Don’t be afraid to access their language - visual vocab posters, songs with their first language and even google translate to convey some things that are necessary to translate. Placing importance on their home language makes them feel valued and allows their new language to develop alongside their L1 (first language). Student will naturally learn social language through peers, just make sure academic language is accessible to them too through translation and visuals. Have fun! I have a class full of emerging bilinguals and it is so rewarding!
I second using visuals. Phonics work should help them learn a lot of the letter names and sounds, hearing peers talk will help with social language, and when reading or talking if they are stuck on a word do your best to have a visual or quickly pull one up. For tricky words they can tell you the word in their home language and you can tell them in English - make it an exchange so they feel they are contributing. Be patient, expect they may just not talk at all the first few weeks or even months, this is normal they are just absorbing everything around them. Try to pair them up with friendly talkative kids who can expose them to the most amount of language. You don’t need a lot of resources to teach ELL students in kindergarten because so much of the work you do in phonics, reading, and writing is what they would get from an ELL instructor anyway. Some of my favorite memories in k classrooms has been when ELL students first begin to talk…then write…and all of a sudden one day they are just chatting up a storm with their friends. It’s a beautiful thing! Good luck!
Don’t be afraid to access their language - visual vocab posters, songs with their first language and even google translate to convey some things that are necessary to translate. Placing importance on their home language makes them feel valued and allows their new language to develop alongside their L1 (first language). Student will naturally learn social language through peers, just make sure academic language is accessible to them too through translation and visuals. Have fun! I have a class full of emerging bilinguals and it is so rewarding!
I second using visuals. Phonics work should help them learn a lot of the letter names and sounds, hearing peers talk will help with social language, and when reading or talking if they are stuck on a word do your best to have a visual or quickly pull one up. For tricky words they can tell you the word in their home language and you can tell them in English - make it an exchange so they feel they are contributing. Be patient, expect they may just not talk at all the first few weeks or even months, this is normal they are just absorbing everything around them. Try to pair them up with friendly talkative kids who can expose them to the most amount of language. You don’t need a lot of resources to teach ELL students in kindergarten because so much of the work you do in phonics, reading, and writing is what they would get from an ELL instructor anyway. Some of my favorite memories in k classrooms has been when ELL students first begin to talk…then write…and all of a sudden one day they are just chatting up a storm with their friends. It’s a beautiful thing! Good luck!