WELCOME TO MRS. MCGRATH's 

HOMEPAGE

English as a Second Language Teacher

As the ESL teacher, I will be helping students with their English language development.  The different areas that we are working on are speaking, listening, reading, and writing.  In addition to working on these skills, I will be helping to reinforce the topics and subjects the students are learning in the classroom. 

How Parents Can Help at Home:

1.  Take an interest in your child's work by looking at his or her papers and homework.  Praise work that is well done.

2.  Create a regular time and place for your child to do homework.

3.  Practice the weekly spelling and vocabulary words with your child.

4.  Encourage your child to read every day at home.  

5.  Read aloud to your child in english or the language spoken at home as much as possible.

Como los padres puedan ayudar en la casa

1.  Tomen interes en el trabajo de su hijo o hija.  Revisan las tareas por un trabajo bien hecho.

2.  Los estudiantes deben estudiar en la casa una hora regular todos los dias.

3.  Cada semana se ensenan nuevas palabras del vocabulario.  Es importante estudiar las palabras con su hijo or hija.

4.  Su hijo o hija debe de leer cada noche en la casa.

5.  Ustedes podrian leerle en voz alta a su hijo or hija en ingles or la linguaje de su casa.

What We Are Learning This Week

Kindergarten

First Grade

There are no homework assignments from Ms. McGrath at this time.

There are no homework assignments from Ms. McGrath at this time.

There are no homework assignments from Ms. McGrath at this time.

There are no homework assignments from Ms. McGrath at this time.

Homework Policy

The students will be given plenty of class time to complete assignments.  However, throughout the year, the children will be given assignments about your family and cultural backgrounds so please look forward to participating in these activities with your students!

Discipline Policy

There are 5 rules consistent throughout the school and in our classroom:

1.  Follow directions when given

2.  Stay on task, work quietly

3.  Keep hands, feet, and objects away from others

4.  Come prepared for class

5.  Respect yourself, others, and everyone's property

When a rule/policy is broken the behavior plan in your child's classroom will be followed.

Rewards:  Appropriate behavior results in recess, lunch in the classroom with the teacher, gumball school-wide incentive stickers, classroom jobs, stickers, and lots of praise. 

Mrs. McGrath's Wikispace

I created this wikispace- it has some of my favorite resources and links to educational games and activities (especially for English Language Learners!!). These are really great resources for your students to have fun with at home as well as at school!

Activities:

Storytelling:  By telling stories, parents are developing their children's vocabulary and oral language skills. Parents can also encourage children to add to stories or make up their own.

"Read" wordless picture books: Wordless picture books tell stories through pictures. This can be a fun way for parents and children to sit down together with books and talk about stories. Children can learn how stories progress, make predictions, and develop a love for books.

Say rhymes and sing songs:  Rhymes, songs, and chants can develop oral language skills such as intonation and word stress.

 Make frequent trips to the public library!

Engage in meaningful conversation:  For oral language development, it is important that parents engage their children in meaningful conversation. Whether at the dinner table or at the grocery store, parents can ask children questions that require more than a simple yes or no answer.

 Watch educational children's television programs together:  There are a number of wonderful children's television programs that promote English language and literacy development. This can be a great way for both parents and children to learn English together.

Actividades:

Narración de cuentos:  Al contar cuentos, los padres desarrollan el vocabulario y las destrezas de expresión oral de los niños. Los padres también pueden incentivar a los niños a que añadan cuentos o inventen sus propios cuentos.

"Lea" los libros de imágenes sin palabras:  Los libros de imágenes sin palabras cuentan historias por medio de imágenes. Esta actividad puede resultar entretenida para que padres e hijos se sienten con sus libros y conversen sobre las historias. Los niños pueden aprender cómo se desarrollan las historias, a hacer predicciones y a adquirir el amor por los libros.

Digan rimas y canten canciones:  Las rimas, canciones y cánticos pueden desarrollar destrezas de expresión oral como la entonación y la acentuación de las palabras.

 Visiten la biblioteca pública con frecuencia!

Entable una conversación significativa:  Para el desarrollo de la expresión oral, es importante que los padres entablen con sus hijos una conversación significativa. Ya sea durante la cena o en la tienda, los padres pueden hacerles preguntas a sus hijos que exijan más que una simple respuesta de sí o por no.

Miren juntos programas de televisión educativos para niños:  Hay varios programas de televisión para niños muy buenos para promover el idioma inglés y el desarrollo de la lectoescritura. Esta actividad puede resultar una manera excelente para que padres e hijos aprendan inglés juntos.