MIDTESOL Matters
Fall 2006
A Publication of Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages


Twenty Easy Steps to Preparing an ESOL Newsletter
By Ayse G. Stromsdorfer, Soldan International Studies High School


For our ESOL learners, seeing any of their own written material in print in fancy format is publishing, be it a class foldout newsletter or just a typed up, edited sheet; it is a great source of pride. When I was able to prepare a newsletter through our school print shop with the various items students themselves had created (albeit without much attention to revisions past the second draft-as the newsletter contained only writing they had created), many of the contributors became proud enough to do revisions after the publication. Those that were not interested in doing any writing for our paper, be it a life moment, a joke, or a story, sorely regretted their lack of participation later. Interestingly, these same students offered to write for the next edition! Here are some tips to help you tackle such a project:


"Dos"

  • Do give a simple writing assignment in class, emphasizing the deadline for publication with the intention of using it for the newsletter later.
  • Do not ask students to write long, essay-like pieces unless it is something they are very familiar with, such as personal anecdotes.
  • Do ask students to pick out and add online illustrations to their work.
  • Do encourage students to write jokes (clean ones) from their culture. This can be especially challenging as the translation will have to be content-oriented and not a verbatim explanation to retain the humor.
  • Do work with each writer, as much as time allows, to point out what needs more attention.
  • Do explain that the work will receive extra points.
  • Do have the student type his work and save on disk.
  • Do save yourself time and effort by saving each writing onto your flash drive so that editing and formatting will be simpler.
  • Do repeat these assignments as homework with revisions to be done in class conferences with the teacher numerous times.
  • Do make sure that the students understand the deadline as final submission day.
  • Do review the material carefully for appropriateness of content.
  • Do request your more advanced students to assist the less advanced ones with the mechanics of the writing, or even proofreading of their work.
  • Do print sufficient copies to distribute to all your students who collaborated, and share the extras with the others.
  • Do ask whether colleagues in other departments might also enjoy reading the various cultural bon mots that your students created.
  • Do look for the self-contented look on the faces of those pupils who persevered and contributed; they are now famous published authors to their classmates, and to their parents.
  • Do keep a copy to display in your classroom for the following group of writing students.


"Don'ts"

  • Do not pay for this out of pocket, but utilize the print shop your district might work with.
  • Do not correct the work of anyone if only one draft has been handed in as the finished product. Let them do the work themselves first.

A.G. Stromsdorfer is currently teaching ESOL at Soldan International Studies High School, SLPS District. One of her more recent teaching positions includes Saint Louis University's ESL program, where she served as Associate Professor. She also taught various levels of ESL learners overseas.