the English Learner Advisory Committee

got ELAC?

Well, you certainly should if the following is the case at your school site: there are 21 or more English Language Learners.

That's right. This is a state mandate that returns us to the conversations we had WAAAAAAAAAY back around the legal battles around discrimination against English Language Learners. Just as as these children would be categorically denied access to core curriculum due to a poor understanding of language acquisition and instead blaming it on lack of intelligence, their parents have routinely been underrepresented in the workings and decision making bodies of schools and school districts.

Enter the ELAC...
The ELAC is the English Learner Advisory Committee. It is a committee that is composed of the parents of English Language Learners and certificated and classified staff that work with English Language Learners. Its purpose is to advise the school's decision making bodies (especially around instruction, curriculum and budget) typically a School Site Council, on matters that involve decisions around English Language Learners. A large part of the committee's main thrust should be focused on the English Learners section of the school's Site Plan.

We'll talk about the inner workings of the ELAC next time. Who knew there was so much policy around ELLs?

- W

English Learners in our Classrooms

Remember a while back when I talked about the legal precedents that gave rise to bilingual education and a growing realization that the academic needs of English Learners are unique but not deficient from those of native English speakers?

I know, I know, it's been a while. But the important point here is that eventually policy was created from this, and an entire system to support its implementation, monitoring and enforcement. At least here in California.

The Grand Summary to Date
We already know this:
1. We must provide our English Language Learners with instruction in English that will allow them to (eventually) access the core curriculum at a level comparable to their native speaking peers. This is what we call English Language Development, or ELD.
2. There is a test- the (California English Language Development Test) CELDT- which allows for students level of English proficiency to be determined on annual basis.
3. The levels of English proficiency range from:
- Level 1: a beginner, typically a newcomer or kindergartner
- Level 2: Early Intermediate, often those early on are in a "silent period" as they begin internalizing grammatical functions of English
- Level 3: Intermediate, the "wall" or "glass ceiling" that many of our ELLs can not seem to overcome
- Level 4: Early Advanced, students who approximate the speech of native speakers and are considered Fluent English proficient. This is also when ELLs become "reclassified" to RFEP (Reclassified Fluent English proficient). Hang on to that acronym, we'll talk more about reclassification soon).
- Level 5: Advanced. These students are generally indistinguishable from English speakers in the grammatical forms they use or academic vocabulary used. They will continue to increase the level of sophistication of vocabulary throughout their academic career and their lives.
4. California expects that ELD be taught at a student's level of English proficiency, and it is recommended that no more than two proficiency levels are addressed at one time.
5. ELD lessons involve targeting listening and speaking standards of the English Language Arts; these skills will build the foundation for what they eventually transfer into their writing and be able to read during the ELA time. ELD Standards were written with the goal of Level 5 students ELD standards essentially mimicking the ELA standards.
6. ELD lessons involve the explicit, systematic and intentional teaching of grammatical forms and language functions that students then practice and receive positive supportive reinforcement from peers and their teachers.
7. ELLs need to be practicing these new language features over 50% of the ELD time in order to internalize them.

So we know a lot so far! That's quite a summary of our travels so far.

Let's pick up on an aspect of ELLs we have not talke about yet- their parents, and how policy addresses their needs. (And yes, I promise we'll talk reclassification at some point too!)

Have a good night!

-W

Unexcused Absence

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I last posted. October has most definitely set in, with the demands placed on us in California by the impending CELDT testing deadline looming and generally doing more at my job with less people well, you can see it didn't take much for my attention to be diverted to other places.

But I'm back for now...

A synopsis
Last time we chatted I was finishing up a long running series on dissecting an ELD Lesson Plan. To review, these are the components I presented, discussed and gave examples of:
1. Choosing the grammatical function
2. Choosing appropriate topical vocabulary
3. Identifying appropriate grammatical forms
4. Choosing appropriate language prompts that will elicit the grammatical function you want students to practice via a language response.
4. Learning to adjust for ELL's proficiency levels in English
5. Learning structured language routines that ensure ELLs practice new grammatical forms and functions at least 50% of the ELD block

All in all, this covers the basic blocks to be aware of when planning an effective ELD lesson. I do hope that at least some of the components have been useful, enlightening and (fingers crossed) eventually implementable in your classroom.

From Instruction to Policy
In the next few days, I would like to shift a little from instruction for ELLs to more of the policy around ELLs. California has an abundance of policy that cover not just instruction, but parent committees, testing, district compliance, etc. I hope that learning about this will be as useful to you as instruction is. Certainly, when I was in the classroom, I would do things I was asked to do without knowing the rationale or context for it- such as giving the CELDT or wondering why our school didn't have an ELAC.

It is my personal belief that learning how schools work and the expectations that the state has via policy towards schools and districts will help all teachers better understand their role and function in K - 12 education from a perspective that goes beyond their classroom.

I certainly hope you will agree with this sentiment.

We'll start this week!

Structured Language Practice IV: Lines of Communication

What is "Lines of Communication?"
For this strategy, students are asked to either sit or stand facing one another in a line, such that every student has a partner they are facing. The objective is to respond to a language prompt using a language response sentence frame- hence practicing the grammatical form and/or topical vocabulary being targeted. Once both students get a chance to practice/ respond, one side of the line shifts over one student, such that every student on one side of the line now faces a new student. The cycle then repeats with Student A responding while Student B listens, switch, then Student A moves on to the next student.

Variations and Uses
Once students become more adept at using this strategy, one student can ask the language prompt while the other responds using a language frame. This is particularly powerful if used during the Supervised Independent Practice time of an ELD lesson, as it allows English Learners to practice both language prompts and responses, and allow them to increase their confidence in both skills. After more practice as a class you can generate more examples of the target grammatical form that they can use to expand the type of responses they can provide.

I hope these different structured language practices are starting to illustrate an important aspect of good ELD instruction: No matter how amazing ELD teachers we may be, we don't need to practice producing grammatical forms and target vocabulary, it is our students who need it! So why then do so many teachers talk the entire time?!! In ELD, at least 50% of the block should be devoted to these type of structured language practices that will, over time and with consistent use, help us develop English Speakers who are competent, flexible and have a wide breadth of vocabulary and grammatical forms they can employ in a variety of situations.

Have fun!

- W

Structured Language Routine III: Whip Around

My apologies
Please forgive the many days since the last entry. As you can well imagine, and am sure, experiencing yourself, there is so much to do at school now that the school year is well under way. Now, multiply that by half a dozen schools and you'll get a sense of what I am faced with every day.

