Do You Have a Favorite Lesson to Share?

Hey, ELL Teachers! 

Win an Amazon gift certificate to purchase books or supplies for your classroom! WIDA announces the return of the Lesson Plan Share Space Contest.

The Lesson Plan Share Space is a community space where you can upload lesson plans or search for other example lessons to support your ELL students in language and content learning.

A few recent contest submissions include, "Inferring Feelings using the book The War With Grandpa" for 4th graders,  "Vincent Van Gogh: His Life and Artistic Principles in his Work," for grades 9-12, "Migration Stories" for grades 3-8, and "The Progressive Era," for the 6th grade classroom.

Upload a lesson plan and be entered into a weekly drawing to win a $25 Amazon gift card. A winner will be drawn each Friday and a final drawing for a $100 gift card will occur on December 6.

The Lesson Plan Share Space is located in the Get Involved! section of the WIDA website (www.wida.us/lessons).

Enter now, enter often! 

Resources and Reflections on Migrant Education Programs

 

 
"Our migrant children ...

they are our only hope ...
Like seedlings, they have been sown in your school.
It is our wish they blossom into harvests of hope."
-Author unknown

 
Source: Illinois Migrant Education Program brochure


This time of year most teachers are packing up their classrooms and beginning their summer vacations. But a number of educators around the country are unpacking boxes, setting up their summer programs, and welcoming new children into their classrooms right now. But these are no ordinary summer school programs. The teachers I am talking about are those working in migrant education programs. 

Each year thousands of children and their families move in order to work in the agricultural or fishing industries. Collectively, these families are considered migrant agricultural workers.  For many migrant children, their life experiences are impacted by substandard housing, poor nutrition, low wages and seasonal work. Repeatedly moving in order to find employment can impact students' academic achievement. Therefore, the goal of migrant education programs is to reduce the impact of these issues on the children's education. Illinois alone identified over 1,700 children through its Migrant Education Program during the 2011-2012 school year.

CoCoMo Lessons Learned and Information Shared One Year Later

 

Today's blog is a follow-up to an earlier post where Paula Merchant described her experiences participating in the Common Core and More Institute. Today Paula shares some of the lessons that she and her team have learned one year later.

 

One Year Later

This Friday - Free RtI² for ELLs Webinar!

I am excited to tell you that WIDA will be offering a free webinar this Friday, April 26, 2013 on one of the hottest topics in our work with English language learners (ELLs).  The webinar will be about how we as educators respond to ELLs that are experiencing difficulties in school. 

This webinar will be presented by Cristina Sanchez-Lopez and Laurie Donnell, the lead developers of the WIDA RtI² for ELLs document.  It will be interactive.  Participants will learn about seven important factors in understanding ELLs’ development, and they will have a chance to complete a sample screening protocol that will assist schools and districts in gathering data along these critical factors.  Participants will also view real examples from school districts across the consortium while learning how WIDA tools and resources can be used within an RtI² framework. Interested in joining the webinar?

Standards Integration for ELLs: An Insider’s View

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Paula Merchant from the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages (MATSOL).  In the summer of 2012, Paula attended the inaugural institute on standards integration for ELLs called CoCoMo.  Today she has kindly offered to share her thoughts on the training. Take it away, Paula!  

An Insider’s View on Being a LADDER Coach

 

Recently I told you about the LADDER project at WIDA. This week I wanted to share with you what it is like to actually participate in the LADDER training. Cathy Fox graciously offered to share her experiences with us. Cathy is a model ESL teacher at Veterans Memorial Elementary School in Central Falls, Rhode Island. During the 2010-2011 school year her district participated in a pilot program for LADDER.  At that time she was introduced to the LADDER cycle of analyzing data to identify target areas of need.  Her team worked with a WIDA coach to develop an action plan to improve their area of need. The following summer Cathy was trained to be a LADDER coach for her team.

Can you tell me about your role as a coach?

Now is Your Chance to Become an Authorized CLIMBS Facilitator

Institutes authorize individuals to facilitate trainings on WIDA products and resources. Designed for 15-25 participants, institutes are intensive and require follow-up work for authorization or certification.   The WIDA Consortium offers two types of institutes.  One is the Professional Certification for Trainers program and the other is the CLIMBS Facilitator Institute (CFI). As you might suspect, these trainings are designed for teacher trainers or professional development providers. 

Today I wanted to share with you my experiences as a CLIMBS facilitator and encourage you to bring the CLIMBS course to your area by becoming an authorized CLIMBS facilitator or sponsoring members of your staff to become facilitators. First a bit about the CLIMBS Facilitator Institute (CFI)…

LADDER: Using Data to Impact Instruction

I admit it; I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to numbers and graphs.  So the first time I heard the term “data literacy” my ears perked up.  I thought to myself, “I would love to become data literate!” As a teacher I struggled with ways to assess my students fairly.  I wanted to give them the opportunity to show me what they knew in ways that were appropriate for their level of English proficiency.  Now as a teacher trainer I am often asked about best practices in assessing ELLs.  I have witnessed a growing desire among educators to find ways to effectively use their student data.  As educators we need to continually ask ourselves:

• What does this assessment measure?
• What am I going to do with the information I receive from it? 

