IN THIS ISSUE: Amy's Ramblings ESL Update Tip of the Month Volunteer Spotlight Photo Stop Bits and Pieces ESL Staff: Amy White, ESL Program Coordinator awhite@ccda.net, x235 Cindy Brown, Associate ESL Coordinator cbrown@ccda.net, x239 Diana Gibson, Associate ESL Coordinator dgibson@ccda.net, x250 Erin Maradiegue, Associate ESL Coordinator emaradiegue@ccda.net, x251 Kristen Gasimov, Associate ESL Coordinator kgasimov@ccda.net, x249 Sheila Sullivan, Associate ESL Coordinator ssullivan@ccda.net, x238 Phil Spencer, Associate ESL Coordinator pspencer@ccda.net, x243 Hogar Hispano 6201 Leesburg Pike Suite 307 Falls Church, VA 22044 (T) 703-534-9805 (F) 703-534-9809 www.ccda.net If you would like to have this newsletter sent to a different e-mail address or if you would like to unsubscribe from the mailing list, please e-mail emaradiegue@ccda.net.

Amy's Ramblings Hello Volunteers! Happy belated Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there! Thank you for being the strong individuals that shape our lives – your children are forever grateful. Everyday that passes I am reminded just how important our mission is to the community. It saddens me to have to write the following news. A few weeks ago, an intentional fire was set to a day-labor center near Gaithersburg causing little damage but raising concerns about anti-immigrant sentiment. According to a Washington Post article published May 5, 2007,      …County fire investigators said that shortly before 6 a.m., someone used an ignitable liquid to start the fire at the double-wide trailer at the temporary worker center that opened last month, operated by CASA de Maryland. (This organization, much like Hogar Hispano, advocates for and provides services to the immigrant community.)      …Investigators did not know whether the blaze was set by someone who opposed the worker center, which has generated controversy among residents and groups that oppose illegal immigration. But representatives from Casa of Maryland, which runs the center, said they were certain this was sabotage.      “We see this as a natural consequence to the ongoing debate over immigration,” said Christy Swanson, program director for Casa of Maryland. “We also consider it a hate crime.”      …Patrick Lacefield, spokesman for the county, said he spoke to County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who called the incident “shameful and despicable.”      “Some people disagree with the policy and they have a right to, but obviously this crosses the line,” Lacefield said. I would like to thank you for your continued support and dedication to our mission at Hogar Hispano. It is our hope that we can make immigrants’ stay in the United States a positive experience and help them make it their home, if they so wish. You are a part of that process. You are enabling people to participate in the community. Thank you for being such an integral piece of our program! Enjoy your Memorial Day festivities! I hope it includes barbeques, picnics, vacations, and family. I will be celebrating in the city where I was born, Indianapolis. My family has attended the Indy 500 for the past 30 years and I have been going to the race since I was able to walk! I leave you this month’s issue with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Abrazos, Amy White ESL Program Coordinator ESL Updates Volunteer Appreciation Mass and Reception The biennial Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington's Volunteer Appreciation mass and reception was held Saturday, April 14 at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. Bishop Paul S. Loverde was the celebrant of the mass. During the heartfelt mass, he mentioned the importance of volunteering as well as expressed gratitude for the many contributions of Catholic Charities’ volunteers. At the reception, Bishop Loverde led the toast to our volunteers. Steve Luteran, Director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, also gave an inspirational speech about the call to charity, acknowledging our volunteers as the foundation of the organization. After an excellent Italian buffet, we had a special viewing of the new Catholic Charities promotional video followed by music and dancing! The video includes segments about all of Catholic Charities’ programs, and even features a few ESL teachers hard at work. Thanks to all of the volunteers who attended the Volunteer Appreciation mass and reception! It was wonderful to see ESL volunteers, site coordinators, and staff there. Thank you for all you do! Summer Sessions As the Spring semester winds down in the month of May, we here at Hogar Hispano want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for committing yourselves to help “Welcome the Stranger” and volunteer to teach English with our ESL program. Hogar Hispano is having limited English class sites this summer, so if you know of any students that would like to continue through the summer, please let them know about the following class sites and schedules: ALEXANDRIA St. Rita Catholic Church 3815 Russell Road Alexandria, VA 22305 St. Rita Catholic Church will be holding summer classes for 11 weeks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays in the Parish Center. Basic English Literacy and a Beginning level English class will be offered for $40. Registration days: Sunday, June 3, 2007 from 2:30 – 5:00 pm Monday, June 4, 2007 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm Wednesday, June 6, 2007 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm Class Schedule: Monday and Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 pm Sunday from 2:30 to 5:00 pm The first day of class will be Monday, June 4, 2007 FALLS CHURCH – HOGAR HISPANO Hogar Hispano 6201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 307 Falls Church, VA 22044 Hogar Hispano will be holding 10 weeks of class this summer. As opposed to the normal 4-day/week intensive classes, we will have an abbreviated evening schedule. We will offer two levels of English classes (Beginning and Intermediate), as well as a Citizenship class for $60. An Advanced level one-hour conversation class is still in the works (if you would like to teach the Advanced conversation class, please contact Sheila Sullivan at ssullivan@ccda.net or 703.534.9805 ext. 238). Registration days: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm Thursday, June 21, 2007 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm Class Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday from 7:00 – 9:00 pm The first day of class will be Tuesday, June 26, 2007 FALLS CHURCH – ST. ANTHONY'S St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church/Corpus Christi School 3305 Glen Carlyn Rd Falls Church, VA 22041 To Be Announced. Please contact us at 703-534-9805 ext. 222 for more information. STERLING Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church (CTR) 46833 Harry Byrd Highway Sterling, VA 20164 To Be Announced. Please contact us at 703-534-9805 ext. 222 for more information. Hogar Hispano announces two new site locations in Arlington! Hogar Hispano has partnered with AHC, Inc., a private non-profit developer of quality affordable housing in the greater Washington-Baltimore region, to open two new teaching sites in Arlington. AHC owns and operates 27 multi-family rental communities with 3,253 apartments, including 2,585 that are affordable to more than 6,000 low or moderate-income residents. For more information about AHC, please visit their website at www.ahcinc.org. The two new sites are: Woodbury Park 2335 N. 11th Street Arlington, VA 22201 Berkeley Community Center 2910 S. Glebe Road Arlington, VA 22206 Woodbury Park is conveniently located two blocks from the Clarendon Metro stop, and will have classes Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7:00 – 9:00 pm, starting mid-summer. The Berkeley Community Center, located near I-395 in Crystal City and on bus routes 10B, 23A, 23B, 23C, will have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 pm and 7:30 – 9:00 pm, as well as a Saturday morning conversation class from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. A tentative start date for Berkeley Community Center is set for July 16, 2007. If you or anyone you know would like to volunteer to teach this summer at Woodbury Park or Berkeley Community Center, please contact Sheila Sullivan at ssullivan@ccda.net or 703.534.9805 ext. 238. Tip of the Month: Check your students' comprehension All teachers have seen a blank stare upon their class’s faces at one time or another. And hopefully all teachers know the satisfaction of wiping away the cloud of confusion that occasionally settles over their students. Sometimes however, even though the students are up to speed and following your every word, you don’t see evidence of it in their faces. So how do you know if they’re getting it or not? How do you make sure your words are not bouncing around in space without a landing pad? Without checking your students for comprehension you cannot be sure that meaningful communication is taking place in your classroom, and without proper understanding of new material, the class cannot progress to the next lesson. "Students sometimes feel as if they are the only one in the class who doesn’t understand" How do you efficiently and accurately check your students’ comprehension of new material? Enter… the Comprehension Check Question! Let’s look at some examples. If you’ve introduced “breakfast” as a new vocabulary word, and explained that it is the meal you eat when you wake up in the morning, a perfect Comprehension Check Question would be: “What time do you eat breakfast?” If your students answer “at night” or “3:00 p.m.”, then you know that you need to go over the material again in a new way. In another instance if you’d like to check to see if your students understand the meaning of “ill”, you could ask, “Who helps you when you’re ill?” If you get an appropriate response, such as “the doctor,” you know your class is on target and you can feel confident about moving on. Comprehension Check Questions are a great tool for you, the teacher, to evaluate your students. At the same time, students will enjoy the challenge they present and the opportunity it gives them to participate. Feel free to be creative with your comprehension check methods. When teaching weather you may draw a picture of a cloud with rain on the board and ask, “Is it sunny today?” When students say no, have them state the correct condition, and then ask a volunteer to illustrate “sunny” on the board. In this way you may unknowingly address the concerns of a quiet student who did not understand “cloudy” but was too ashamed to interrupt the lesson and ask for clarification. Students sometimes feel as if they are the only one in the class who doesn’t understand. If you continually evaluate class progress aloud, each individual may easily compare themselves with their classmates and in turn gain more confidence when they find they are on par with the group. On the other hand, if they find that the rest of the class understood something that they did not, they will be motivated to pay closer attention and put forth extra effort. Two very useful pieces of advice I’ve received from teacher trainers are these: Never ask your class “Do you understand?” , and never ask, “What does _____ mean?” Imagine that you’ve spent 5 minutes