Welcome to English as a Second Language
My name is Daria Avery and it's my pleasure to work with Region #10 students who have learned a language other than English as their first language. We work to increase their English language skills in the areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking. It's such an exciting job as I have the privilege of watching the students' language skills increase as I learn about their cultures and languages.
People are usually surprised to learn how many different languages are spoken by our Region #10 students. There are students who speak Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Lithuanian, Guyanese Creole (from Guyana) and Urdu (from Pakistan). Currently, there are English Language Learners in all four of our schools. It's wonderful to find this diversity in our schools!
Students here are usually excited to learn about their classmates' different languages and traditions. I've seen many heartwarming examples of our students going out of their way to help new students feel at home in Region #10.
Please contact Mrs. Avery at averyd@region10ct.org.
What's Done in ESL?
In English as a Second Language (ESL) we work to increase students' communication skills in the areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Research shows it takes between 1 and 3 years for people learning a language to become comfortable speaking and understanding everyday speech but between 5 and 7 years for English Language Learners to become proficient with academic speech used in many of our school subjects.
Students enter schools in Region #10 with different levels of English language skills. Some have learned English in their home countries or spent time in another U.S. school and simply need to increase their vocabulary and fine-tune grammar skills while others walk through our doors for the first time with very limited English. I base my lessons with groups of students according to their needs.
As I help the students learn English, I also help them learn about American and regional customs, holidays and history. Some students move to Connecticut from countries where it is always warm and never snows. They must learn about seasonal changes while they learn
vocabulary for winter clothing and sports. Some have never seen leaves change color in the fall and experience activities like attending a country fair or jumping in a pile of leaves for the first time when they move here. We've had several students make their first snowman in the past couple of years!
I'm fortunate to have a close working relationship with many classroom teachers so we communicate about what's being studied in the various classrooms. This way, I can also reinforce concepts and vocabulary being taught in the regular classroom.
There is so much to learn when beginning life in a new country, I'm never at a loss for lesson ideas!
Click on the following links to learn more:
How can parents help?
Seasonal poetry
