I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien

Every time I read I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien, I discover something new I love about it. First I want to talk about all of the things that the book can teach/remind adults about English Learners (ELs).

  1. They are going to go through culture shock when they first arrive in your classroom.
  2. Many could read and write in their first language and were thriving as students.
  3. Some Els are learning an entirely new alphabet system.
  4. ELs may not be talking, but their minds are full of thoughts, ideas, and dreams.
  5. They may feel isolated, lonely, sad, confused, and homesick.
  6. ELs learn social language first.  You will see them talk on the playground and in the cafeteria first.
  7. They work better with partners and groups.  Collaborate is key to ELs thriving in the mainstream classroom.
  8. ELs can teach children and adults new things.
  9. They need you to make their environment safe, so they can take risks.
  10. Every EL has a strength that can be highlighted while they are still learning English.  You, as a teacher, can build on this strength.

I’m New Here is a wonderful book to share with classroom teachers and native speaking students to help build their empathy for and understanding of English Learners.  It is also a wonderful book to use with your newcomers as part of an instructional program.  As I teacher, I would use it as text to read with my newcomers early in their instructional program.  I’m New Here would make a wonderful mentor text for an early writing activity. I would use it to create a classroom book that could be added to throughout the school year as newcomers arrive at your school.  In addition, I would save these classroom books from year to year to create a library of them for newcomers to read during their first year.  Knowing that other have come before you and have survived/thrived could be a great sense of comfort to children at your school.

  1. Start with a read aloud and discussion of the book.
  2. Make real world connections to the characters in the book.
  3. Create an anchor chart with sentence starters.  (Back home I could…, Back home I knew…,
  4. Create a cover of the book.
  5. Have each student complete a Back Home I page and a Here I page.
  6. Bind the book in such a way that you can add pages throughout the school year.

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