Holidays

As we move into August, another school year might seem just around the corner! What new tools and techniques will you use help make sure that all of your students are prepared to for another year of growth?  Throughout the month of August, our Tuesday Tips will provide ideas and strategies you can use to help get your classroom ready for students’ return, with emphasis on your EL students.

If you’ve already started planning, what thoughts have you considered regarding your actual classroom, in particular—the desks, walls, decorations, and other physical pieces that compose its setting?

How do you typically set up your classroom? Is it the most conducive for the lessons you’ll teach and strategies you’ll integrate? Have you considered how to utilize physical classroom spaces in ways that will facilitate interaction for practicing oral language use, for example, for your English learners?

There are a variety of strategies for classroom design, as well as key ideas to take into account for creating an inviting space for EL students. For recommendations on setting up your room for English learners and thinking about day one, review the first two chapters in this resource.  For a short list of pointers, look over this web post.  Lastly, Scholastic has a super helpful tool for experimenting with layouts for your room, including your students’ desks, which can even be customized by class roster--check out the page here!

Did you know that April is national poetry month?

Every year in April, the Academy of American Poets invites people from all across the country to celebrate poems, poets, and the role and influence both have had in the U.S.  Your classroom could be part of this celebration—have you ever considered National Poetry Month as an opportunity to share poetry with ELs while also continuing to develop their vocabulary and understanding of language forms and syntax?

While the words poetry and poem can strike fear into the heart of even native English speakers, introducing and using poetry in your classroom doesn’t have to be hard and can be a great tool to use with learners at all levels. For example, poetry can help EL students explore the intersection of language and modality. Poetry also encourages students to explore background knowledge, vocabulary, and their understanding of language forms and language interaction, all as a means to decipher meaning and connect with the text. Reading and using poems out loud in the class or in pairs can also be a great way for students to strengthen their oral fluency and confidence.

For a closer look at how to introduce reading poetry to EL students, check out this Colorín Colorado article by Kristina Robertson.

Or, for a look at some tools and resources for how to introduce and begin to write poetry with your EL students, check out this resource from Reading Rockets.

Finally, for a list of ongoing activities or ways that you can get your class involved in National Poetry Month, check out the Academy of American Poets website!

Happy National Poetry Month! 

Did you know that the start of November also brings with it the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? National Novel Writing Month is a project to help students engage creativity, discover their voice, and engross themselves in the creative writing process. Through guided lessons and engagement with all levels of the writing process, students will begin work on the first of November and will aim to complete their novel by the 30^th of November. While NaNoWriMo encourages all writers to complete a 50,000 word novel, the program is highly adaptable, allowing students to set their own word limit goals—thus making it approachable and accessible to students across all levels. NaNoWriMo can be an exciting way to look at creative writing, helping students explore topics, voices, and their own inspiration through a structured and guided program.

Resources

To learn more about NaNoWriMo, check out the official website.

Not sure where to start? See this blog article for a closer look at one instructor’s experience with incorporating it into their classroom.

Good luck with your writing! 

Did you know that September 15th is the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month?

National Hispanic Heritage Month was first during the term of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and was then known National Hispanic Heritage week. In 1988, during the term of President Ronald Regan, the weeklong observation was turned into a month-long celebration of Hispanic culture, traditions, and the many contributions generations of Hispanic Americans have made to U.S. That Hispanic Heritage Month starts on September 15th is no coincidence: On September 15^th, 1821, the Latin American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua gained independence (Mexico and Chile also celebrate their independence on September 16th and 18^th, respectively). Hispanic Heritage month is a great opportunity to help your students learn more about the people, cultures, and events that helped form and shape our country, hemisphere, and world.

Resources

There are many tools and resources that you can use to help incorporate Hispanic Heritage Month into your classroom. For some ideas on where to start, take a look at:

The National Hispanic Heritage Month website

The National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Park Service

Smithsonian Education

Young Adult Book List from School Library Journal   

October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month, making it the perfect time to discuss this often misunderstood learning disability and the unique difficulties it presents to ELs.

