Having academic content available in the native language of English Language Learners is valuable for several reasons.
One, it’s useful for teachers who use the widely-respected and thoroughly researched teaching method called “Preview, View, Review.” In this instructional strategy, the teacher first provides students with a quick introduction to the lesson in the native language; then the lesson is given in English; and, finally, a short summary is provided in the student’s first language.
Two, it’s extraordinarily helpful in providing parents of English Language Learners accessible knowledge of what their children is being taught. This gives many parents who are not able to speak English the ability to better know what is happening in the classroom. They can talk more with their children about academic content and help them with their homework more effectively.
And, three, students can access the materials — sometimes in class or at home — so they can develop a greater understanding of the subject matter and develop more self-confidence.
Because of these reasons, I thought it would be useful to prepare a “The Best…” list of resources that I think provide the best multilingual and bilingual information about content typically taught in schools.
This list is different from The Best Multilingual & Bilingual Sites For Learning English. There, I focused on sites that were focused on using the student’s native language as a tool to help them learn English. Here, even though use of native language materials an be used very effectively to assist students develop their English-language skills, these sites are not explicitly designed to do so. They have only been developed to provide content knowledge to speakers of languages other than English.
In order to make it on this list, the resource must be provided free-of-charge, with no registration required, and be relatively engaging. Even though they charge for it, I do have to at least mention Brainpop. They have good Spanish versions of their videos though, unfortunately, the selection is far fewer than the number in English.
The sites that offer multilingual information are listed first in each subject category and then are followed by bilingual (English/Spanish). Here are my choices for The Best Multilingual & Bilingual Sites For Math, Social Studies, and Science:
NOTE: Before you review this list, you should read “Great Resources For English Language Learners In Content Classes.” and Even More Great Resources For English Language Learners In Content Classes
MATH
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston has clearly been the major textbook publisher who has tried hardest to provide accessible multilingual information for all subject areas, including math. Unfortunately, they don’t take the word “accessibility” as seriously in terms of their website and, as a result, it’s periodically off-line. But they seem to be resolving some of those technical issues.
HRW has a Pre-Algebra Glossary that provides translation of math terms and concepts in multiple languages. They also have similar glossaries for Algebra and Geometry. Also, for less-advanced learners, they have one for Middle School. Those direct links should work. However, if the HRW site is having one of its erratic moments, you can also access all of them at the main Math page.
McGraw-Hill has two multilingual math glossaries — one for K-5 and other for grades 6-12.
Harcourt provides a K-6 curriculum in English and in Spanish.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Here again, HRW shines. They have extraordinary multilingual summaries for each period of United States History. Again, however, it can sometimes be a little tricky to get through. Here are the directions that I give to ensure that students and their families can gain access to them:
1) Go to the HRW Social Studies Home Page
2) Click on Holt United States History 2007, which is the third one down from the top.
3) Then click on the chapter you want to read about.
4) At the bottom of your screen you will then see different languages. Click on the language summary you would like to read.
Glencoe has a nice multilingual glossary of U.S. History terms.
Pearson has quite a few elementary level online activities in both English and Spanish that deal with Geography and World and United States History.
HRW has good chapter summaries about Geography, though they’re only in English and Spanish. Once again, they can be a little tricky to get to. First go to their Geography home page, then click on the first title. Next click on a chapter and you will see the summary links at the bottom.
HRW has similar summaries in English and Spanish related to U.S. Government. Go to their Government and Civics home page, and follow a similar process to the ones I’ve already outlined to get their bilingual resources.
HRW has a great series of multilingual World History summaries in multiple languages. However, that page seems to be even more temperamental than their other ones. It seems to only work about half the time. To get there, go to the World History main page. Click on the first textbook, and then follow the usual procedure.
McGraw Hill has both English and Spanish versions online of their California Vistas textbook.
Pearson has Biographies of American historical figures in Spanish.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) has just performed a great service for recent immigrants by helping to develop and distribute the new U.S. Citizenship test questions in eleven additional languages. The U.S. government provides translations in four major languages. CLINIC has recruited community organizations from around the country to do these eleven, and are hoping to do more.
SCIENCE:
McGraw Hill has an excellent series of multilingual summaries for their K-6 Science curriculum. Just click on one of the books, then click on a chapter, and then click on the “translated concept summary.” Here’s an example of what you’ll get.
Scott Foresman has a complete K-6 Science curriculum in both English and Spanish.
Glencoe has two excellent multilingual science glossaries — one for middle school and one for high school.
(I forgot to mention that Brainpop has Spanish versions of most, if not all, of their movies. Of course, you need to have a paid subscription in order to access the majority of them, but I think they’re worth the price)
Carolyn Zierenberg, a talented teacher at our school, put together a simple multilingual (English/Spanish/Hmong) glossary of academic vocabulary. She’s given me permission to share it on this blog and website.
This Glossary of Commonly Used English Academic Vocabulary took an incredible amount of work to complete.
2Lingual is a bilingual search engine. You type in your search term and then choose two languages. Search results will show-up side-by-side in both languages. It could come in very handy for English Language Learners in content classes, as well as for their teachers who might be looking for materials in a second language that they could offer to their students for extra support. I was quite pleased with the searches I did, though I wish they had separate “tabs” for videos. They provide bilingual searches for Google and for Bing, plus a voice search capability.
Of course, a list like this is only effective as a supplement and follow-up to multiple classroom activities where these words are used in a meaningful way in context.
As usual, additional suggestions are welcome.
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