Supporting Newcomers

There is no complicated or long terminology to define and/or identify newcomers. 

Newcomers: newly arrived immigrant students. 
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Now, I am no expert in guiding you through this topic, but as a newcomer and English language learner myself, I can provide a few tips on how to support your language learners in school. 

I encourage you to read my previous post where I share my immigrant journey and my experiences as a newcomer student. 
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The first and most import thing to understand as a newcomer's educator is that newcomers will arrive with a variety of characteristics, and each student, must be treated individually according to his or her needs.  The diversifications of characteristic I am referring to are literacy levels, language, socio-economic, and emotional background. All of these characteristics, (and perhaps more), must be taken into account when providing academic and English language support to newcomers.  I encourage you to read this research and learn best practices and programs to support your newcomers: "Helping Newcomer Students Succeed in Secondary Schools and Beyond"
 
When I get newcomers in our school, I personally: 

1. Guide students’ acculturation to the school system in the United States.
2. Help students acquire beginning English skills
3. Provide instruction in core content areas
4. Develop or strengthen students’ native language literacy skills

1) Guide Students' Acculturation to the School System in the U.S.:
When I first started school here in the United States, EVERYTHING was different! Transportation, food, schedule, dress code, classroom expectations, seating, and so much more! The list could go on and on...no wonder experts call it Culture Shock. 
When guiding students' acculturation to the school system, don't take anything for granted.  The little things you might think are not important to share with your newcomer, could become a barrier for your student to be successful in school.  

• Try starting with a school tour. Make sure your students know their way around the building. All available bathrooms, the nurse's office, the interpreter's office, front office, and the cafeteria are examples of areas in the building they should know.
• Introduce them to all school staff so they learn who works in the building. This will also make the staff aware which students are newcomers. 
• Schedule. It is very important for students to know what's next! Even if your students are at the elementary level; they need to know what to expect. Here is a great schedule with visuals that might help your students stay on track with their daily subjects. 

2) Help Students Acquire Beginning English Skills:
If you don't know the terms BICS and CALPS, please read this! It is imperative to understand that language learning has a process. For some is faster to acquire than to others, so we must be patient and respect the process. There are so many apps and technology tools available today that can support the acquisition of English language learning, but keep in mind that the human/teacher relationship goes far beyond than a tech tool would do. You might find this read interesting! 
Try these resources:

• Survival English Newcomers Need To Engage in Content
• British Council: Learn English Kids
• Starfall - letter sound foundations and more
• WSFCS - a lot of resources such as printable flashcards 
• Kids Word Smyth - Illustrated dictionary 
• Gamify Language Acquisition with Kahoot! by Carol Salva 

3) Provide Instruction in Core Content Areas:
Just because your newcomers don't have the academic language YET to understand core content, does not mean they should not be receiving core instruction. The ultimate goal of providing the beginning English skills mentioned above is to engage our students in core academic instruction. This article: "Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners", will help you see how students can develop language acquisition while receiving core content. We need to make sure ALL students receive the education they deserve. Remember, EQUITY and EQUALITY are not EQUAL! 

4) Develop or Strengthen Students’ Native Language Literacy Skills:
I personally feel in a way that I was forced to forget my native language in order to learn the English language I needed to learn for school. WHY? As a newcomer, I knew how to read, how to write, how to have a discussion about school topics in my language. However, I was NEVER given the opportunity to show what I was capable of using my language. It is such a big mistake to try and substitute students' master native language, for the English language. ALLOW them to use their native language to assess what they know. Let them use it to their advantage and empower them to become successful bilingual/multilingual individuals. You might find this podcast interesting about "The Use of Native Language in the Classroom". 
Try these resources: 

• Unite for Literacy offers non-fiction texts narrated in more than 48 languages
• For Spanish natives try: Newsela and Tween Tribune  
• Teach them to use: Another Way to Say that  and GOOGLE translate to support their writing.
• Read and share with the class: I'm New Here by Anne Sibley O'Brien 

If you work with newcomer and would like to share your resources, please add them in the comments below and I will be glad to add them to this post.

Thank you for reading!