The first Help! They Don't Speak English Starter Kit was produced in 1989 by a task
force of Virginia migrant
educators  in response to requests from
classroom teachers for information
about and assistance with their limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. The Help! Kit
has proved to be an
excellent source of recommended teaching strategies, lesson plans, and materials.
This new edition was prepared by the Region IV Comprehensive Center at AEL in cooperation
with Eastern Stream Center on
Resources and Training and the Center for Applied Linguistics at the Region XIV
Comprehensive Center. It retains the manual's
original focus of providing help to busy primary teachers who want practical advice on how to
more effectively include, instruct,
and nurture LEP students. It is important to emphasize that most of the strategies promoted here
are recommended strategies for
all students, not just LEP students.
The Help! Kit reminds us that "limited English proficient" does not mean
"limited Thinking
proficient"!
The Help! Kit is designed to
- provide mainstream teachers with teaching strategies and materials that benefit all
students--particularly LEP students
- provide cultural information to help teachers better appreciate language-minority
students and
their families
- introduce strategies to improve the reading and writing abilities of LEP students
- introduce strategies that combine learning basic math skills with language development
activities
- offer suggestions for encouraging language minority parents to play an active role in
their children's education
- propose alternative methods to monitor the progress of and evaluate LEP students
- provide a wealth of resources and references teachers can use
The ninth and final chapter of the Help! Kit contains selected, in-depth articles that will
help teachers pursue relevant topics.
This 206-page book is free from Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training, Bugbee Hall,
Room 305, Oneonta, NY 13820, phone 800-451-8058.
The quickest way to get the Help! Kit is to download it in *.pdf format. The
files are laid out for back-to-back copying to save paper. If you would like to download the
Help! Kit, please complete the on-line registration form.
Chapters can only be read with Acrobat
Reader. Download a free version at:
http://www.adobe.com/prodinde
x/acrobat/main.html.
Sample activities:
Air Has Pressure Because It Weighs Something
Identifying Geometric Shapes and Their Attributes
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