But hey, I'm back. And with yet another Structured Language Practice to share, the "Whip Around."

What is the "Whip Around?"

This is a strategy in which the teacher elicits responses to a prompt in a quick but structured manner. By quick, this means about no more than 10-15 seconds for one response to the teacher's prompt. By structured, it means that there is a predictable established pattern to the order of the responses, so that students know when they will expected to produce language. For example, up and down a row of desks, clockwise around a table, etc.

When is it appropriate to use?

This is a type of structured language practice that does require the teacher to supervise both the process and the resulting product. Generally speaking, this is a good strategy to help students produce all they know about a particular topic, or have learned about a particular topic. As part of the Evaluation/ Reflection portion of an ELD Lesson (which we have not yet discussed) , it lends itself as a quick and efficient way for the teacher to check in on whether or not her English Learners internalized the topical vocabulary introduced in the ELD lesson for the day.

However, it is also possible to use during the Guided Practice portion of the ELD lesson if students are asked to produce a grammatical feature that they know well, or have had practice with. This can be a great way to review/ practice a language response using the topical vocabulary learned (of course with the language prompt written out on sentence strip and pictures to accompany the vocabulary as a reference).

It all depends on the purpose.

There are plenty more to explore, but I'll probably just share a couple more, as there is much more to discuss in the world of English Learners. I mean, we haven't even started discussing the world beyond instruction, like ELACs and DELACs and waivers, etc.

We'll get there soon enough.

- W

Structured Language Routine II: Talking Stick

What is the "Talking Stick?"
This refers to either the strategy or the actual "prop" that is used as part of this language strategy. Essentially, it can be as simple as a popsicle stick, as commercial as a plastic microphone or as creative as a personally created crafty decorated stick.

What does the Structured Language Practice look like?
Essentially, students respond to a prompt by taking turns in a structured way. Only one student at a time is allowed to speak/respond to a prompt/ produce a grammatical form-language response; the holder of the "talking stick." Other students should be active listeners, either ensuring the student who talks is producing a particular grammatical form, using a particular language response frame or simply attending to the content of the response.

When is it appropriate to use?
As this is best for use with a small group, it lends itself to be used during Supervised Independent Time, when English Learners are practicing the language response frames with the appropriate grammatical forms and/or topical vocabulary under study. However, it is a very versatile strategy and can also be used as a process activity, e.g. reflecting upon learning, sharing out, building community, etc.

I hope these strategies feel easy enough and applicable enough to be able to use in your own classrooms.

More to come!

- W

Structured Language Routine I: Choral Response

What is choral response?

Choral response (after the think-pair-share) is one of the most commonly used response practices used by teachers. It simply involves students responding to a teacher's prompt in unison/ as a group. In most cases, the teacher and students agree upon a signal that will inform students that this is the appropriate response to a prompt. This is especially useful when a savvy ELD instructor has developed/implemented a wide repertoire of practices!

How do I implement?
In general, the best thing you can do to implement a new routine is to do so in the context of practicing something students already know. (Remember what I've been saying all along about either introducing new grammatical forms or topical vocabulary or a new routine, practice, etc.) In this case, we want our English Learners to focus their attention on learning the structured language practice routine.

What's the goal?
Well, the short term-goal with these practices is for students to internalize the routine to the point that through the use of a signal or the term itself (e.g., "let's use a choral response") they will be able to, in this case, chorally respond using the target grammatical form.

Of course, our long-term ultimate goal is for our students to gain fluency, automaticity and confidence in using a variety of grammatical forms during at least 50% of ELD instructional time. These routines will facilitate this goal.

However...not all are appropriate at all times of ELD instruction. Remember, we have an "I Do It" time (Teacher models), a "We Do it" time or Guided Structured Practice and a "You all Do it" time or Independent Supervised time. It should not be too hard to figure out that the Choral Response strategy is probably best suited for the "I Do It" time.

We will continue exploring more practices over the next few days!

- W

Practicing Language- Daily Routines

Why bother?
So let's back up a bit. Remember the main purpose to ELD, at least the focus in term of language domains? The emphasis for ELD instruction is development of the listening and speaking domains. We know from research that students can not write what they can't speak, so ELD prepares students for their ELA time. (Much like the ELD standards provide the scaffold towards the ELA standards).

This means that ELLs should be speaking during the ELD block. Not just 5 minutes. Not just for one activity. They should be practicing (internalizing) newly acquired grammatical forms during 50% of this block! Yes, 50%. Practice makes automatic, and that after all is what we want our English Learners to be with the English Language and its great variety of grammatical forms and syntax.

So how does this happen?
Routines that are structured, predictable and create situations to engage in the language prompts you produce as part of the lesson in order to produce (speak) the grammatical form that will be part of the language response.

Structured means that they are used for a specific purpose (elicit the utterance of a specific grammatical form) and are selected to fit a particular context. For example, you are probably quite familiar with the Pair-Share protocol. In ELD, one student can ask the language prompt: Which animal is ___________ -er than the ________________? (We are assuming that at the start of this week of lessons, the students learned the topical vocabulary to also fill in the language prompt.) The grammatical form of course is the comparative adjectival. The other student can then respond with The giraffe is taller than the chimpanzee. This is an appropriate routineto use during Guided Structured Practice.

Predictable means that students have practiced these protocols to the point that they can use these in any other content area. They have internalized this routine. In fact, savvy ELD teachers will spend the first days of schools having their students simply practicing these language routines, and thus save valuable time when actual ELD instruction begins.

Great! What other routines are there?
Stay tuned...

- W

ELD Lessons: Grammatical Forms cont. and a Summary Thus Far

Yes Effective ELD lessons are a big topic. (Which is why there are coaches, specialists and curriculum developers just for this!)

Often times, the classroom teacher feels that they have to be English grammar gurus to be effective ELD teachers. While we don't have to have every nuance of English grammar down pat, but with the tools I've shared, it is even more important to determine the context for your effective ELD lesson. It is also just one component (albeit a very important one) of your ELD lesson plan.

So How Do We Know What Grammatical Form is Right?

