Growing an international program...Part 3: Bible Class!

The last topic I would like to mention in this series is a religion class designed for ELLs.  None of the international students our Christian school admits have fluency with the Biblical concepts.  We tried mainstreaming them in our traditional Bible classes without any success.  The other students were light years ahead in Biblical understanding/training, the content was hard to grasp, and the vocabulary used was not anything they had learned in English classes back home.  Our trial lasted about a semester and then we pulled them out.

I was unable to find an introductory curriculum which presents Christianity to English language learners.  (Many teachers and administrators that I have talked to have told me the same thing. ) I decided to go ahead and write one.  Running a class designed specifically for the students’ language needs and content area needs has made a world of difference.  I designed a program for our school that runs as a two-year format:  The first-year international students will take an Introduction to Christianity class and the second year they take Introduction to World Religions.

In addition to language and content area help, this class provides the students a safe place to ask questions, make comments and even present arguments without feeling embarrassed by the presence of seasoned Bible students.   Once they finish this two-year program, they are ready to join the mainstream classes.

If you’re interested in my curriculum, you can find an Introduction to Christianity on my website here and on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is a 5-unit course.  Each unit is self-contained which means you do not have to do them in order and can choose whichever unit within the course that works for your class.
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I am very interested in what your schools are doing for Bible class for your international students.  Please share your stories in the comments below!