ELD Weekly Bulletin
Title III/ELD Listserv - December 7, 2015
Honoring Family in the Classroom
by Alma Flor Ada and Rosa Zubizarreta
In this article excerpt, Alma Flor Ada and Rosa Zubizarreta suggest an innovative but practical technique for helping parents engage in a meaningful way with their children and their children's schools.
Teachers send home questions or dialog prompts designed to encourage parents to share stories about their own life experiences with their children. These stories then become the basis for classroom discussions about students' cultures, and they can also be used to generate meaningful classroom curriculum activities.
Whether or not we speak students' home languages, we can send home on a regular basis oral or written questions and dialogue prompts to encourage conversations in the home language. These invitations are designed by the teacher to elicit and welcome parents' experience, wisdom, and cultural knowledge.
Read more here about honoring and engaging families in the classroom.
Teaching Teachers to Better Connect with Immigrant Students
One of the aspects of teaching that I have most enjoyed over the past decade is working with students from around the world. While spending the day teaching large groups of children can be sometimes stressful and even isolating, sharing the experiences and cultural knowledge of immigrant students from Australia, Cambodia, Ireland, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (just to name a few countries) has expanded the world view of everyone working and studying in our schools. To say that the conversations we have are richer for their presence and contributions is an understatement.
Nevertheless, teaching students new to the country can also come with its own set of challenges and there are just a few things, mostly learned from experience, that I wish I had known as a young teacher about how to connect with students who are new to the country.
New SIOP Resource: Shades of Meaning Vocabulary Technique
A great visual aid! The Shades of Meaning Cards help students understand the subtle distinctions among synonyms. A template is included so that you can create your own.
Click here to download the Shades of Meaning Cards
Click here to subscribe to the monthly SIOP Resource Newsletter
ECJH: A Trip to the Library
The ELD team and librarian at ECJH recently took the ELL students on a walking tour to the nearby Martin Regional Library. Check out the picture gallery below!
They received a tour from the librarians, learned how to use their TPS library ID, learned how to apply for an actual library card, were shown different online resources, including Homework Help, and then they checked out books and movies. It was a really good trip and the students were excited to know they were able to go after school and on the weekends :) One boy student said he is going to start going every Sunday because he really wants to learn more English!
- Leslie Sheets, ELD Teacher, ECJH
Tulsa City County librarians can also do on-site presentation on resources and help sign students and parents up for library cards. Contact your ELD Coordinator to request an on-site student or parent presentation.
Holiday Cookie Recipes from Around the World - Yum!
by Jordan Sondler
We gathered as many cookies from the far corners of the world as we could find. To see their recipes and stories, click on the cookies or numbers on this map (or the legend below).
Here's to celebrating a little differently this year.
- Nanaimo Bars (Vancouver, Canada)
- Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas Cookies (Pennsylvania, U.S.)
- Rainbow Cookies (New York, U.S.)
- Potato Chip Cookies (Saratoga Springs, U.S.)
- Benne Wafers (South Carolina, U.S.)
- Prune & Chocolate Rugelach (New York, U.S.)
- Black & White Cookies (New York, U.S.)
- Bizcochitos (New Mexico, U.S.)
- Mexican Wedding Cakes (Mexico)
- Brigadeiros (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Title III Scheduling Updates
We will be hosting a session called ACCESS 2.0 Q&A on Monday, December 7th from 4:00pm to 5:00pm at Wilson. Please register for this session in MLP. This session will provide a brief overview of the new ACCESS 2.0 test, testing roles, and training plan. A portion of the session will be set aside for interactive questions and discussion of the new testing framework.
ELD Department Meetings
Due to a scheduling conflict this week, the ELD Department meetings have been rescheduled for Thursday, December 17th at 3:30pm (Elementary) and 4:30pm (Secondary).
Title III/ELD Upcoming Events
December 7th, 4:00pm - ACCESS 2.0 Q&A
December 8th, 3:30pm - SIOP Seminar: Building Background (Elementary)
December 8th, 4:30pm - SIOP Seminar: Building Background (Secondary)
December 10th, 3:00pm - Interpretation Training for Special Education (Edivate)
Register in MyLearningPlan unless otherwise noted.
Click here to view the Title III/ELD Calendar
ELD Weekly Bulletins for SY2015-2016
December 5, 2015 December 2, 2015 November 30, 2015 November 16, 2015 November 9, 2015 November 5, 2015 November 2, 2015 October 26, 2015 October 19, 2015 October 12, 2015 October 5, 2015 September 28, 2015 September 21, 2015 September 14, 2015 September 7,2015 August 31, 2015 August 24, 2015 August 19, 2015 August 17, 2015 August 10, 2015 August 3, 2015 July 27, 2015