Ultimately ensuring a particular grammatical form is what your students need comes down to this:
- Consulting the ELD Standards (Remember that they are written such that they follow a progression towards the ELA standards)
- Getting to know the profile of each Language Proficiency Level (especially in light of the above information)
- Using a tool such as the ELD Matrix of Grammatical Forms in order to make informed decisions about specific forms to teach at each level of proficiency
- Creating appropriate language prompts to allow students to produce, practice and eventually master the grammatical form in appropriate language response frames
- Assuring this occurs within topics that are interesting, meaningful, relevant and age-appropriate (and starting off a week's lesson with the topical vocabulary that will help students "glue on" to the grammatical forms which will be the focus of the bulk of the ELD lessons over the week
- Attempt to increase the level of rigor of the grammatical form if the students seem to be mastering. For example, adding a negative language response frame (e.g. adding "not" to a response)

All this should sound familiar as these are all of the elements of an effective ELD lesson plan that I've been focusing on for most of this month.

The Last Piece

So far I've focused on the what of ELD teaching and a bit of the "how to know the what."

What does remain is to talk about those practices that will allow English Learners to practice newly acquired language forms for a large part of the ELD block. Tomorrow will be a good day to start that conversation. That will also be the last component of an Effective ELD lesson I plan to discuss.

EEEEK!! Grammatical Forms??? English??!!

That's right. This is where we get technical. On the other hand, this is what makes us as teachers shine. We learn so that others may learn from us!

What is a grammatical form?
So let's remember what this is all about to begin with. Grammatical forms are simply put, the syntax of a language. And what is syntax- it is how words come together in any language in order to create well formed sentences. These words come in different flavors: verbs, adverbs, prepositions, etc. and are what we "fill in the blanks" to convey a message about a noun. For example, The ELD teacher __________ students very ___________.

How do I know what grammatical forms to teach?
This is the toughie. Remember the discussion around proficiency levels? Well, this is very important to consider when deciding upon what grammatical forms to teach. In the past, teachers had to "feel in the dark" or rely upon an extremely solid knowledge of the grammatical forms of the English language, and intuit how they build upon in more and more complex ways.

Well, since 1999, the California Department of Education has adopted ELD standards which are organized by grade span: K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 - 12 (I have discussed the rationale for this in the past) but also by proficiency level. These are essentially the ELA Standards "scaffolded" up from the "Beginning" proficiency level towards the "Advanced," where the ELD and ELA standards are indistinguishable. Unfortunately, they did not call out grammatical forms very explicitly and so it left many ELD teachers to continue down that dark path, although with a little more light to see...

Nowadays, I know of at least one curriculum- The Carousel of Ideas from Ballard & Tighe that offers teachers a progression of sorts of increasingly more complex grammatical forms according to proficiency level. Unfortunately, many teachers have also (rightly) complained about the lack of rigor they notice in the grammatical forms it exposes ELLs to and the topics they choose for context are not always age appropriate- e.g. teaching about zoo animals to Intermediate ELL students in 5th grade.

The one excellent source that I've seen is the ELD Matrix of Grammatical Forms from EL Achieve. This is part of a tool kit you receive after going through a training on the Systematic ELD Framework. While even they claim it is not an exhaustive limit, nor meant to limit the forms to teach to students at any particular level (you know your students' needs best after all) it is an extremely wonderful guide to what to teach.

Fortunately for you, the Santa Unified School District has done the legwork of creating a correlation between The Carousel of Ideas curriculum and the ELD Matrix. For those of you out there who have never heard of The Carousel of Ideas until today, no worries. Ignore the numbers in parentheses and just focus on the grammatical forms in boldface. On the left you will see the various large categories of grammatical forms: verbs, nouns & articles, etc. By column, you will see the increasing levels of English proficiency. Thus, tracking the verbs for example, you can see a progression. From a focus on (simple) present tense at the Beginning level, to present tense with past perfect by Early Advanced, you should get a sense of how language demands become more complex as ELLs become closer to the goal of achieving fluency and automaticity similar to that of a native speaker of English.

Digest that for a while. And do give credit where credit is due if you plan to share this resource/ tool with colleagues.

And I hope you do!

- W

A Word on Proficiency Levels of English

So as has become evident by now, ELD is also different from other content areas in that students should be placed in instruction appropriate to their level of English proficiency.

But how do we know what that is?

Assessments

CELDT
- Here in California, the most common source of that information is the CELDT. California English Language Development Test. It is a summative test and non-diagnostic, given at the beginning of every school year. The testing window closes on October 31st.

- It tests students in each of the four domains: reading, writing, listening and speaking. As of this school year, this also includes K and 1st grade students who take the reading and writing as well!

- Each subtest is given a rating from 1 to 5, a 1 being a "Beginner" and a 5, an "Advanced" English Language Learner (in essence, in CA, being a "4" or a "5" on all subtests is part of the criteria for no longer being an English Language Learner- being "reclassified." I've written a little more in depth about each of the proficiency levels, so feel free to dig in the archives and pull up that topic.

- The problem with CELDT is that the scores are pretty stale by the time they are used to place English Learners in appropriate ELD instruction. Remember, they take the test in August (new students to California schools), while everyone else does so in September or October of the previous calendar year. Scores are not received by school districts until late January/ early February. These same scores are used to place students at the beginning of the following school year! Crazy huh

Enter the ADEPT test



- The "A Developmental English Proficiency Test" is being used by some districts now to supplement the CELDT. It is a diagnostic test that is more rigorous than the CELDT. It tests specific grammatical forms and functions of English and expects specific constructions to be used. Having tested students on ADEPT, I can attest to the level of difficulty they encounter. On the other hand, this gives the ELD teacher a wealth of information allowing him/her to see not only the child's overall English proficiency level (that is more immediate and accurate than CELDT) but also the specific grammatical forms and functions the student has yet to master.

We'll have to take on grammatical forms next!

- W

ELD Lessons: Topic Vocabulary

Nothing like a 3 day weekend to break the rut. But, it's back to work for all. I think by now, practically ALL teachers have started their school years, greeted by Mr. Obama's message to our students, one and all.

In that spirit of positive thinking, let's continue our conversation on the ELD lesson. But um, let's do a light topic today. I need to slowly get back into things here (because I had to dive head on back at work!)

The Purpose to Vocabulary

Why even bother to focus on topic vocabulary? Well, for starters, ELD instruction, like any other content instruction, does not occur in a vacuum. Much like in language arts for example, introducing topic vocabulary in the context of an instructional read aloud, with visuals and many examples our students begin to internalize the vocabulary and improve upon the target skill- e.g. reading comprehension.

However, here's the all important difference: In ELD instruction, content is not the emphasis, language is the driver. In other content areas, content is the target while language is a vehicle towards acquiring the content. The "content" of ELD is language (forms, functions and topical vocabulary)! Crystal clear right??!!

In any case, topics should be engaging, relevant, meaningful and age-appropriate. Certainly teaching the forms, functions and vocabulary without a context would not make kids want to learn at all! So topics make learning the grammatical forms and language functions more interesting!

