Refugee Reading Series: Sudan

This is the fifth installment in the Reading Refugee series. For those of you just tuning in, for this reading series, I'll be creating a Multimedia Text Set for each country affected by the recent executive order. These are 100% free and I'll publish one every few days until I've covered all 7 countries. These are designed for upper elementary and middle school students. Please see information below on how to use this with your students. Access the multimedia text set by clicking on the link or image below.

Sudan Multimedia Text Set

How to use it:

First, access the document. Then, follow the directions below that apply to you.

If you do not have a Google Account (students do not need Google Accounts):

1. Copy the document URL.
2. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. I recommend using a link shortner like tinyurl.com or bit.ly or using a tool like symbaloo to make it easy!

If sharing  via Google Classroom (you must have a GSuite for Education Account):

1. Login to your GSuite account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. Login to classroom.google.com
4. Click the class you want to assign the document to.
5. At the bottom, hover over "Add" and then click "Create assignment".
6. Enter the title and any instructions. Attach the document via the drive symbol and select "students can view".
7. Click assign.

If you have a Google Account but not Google Classroom:

1. Login to your Google account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. In your copy of the document, click the blue "send" button
4. Click Get shareable link in the top right of the "Share with others" box.
5. To choose whether a person can view, comment, or edit the file, click the Down arrow next to "Anyone with the link" and choose "Anyone with the link can view" .
6. A file link will be copied to your clipboard. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. You can also choose to email directly to your students. 

Find the others here:

• Iraq
• Iran
• Somalia
• Syria

I hope you enjoy learning and using these multimedia text sets with your students.

Refugee Reading Series: Syria

This is the fourth installment in the Reading Refugee series. For those of you just tuning in, for this reading series, I'll be creating a Multimedia Text Set for each country affected by the recent executive order. These are 100% free and I'll publish one every few days until I've covered all 7 countries. These are designed for upper elementary and middle school students. Please see information below on how to use this with your students. Access the multimedia text set by clicking on the link or image below.

Syria Multimedia Text Set

How to use it:

First, access the document. Then, follow the directions below that apply to you.

If you do not have a Google Account (students do not need Google Accounts):

1. Copy the document URL.
2. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. I recommend using a link shortner like tinyurl.com or bit.ly or using a tool like symbaloo to make it easy!

If sharing  via Google Classroom (you must have a GSuite for Education Account):

1. Login to your GSuite account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. Login to classroom.google.com
4. Click the class you want to assign the document to.
5. At the bottom, hover over "Add" and then click "Create assignment".
6. Enter the title and any instructions. Attach the document via the drive symbol and select "students can view".
7. Click assign.

If you have a Google Account but not Google Classroom:

1. Login to your Google account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. In your copy of the document, click the blue "send" button
4. Click Get shareable link in the top right of the "Share with others" box.
5. To choose whether a person can view, comment, or edit the file, click the Down arrow next to "Anyone with the link" and choose "Anyone with the link can view" .
6. A file link will be copied to your clipboard. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. You can also choose to email directly to your students. 

Find the others here:

• Iraq
• Iran
• Somalia
• Sudan

I hope you enjoy learning and using these multimedia text sets with your students.

Refugee Reading Series: Somalia

This is the third installment in the Reading Refugee series. For those of you just tuning in, for this reading series, I'll be creating a Multimedia Text Set for each country affected by the recent executive order. These are 100% free and I'll publish one every few days until I've covered all 7 countries. These are designed for upper elementary and middle school students. Please see information below on how to use this with your students. Access the multimedia text set by clicking on the link or image below.

Somalia Multimedia Text Set

How to use it:

First, access the document. Then, follow the directions below that apply to you.

If you do not have a Google Account (students do not need Google Accounts):

1. Copy the document URL.
2. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. I recommend using a link shortner like tinyurl.com or bit.ly or using a tool like symbaloo to make it easy!

If sharing  via Google Classroom (you must have a GSuite for Education Account):

1. Login to your GSuite account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. Login to classroom.google.com
4. Click the class you want to assign the document to.
5. At the bottom, hover over "Add" and then click "Create assignment".
6. Enter the title and any instructions. Attach the document via the drive symbol and select "students can view".
7. Click assign.

If you have a Google Account but not Google Classroom:

1. Login to your Google account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. In your copy of the document, click the blue "send" button
4. Click Get shareable link in the top right of the "Share with others" box.
5. To choose whether a person can view, comment, or edit the file, click the Down arrow next to "Anyone with the link" and choose "Anyone with the link can view" .
6. A file link will be copied to your clipboard. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. You can also choose to email directly to your students. 

Find the others here:

• Iraq
• Iran
• Syria
• Sudan

I hope you enjoy learning and using these multimedia text sets with your students.

Refugee Reading Series: Iran

Refugee Reading Series

This is the second installment in the Reading Refugee series. For those of you just tuning in, for this Refugee Reading series, I'll be creating a Multimedia Text Set for each country affected by the recent executive order. These are 100% free and I'll publish one every few days until I've covered all 7 countries. These are designed for upper elementary and middle school students. Please see information below on how to use this with your students. Access the multimedia text set by clicking on the link or image below.

Iran Multimedia Text Set

How to use it:

First, access the document. Then, follow the directions below that apply to you.

If you do not have a Google Account (students do not need Google Accounts):

1. Copy the document URL.
2. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. I recommend using a link shortner like tinyurl.com or bit.ly or using a tool like symbaloo to make it easy!

