Teachers must cover a wide range of subjects in a short amount of time, so they can’t afford to teach content at a slower pace. The use of appropriate technology, such as the Mantra Lingua Recorder Pen available on the Language Lizard site, can simultaneously provide support to students who need scaffolding, and enrichment to students in need of extra challenges. The result: students who are more engaged in the classroom.

Using the PENpal along with our foreign language books can help teachers develop and assess oral language development, build fluency and improve phonemic awareness, and support parental involvement. Teachers can customize content specifically to their students’ needs with both English and home-language resources. For example, a classroom with Spanish and Russian speaking students could include English-Spanish Audio Books and English-Russian Audio Books that students can use with the Talking Pen, either in class or at home.

PENpal resources can help teachers achieve differentiated instruction and inclusiveness in their classrooms in many ways:-

• Provide step-­by-­step instructions for Learning Centers.
• Students record the telling of a story, add sound effects, narrate a character’s thoughts or imagined conversation between characters.
• Provide narration in different languages and record support for homework.
• Record messages or questions for parents, who can record their responses in English or their home language.
• Use the Mantra Lingua PENpal as a multi­-sensory spelling tool by having students record the word they are spelling, and the phonemes or graphemes that make up the word.
• Use as an assessment tool by keeping all recordings as evidence of a student’s progress.
• Narrate storyboards in preparation for storytelling/story writing/drama exercises. Record dialogue between characters and document additional information, such as length of scene, props, or characters.
• Create interactive wall displays.
• Audio­-enhance flashcards.

Don’t forget to check out our comprehensive and informative collection of videos for even more ideas on how the PENpal can foster English language learner (ELL) language development in the classroom and at home.