Just remember, what drives an effective ELD lesson is the language function you are looking to teach, but the variety of topics you use allow students to employ one language function in a variety of settings and contexts!

Hope this makes some sense...it has been a few days since last posting. Get some sleep everyone!

- W

ELD Lessons: Watch the Language!

Everything should follow from the language objective, especially the language patterns you will be using in order for students to engage in a particular language function (purpose for using the language). They come in two varieties:

1. The language prompt
2. The language response

The language prompt

The language prompt is basically a question. Why a question? Because that is the best way to elicit a response from students! Of course, it has to be a prompt such that when students "fill in the blanks," they will also be using the topic vocabulary being introduced in the first part of the week- which is why it is just as important to introduce/practice topic vocabulary at the beginning, before teaching a new grammatical form, or language pattern.

So, returning to the language objective of "students will compare two objects using the grammatical form ______-er, " a reasonable prompt for a week's lesson on the topic of animals, could be "Which ________ is _________-er?"

The language response

It is easy to predict an appropriate language response here. Basically, a language response is what students will be producing. When they "fill in the blank(s)," the emphasis should be on the grammatical form, although they must use topical vocabulary to convey their idea. This is why the language response is the last in the sequence to be introduced after: topic vocabulary, grammatical form and language prompt.

An appropriate response frame here could be: The _________ is __________-er than the __________.

As the days progress, you can increase the level of rigor by doing any of the following variations:
- adding another animal: The ________ and _________ are __________-er than the ___________.
- inserting a negative: The ___________ is not __________-er than the ____________.
- etc.

This is useful as students internalize more basic forms. Just remember, it all goes back to the language students are producing. Make sure it is in line with your objective!

- W

ELD Lessons: The Language Objective- Pt 2

Your target: Mastery of specific language functions

Remember what a language function is? Basically, it is a purpose for using language, such as greeting people, simple describing, comparing and contrasting and describing events that occurred in the not too distant past are all examples of language functions.

So what does the language objective have to do with this? Well, for starters, the daily language objective should be a language function, expressing a grammatical form that students will need to employ (and master) in order to (also) master the language objective, or language function.

The tricky part is that sometimes there are language functions that are quite all encompassing, like when we say "describing events." Well, we could be simply describing events that are currently happening. That would require the use of the present tense grammatical form. A typical language pattern in which this would fit would be My ______ likes to _____. (For example, "My dog likes to roll in the mud." However, you may also need to describe events that happened a few days ago, in which case you would need to employ the past tense: My dog already ______ his _______. My dog already ate his dinner," for example.

As you can see, we have to help our English Learners build not only their repertoire of grammatical forms, but also be able to employ appropriate ones in increasingly more complex aspects of language functions (in this case, it could be the same function!).

Backwards planning

Which is why sometimes its good to start with your nice target for the end of the week, and work your way back. So, for example, if your students did have to employ the simple past tense by week's end, then perhaps we'd work backwards by introducing appropriate vocabulary on the first day (say we're describing our classroom pet's behavior, we'd learn some useful vocabulary that we would be describing eventually). We would practice rabbit, eats, sleeps, frolics, etc. We could then build up to the past tense on a different day by introducing the past tense grammatical form for the verbs we came up with. Then, we could introduce the language pattern that we will be using: Our ____ already ______ his/her/its _______. Our students would eventually fulfill the language objective- as long as they can do this independently.

It is easy to see why it is important to know our students' level of English proficiency, why it is even more important to ensure our students are grouped by English proficiency level during the ELD block: we need to ensure the language functions/ objectives are appropriately challenging. OF course, we also need to accommodate for students' age as well- 5th graders are not fond of describing their classroom pet bunny for 45 minutes!

Finally, it is also important to mention the most important fact of all: you know your students' needs best. If they need more practice with the language pattern, give it to them. If they've already mastered it, ratchet the cognitive challenge by adding an element: perhaps making a compound sentence Our ____ already ______ his/her/its _______ and ________ his/her/its ___________.

Remember, practice makes proficient!

Hope its been useful to focus slowly on the first building block of the ELD lesson.

- W

ELD lessons: The Language Objective

So we have seen how language objectives theoretically come from the ELD standards and how school districts have made them easier to teach by creating a scope and sequence of increasingly challenging grammatical forms that correspond to an ELL's level of English proficiency.

First Things First: The Language Objective

So what does a language objective actually look like. Here's a generic template:

"Students will be able to use ______________ in order to ________________________"
grammatical form language function

So from our previous example, "students will be able to use the -er (comparative form) in order to compare two different zoo animals" would be a language objective that uses the topic of animals.

ELD vs. (Other) Content Areas

This is a good opportunity to mention something important here. ELD is different from every other content area in one major way: In ELD, content (the topic) is a medium, or vehicle, to teach the grammatical forms and functions of the English Language, but is not the purpose of the ELD lesson. So, for example, in this case, science would be the time for students to learn about the topic of animals explicitly, while in ELD they are learning about the grammatical forms and functions of language that will help them (in this case) explain how animals are similar to one another. It is easy to see however, how ELD supports other content areas, as ELLs will now have the appropriate language tools to apply in content area learning.

Now, it doesn't quite work the other way. For instance, many bilingual teachers feel that if they "teach in English" say, for their science lesson, they are fulfilling ELD. However, content is the driver here, and leaves no room for the teaching of grammatical forms and language function. It's one or the other. Which is why a systematic approach to ELD is critical for English Learners to be able to gain the confidence to engage in content/grade level curriculum during the rest of the day.

We'll continue examining ELD lessons tomorrow!

- W

ELD vs. ELA: What's Grammatical Forms Got to do With It??

The English Language Development (ELD) Standards

In California, these standards were born in the late 1990s, eventually being adopted a little over ten years ago by the State Board of Education. If you want a copy of the framework published by the State of California which includes the ELD standards, you can download it here: http://www.huensd.k12.ca.us/teacherResources/englangdev-stnd.pdf courtesy of the Hueneme Unified School District. For some background on their existence and purpose, it is helpful to read the Introduction. Even seasoned teachers who may have received their credentials before these standards were even conceptualized should understand them.

Why ELD Standards? The Relationship to ELA...

