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Making A Better Life For
Themselves And Others
ESL Curriculum |
Products and Papers | Students | Videos
Our Students:
The Mixed Group
We
are students of a Bright Ideas class. Some of us are from Romanian, others
are from Bosnia and Macedonian. Our teacher is from Ukraine. He is very
nice, smart, and patient with us. He explains slowly and clearly and helps
us learn many things. We like our class very much. We smile, laugh, share
and have conversations all the time. We talk, talk and talk and have fun
talking. We had a good time on the vegetable farm for our field trip,
and we are so glad to talk to students from other Bright Ideas classes
in Chicago. We have improved our English. We are very proud because we
can do many things to help ourselves and even other people. For example:
we can do our shopping, tell other seniors about sales on food, visit
them when they are not feeling well, share our remedies for illnesses.
The magic is: we can do this in English. We are still improving our English
and we will do even better. Thanks to the Bright Ideas Programs for brightening
our aging years. Bright Ideas make us feel we are bright, and it's a wonderful
feeling.
Click on the students below
to read something about them written in their own words.
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In
their own words
Click
below to read basic stories about our students written in their own words..
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The
Senior immigrants and refugees who participate in the many programs offered
by CLESE member agencies come from over 30 countries. Those who have enrolled
in our Bright Ideas classes come from Bosnia, the Ukraine,
Iran, Iraq, the Philippines, and China. Many
are refugees from war torn countries. Others came to America seeking refuge
from religeous oppression.
Each
must face many challenges, creating a new life for themselves in a new
country, coping with loss of family and home, dealing with the trauma
of war, and the problems we must all deal with: health, finances, security,
and meaning in life.
Many,
but not all, have family members in the United States. They tend to live
in neighborhoods with others from their home country. Now, in the Bright
Ideas classes, they are making friends with other students from all over
the world.
Not
the least of their problems is learning English.
As
part of of the Bright Ideas English Literacy-Civics program, we ask our
students to talk about their lives before and after they came to America.
We ask them to work together and with other classes to explore their neighborhoods
and become familiar with how our society works. We emphasize oral communication,
but the student also produce pictures and writings that describe what
they are thinking.
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In
their own words...
Click
below to read basic stories about our students written in their own words..
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We
have created a variety of products related to the Bright Ideas project.
These include learning materials, tips for teachers, and assorted papers
of use to teachers, policy makers, and other researchers in the field.
Curriculum materials for 15 ESL-Civics units
are posted and available for download. The topics for these units came
out of discussions with students, focus groups, and needs assessments.
They were specifically targeted for senior immigrants and refugees who
had little English and often limited educations in their home countries.
However, the materials can be utilized for a wide range of ESL learners.
Coalition
of Limited English Speaking Elderly (CLESE)
53 West Jackson,
Suite 1301
Chicago, IL 60604
312-461-0812
312-461-1466 (fax)
info@clese.org
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