ESL Summer Fun

Now that summer is here, it’s time for the beach, BBQ, and vacation!

I wish I were here. Google Images

While the weather does get too hot for my personal tastes, I do enjoy the extended hours of daylight and the warm nights. There are all kinds of festivals, events, and travel opportunities. It’s hard to choose what to do when there are so many options available.

For students, summer means a break from school work, and a chance to relax and play with friends. They may go to summer camp for a few weeks and learn something new and make new friends! Sometimes kids may go to summer school to get again on the upcoming year academically, or catch up if they missed days from the previous year.

What about ESL learners? How can they continue to practice and keep their skills sharp?

There are plenty of activities for ESL learners to do over the summer to keep practicing their skills!  Here are just a few activities that I’d recommend.

• A Scavenger Hunt – This is a great activity to get the kids outdoors! They can learn nature vocabulary and explore the world around them!

• Make a Weather Chart – This activity helps reinforce weather words and kids can track the weather patterns over the summer. It can be a fun way to integrate science into ESL!

• Join a Summer Reading Program – Many libraries have summer reading programs. Reading is an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary and concepts to ESL learners. There are tons of books that are scaled for various comprehension levels. Reading aloud also helps build fluency and pronunciation skills.

• Join Postcrossing! –  I love collecting postcards and sending them, too. A few years ago, I joined a website called Postcrossing. Once you join, you put your home address on the site, and you can send and receive post cards from people all over the world! You can only send up to five postcards at a time, and you can’t request another address until the ones you’ve sent have been received and confirmed. It’s a great way to practice writing skills, as well as make connections!

• Start a book or movie club – Books and movies are great mediums to use for ESL students. They are fun and entertaining, and help teach vocabulary and listening skills. Movies provide opportunities to develop listening comprehension as well a critical thinking skills. Books also develop critical thinking skills, vocabulary, sentence building, and both mediums can introduce new concepts. If you have a few ESL learners in your class that want to keep practicing, find a list of age -appropriate movies for them to watch (one per week, with parents’ permission), then find a time to meet and discuss the book/movie assigned.

Gotta keep cool in the summer heat! Google images

These are just a few things you can do to keep kids active over the summer. For more ideas, you can go here or here. You may even have you own, better ideas than what you see on these sites.

Have a great, happy, and safe summer!