Over 10 years ago, the discussion around English Learners finally came to a head. Now that there were English Language Arts standards were in place, it was clear that many children would not reach these rigorous benchmarks at their grade level. The ELD standards then were considered a pathway that slowly built up and scaffolded an English Learner's acquisition of English in all four domains (listening, speaking, reading, writing). These were a way in essence, to assess a child's eventual acquisition of the ELA standards. This is especially obvious when you see that the ELD standards for ELs in the "Advanced" (Level 5) category are suspiciously similar to the ELD standards.

However, there is one important difference between ELD and ELA standards. ELD standards are grouped into grade level spans: K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 - 12. Why? Because there was an acknowledgement that ELs come in to U.S. schools at different ages, yet their English proficiency level may not match their incoming grade level's ELA standards. These again, are the scaffolds towards the ELA standards which are based on a grade level expectation.

Enter the Grammatical Form

Of course this did not answer the question for teachers as to how to plan for ELD instruction! Standards are one thing, language objectives are helpful but not the whole picture. Most of this decade California has failed to produce high quality, rigorous ELD standard based curriculum that also provided teachers with the knowledge base for figuring out what grammatical forms would fulfill their language objectives.

Well, its taken private companies (ELAchieve in particular) working together with County Offices of Education, consultants, teachers and many, many other educators to create such a list of expected grammatical forms that an EL can be taught (per the ELD standards), will prepare them for their ELA block and correspond to their current level of English proficiency.

Different districts have taken different approaches to such documents, your district may even use one. Again, picking on the Hueneme unified school district, this is what they've come up with: http://www.huensd.k12.ca.us/edProjects/sysELD.html
Just click on any proficiency level you're interested, for example "Beginning Forms" and voila, you will see a checklist of grammatical forms that ELD teachers observe and monitor for when teaching. This is of course, all in an attempt to provide a systematic way of instructing EL students so they can access the ELA standards.

So we come full circle!

I know it's a lot to absorb for one sitting, but now that we've started looking at ELD instruction in general, and ELD lessons in particular, I felt it was important to mention a little bit of the back story of why there is so much emphasis on language via grammatical forms and patterned language response.

- W

More to come on ELD lessons!

So... What's an ELD Lesson Look Like?

Okay. So I got the conceptual understanding of an ELD lesson. Helping our English Learners acquire the grammatical structures to be able to use them in academic settings (And beyond).

So what does an ELD lesson look like? What's supposed to take place during ELD instruction? Let's break it down...

Introducing the target language form

The most effective ELD lesson remembers one thing: organize your language objective around a purpose to using the grammatical form. In my example below, children will be comparing two animals using the comparative form.

This is the time to model. Model being a competent speaker of English. Model using a specific grammatical form. Taking on from our example from yesterday, let's model the comparative form __________ -er.

But wait!!! Isn't it so very rote, dry and boring to simply plaster a wall or fill a pocket chart with such constructions. Well of course, but being such a wonderfully competent teacher you already realize that. So it is best to introduce all of this in a context of an interesting, engaging, and age-appropriate topic. Yes, we don't want to berate our 5th grade English learners with topics that would be way more engaging to first graders, such as zoo animals. So, choose a topic wisely!

So, back to this 5ish minute mini-lesson:
1. Introduce the target form
2. Introduce an appropriate language prompt that will elicit the grammatical form you want the students to internalize. For example, showing a picture of a giraffe and a horse, I can ask, by using a sentence strip or having the following written on the board: "Which animal is ____________-er?" I would answer by introducing the language frame (response) The ______________ is ____________-er than the ________."

The Guided Practice

Besides modeling ALL students require good modeling in order to learn. But that's only a third of the story. The next third is appropriate, respectful feedback for students as they practice the newly taught language response and associated grammatical form with you. You can start by asking students the language prompt as a whole group, working your way to a couple of student volunteers who can respond and eventually an appropriate way for students to practice with one another as you monitor, for example by using the much loved "think-pair-share" strategy. This is a good time to go back and model if you notice that students are not quite yet internalizing the grammatical form. Oh and depending on your students, this is probably about a 10 to 12 minute segment.

The Independent but Structured Practice

Yes, the final third to a successful ELD lesson is student practice in order to have the opportunity to produce the desired grammatical form in a structured way. What does this mean? For starters, students should be used to some type of instructional routine that involves specialized grouping activities such that everyone will get a turn to practice both the language prompt and the language response, using the necessary target grammatical form(s) in the process. For example, in groups of three, two students can each hold the picture of an animal taking turns asking the other student the language prompt. The student can then respond by stating that "The _________ (animal) is shorter/faster/lighter/etc ( __________-er_ than the _________ ).

This of course, should form the rest of (and therefore the bulk) of the ELD block. Depending on where you teach, the time allocated to ELD may vary. In California however, state guidelines call for a minimum of 30 minutes to be allocated for ELD instruction. Many school districts have adopted this standard for kindergarten and a 45 minute block for 1st - 5th (or 6th grade if it's a K-6 elementary district).

Why is this sequence and elements to an ELD lesson important?

Because our English Learners need explicit practice with the myriad grammatical forms of the English language. However, they also need to use these in a wide variety of contexts, demonstrating flexibility with them by applying them in other content areas (most importantly the English Language Arts- more on this tomorrow) with confidence and for a range of purposes. For instance, we want them to be able not just to compare animals, but apply this grammatical form to other areas, like comparing two historical events.

Once students master a certain form, increase the level of rigor. Another good topic to follow up on a different day.

An ELD Lesson in Action

For an example of an effective ELD lesson, check out this video:





Happy viewing and learning! There is much to glean from this video to inform our own practice.

Hope your first days are full of smiles and may you continue to feel a sense of fulfillment at the end of it all!

- W

Quick, the kids are here...what IS ELD again?

Welcome to ELD 1A.

First of all, ELD stands for English Language Development. It is a content area, such as mathematics or science. What is the content of ELD? The (grammatical) forms and functions (language patterns) of the English Language. For example, the grammatical form ____-er (the comparative form) would fit the language pattern: "The ________ is ________-er than the _________."

When teaching ELD, we think of a language objective we want our English Learners to master by choosing a language function, or purpose to using a specific grammatical form. So for example, a language function might be: comparing objects. In order for students to accomplish this, they must need to be taught the grammatical form -er and (as a possible language pattern), "The ________ is _______-er than the _________."

In short, ELD is the time to explicitly teach English Learners about the English language so that they will have the tools to allow them to access the core curriculum- English Language Arts in particular.