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with the decoding and spelling of words. It is, at its core, a problem in a person’s phonological processing, which can make fluent and accurate reading intensely difficult. Dyslexia is surprisingly common, affecting up to 20 percent of people who read English. Historically, it has been difficult to diagnose in children, as it has often been mistaken for lack of intelligence.

The difficulties in diagnosing dyslexia are further compounded among ELs, as they are commonly expected to have difficulty spelling and decoding English words. In this way, dyslexia in ELs can be camouflaged by the assumption that they will have difficulty interpreting and using the English language.

Discourse on dyslexia in students typically focuses on ways of identifying it and alternative teaching methods for students diagnosed with it. One advocate for dyslexic students, Kelli Sandman-Hurley, proposes that an effective means of diagnosing dyslexia in ELs is to examine their performance in their native languages.

Resources

For more information on dyslexia in general and in ELs in particular, Language Magazine has two excellent articles on the subject here and here.

Did you know that March is Women’s History Month? This is a great opportunity to build class lessons, units, and opportunities to explore the contributions that women have made to our world. Don’t fret if you are still looking for tools, activities, and lessons to help students explore Women’s History Month—we’ve got you covered.

Resource

For lessons, book lists, and interactive materials, check out the Women’s History Month resource page from Scholastic.

For a collection of fiction and non-fiction works about women’s experiences and contributions, check out this book list from Reading Rockets.

Or, visit Larry’s Ferlazzo blog post for more Women’s History Month resources that are accessible for English learners.

Did you know that Saturday, February 21^st is International Mother Language Day? In honor of it, CAL is co-hosting an event, Language Policy and Peace Building. For more information, visit CAL’s event page here! 

International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is a day that was first proclaimed by the General Conference of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1993 and has been observed every year in February since 2000. This day was established to bring attention to, and promote, linguistic and cultural diversity and multiculturalism throughout the world.

The theme for this year’s IMLD is:  “Inclusion in and through education: Language counts” placing focus on issues of inclusion, equality, and quality at the crossroads of language and education. 

This day is a great opportunity to reflect on how language and education intersect in your classroom, school, and community; and the extent to which this juncture impacts students’ access to equal opportunities and access to a quality education.

It is important to remember that emergent bilingual students bring valuable linguistic resources to the classroom and to ensure that these are validated and acknowledged. It’s fundamental that teachers view students’ native languages as a right and resource, rather than a problem, as has been conceptualized by Richard Ruiz. Respecting students’ mother language repertoire as a rich, additive classroom resource will help develop positive student-teacher relationships, promote a safe and nurturing classroom environment, foster a sense of worth in your students, as well as greatly enhance students’ academic achievement.  Here is a great article from Colorín Colorado  that discusses how a student’s home language is their greatest language learning resource!  This is another excellent link, which discusses the importance of connecting students’ background and cultural knowledge to the content you teach in the classroom!

Also check out this great resource from Scholastic.com which discusses diversity in U.S. schools and provides four strategies for working with students and families from varied linguistic and cultural backgrounds.  

Happy International Mother Language Day!

Resources

 Ruiz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8,15–34.

Sumaryono, K. & Ortiz, F.W. (2004). Preserving the cultural identity of the English language learner. Voices from the Middle, 11(4), 16-19. Accessed from: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/13982/preserving_cultural_identity_ell.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d

Are you participating in National Poetry Month?

When it comes to choosing texts, books, or materials for your classroom, do you often find it difficult to identify readings that both acknowledge, as well as, validate students’ home cultures and languages?

Don’t forget—one of the best sources of information available to teachers is their students’ families and communities. Reaching out to EL families is an important step, not only for ensuring that families are up-to-date on classroom activities and events, but also to leverage EL families’ wealth of knowledge about stories, literature, poetry, lived experiences, and expertise. These can be a critical starting point for teachers seeking new material for classroom instruction and lesson planning. Asking for recommendations for stories, poems, or books can not only help a teacher develop a curriculum that is more open to the home language and culture of their students, but will also open the dialog between parents and the teacher, therefore further encouraging parent participation in both the classroom and at home!  

