1630 - City Upon a Hill - Create a Foundation Based on Faith

Are you finding it difficult to teach high school grade level content to your ESOL students? I have felt the same way, so I have worked for the past six years to create resources that support my students' acquisition of everyday and academic language while learning about American history and literature.

This document covers the historic speech given by Puritan Leader, John Winthrop, to his congregation of Puritan followers in the year 1630. Modern day historians title his speech "City Upon a Hill" because of Winthrop's use of a metaphor to suggest that his community would become a model of the perfect society.

"City Upon a Hill" is the first installment in my Colonial America series and focuses on reducing the language complexity but not the civic value represented in Winthrop's original speech.

It combines:

1. language provoking title page that includes imagery obtained from copyright free resources (all images are graphic, black and white, line drawings)
2. visually-expressive icons that help students make connections between vocabulary concepts
3. a side-by-side comparison of modern English with Winthrop's original language
4. reading and writing activities help struggling learners make connections between what they know and what they are learning

This document is intended for use with ESOL students or others who are struggling to make connections between language concepts. It is based on the WIDA Can-Do-Descriptors and contains leveled resources for students ranging from Entering (1) proficiency through Emerging (2) proficiency.