- w

Checklist for the ELL/ELD Teacher: August/ September

1. Identifying your ELLs!
Now now, not all of us are at a point where our district has a beautifully streamlined and efficient process of identifying ELLs. If you receive a list of students who are designated ELL, great! If you receive a list with their last level of proficiency identified- marvelous! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, ask! Hopefully, this should be happening behind the scenes...Please remember that this is the (idealized) procedure in California school districts
- in July/August, newcomer ELLs to your district should be tested at some identified district facility in order to determine their level of English proficiency. Newcomers typically are: fresh out-of-country arrivals, interdistrict transfers with no record of English proficiency testing or incoming kindergartners
- for the rest of your ELLs, those who have been tested before in your district (or another district in the state) they will be tested (with CELDT in California) sometime in September or October. California gives districts until the end of October to turn in all CELDT testing materials

2. Ask who is responsible for administering CELDT (or your state's EL testing)
- If the responsibility falls on you, make sure you are trained. All you cared not to know about CELDT procedures can be found here: http://www.ctb.com/netcaster/extranet/program_index.jsp?PROG_ID=3022
- 1st grade and K teachers this year: Remember that your students will be tested on reading and writing components for the first time ever! It's looking like 30 minutes per student (as you know, at this age, these tests are all one-on-one)

3. Get to know the English proficiency profile of each of your ELLs
- If you do have CELDT scores, figure out what these mean:
- There is an overall score (1-5, 1= beginner, 2= early intermediate, 3= intermediate, 4= early advanced, 5= advanced) SEE 7/10/08 blog for details on each of these levels
- There is also a scale(raw) score that each section (reading, writing, speaking, listening) receives. Sometimes ELLs may be on the cusp of achieving another proficiency level. The overall score can easily overlook this important information. We can talk more about this at a later date.

As this is a good point to stop (I like sets of three), let's do so!
Enjoy the planning/remodeling/envisioning of the classroom and how it will be used this year. Oh, the possibilities!

- W

First Days Routines

Its time to greet bright, eager new faces again.

Those 20?30?40? students that we will be tasked with instructing, guiding, coaching and yes, even teaching are arriving at our doorstep. So much to think about and do, so much expected of us and soon so much to have to "show" for our work in the form of formative assessment results, subject matter exams and more.

But how can we expect to get there if we don't spend time on the most important thing that matters to a group of students who have to "start over" with someone new in a new space? That's why we take time to establish relationships with our students and build a sense of classroom community/ identity.

I'll share two activities I would ALWAYS do with my students, year in, year out, to reach this goal.

But first, an aside for the wayward secondary teacher...
(In case it hasn't been apparent in the past, I am generally referring to the teaching context of the self-contained elementary classroom and ELD teachers of elementary students. Secondary folks, I love you very much and admire you for your subject matter expertise/passion and the issues of the ages of the students you deal with. I don't have the experience of teaching students or leading schools at this level, so please let me know if I ever misrepresent your experiences. On the other hand, I think the concepts discussed here are universal and applicable at secondary, e.g. establishing community).

Activities I've done in the first days...
1. Establish classroom agreements.
- Yes, I've even done this with kindergartners. On a "T" chart, we put out what we would like to "see" happen in our classroom throughout the year (e.g. a common one is "kids helping each other) and "hear" (e.g. using positive language). Eventually a trend emerges and these become classroom agreements I would refer to all year long. Visuals obviously increase understanding for ELLs.

2. Go on a "classroom guess the space "
- My room had spaces dedicated to certain activities. For example I had a couch and adjacent shelves with books. I would have students go to the area where they would predict we would (fill in the blank, e.g. work in a small group with the teacher= kidney table). It helps ELLs orient themselves and preview the routines they will be engaging in every day.

And, I'm sure you are already quite familiar with the classic resource by Harry and Rosemary Wong, The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher. Here's a link to the amazon listing for it: http://www.amazon.com/First-Days-School-Effective-Teacher/dp/0962936022 in case you want a reminder of what the cover looks like.

Hope this is useful.

Happy first days to all!

- W

Other ELL Resources

I know in the past I've thrown out a few links for some articles. Good stuff to be sure, but it may not always be as succinct as we like to fit our hectic schedules. And then there's teaching!

Webinars

There are other really great sources of info that you can access, and it involves no reading at all! I'm talking about "webinars," seminars that are broadcast on the web for everyone to see/hear. In fact, there is a whole series of webinars put out by WestEd, WestEd, in case your district hasn't run into them, is a nonprofit, public research and development agency that works at the local, state, and federal levels, developing research-based programs, intervention strategies, and other resources that school districts can then access. There are many districts that have partnerships and other joint ventures with this agency.

In any case, WestEd has put out (and will continue to) a strand of seminars all related to the English Language Learner. Here is a link to that series: http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/cs/smu/view/e/3912

Try it out.

The great thing is that this is the actual researcher/expert who develops the materials/ resources is talking! And, you can turn it off when you are bored.

Just glad to put out more avenues out there to become (even) better informed teachers of English Language Learners and their support staff.

Enjoy your upcoming/in-progress staff development days!

- W

Returning to ELLs

So last we talked about ELLs I was on a soapbox and citing the seminal court case that brought (then known as) Limited English Proficient students to the attention of K - 12 educators. That was in 1974.

Of course, that did not speak to the actual practices, curricula and general implementation of, or inclusion/integration/monitoring of LEP students.

And so it was that, 4 years later, in 1978, a lawsuit was first filed against a Texas school district, this time by the parent of Mexican-American children. The case centered on the accusation that these children were being racially discriminated against because the school district failed to implement bilingual education programs which the father claimed would allow their children to learn the English skills to not have been segregated in the first place. The court sided with the school district.

However, in 1981, a U.S. District Court picked up the case, this time ruling in favor of the Castanedas. And for the first time, a legal precedent would be set as to 1) the establishment of "bilingual programs" in schools and 2) basic criteria for these. The criteria established by the court was

• The bilingual education program must be “based on sound educational theory.”
• The program must be “implemented effectively with resources for personnel, instructional materials, and space.”
• After a trial period, the program must be proven effective in overcoming language barriers/handicaps.

Although the questions of how to implement and the funding sources schools/ districts would draw upon (we can discuss this topic at a later date) would still need answers, there was now an expectation that LEP students would be in programs that would meet their linguistic needs and allow them to overcome language barriers, presumably, to enter the "mainstream" curriculum.

During the '90s we had a major movement of creating academic content standards (that was preceded by a major push for a "national framework" for specific subject areas- math, most notably). However, very much the afterthought, most states did not even conceive of English Language Development as a separate content area for K - 12. In fact, here in California (seen as a leader in this realm) we did not have a final set of ELD standards on the books until the late 1990s.