Remember, reaching out to, and striving to embrace and include EL family culture and participation, should be part of every school’s daily activity plan (Delgado-Gaitan, 2004)!

Resources:

Delgado Gaitan, C. (2004). Involving Latino parents in the schools: Raising student achievement through home-school partnerships.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Did you know that November is Native American Heritage Month?

As part of the month’s activities, First Nations Development Institute has prepared a reading campaign called #NativeReads. The campaign is aimed at providing authentic resources about Native peoples, cultures, and histories. The #NativeReads campaign includes a list of 5 essential books that span across all grade levels, including some bilingual resources. In order to help instructors, each book also comes with a discussion guide to facilitate student learning and conversation around the books and surrounding topics.

Resource

For a link to the books and the campaign, check out the First Nations Development Institute website.

Did you know that April 30^th is El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day or Book Day)?

El día de los niños/El día de los libros, frequently known just as Día, has its origins in an earlier Children’s Day initiative that was launched in 1925 after the World Conference for the Well-being of Children. Today, Día is a celebration of children and literacy that aims to support all children by connecting them with diverse books and literature through public and community institutions (libraries, schools, etc.). On April 30^th, libraries and schools throughout the U.S. will host celebrations to honor children and encourage literacy and learning for students of all backgrounds. 

Are you interested in getting involved? For a closer look at Día, as well as a sampling of events, activities, and free resources to organize your own Día celebration, check out the Día website from the Association for Library Service to Children.

Resource

Or, for more information and some handy guides, check out the Día resource webpage from the National Latino Children’s Institute.

The election cycle is a great way to engage students around civics, history, current events, and even vocabulary and language development! While the election and related topics can be a great starting point for classroom learning, lessons need to be designed with careful consideration for the academic and emotional needs of all students.

For a look at how to introduce the election season and associated vocabulary to EL students in upper grades, take a look at this sample lesson plan, which includes vocabulary lists, passages, and activities to support students in their learning.

Of course, in this divisive election cycle it is important that lessons about the election are presented in a way that allows all students to feel welcomed and respected. In particular, it is crucial to set clear and firm ground rules in the classroom so that all voices are heard, all individuals are respected, and all students have access to the curriculum. For a few great resources on how to structure election activities, along with links to suggestions on how to set classroom ground rules for election activities, check out this resource from Edutopia.  

Did you know that April is not only National Poetry Month but also Mathematics Awareness Month? Each year in April, the American Mathematical Society celebrates Mathematics Awareness Month in order to recognize the important contributions that math has made to our society.

Although poetry and math might seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, in many ways they are closely related and can be great tools to spur learning in both language arts and math! For example, poetry relies heavily upon concepts of numeracy such as meter, patterns, symmetry, and syllable count; thus, understanding math’s presence in poetry can help students develop their language arts skills. It has been suggested that poetry (like music) requires students to pay attention to patterns, which may affect the development of neural network connections—ultimately increasing students’ ability to solve puzzles and even draw geometric figures.  In addition, poetry provides students with an opportunity to interact with the language component of math, allowing for continued development of crucial math-language skills. Through scaffolded lessons that allow students more time and novel ways of working with language, you can help students—and especially English learners—to hone their math-language skills surrounding vocabulary, math syntax, and meaning.

To learn more, make sure to check out this excellent Reading Horizons resource!

Resources

Begley, S. (1996, February 19). Your child's brain. Newsweek, 55-61.

La Bonty, J. & Danielson, K. (2004). Reading and writing poetry in math. Reading Horizons,45(1), 39-54.

Miller, D. L. (1993). Making the connection with language. Arithmetic Teacher, 40(6), 311-316.

Monroe, E. E., & Livingston, N. (2002). It figures: Language and mathematics add up through children's literature. The Dragon Lode, 20(2), 37-41.