MathematicsResources for the Acquisition of English Language Learnersfrom around the world |
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MIDDLE SCHOOL AND SECONDARY SCHOOL
Some sites for Math teachers who don't speak Spanish (and for those that do) I was thinking one day (on the right is a picture of me thinking) of a student I had in a statistics course who asked me for a statistics book in Spanish. He was having a hard time in the course and wanted to see whether his problem was the subject itself or a language barrier.At the time, I had no such resources to offer. Several sites below provide illustrations, step by step explanations of formuale, biographies of mathematicians, etc., all written in Spanish. Perhaps you don't speak Spanish. You can still give your students a Spanish language handout discussing linear equations to supplement the lecture you gave that day. An activity I like is to mix bilingual and monolingual students in a group and have them try to figure out the equations on one of these sheets. After all, mathematics is a language, too, isn't it? |
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RESOURCES IN SPANISH This site "Breaking away from the math book" identifies itself as creative activities in math for ages K through 8, however, in my opinion, some of the activities would be very appropriate for high school geometry or algebra. For example, this lesson, "Capacidad" teaches about the capacity of various shapes of containers and its relation to different dimensions of height, diameter of the base, etc.. All lessons are available (click here) in Spanish and at a fairly high reading level, many at the college level, because these are directed at the teacher, to explain the activities, not the student. The same site offers all of its lessons in English (see below). Math and Science Resources from the Kentucky migrant project. This site was funded by a grant that is now ended, so there is no guarantee wit will be available long-term. Check it out while it is available. It has a range of grade levels and materials you can print out and use right in your classroom. Their Geometry dictionary is very readable English and Spanish and could be used for advanced upper elementary as well as middle school and high school. If you are immature and easily amused (like me) you will like the little animations of the angles. Two pi - in Spanish - a site from Madrid, is definitely for the advanced middle school and high school students.Both the mathematics and the reading level required for this site are around high school. For students with substantial mathematics education in Spanish, for whom language is a barrier, this site is a good source for supplemental reading, with e.g., step by step explanations for solving linear equations. I spent a lot of time at the Matematicas.net site. This site includes a page where you can download formulae for different figures, tables of integrals, derivatives, etc. The illustrations on the handouts are very well done, have been contributed from teachers around the world. Yes, I know you know the formulae already, but, for those of us who did better in Calculus than in Art class, the illustrated handouts are a nice supplement to the textbook. Most, but not all, of these pages require a fairly high (at least high school) reading level in Spanish. It also includes a lot of links to freeware and shareware mathematics programs you can download for your Palm, Macintosh or PC. Most of these programs are done in English. a + 0 = a There are apparently a lot of guys named Dave out there doing ESL stuff. This site, www.math2.org was formerly called Dave's math tables. Unlike some of the other sites here, it includes the type of math most ESL students are actually doing in high school. I am not being disrespectful to our students. I evaluate educational programs and I can tell you that most ESL students struggle with Algebra I. Here are math sheets in Spanish and English giving the identical definitions. This site also includes information on Calculus, Geometry, Statistics and Trigonometry. |
RESOURCES IN ENGLISH
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In English, an article I liked very much on thematic instruction for teaching mathematics to middle school students. This comes from the National Clearinghouse on English Language Acquisition. Go to this site and search on mathematics. You will be glad you did. A lesson on fractals is included here not only because it is a good way to catch the interest of students who are not interested in math, but also because the best fractal program for the Macintosh was done by my husband and you can get a free trial version here. This site "Breaking away from the math book" identifies itself as creative activities in math for ages K through 8, however, in my opinion, some of the activities would be very appropriate for high school geometry or algebra. For example, this lesson, "Ball in a box" teaches about volume of sphere, volume of a cube and the relation between the two. |
RESOURCES IN ENGLISH
The Kentucky Migrant project has lots of resources in Spanish and English. One resource for elementary is Flash cards - now I know in the schools of Education they say all sorts of bad things about rote memorization. These flash cards are not even fancy. They just say, "Great Job!" or something similar if you get the right answer. I have written similar programs myself in a few minutes. However, my expert tester (shown at left) really liked these. Go figure. So, they're here. They're free. A first-grader can do them wiith a few minutes of instruction. |
Who wants pizza? . These pages require elementary level reading in Spanish and explain fractions in a very concrete manner using pizza.
Links on Dave's ESL cafe site to mathematics ideas. These are pretty basic and not as good as the rest of Dave's site, in my opinion, but there were good points that led me to include this link. For example, at first, I thought the lesson found here on saying numbers was insultingly basic. Then I was reminded that, in the United States, the number 1,234 is one thousand two hundred thirty-four and in many other countries it is one and two hundred thirty-four thousandths because some countries use the comma rather than a decimal. The ESOL strategy sheet summarized a lot of good ideas but the numerous typographical errors bugged me after a while. Some of these might be a bit basic for experienced math teachers. I know we all know the basics, such as drawing out word problems, using diagrams, visuals, captions, repeating key terms, etc. Personally, though, I find it good to be reminded every now and then.
I do not know who Cynthia Lanius is, but I sure like her lesson plans - click here to see them. You can find lesson plans here in Spanish and English and at levels from counting through Calculus.
I don't believe this is the same Dave as Dave's ESL café, but here is another Dave with a Spanish-English math dictionary that tells you the translation of everything from 'closed' to Fourier transform. I do think it would be more commonly used by elementary teachers, because we don't get many immigrant students in Geometry and Algebra II who are simply inhibited by the language barrier. If you DO have a student like that, though, go to Dave's dictionary. Also, check out his math tables in Spanish and English for useful handouts.