Language & Cultural Services
LCS Bulletin - February 6, 2017
3-minute Brain Breaks for Testing Time
Wednesday’s guest post about why kids need to move from pediatric occupational therapist Loren Shlaes was so popular that I decided to follow it up with a list of Brain Breaks you can use with your students. These are great to use anytime your students are feeling restless and are struggling to pay attention. Most of these will only take a few minutes, and then you can get back to the lesson with your students ready to focus on the lesson at hand.
- 5-4-3-2-1 In this simple game, students stand up and the teacher (or leader) has them do five different movements in descending order. For example the teacher would say: “Do five jumping jacks, spin around four times, hop on one foot three times, walk all the way around the classroom two times, give your neighbor one high-five (pausing in between each task for students to do it).
- Trading Places Have students stand behind their pushed-in chairs. Call out a trait, and everyone who has that trait must change places with someone else (students who do not have the trait stay where they are). Examples: “Everyone with curly hair.” “Everyone who ate cereal for breakfast.” “Everyone who is wearing stripes.”
- Six Spots Number six spots around your room from 1-6. Have students each go to a spot of their choice. Choose a student to roll a die (if you can make a big one out of foam, it adds to the fun). All the students at the number rolled must go back to their seats. Students that are left go to a new spot, and the die is rolled again. Continue until only a few students are left.
- Mingle, Mingle, Group! In this game students mill about the classroom saying, “mingle, mingle, mingle” in soft voices until the teacher says, “Groups of 5,” at which point the students must quickly group themselves into groups with the correct number of people. Students who are left over must do three jumping jacks before the next round starts. The teacher can call out any number for the group size. You can also add rules such as: as soon as a group is complete, all members must sit down in a line.
- Dance Party! Put on some rockin’ music and dance! If you can make the room semi-dark and have a black light or other special effect, your kids will love it!
Find more brain breaks to use with your students during ACCESS 2.0 testing here.
Ellevation Strategy: Interactive Reading Notebook
Have you ever wondered how you can support ELLs by helping them organize their learning in a meaningful way? As you know, interactive notebooks can be just that!
Ellevation has taken this idea one step further. With the activity, Interactive Reading Notebook, students can interact with any text and show you exactly what they know!
If you are unsure how it relates to a subject you might be teaching, make sure to scroll to the bottom. There you will find content examples in each of the four content areas for each of these grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.
Did I say your name correctly? Strategies for Creating a culture of respect
2017 Calendar Featuring Art from the Spanish-speaking World
Nos complace anunciar el lanzamiento del Calendario de arte 2017. Este calendario imprimible y gratis cuenta con la participación especial de artistas contemporáneos de 9 países.
Vamos a imprimir el calendario a color y ponerlo al lado de nuestro escritorio. Este año el diseño se parece más a una agenda para que puedas anotar citas o tareas en la clase de español. ¡Comparte este enlace con tus alumnos, colegas y amigos!
WIDA Podcast: Supporting ELD and Bilingual teachers
Nominate a Dual Language Teacher of the Month!
My Dream Scholarship Application 2017-2018
Application Deadline:
Applications must be submitted and complete by 5:00PM, May 19th, 2017.
Unlocking learning: Science as a lever for English Learner Equity
Based on in-depth site visits and featuring real world examples of high-performing schools, high-quality professional development, and innovative classroom practices, Unlocking Learning:Science as a Lever for English Learner Equity, lays out a blueprint for increasing access and achievement in science for California’s 1.37 million English learners. Key takeaways of the report include:
- Research shows that weaving together science and language development can increase students’ academic performance in reading, writing, and science simultaneously.
- Some promising practices are resulting in achievement levels that are double and even triple the state average for English learners who met or exceeded proficiency.
- LCFF and the implementation of the CA Next Generation Science Standards provide districts an opportunity to overhaul their approach to science education and language development.
The report concludes with district-level and state-level recommendations, along with a series of questions for community stakeholders to ask in their advocacy for closing English learner achievement gaps in science.
Language-Rich Assessment MOOCs Open for Registration
Free Online PD for Educators
Now Open for Registration
Starting in February, Understanding Language/SCALE at Stanford Graduate School of Education will begin the second part of their FREE online courses sponsored by the Hewlett Foundation. These MOOCs aim at helping educators use innovative assessment practices – instructionally-focused formative assessment and curriculum-embedded performance assessments – for deeper learning. They will continue to focus on instructional improvement and student learning related to both the academic standards and the English Language Proficiency standards.
Participants can develop competencies in two strands:
Strand A –
Formative Assessment: Focus on Student Language
Learning as Evidence: Improving Argumentation through Formative Assessment Practice (February 28- May 30, 2017) Register NOW!!
Participants will use a range of practical tools for gathering and analyzing language samples that show how students currently construct claims supported by evidence and/or reasoning.
Strand B –
Building and Using Performance Assessments
Designing for Deeper Learning: How to Implement and Improve Performance Tasks (Feb 28- May 16, 2017) Register NOW!!
This course will build educators’ capacities to select, adapt, implement, and improve performance assessments that consider language and fit local contexts.
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 6:
February 7, 4:00pm - Spanish for Educators (Edivate)
February 9, 3:45pm - ELD Department Meeting (Elementary)
February 9, 4:45pm - ELD Department Meeting (Secondary)
February 11, 9:00am - SIOP Saturday: Practice and Application
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
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
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