Primary – English as an Additional Language

            Reading books is vital for learning a new language.  One of our goals at BIS is to inspire a love of reading. One way we do that in the English as an additional Language  (EAL) program is to be actively engaged in small guided reading groups. As we read we generate responsive interactions as students are able to stop and talk about the book.

            Recently Grade 5 have been reading and identifying language techniques in “The Iron Man” by Ted Hughes.  Hughes captivating techniques such as the use of rhetorical questions; “How far had he walked?” repetition, “nobody knows,” and the use of descriptive language, “The wind sang through his iron fingers” are identified in order to shape the writing process. The following is an extract from the start of the book:

The Iron Man

by Ted Hughes

           

Chapter  1

The Coming of the Iron Man

            The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff.

            How far had  he walked? Nobody knows. Where did he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows.

            Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness.

             The wind sang through his iron fingers. His great iron head, shaped like a dustbin but as big as a bedroom, slowly turned to the right, slowly turned to the left. His iron ears turned, this way, that way. He was hearing the sea. His eyes, like headlamps, glowed white, then red, then infrared, searching the sea.

After reading students were able to create their own fictional characters and write their own creative writing piece.

Here is a sample of a Grade 5 student’s creative piece after reading the novel:

The “Half Blooded Alien”

Chapter 1

The coming of the “half blooded alien”

            The “half blooded alien” came to the battle of the civil war. Nobody knows where it came from. Nobody knows what to call him. Is he on our side or on the other side?

            The “half blood alien” was holding 2 swords, one looked like the sword of life, the other one looked like the sword of death. His whole body was divided into two, half of his body was a very ordinary human body, the other half looked like a black, white, skinny and fat “alien” body. And his face was divided into two, one side of his face is an ordinary human face, the other half looked like an “alien body”.

             This is just one way reading books helps to improve the writing process.  That is why reading a range of books from different authors is not only fun, but advisable in allowing  students to experiment with different writing styles which in turn helps develop their own writing style and ‘voice’ when writing.

Caroline Delhommeau

BIS Whole School EAL Specialist

cdelhommeau@baliis.net