All so important, and sadly, so recent.

And of course given the federal nature of our government and the sacred cow of "local control," each individual state has been given the power/ responsibility of creating systems to ensure that ELLs have what they need, are monitored for progress, are challenged with appropriate but high rigor curricula and have "highly qualified" teachers, all now codified in the lengthy NCLB document.

Anyhow- that's a quick history lesson on LEP/ELL students. I think it's important to understand where we've been so we know not only where we're headed but also why we are where we are. This is especially true if you find yourself in a district where there is little on the ground or there is a lot of resistance to teaching ELD/ ELLs despite the fact that the infrastructure exists or you feel that these students get little "air time" at PD or staff development days.

You are their voice.

And thanks, as always, for that!

TGIF

Happy Friday!

Good luck to everyone as you are probably....
- celebrating the end of a week long training
- dreading opening your classroom door next week (what's behind Door #1?)
- keeping the number of bad teaching related dreams to a minimum
- wondering where you put the so and so before you locked your classroom door behind you
- figuring out if the new principal/assistant principal/etc will finally bring a vision to your school
- slowly training your habits (and body) to the parameters of a work day

and last but certainly not least...
- hoping for a smooth and joyous 1st (and every) day with our students, colleagues and school leadership!

To make this last one happen, in my humble opinion (although research certainly substantiates this) change at schools- particularly the good kind that will help us feel more productive, supported, safe and be meaningful- does not happen unless there is a level of relational trust that is established school-wide. Obviously, the site principal plays a large role in setting the tone at a school, but don't underestimate the power of the positive individual teacher. Smile! Befriend a new teacher. Bury the hatchet with a more established colleague. Swing open your doors this year- you will learn so much from collaboration.

After all, who doesn't want to feel fulfillment in their job, especially when there is so much to do and our students' needs are so diverse. Yeah, remember differentiated instruction? Our colleagues help/advice/feedback here is what will ultimately help make it happen. And make it easier on you!

Something more to think about as the 11th hour is upon us.

And yes, I promise. I'll get back to ELL stuff. And get off the soap box.

Have a great weekend!

- W

Remember One Thing

I know.
The time for trainings is upon us. The time to be sitting somewhere for a day? 3 days? A week? and doing the split personality teacher persona: wanting to focus on the present professional development, questioning how it is supposed to fit into our instructional day and how it doesn't conflict with what you sat through a year ago.

Believe me, I know.

And here we are. It's August 2009. You are signing-in groggy-eyed, taking in the venue, sizing up your presenters, welcoming the next flavor-of-the-month, district initiative, state mandated curriculum/program or AB blah blah blah. In any case, it is always the same constraint- it is a foreign agenda that once again will consume our time, detract us from forging important relationships between staff members and allow us to talk about something that once was in the hands of schools...

Instruction.

Yes. Instruction.
When was the last time you talked about it with colleagues?

And I don't mean necessarily just about ELLs. Instruction in general. Wait time. Checking for understanding. Information processing theory, etc.

So remember one thing as you sit through the pain: Good instruction for ELLs is good instruction for all . It is simply put (but not so simply implemented, it seems) good differentiated instruction.

In solidarity,

- W

Ever wonder what the legal genesis for ELL instruction is?

Trivia is awesome.

And you never know when you may actually need to give someone this information or respond to an administrator, parent or layperson. I always feel that the more that we as teachers understand the larger picture in which we operate and realize that every decision and action that takes place in our schools and classrooms involves a political (and other) stance of some sort, the more effective advocates we become for our English Learners.

D'oh! I've managed to deluge you with a mouthful again.

Let's just skip to the info...

Lau v. Nichols

This seminal court case was brought by Chinese-American parents on behalf of their English Learner children against the San Francisco Unified School District. They argued that they were not receiving the help they needed in school due to their inability to speak English. They based their they claim to the rights they felt they were entitled to under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because of its ban on educational discrimination on the basis of national origin.

In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the students and this case greatly expanded the rights of language minority students, and paved the way for policy, services and funding sources for "Limited English Proficient (LEP) students." Of course, now we know them as English Language Learners.

And yet, 35 years later, in some places, we are still having conversations about serving these students their basic needs: adequate ELD instruction; fair, valid measures of assessing progress in English proficiency; culturally responsive, relevant ELD curriculum and respect for ELD as a content area as essential as language arts and math. Not to mention a little more respect for those of us who teach and support ELD teachers!

Anyway, thanks for taking a stroll down the annals of history. Can't understand where we should be heading if we don't know what has taken place!

Here's a link to the Office of Civil Right's reference to this case if you feel like taking a peek! http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/lau.html

- W

August Rush

Whoa. I feel like I've been throwing out a lot at you already- and the school year hasn't even begun yet! Okay, I'll give it a rest with the advice for a little bit.

But.

I will point you to some places that may be useful to poke around at that are simple to read and will get us all back into the teaching groove.

One good source of easy-to-follow, yet relevant articles based on research is the NEA today (National Education Association) quarterly magazine. This is a good starting point to get a handle on general topics of importance to us as teachers. Every now and again, they specifically address the topic of ELLs. A particularly wonderful and quite recent article appeared in the January 2009 issue titled "A New Look at America's English Language Learners."

You can access it here: http://www.nea.org/home/29160.htm

Okay. That's it.

Go squeeze a bit more sunshine in (unless you live here by the San Francisco Bay) during the countdown to teaching, and the various flavors of professional/staff development days sandwiched in between.

- W

The Question of ELD Curriculum

So school will be starting up very soon. In fact, in some places in the country, they start next week! (Again, disregard if you are on a year-round schedule). One of the questions that I hear very often, particularly as a new year dawns and teachers are reminded of all they have to do is: "What materials do I have for my ELL students?"

A fair question. But first, let's talk about the difference between state-adopted and supplementary curricula/materials/programs. The former is the officially "sanctioned" curriculum/program that the state somehow deemed fit, i.e. rigorous and "scientifically based" (I will hold my sarcasm) per the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

State-Adopted Curriculum

The still official California ELD curriculum is "Into English," soon to be entering into it's third decade (end of the 90s, through '00s and it's almost 2010!)

Yes, its starting to come back, isn't it?

However, now, there are choices- and plenty of textbook companies waiting at the cash register for orders. Next year is an "adoption year" for the state, in which a new curriculum will be chosen from a list that made the NCLB/state cut. So, next year, districts throughout the state- hopefully yours included- will create adoption committees of classroom teachers and maybe others to evaluate the curriculum available and determine what their district will choose to adopt. The law requires that each comittee create its own evaluation rubric, although there are state guidelines for suggestions.

