Looking for fun things to do this summer and activities to help you practice your English language skills? Here are some suggestions of things to do, places to go and ways you can have a fun, safe summer learning and practicing the English language!

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Skokie Public Library Summer Reading Club

A great way to keep busy, stay cool and keep up your reading skills is to join the Skokie Public Library Summer Reading Club! It’s free to join and all you need to have is a Skokie Public Library Card. Registration begins Friday, June 1^st, 2012 at the Readers Services Desk or you may register online. Students who read 5 books by July 31^st can complete the club and may receive a free T-shirt. (supplies are limited) There will also be drawings for grand prizes for those who complete the program, along with special weekly prize drawings. The Library Summer Reading Club fills up fast, so after the registration deadline, spaces will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Be one of the “cool kids” and have fun reading this summer by joining the Skokie Public Library Summer Reading Club! Call 847-673-7774 for more information!

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ELL newcomer students have been learning idioms, sayings or expressions that sound one way, but mean something else. For example, you might say “Break a leg!” to someone, just before they go on a stage to sing, to wish them good luck. Students have had more fun learning some of these funny sounding idioms and have enjoyed using them when they speak. Students have been learning new idioms all year and are now completing their final projects by drawing what they sound like and then writing what they really mean! Some student favorites are “I’m in a pickle!” or I have a problem and “It’s a piece of cake!” or it’s easy! Here are some examples of the kind of work students have been working on all year. What are your favorite idioms?

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Teachers at Edison School have received the ACCESS TEST scores for ELL students for the 2011-2012 school year. This test measures the growth in English Language Learning in the areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Test scores will be mailed home to parents within the next few weeks. Edison teachers are very proud of all the ELL students and the excellent growth they have made in the tested areas! If you should have any questions about “Newcomer ELL” student scores, please feel free to call or email me and I would be happy to help explain or answer any of your questions.

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Do you know the difference between Cent, Sent, and Scent? ELL pull-out students have been learning about these homophones and many others. They are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and different spelling. Some other examples are eight, ate and see, sea. Understanding these confusing words will help you to build your vocabulary, help you better understand what you are reading and help with spelling when you write. Try the worksheet to see how well you can understand and spell different homophones.

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ELL students have been learning the meaning of many new prefixes or word parts. By learning new prefixes, students can learn to unlock the meaning of 100's of new words on their own. For example, the prefix re means again so students can now understand the meaning of reheat, replay, redo, reread, rewrite and many other words. Here are some more examples of prefixes students will be learning so that they can practice at home.

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Parent/Teacher conferences are this week, Thursday, March 15th and next week, Thursday, March 22nd. Please feel free to bring a family member or friend to help translate if needed. Our Bilingual Assyrian/Arabic speaking teaching assistant will be able to help translate as well. You might want to write down a list of questions to ask your child's teacher or ask your child if they have any questions they would like you to ask their teacher. At this meeting teachers will talk with you about how your child is doing in school, the things they are doing well in and areas they might want to improve on. We look forward to meeting and talking with soon!

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Oakton Community College offers FREE ESL (English as a Second Language) classes and FREE U.S. Citizenship classes for adults. This is an excellent time to sign up for the spring or summer sessions. They have classes at different sites, including Niles West High School. They also offer free babysitting while adults are taking these classes. To find out more information about these adult ESL classes call 847-635-1426.

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ELL pullout students have been learning about alliteration. It is a fun kind of writing that repeats sounds, usually beginning sounds, in a series of words or phrases for poetic effect. An example is Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. The consonant p is repeated many times. Students have enjoyed trying to read these funny examples without stumbling over their words. The attachment has more examples to try at home as a family

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While studying George Washington and Abraham Lincoln for President's Day, ELL pullout students read a letter written by a little girl named Grace Bedell sent to Abraham Lincoln. Grace's letter encouraged Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard in order to make him more attractive as a potential presidential candidate. We read her letter and the letter Abraham Lincoln wrote back to Grace. Students enjoyed reading Grace's letter and had an interesting editing practice by correcting the mistakes Grace made in her letter to Lincoln. See if you can find some of the errors Grace Bedell made in her letter.

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