What to do with a new-to-English student?

A guide for Language Arts teachers in 4J

Step 0.) Consider reading this 4J-recommended article. You could also browse the links on the page for additional information. (Here's another, much more verbose article, if you're interested in knowing more.)

Step 1.) Be friendly and say hello.

Step 2.) Get a laptop and translate, even if imperfectly, whatever you would like to say to her or him.

Step 3.) Until you have access to something better, Google "______________ English word list" and try to find a search result that might give your student at least an opportunity to practice English orthography with words from their native language.

Step 4.) Print the materials found here. Alternatively, ask your school's ELD instructor to show you how to log your student into Rosetta Stone.

Step 5.) If you know or sense that your student speaks Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, or Arabic, contact your school's ELD instructor to get language-specific resources to help your student with the materials from Step 4. If you know or sense your student speaks a language other than the four listed, discover what their native language is by talking to your school's registrar and ask 4J's ELL Program department leaders if there are any resources specifically for students of that language.

Step 6.) Have your student get as far as s/he can with copies of this resource and a computer thesaurus or thesaurus.com. For the images, they could use Google Images to print or get inspiration for drawing.

Step 7.) Talk to members of your Front Office to find out if there are other students of a same or similar language background who might be willing to assist the newcomer. Also, consider contacting international UO student groups to see if there might be any college students willing to also be an advocate.