Supplementary Curriculum

As you can imagine, some districts have actually adopted supplementary curriculum in the interim, as they have realized that Into English does not provide enough rigor, materials or comprise a complete program that would serve the needs of ELL students at all five proficiency levels. They also became concerned and frustrated that the state has not seemed to give ELD the importance it seemed to be giving it in the late '90s. In any case, you may have heard of Santillana's Intensive English, and Ballard & Tighe's The Carousel of Ideas among others as examples of supplementary ELD curriculum.

Knowing is Half the Battle

So as you start daydreaming of what you will be teaching in the upcoming school year, also ask yourself what you will be teaching with. If you don't have ELD curriculum, what have you used in the past? If you do, realize it may be replaced soon. In any case, this is a good opportunity to become informed, maybe participate in the adoption process, and serve as an advocate and voice for your students and colleagues who may not be as aware of the "larger context" that we operate in.

Every instructional decision we make, the materials we use and how we deliver all reflect our values, beliefs and the political constraints under which we operate.

Till next time!

- W

CELDT 2008-2009

Yesterday I gave an update on the most important changes to the CELDT in a while.

Read the following in case you want a refresher on the CELDT and a little info on the upcoming school year:

CELDT_101

- W

Time to Shift Gears

Changes to the CELDT

August.
Back to school sales in full swing, questions filling parents minds' and the dreams/ nightmares? of a new school year soon to fill our sleep.

Remember too: newcomer ELLs and incoming kindergartners in many districts are tested on the CELDT to determine their incoming English proficiency level. Did you know that starting this school year both kindergartners and first grade ELL students will be joining their older ELL peers in taking the reading and writing sections of the CELDT?

That's right.

So, it would be a good idea to contact your ELL Coordinator, Specialist, Coach or site administrator or any colleague with whom you can share information/ learn more about this important change to the CELDT. It will mean yet another logistical challenge for 1st grade teachers in particular to tackle as they CELDT test their ELL students on a one-on-one basis.

It is yet another good reason to collaborate and find solutions to logistical challenges, but also not to forget that there is an important reason for the CELDT- for many school districts, it is still the only source of information they have for making instructional and program decisions about teaching and placing their ELL students.

Just one more thing to keep in mind as a new school year begins.

Also remember: this is a good forum to ask questions, share experiences and learn about all things ELL!

- W

The end of July...but not of summer

Say it ain't so!! Is it just about August already? D'oh

Well, it's summer all the way until the kids come back (and then some) so let's enjoy all that summer is. I for one will be taking a ferry ride across the San Francisco Bay. It always astounds me that 10 months of wearing down the same beaten path- concrete freeways, drab district office buildings, meetings and zipping from one school site to another- prevents me from appreciating what a beautiful part of the world I live in.

So let's take a bit of what is left over of the year to admire our surroundings- especially those of us lucky enough to live here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Maybe I'll actually see the Golden Gate Bridge for once if the ferry gets close enough!

We'll pick up the ELL talk next month.

- W

Preparing for our ELLs in the fall

Yeah, yeah, the start of the school year seems to be that storm cloud on the horizon, barely perceptible now, but time has a way of creeping up, broaching distance and sooner or later, the sun will drape itself with darker garments. So don't be unprepared!

Tips for a More Focused 2010 School Year

1. Get plenty of rest!

2. Take (at least) a moment to reflect upon your instruction and student learning from the past school year. I know, it's in the past now, it's summer, soon enough I'll get to do it all over again, yadda yadda yadda... Nonetheless, think about areas that were strengths, that you (Should) feel proud about, it could be around ELLs. But also think aboutareas in your instruction that you felt could use some bolstering (As measured by whether or not your students were able to take away a particular concept). A reflective teacher is open to change and change leads to growth, which will lead to improved student learning!

And as the school year approaches...

3. Re(Familiarize) yourself with your districts procedures for identifying, placing and following up on ELL students. Questions to ask yourself, colleagues or admin can include:
- Does our district have a Master Plan specifically outlining what programs & services ELLs
should be receiving?
- How are ELL students identified?
- What is the procedure for identifying ELL students? Incoming kindergartners? Newcomers?
Transfer students?
- Who places ELL students into classrooms (in general) and my classroom (specifically).
- What is my responsibility for monitoring an ELL student's progress?
- What systems should the school have in place if my ELL still needs help beyond my
instruction?

That's plenty to mull over for now. While many of us may not regularly engage in this type of proactive questioning, remember that we are our students' advocates. ELLs have been historically underserved by our educational system- it wasn't until the 1980s that they were considered as having unique needs!

As always, I appreciate your efforts for tirelessly stepping up to this role through your teaching, counseling, advising, supporting and being a consistent positive role and academic model for our ELLs!

- W

Summer ELL Musings

Summer is not typically the time we as teachers like to do work or talk shop. I mean, we do plenty of that for 10 months a year! But, for those overachievers out there among you who take on extra credits at local universities, attend workshops, catch up on some research or just like to feel like you are doing some learning on your own terms, I have a wonderful ELL resource you may want to look at:

http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/accellerate/6/Accellerate_1_4.pdf

This link will take you to a journal called AccELLerate that is published by the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA). As its name implies, the NCELA exists to compile research pertaining to ELLs and specifically, around issues of high quality instruction for ELLs, at all levels.

This issue has many good articles, not long and hopefully easy to follow. It also has a nice mix of elementary, secondary, policy and general ELL related topics.

So, park yourself at your favorite park bench or dig yourself a nice spot on the sand and add this to your summer reading if you like.

I'll be here when you are finished.

Enjoy the summer sun (and the AcceELLerated learning). Sorry, couldn't help myself!

Absentia

My apologies for having been MIA for SO SO long.

It seems that the 2008-2009 school year was a whirlwind adventure of non-stop action, drama and work, work, work that kept me away from my very missed forum. But I am back, and hope to return on a semi-regular basis.

Yeah, I know, I know, it's summer...but unlike many of you out there enjoying your own vacations , I am working ALL summer long.

That's right. All. Summer.

But....no hatin' here. This is a no hatin' zone.

Please enjoy the beach, the mountains, and anywhere else in between you may find yourself celebrating another year of teaching under your belts. I have nothing to complain about- it's been a summer of more learning with new colleagues, reconnecting with old colleagues and gaining a bit more nuggets of wisdom to share with all of you!

So, on that note, stay tuned. I will bring some more info on English Language Learners very soon!