters in pre-K, in kindergarten, or as English learners later on, you know how tricky those letter shapes and sounds can be.

Letter charts with coordinating icons, ranging from apples to zebras, teach by association. But, according to Marilyn Adams' book Beginning to Read, this method achieves relatively slow progress. Rather than stick with something slow, try a new method—one that works overtime by incorporating sight, sound, formation, and speech.

Name, or No?
The original battle in teaching letters was whether or not letter names should be taught. Should the first letter in the alphabet be introduced as ‘A’ or as /ă/? Teaching the letter name is convenient, thanks to alphabet songs, but it also adds to the amount of information a student must learn—information that is at times counterintuitive. (If B is “bee” and D is “dee,” why isn’t F “fee,” and where did “aitch” come from?)

Dropping the letter name from curriculum may eliminate this confusion, but it introduces its own problems. Many letters have several sounds associated with it, so which phoneme becomes the identifying sound for each letter? Also, if some letters aren’t given a name or title, addressing them becomes problematic. (How do you refer to ‘Q’ or ‘X’ by sound?) Chances are high that someone—teacher or peer—will refer to letters by name, so students need to learn them or be left in the dark.

New Method
In their study, Pictoral Mnemonics for Phonics, Ehri, Deffner, and Wilce discovered that both beginning and struggling readers made the best progress using the very same method taught in Imagine Learning English. In Level 1, students are introduced to a letter that is formed by an object or animal that begins with the target letter sound. They see turtles in the shape of a ‘T’ and a zipper in the shape of a ‘Z.’ Then students trace the letter, hear the letter name, and say it out loud.

This method incorporates both the letter name and letter sound philosophies while adding another visual and tactile element. As noted by Adams, when students see the letter later, “they will automatically be reminded of its pictured keyword which will, in turn, evoke its sound and reinforce its shape.”

Check out Letter Shapes and Sounds in the Level 1 Review Menu to see this method in action. You’ll start to see those letter shapes and sounds really stick.

Afterschool Enhancer

2008-10-23T17:03:00.005-06:00

With winter coming quickly, the days are just getting shorter. So why do your school days only feel longer? After school programs and extended day programs keep some students in school for an extra hour--sometimes even more. When the average child needs a new activity to focus on every twenty minutes, it may be a struggle to fill the time with productive, worthwhile learning.

That's why teachers around the country are putting their afterschool students on Imagine Learning English.

The ILE classroom summary reports make it easy to track and compare the progress of all students in an afterschool program. And the best part? You don’t have to purchase a new license for students to use after school if they already use the program during the day in another class.

Simply login to Imagine Manager as an administrator, and create a new class for your afterschool students. Place any students already using the program in this new class, and they will have access to the program during both class periods. Like a driver’s license, each student’s information follows them from classroom to classroom. No matter when or where they login, their individualized instruction will pick up right where it left off—seamlessly and effortlessly—as one continuous learning experience.

And the best part? It’s fun! Rather than dragging their heels, students will eagerly anticipate the afternoon. The perfect motivator, Imagine Learning English captures student attention with fun games, music, and animations, and it provides teachers with printouts of graphic organizers, journal responses, story text, and, for your younger students, letter practice printouts, sight word flashcards, and much more.

So say goodbye to those afterschool blues, and let Imagine Learning English take a turn teaching.

Make a Difference with Differentiation

2008-10-23T16:55:00.000-06:00

For Halloween, some kids stick to scary, dressing up as goblins or witches. Others try a hand at heroism, becoming Spiderman or their favorite Disney princess. No costume looks quite the same, and that’s because every child is different. Their instruction should be too.

It would be nice if all your students responded the same to each lesson plan, but you don’t teach in a cookie-cutter classroom. When you differentiate instruction, you tailor it to fit the learners’ needs. You react responsively to individuals. It is a powerful tool, but one that teachers struggle to use as they face a classroom full of learners—typically spanning five years in reading ability. In this month’s final recommendation in our six-part series, Sorting Out EL Software, Dr. Paul McCarty reminds us how meaningful differentiated instruction is in the classroom, and how valuable is it in your EL software.

When a teacher differentiates instruction, she tailors it to fit the learners’ needs: she reacts responsively to individuals. She recognizes students’ varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning, and interests and responds accordingly.

Differentiation is rooted in educational theory and research many years old. It is grounded in the work of Vygotsky, who described “the zone of proximal development” (ZPD). This is the range where the best learning takes place—the place slightly ahead of the student’s current level of mastery, where the student is able to profit from instruction rather than being either bored or overwhelmed. Researchers believe that in classrooms where students are performing at about 80 percent accuracy, they learn more and feel better about themselves and the subject they are studying.

Assessment can aid differentiation when it is used for more than just merely measuring instruction. It can identify a students’ “ZPD” and, when the assessment is computer-delivered, it can then identify appropriate curriculum. Imagine Learning English differentiates students’ instruction in at least four ways:

The placement test determines separate starting points in vocabulary instruction, literacy instruction, and oral language development.
It regulates or sequences instruction based on students’ performance. If, for example, a student has mastered a set of vocabulary words, three lessons in a row, the program will accelerate instruction, streamlining activities. On the other hand, if a student is not mastering a concept, the program will re-teach it.
The student can receive first language support which is strategically withdrawn as they become more familiar with each activity.
Students receive informative feedbacks tailored to their responses.

One way to view how Imagine Learning differentiates instruction is by observing a conversation between Imagine Learning English and an imaginary student named Miguel. Click here to see for yourself.

Imagine Island: On the Air and Online

2008-06-18T14:12:00.000-06:00

The creators of Imagine Learning English are making a splash in the educational television industry with Imagine Island, a bilingual children’s program that will reach over 17 million viewers in South America. Though the program will only be broadcast to select regions in the US, the show’s interactive website can be reached worldwide.

At ImagineIsland.com, children can watch an episode of Imagine Island, listen to stories, and sing along to some of their favorite Imagine Learning English songs. Kids will enjoy learning fun facts about the show’s stars, Jack and Booster, and can even write their favorite character a letter. Who would have guessed Jack’s favorite food is cheese and honey sandwiches? Or that Booster is a party animal? Whether or not Imagine Island is broadcast in your area, the show’s website is an engaging, useful place where children can learn and practice English skills. So what are you waiting for? Surf on over to ImagineIsland.com, and let the fun begin!