ELD Weekly Bulletin
Title III/ELD Listserv - September 7, 2015
12 Ways to Support ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom
You have a new student, and he speaks no English. His family has just moved to your town from Japan, and though he receives English as a Second Language (ESL) support, he will also be sitting in your room every day to give him more exposure to his new language. How can you be a good teacher to someone who barely understands you?
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, an average of 9 percent of students in U.S. public schools are English Language Learners (ELLs); that number is closer to 14 percent in cities. Although many of these students start off in high-intensity, whole-day English programs, most are integrated into mainstream classrooms within a year, well before their English language skills would be considered proficient.
How prepared are you to teach these students? If you’re like most classroom teachers, you have little to no training in the most effective methods for working with English language learners (Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). So that means we have a problem here: Lots of ELL kids in regular classrooms, and no teacher training to ensure the success of that placement.
Read what three ESL teachers tell us what they know about the things regular classroom teachers can do to improve instruction for ELL students. These 12 strategies are simple, they are not very time consuming, and best of all, they will help everyone in your class learn better.
6 Storytelling Apps that Get English Language Learners Talking
For English language learners (ELLs) in the classroom, speaking English in front of others — particularly native speakers — can cause tremendous anxiety. In fact, the dread of speaking can actually interfere with students’ ability to learn. Even with the most well-planned, immersive, real-world learning opportunities, the brains of students with high anxiety won’t be receptive to learning, according to Stephen Krashen’s “Affective Filter Hypothesis” (and the brain research that supports it).
So how can we design speaking activities that don’t make our students’ hearts race and palms sweat? Digital storytelling can be an effective way for ELLs to practice speaking English without the stress of being “on stage.” Apps and tech tools allow students to practice in the comfort of their own home by themselves or with a caregiver. With digital storytelling tools, students can spend time formulating their stories, self-reflect and self-assess, collaborate with peers of differing skill levels, and in the end, feel confident in their abilities.
Here are a few digital storytelling tools to help get your ELLs talking...
WIDA Focus Bulletin: Family Engagement for ELLs
This bulletin discusses the impact on family engagement practices. In other words, our focus will be on how schools and families work together to support student learning. This is important because students benefit when families and schools work together to
support student learning. Our goal in this bulletin is to raise awareness of the need for family engagement practices that take into consideration students’ academic achievement and language development. This is why we chose to write this bulletin for a dual audience—families and educators. We encourage teams of families and educators to use this resource as a tool to support their local family engagement practices.
In this issue we:
• Provide a brief overview of family engagement and its relationship to student achievement
• Identify specific considerations for English language learners and their families
• Discuss a collaborative project in the state of Illinois to provide readers an example of
family engagement practices focused on English language learners and their families
• Include two different tools which can be used by families and educators
• Discuss how the work with families has impacted our work here at WIDA
Read more about resources and tools from WIDA to support family engagement with ELLs.
Procedures for Title III Printing
The TRAC training manual, released in the August 24, 2015 School Leader Memo, details the steps required to get a quote, submit an RQ, and then submit the print request with a PO. The Title III print job cannot be submitted for printing at the print center until a PO has been issued. If it is submitted without a PO, Title III funds will not be able to cover the cost.
For Title III print jobs, when you email the PDF for a quote for printing to the school secretary, or whomever submits print jobs to the print center, please copy Laura Grisso on the email. An RQ for printing will not be approved to be paid with Title III funds without a document review.
Project Citizenship: You're Invited!
It is September again! We hope your school year is off to a great start.
We are excited to invite you to our 3rd Annual Project Citizenship Event. Every September we host a reception to coincide with Constitution Day and Welcoming America Week in celebration of our newly naturalized citizens, and the accomplishments and contributions of the immigrant and refugee community in the Tulsa Area. We hope you will be able to join us on September 17th, from 4:00 -6:30 p.m. The reception will begin at 4:00, and the program at about 4:30, when we will have representatives from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services speak, and we will also hear personal stories from a few of our new citizens.
Please see the attached flyer for more details. If you will be able to help us celebrate on the 17th, please RSVP to icheveleva@ywcatulsa.org.
Want to learn more about ELLs & Literacy? Register Now for OABE 2015!
OABE Conference Flyer
OABE Registration Form
PS10
ELLevation Training for ELD Teachers & ELD Contacts
ELLevation InClass is the new platform which all general education teachers will have access to view LIEPs virtually, collaborate on specific ELL students with a team of teachers, and receive customized professional development tools to support the ELLs in their classroom. Check out the InClass video below to learn more!
Title III/ELD Upcoming Events
September 8, 3:30pm - ESL Certification Study Group (Elementary)
September 8, 4:30pm - ESL Certification Study Group (Secondary)
September 9, 8:30am - W-APT Test Administrator Training (Elementary)
September 9, 12:30pm - K W-APT Test Administrator Training
September 9 & 10: ELLevation for ELD Teachers (See above for scheduling)
September 10, 3:30pm - ELD Department Meeting (Elementary)
September 10, 4:30pm - ELD Department Meeting (Secondary)
Click here to view the Title III/ELD Calendar.