I got published!

A few years ago, I sent off a vocabulary idea to The Mailbox Magazine.  I was thrilled when I got the letter stating that they were accepting my idea!  It took almost two years, but it was published this Winter in the Intermediate version.

Here is a picture of the writeup.

That's me, Andrea Halterman

I have done this with my students for years.  As an ESL teacher, the 4 language domains are Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing.  In addition, students need many exposures to words to have complete understanding of the word.  This year, students are charting all the vocabulary words that they have learned (academic areas and reading vocabulary) this year.   In the past I have done individual incentive charts.  That turned out to be very time consuming and hard to manage, especially when they filled up a chart.  This year, I have a class sticker chart that I have hanging on my door.  Next year, it will be a much prettier chart.  Students get stickers for:  finding vocabulary words in anything that they read, hearing another person saying the word (and yes, I count), using the word in their writing, and speaking with the word in a complete sentence.  This is most useful in the academic area.  I'm finding the most success with this in math.  

Our class vocabulary sticker chart.  Each student has their own square.

Have a great evening!  It's finally starting to look like Spring!