Kid-Inspired ESL Curriculum Membership Teacher Testimonials
- Mara Elliot K-6 ESL Teacher, U.S.
"It was wonderful to have the support of the Kid-Inspired ESL teaching materials."
Mara Worked at a Charter School in California
As an English Language Development (ELD) teacher for a charter school in San Diego, California, my job was to provide specialized instruction for ELL students (English Language Learners).
The lessons I designed had two purposes:
- to support the students with developing the language tools they needed to do well in their English speaking classrooms
- to help them pass the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC)
Once they passed the ELPAC, it was no longer a requirement for them to be pulled out of their regularly scheduled classes for additional ELD practice.
Similar to the ELPAC exam, Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum focuses on the same main domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
The ESL teaching materials are both teacher and student friendly.
The primary pages of each unit are mainly tools for the teachers and students.
For example, the vocabulary is given in one or two pages per unit with pictures to match.
- The primary page is like an Exit Ticket for language or content objectives. Activities and worksheets are separate.
- The teachers are free to design their lessons and to pick from the provided supplemental materials that support differentiated student needs. The teacher can do flash cards, worksheets, and games to help the students achieve the desired goal.
- In addition, the students benefit from this because they are able to meet the goal defined by the primary page by any means necessary for them. Each student may have different needs and benefit from an array of different activities.
- Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum allows for students to achieve language goals in a way that is best for each individual.
In addition, each unit and level of Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum slowly increases difficulty of tasks.
In this way, it closely aligns with Bloom's Taxonomy levels:
- remember (recall facts),
- understand (explain ideas or concepts),
- apply (use new information),
- analyze (draw connections among ideas),
- evaluate (justify, argue, defend), and
- create (produce an original work).
You can see many of the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy increasing within each level and many increase within each unit of Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum. Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum slowly increases the difficulty level of tasks so that each task is harder than the last, but not so hard that it creates frustration.
Lastly, each unit of Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum has a strong theme.
The themes allow the students to learn new topics and vocabulary contextually. The students revisit the content through the theme by reading it, hearing it, speaking it, and writing it. Thus, solidifying what they had learned into their memory in an engaging way. All the themes are interesting to the students.
This makes the acquisition of knowledge easy and fun. They learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, etc. This repetition of newly acquired knowledge through different mediums of language, supports research that in order to learn new content students must use it many times in many different ways.
It was wonderful to have the support of Kid-Inspired Classroom ESL materials in the classroom.
The curriculum allows for seamless instruction that builds in difficulty without being rigid and overbearing. My school did not provide materials beyond practice tests to help support my students with language acquisition. I recommend Kid-Inspired Classroom's curriculum and supplemental materials to anyone looking to support their students with the main domains of English.
Mara Elliott, K-6 Teacher in the United States
Here's What Other Teachers Are Saying
"These materials have been really helpful. The units are set out well, they are easy to follow, and there is a lot to work with. I also like the way the tenses are laid out and how there is a lot of review built in."
"I highly recommend the ESL Curriculum Membership for anyone who teaches English and wants to see their students thrive. It not only offers systematic, thoughtful curriculum, but also inspiration to improve your own teaching skills and bring fun to your classroom."
"The TESOL course I completed didn't prepare me to teach ESL properly. It's fair to say I didn't really have any idea how to teach or even control a class. In contrast, these materials along with the things I've learned from the Kid-Inspired Classroom have had a direct impact on my teaching skills, my happiness, my effectiveness and my efficiency as a teacher."
"I love how the units are structured. There is a theme to them and everything is connected. The materials are flexible. You can choose what you need to do with the students each class. You can also flow through a class in a very student-centered way. The students really enjoy the classes."
"John is incredible. What a wealth of knowledge and a lifeline he has been for me in my first year teaching. His heart is to truly hear and acknowledge all concerns and requests and the delivery in what I've requested has been impeccable. I am so thankful for him and for this site that houses so many resources for ESL teachers like myself!"
"I see very few beginners in my position, and I was always throwing things together. I had resources for grammar, another for listening, and another for reading comprehension. The ESL Curriculum Membership pulls it all together for me and the kids love it. Thank you, Kid-Inspired!"
"The lesson plans and materials on Kid Inspired are priceless! Before, I would scour the internet for appropriate resources to get my online English students engaged and progressing until my eyes shriveled up. But, all the wonderful tools included on the KIC membership allows me to focus more on the delivery of the information, evaluate my students' progress, and actually enjoy helping students improve their English speaking and understanding."
