Language & Cultural Services
LCS Bulletin - February 13, 2017
Valentine's Day Hearts
Valentine's Day provides an excellent opportunity to introduce the concept of idiomatic language to intermediate English language learners (ELLs) in Grades 3-12. This unit gives students an occasion to extend their communicative competence in informal settings. It provides them with experience in learning and using language "chunks" and negotiating meaning with native speakers. Students also have the chance to present their work to the mainstream peers and join in group response at an appropriate time.
Ellevation Wants to Hear from You
Ellevation Education is seeking classroom educators for interviews in order to learn more about your teaching, your ELLs, and how you are using Ellevation’s Instructional Strategies. Their goal is to figure out ways to better support educators in their instruction of ELLs, and feedback from teachers like you makes it possible!
Here is more about this opportunity:
The interviews will be no more than 30 minutes via video conference on the internet or via phone, whichever is most convenient. It will be an informal conversation including discussion on working with ELLs and your thoughts on Ellevation’s Instructional Strategies. There is no need to prepare anything and you can schedule a time that works with your schedule.
In exchange for your time, Ellevation is happy to offer you a $10 gift card for Amazon. Please join the conversation by clicking here to quickly and easily schedule a time to chat or email Daniel Scibienski.
Lessons Learned: How to Clarify Input for English Learners
They had been filling out their worksheets for 30 minutes, but I knew I wasn’t getting through to them. I could see their eyes glazing over, their heads starting to nod, and some of them even playing with their pencils.
“OK.” I thought. “I need to get this lesson to stick, and I know how I’m going to do it.”
I stood up a little straighter and smiled at the 30 eight-year-olds sitting in front of me, 85 percent of whom were designated ELs. I dove headfirst into a rousing speech about rounding. At the end of my enthusiastic monologue (about an admittedly uninspiring topic), I looked at all of them expectantly.
“Well … does it make sense now?”
I saw their heads earnestly bobbing up and down. It was truly a job well done – until I realized it wasn’t.
I asked one of my third graders to explain the “why” behind the answer on the board. She tried her best, but came up short. I asked another student, and then another, only to face similar results. Then, a wave of realization smacked me in the face. These kids needed more from me if they were going to truly learn this concept. It turned out that their nodding was more an affirmation that they loved to please their teacher than an indication that they understood the conceptual foundations of rounding.
How do you clarify input for your English Learners? Read more here to find out how this teacher recognized the need to clarify input for her ELs and the strategies she used.
SIOP Spotlight: Shades of Meaning Vocabulary Technique
Focus on STEM Discourse: Strengthening Reasoning, Strengthening Language
Language Center at TCC: Scholarships & Resources
TCC English as a Second Language Booklet, Spring 2017
ACCESS 2017 Planning Resources
Test window: February 6, 2017 to March 31, 2017
Materials pick up at Enrollment Center: January 30 and 31, 2017
Tech support reminders:
- If technical support is needed or an error message received during testing, please notify your ELD Coordinator and submit a Helpdesk ticket. If you are able to resolve the issue, please send an update to both the ELD Coordinator and the Helpdesk.
- If you have to call DRC helpdesk, please save the DRC ticket number. If our Helpdesk has to follow up on an issue with DRC, they have to have the DRC ticket number in order to connect the issue.
ACCESS 2.0 & Alternate ACCESS
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Test Administrator Form
- Training Schedule
- Accessibility and Accommodations Supplement
- ACCESS Training Folder
- ACCESS 2017 Roster (saved template in Ellevation's Export Wizard)
ACCESS 2.0
- ACCESS 2.0 Headphone Specifications
- ACCESS 2.0 Sample Items (open using Chrome browser)
Alternate ACCESS
Missed a Department Meeting?
Elementary ELD Department Meetings
Language & Cultural Services Events
Week of February 13:
February 14, 8:30am - Veteran Alternate ACCESS Training
February 14, 12:30pm - New Alternate ACCESS Training
February 16, 8:30am - New ACCESS Online Test Administrator Training
February 16, 12:30pm - New ACCESS Kindergarten Test Administrator Training
Week of February 20:
February 21, 9:00am - Interpreter Skill Building Training (Edivate)
February 21, 3:45pm - ESL Certification Exam Study Group (Elementary)
February 21, 4:45pm - ESL Certification Exam Study Group (Secondary)
February 22, 4:00pm - Spanish for Educators (Edivate)
February 23, 4:00pm - Dual Language PLC, Grades 2 - 5
All events are listed in MyLearningPlan unless otherwise noted. Please pre-register and verify session location in MLP.
Check out the Language & Cultural Services events calendar for future events.
LCS Bulletins for SY 2016-2017
February 6, 2017 January 30, 2017 January 23, 2017 January 16, 2017 January 9, 2017 December 12, 2016 November 28, 2016 November 21, 2016 November 14, 2016 November 7, 2016 October 31, 2016 October 24, 2016 October 17, 2016 October 10, 2016 October 3, 2016 September 27, 2016 September 19, 2016 September 12, 2016 September 4, 2016