of lesson time illustrating the difference between the past and present tense of regular verbs. You think you are ready to move on to some exercises, but first you ask the class, “Do you understand?” Pablo will look sheepishly around the room waiting for someone else to say “no,” so that he doesn’t slow the class down if everyone else is ready to move on. Anh may think to herself, “I think I understand, but I’ll just wait and see what happens when we do the exercises.” No one says anything aloud, and so you assume that everything is clear and move on. The likelihood that everyone will be able to complete the exercises successfully will be much greater if you pause for a moment and write “walked” on the board and ask, “Today or yesterday?” If only one student answers correctly, you’ve got more work to do. If the majority knows the answer, you’re home free. One more example: you’re working with an intermediate level reading selection and you come to the word “jealous”. You look around the class and ask “What does jealous mean?” Think about it for a moment. Even a native speaker of English who understands the word and is sure of its meaning will likely find that an explanation of it would require more complex terms. It’s likely that if you are a student of English learning the word for the first or second time, you don’t have the vocabulary to produce synonyms or a clear explanation. Instead of asking “What does jealous mean?” try giving a context for the word. “Why would a husband be jealous of his wife?” or “Would I be jealous of my neighbor because she lost her job, or because she has a nice new car?” The more examples you give the more familiar your students will become with the word and its uses, and the more likely they are to use it in real life situations. So the next time you find yourself ready to move on, but you’re not sure if your students are, try one of the aforementioned techniques. With regular comprehension checking, you’ll go from blank stares to a class that’s full of confidence! Volunteer Spotlight: Raquel and Katherine Harris It’s May here at Hogar Hispano’s ESL Program, and besides beautiful weather and end-of-class parties, May means Mothers’ Day! In honor of their hard work at St. John Neumann, we interviewed Raquel and Katherine Harris, a mother-daughter teaching duo extraordinaire! Why do you volunteer? Raquel: My daughter, Katherine, and I wanted to give back to the Hispanic community. I was a foreigner and I know how hard it was to learn English. I also wanted my daughter to get in touch with her roots and help others with the language she was able to be born into. Katherine: I also wanted to help the community and when my mom told me about the opportunity, I was pleased to help. How did you decide to work together? Katherine: Well, I didn’t want to volunteer by myself and, since my mother wanted to help, we decided to teach it together. Since I am still in school, I am able to copy some of the methods my language teachers use with me. My mom is able to connect with the students and is able to tell if they really understand the material. Raquel: Together we make a pretty good team! What do you like best about teaching together? Raquel: Convenience and communication. We can decide what to teach in class at any time without sending e-mails or calling, which can lead to some planning problems. Your favorite game or teaching technique: Raquel: We love playing games and getting the students out of their chairs. Katherine: I know how boring it is to sit in a chair all day. Our favorite game to play with the students is “Circle-it”. In this game students are on teams, battling it out, to see who knows the most vocabulary. A person from each team comes to the board and has to circle a word that we call out before the other students can. Some days we bring in snacks to reward the students. A favorite personal accomplishment or student success story: Raquel: One of our students, Manuel, has, in our opinion, improved the most. He went from being shy and hardly understanding the language, to being confident and having the ability to speak and help other students as well. Keep up the great work, ladies! We’re so glad to have you teaching with us! If you know of an outstanding volunteer who you would like to see in the spotlight, please contact Erin Maradiegue at emaradiegue@ccda.net or 703-534-9805 ext. 251. Photo Stop A group of students from Nancy Meehan's sixth grade class at St. Thomas More School spent a morning at Hogar Hispano making birthday cards for you, our volunteers. After a quick introduction to the mission and work of Hogar Hispano, they enthusiastically tackled the task. Thank you Ms. Meehan's class for all your help! Bits and Pieces Volunteer opportunities at Hogar Hispano With the opening of two new sites in Arlington and the upcoming summer semester at Hogar Hispano’s office site in Falls Church, it is never a bad time to start thinking about volunteering! If you have a friend or coworker who may be interested in teaching ESL classes please pass the word along! Classes for the two Arlington sites will begin in June or July. The next session at Hogar in Falls Church will start in late June. Regular semesters at all other sites throughout Northern Virginia begin in September. Get to know our wonderful and diverse group of students. No ESL experience is necessary! Please contact Sheila Sullivan at 703-534-9805 ext. 238 or email her at ssullivan@ccda.net. Immigration Legislation Information Check out what’s new in immigration legislation and policy at the National Immigration Forum. It is a great resource for facts, articles, and public opinion surveys related to the immigration debate!