Guia De Competencias En Inglés

Reading/Literature Study
Reading is a key literacy tool. The Reading Program at Aurora offers a balance of meaning based opportunities and teacher directed lessons in which specific decoding and comprehension strategies are taught in context. Teachers at Aurora cull from a broad range of resources and experts to teach reading and literature. The K/1 Program helps children develop a love of storyand books, as well as acquire key language and literary skills. The concepts and skills taught meet and exceed the California standards:
• Reading Comprehension
• Phonemic Awareness
• Concepts of Print
• Decoding, Letter and Word Recognition
• Vocabulary
Writing
Writing is one of our most important tools for communicating and is incorporated into all areas of the curriculum,including math, science and art. At Aurora, writing is taught through a process approach in a workshop setting where students brainstorm, draft, conference, edit, revise, publish and celebrate their writing. In the K/1 classroom, the topics include:
• Writing
o use lists and webs as brainstorming techniques
o use descriptive language and adjectives
o write uninterrupted for 15 minutes
o write toexplain strategies, describe events and observations and invent stories and poems
• Word Study (Spelling)
o Spell three- and four-letter short vowel words
o Understand and use silent e words in spelling
o Use various resources and strategies to spell words, including: class word wall and lists, environmental print, context and word family knowledge
• Penmanship
o Print legibly andspace letters, words and sentences
o Use upper and lower-case letters
Using Music in the ESL Classroom

Music is the universal language of mankind.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When students make a major breakthrough in learning, it is music to a teacher's ears. There is nothing more rewarding for a teacher, than seeing their students smile and laugh while they learn. The same can be said forstudents. Students who are taught in a fun and creative way, love coming to class. Using music in the classroom is a great way for teachers to achieve success with L2 learners. Oliver Wendall Holmes suggests taking a musical bath once a week, saying that music is "to the soul what water is to the body."
Benefits of using Music
Have you ever heard of anyone who doesn't like music? Some peoplemay not like art, dancing, reading, or movies, but almost everyone likes one kind of music or another. Most people like many different kinds of music. Studies have shown that music...
• improves concentration
• improves memory
• brings a sense of community to a group
• motivates learning
• relaxes people who are overwhelmed or stressed
• makes learning fun
• helps people absorbmaterial
"Music stabilizes mental, physical and emotional rhythms to attain a state of deep concentration and focus in which large amounts of content information can be processed and learned." Chris Brewer, Music and Learning
Techniques for Using Music with L2 Learners
There are a variety of different ways to use music in the classroom. Some teachers prefer to use background music and others use musiclyrics as the basis of a lesson. Music can be used to:
• introduce a new theme or topic (Christmas/colours/feelings)
• break the ice in a class where students don't know each other or are having difficulty communicating
• change the mood (liven things up or calm things down)
• teach and build vocabulary and idioms
• review material (background music improves memory)
• teachpronunciation and intonation
• teach songs and rhymes about difficult grammar and spelling rules that need to be memorized ("i before e", irregular verbs, phrasal verbs)
• teach reading comprehension
• inspire a class discussion
• teach listening for details and gist
"Music is the universal language of mankind." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Suggested Activities
Many teachers try using music once...