This poster project is designed for ESOL/ELL/ESL/MLL students who are beginners, especially in math, or may have a shorter school history. The project asks them to take a number and given shape and provide these things for it:

• number (as a number, as an English word, a word in their language)
• the shape (drawing and its word)
• three real world things that are that shape
• five problems each using the number for addition, subtraction, and multiplication

Potential Changes for teachers:

• Include division in the required math problems
• Change the required amount of real life objects needed
• Require objects to match thematic unit (jobs, in the classroom, etc)

Reflection on use in the classroom:
          I did this with my ESOL 1 students in a class that focused on basic math and preparation for Algebra as well as support for their ESOL classes. Students in this class had a wide range of abilities, but many had not had formal instruction in math in many years or at all. Students were put in groups of three and given an assigned number and shape. They were to fill a poster board entirely with the information required. 

          Students seemed to have a lot of fun with this! They like creativity, but still need some rules and guidelines for it. This provided enough freedom that they had some choice, but also had clear expectations. Students also liked that they were all working on something different. It took students about two class periods of 50 minutes each to finish this to my satisfaction. When students showed it to me, I would compare it to the example shared in the download and point out any issues. All in all, I would do this again with students and am adding it to my considerations in the future where appropriate. 

     I inherited a few sets of supplies for maths related activities when I started teaching ESOL: some tens blocks, calculators, and some shapes. While these are useful and I did use them quite frequently, I wanted something that required students to create rather than simply identify. This particular year I had a class whose maths skills ranged from knowing basic algebra to never learning two digit addition. Further, many of these students were still learning basic vocabulary in English. The Wikki Stix/Monkey String, however, presented an excellent resource that got students active and creating, rather than simply memorising and identifying. Below you will find a quick list of ways you can use this resource in your ESOL classroom:

• multiplication/division - have students separate out and create the groups for a visual and tactile representation of a multiplication or division problem
• Shapes - have students race to create shapes using the string when they hear the shape name
• Numbers - have students race to create the number shape (8 as opposed to 8 sticks IIIIIIII) when they hear the number. (added bonus: this is a great way to include your vision students! While my vision student doesn't read the numbers the same way, they could feel the number the way I see it. They found this very fun and helpful). 
• tactile images - have students create tactile images of vocabulary words or sentences.
  
• rainbow and colours - students can sort them by colour and build a rainbow based on ROY G BIV.
  

What other ways can you use Wikki Stix/Monkey String to support ELLs?