If sharing  via Google Classroom (you must have a GSuite for Education Account):

1. Login to your GSuite account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. Login to classroom.google.com
4. Click the class you want to assign the document to.
5. At the bottom, hover over "Add" and then click "Create assignment".
6. Enter the title and any instructions. Attach the document via the drive symbol and select "students can view".
7. Click assign.

If you have a Google Account but not Google Classroom:

1. Login to your Google account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. In your copy of the document, click the blue "send" button
4. Click Get shareable link in the top right of the "Share with others" box.
5. To choose whether a person can view, comment, or edit the file, click the Down arrow next to "Anyone with the link" and choose "Anyone with the link can view" .
6. A file link will be copied to your clipboard. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. You can also choose to email directly to your students. 

Find the others here:

• Iraq
• Somalia
• Syria
• Sudan

I hope you enjoy learning and using these multimedia text sets with your students.

Refugee Reading Series: Iraq

I normally stay away from politics here, but when politics directly affect our ELL population, I must address it. Today, I was pleased to find a letter from the President of the International TESOL Association in my box decrying the recent executive orders signed by the new administration. These acts truly are "devastating to the populations we serve, in particular international students, immigrant students and their families, and our own TESOL community," as stated in the well-written missive linked above.

Many of us likely have students in our classroom from the countries in the immigration ban. These students, and likely others, are frightened, feeling isolated, and likely feeling quite unwelcome in their new country. It is up to us at educators to help our students feel like a welcome, valued member of the classroom and school community.

One of the best ways we can foster understanding and cultural awareness in our classrooms is through the use of literature and material that helps us to learn about and better understand other cultures. It is so important to learn about and celebrate the diversity in our classrooms and teach our students to appreciate the rich diversity they and their classmates bring to the community.

Refugee Reading Series

With all of this swirling around in my head, I'm thinking we should begin with those students who are feeling most ostracized due to the current political climate. I've started a little Refugee Reading Series where I'll be creating a Multimedia Text Set for each country affected by the recent executive order. These are 100% free and I'll publish one every few days until I've covered all 7 countries. These are designed for upper elementary and middle school students. Please see information below on how to use this with your students. Access the multimedia text set by clicking on the link or image below.

Iraq Multimedia Text Set

How to use it:

First, access the document. Then, follow the directions below that apply to you.

If you do not have a Google Account (students do not need Google Accounts):

1. Copy the document URL.
2. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. I recommend using a link shortner like tinyurl.com or bit.ly or using a tool like symbaloo to make it easy!

If sharing  via Google Classroom (you must have a GSuite for Education Account):

1. Login to your GSuite account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. Login to classroom.google.com
4. Click the class you want to assign the document to.
5. At the bottom, hover over "Add" and then click "Create assignment".
6. Enter the title and any instructions. Attach the document via the drive symbol and select "students can view".
7. Click assign.

If you have a Google Account but not Google Classroom:

1. Login to your Google account
2. Auto copy the file to your drive by clicking here
3. In your copy of the document, click the blue "send" button
4. Click Get shareable link in the top right of the "Share with others" box.
5. To choose whether a person can view, comment, or edit the file, click the Down arrow next to "Anyone with the link" and choose "Anyone with the link can view" .
6. A file link will be copied to your clipboard. Paste the link in an email or anywhere you want to share it. You can also choose to email directly to your students. 

I hope you enjoy learning and using these multimedia text sets with your students.

Find the other Multimedia Text Sets:

• Iran
• Somalia
• Syria
• Sudan

Lunar New Year 2015

As an ESOL specialist, I always enjoyed teaching students about the different cultural holidays around the world. One of our favorites to study was the Lunar New Year. Did you know that each Asian country that celebrates Lunar New Year based on the ancient Chinese lunisolar calendar has their own special traditions for this holiday?

This year the Lunar New Year falls on February 19, though many countries have celebrations for days before and after.

The traditions across Asia are varied and interesting. Explore the map below to find out more about the countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year and how they celebrate! This map also makes a great station for helping your students explore the traditions of each celebration!



Interested in making your own interactive images? Check out my post on Thinglink.

Chinese & Lunar New Year Linky Party

I really love to celebrate diversity in my classroom. One of the ways I try to do this is to provide lots of skills-based activities featuring readings on other cultures and holidays. With that in mind, I created my FREE Chinese New Year Read-and-Retell Activity. This year the Lunar New Year falls on February 10. This fun activity is ideal for grades 3-5. It helps your students to learn a little about how the Lunar New Year is celebrated in China and the way this activity is constructed scaffolds your students' retelling and summary of what they learned through the use of key vocabulary words. This download contains the read-and-retell activity at 3 different reading levels to address the needs of all the students in your class.

This activity gets students reading, writing, speaking and listening all in one activity. This activity is aligned with Common Core State Standards and WiDA ELD standards.
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I invite other TpT teacher-authors to share both their FREE and paid products for the Chinese and Lunar New Year.

All TpT Teacher-Authors are welcome to submit their products! Here are the rules:
1. Link directly to the product, not to your blog.
2. Post a link to this page on your blog or Facebook. This allows even more folks to see your products and the other products that are being shared.
3. Where it says "name" please put the name of the product. If it is a free product, please put "FREE" before the title. If it is a paid product, please put the price at the end of the title.