When you are four years old, it can be intimidating to walk into a classroom for the first time and be expected to learn to read and write in English. You hear unfamiliar sounds, your favorite animal or food is called something different, and you are unsure how to act. Can
In November of 2022, National Geographic Learning hosted two panels titled ‘The Evolving World of English Learning: A School’s-Eye View‘ featuring the perspective of several educators. Following the discussions, the panelists reflected on the question ‘What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in preparing multilingual students to study some
Children are naturally curious, with an enormous appetite for learning about the world. When it comes to teaching English, we can tap into this curiosity by providing a window to amazing facts, people and places. The key is doing this in a way that is truly meaningful for young learners,
Did you know that when recordings of some published materials are analyzed, it turns out that the vast majority of voices belong to first-language English users? In fact, when Si (2019) analyzed five major business English course books published globally, he found that only 16% of the voices on the
“We’re trying to find a balance between just knowing stuff and knowing how to apply the knowledge into effective learning and things to do in life.” Coordinator, Private High School, Mexico BACKGROUND In 2021, we spoke with over 60 people in 19 countries at different schools teaching kindergarten to high
As a follow-up to her recent National Geographic Learning webinar, Lift co-author Tracey Gibbins answers a few questions about scaffolding from participants in the session. What is the difference between scaffolding and differentiation? Scaffolding for reading is the process of supporting students as they work towards becoming independent readers. I
We each chart our own path forward in this incredible world—with help from family, friends, and teachers who inspire and guide us. At National Geographic Learning, our goal is to motivate students to experience the world through the visually rich stories of National Geographic photographers and explorers. But inspiration is
As a follow-up to her recent webinar, Voices author Chia Suan Chong sat down to answer a variety of questions around mediation in the English language classroom from webinar attendees. For more mediation content, be sure to check out the full webinar recording here. 1. Mediation can be approached in
I met Dean and Emma and their then-two-year-old daughter Liz (not their real names) in 1992 and we’ve been good friends ever since. When I first started socializing with them, I was struck by how comfortable they were as parents and how well they integrated their young child into their
In this series of blog posts for primary teachers, Katherine Bilsborough, coauthor of Imagine, offers simple tips for easy ways to make teaching grammar, phonics, and reading as easy as A, B, C! Primary children are often developing reading skills in their first language (L1) at the same time as