BELL Network

 

REGISTER AT: www.bellnetwork.org

Hope to see you there! 

Parents of English Language Learners Conference & Fair

GRASP

The long anticipated news for the families of the West Side community has arrived!!!

...GRASP is beginning at International School #45! 

GRASP - Great Results Always Start with Parents - is a program that will offer ESL classes and vocational assistance for adults as well as cultural and artistic activities for children and all family members. It will be held after-school hours at International School #45. It is the goal of GRASP to partner in the education of our children, connect with the community and build assets for the success of all.

Check out our innovative curriculum or Share your input here!

Puebla, Mexico for Teachers!

A great experience for anyone interested in gaining insight and background knowledge on our ESL students--and our world!

*Contact Kate Mahoney at kate.mahoney@fredonia.edu for upcoming information session dates! 

Karen Bags

Not Your Mama's Handbag!

The Karen are a group of people who come from primarily southeastern Burma and their population has recently grown in Buffalo. They not only bring a very welcomed wave of diversity to the western New York area, but their fabulous bags. Yes, bags! 

Over a cup of tea and scrumptious home-made treats, Thaw Yee, a new arrival to Buffalo invited us to her home and discussed the culture of the bags.

 

 The tradition of weaving that her mother and village elders taught her as a young girl is common among women in her culture. Men typically make other items such as baskets. It's a pastime cultivated throughout the generations.

In Buffalo, these practical, yet eye-catching garments have caught on like wildfire for those who love unique, one-of-a-kind, and handmade goods. The bags begin as simple string - of many textures and colors. Below is a picture of Ms. Yee stretching a fine silk-like string.

Next, she rounds the string into a ball (much like yarn for knitting) so it's easier to roll out during the looming process. Propped up on her sofa is a hand-made loom, typically created in Karen from bamboo shoots. 

Ms. Yee continuously loops the long string (of different colors and textures) over and around and back again until they are pulled together to form the strong, yet delicately designed fabric.

 

Ms. Yee teaching Ms. Nichter how to use the loom!

Another process used to create the beautiful patterns and cloth is the sitting loom. A painstaking process which requires the pushing and pulling of string to make each individual marking and barely visible line in the cloth! Ms. Yee is currently working on a new beautiful head scarf.

After all the parts have been created, the bag and the strap are hand-sewn together.

Et voila! This wearable work of art is ready!

 

Each bag understandably takes a few days to make and can be custom made. Ms. Yee and friends also make dresses, shirts, smaller bags, sarongs (can be worn as a skirt), and scarves. They are for sale!

Please contact Thaw Yee or Ms. Nichter at nenichter@buffaloschools.org for more information!

Remember, the more you know about the wonderful world around us, the more you glow! (And look just plain fabulous!)

SIOP Progressive Maps

After reading Elmer by David McKee in Kindergarten ESL, we launched a common-core driven unit on setting, character, and main events. Progressive mapping (adapted from SIOP) allows children to visually organize old and new information. 

First, we displayed our settings since (as Benedict - a native French speaker - in Ms. Nichter's class pointed out) "You can't have a story without a place!" 

Next, we learned all about the main character and his traits since a story also needs to have a character then posted them on the wall. 

Finally, we worked together to write, draw, sequence, and post the main events of the story. Main events were last because (as the students stated) this story requires a setting and main character before anything could even happen!

Thanks to our SIOP Progressive Map, the unit took on a deeper meaning and was very successful!

Cultural Competency Workshop