When I mention these two key questions in a workshop, educators often confess that they don’t quite know what to do with their ACCESS for ELLs data. They know that it assesses English language proficiency across the five ELD standards.  They also know what their state education agency has determined as entry and exit scores based on ACCESS. Some educators are even aware of the various scores available (for more on score reports, click here).   At the district level, teachers realize that programmatic decisions are often made using student data.  But how can we effectively use ACCESS for ELLs data to inform our instructional practices?

Share a Lesson and Be Entered into a Drawing for Amazon Gift Cards

Have your eye on some new supplies for your classroom?  Thinking about buying a new book?  WIDA is giving away one $25 Amazon gift card each week from now until March 1, 2013.  The grand prize winner will be drawn on March 1, 2013.  That person will win a $100 Amazon gift card.  So how do you enter this contest?

Interested in presenting at the WIDA conference?

The word is out!

WIDA announced last week that they will be holding a national conference from October 17 to October 19, 2013. I am so excited about so many aspects of this conference. It will be in Milwaukee, my second favorite city on Lake Michigan.  The conference will be open to all educators, regardless of their membership in the WIDA Consortium.  The conference theme is Language Learner Success: Building on Strengths.  I can’t wait to see what the sessions will be about! Speaking of which, guess who might be presenting at the conference? 

Using the ACCESS for ELLs Score Reports

Last week an administrator told me that he was surprised to learn that there were several different types of score reports available for the ACCESS for ELLs assessment.  He only knew about the data that was uploaded annually to his district’s online data management system.  Reflecting on that conversation led me to today’s post. 

Tips for Using the CAN DO Name Charts

Looking for a way to organize and share your students’ English language proficiency data?  For years I have suggested to my workshop participants that they use the CAN DO Descriptors to contextualize their students’ ACCESS for ELLs® data.  That is, I have suggested that they write their students’ names or initials on the appropriate grade level cluster CAN DO charts.  But now we have an even better option! 

Quick Summer Read on Young ELLs

If you are looking for a quick and easy summer read about young English language learners (ELLs), then you may want to take a look at this book.  Like many of you, summer is my chance to catch up on personal and professional reading.  Earlier this week, the book Basics of Supporting Dual Language Learners: An Introduction for Educators of Children from Birth through Age 8 found its way onto my desk.   It is written by Karen N. Nemeth and published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  

First let me briefly clarify that the term dual language learners (DLL) is used by some preschool and early childhood programs instead of ELL.  In fact, DLL is the official term used by NAEYC, the Office of Head Start and the Council for Exceptional Children Divison for Early Childhood.  In a nutshell, DLL is used to describe a young child who is growing up with exposure to, and simultaneously learning,

CoCoMo Institute

A few months ago, I told you about the Common Core and More (CoCoMo) Institute. Thank you for your overwhelming response from across the Consortium! 

 I am happy to report that the institute is taking place from June 11-15, 2012 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. More than 85 educators from 14 Consortium states are hard at work learning about the Common Core State Standards and WIDA’s English Language Development (ELD) Standards. 

Tips on Creating Content Area Word Walls

Do you have a word wall in your classroom?  Is it dedicated to high frequency words?  What about content area words and phrases?  What challenges have you had with supporting your students’ language growth visually in your room? 

When I was teaching, I struggled with the best way to use the wall space in my classroom. I had a “traditional” word wall on the back wall which held many of the high frequency words in English in alphabetical order. Other walls were dedicated to various content areas or particular projects we were working on in class.  My bulletin boards held student work samples and information about upcoming events.  While the various content area posters and visual aids were helpful for students, I always felt like I was missing something.  It wasn’t until I started providing professional development full time that I stumbled across the idea of a content area word wall.  Today I’ll share with you some of my favorite tips, tricks and links for word walls dedicated to learning the language of the content areas.

Using the CAN DO Descriptors in PreK Classrooms

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The WIDA CAN DO Descriptors are a wonderful tool for understanding what our students can do and express in English.  This week Martha Weisman and Hertha Ramirez share their ideas on how to use the PreK-K CAN DO Descriptors to plan instruction for two of their preschoolers.

Using the CAN DOs in a High School American History Class

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As a continuation in our series, Melinda shares her ideas on how to use the CAN DO Descriptors for grades 9-12.  Typically it makes sense to start the year by matching instruction and assessment to the students’ current ELP levels.  Then, as the year progresses, teachers can challenge students to work towards descriptors at the next level of language proficiency. 

Melinda Perkins, High School Social Studies Teacher

Using the CAN DO Descriptors in a High School Math Class

Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

WIDA’s CAN DO Descriptors are one of my all-time favorite documents to share – especially with mainstream teachers.   They are a wonderful resource for understanding the language acquisition process and brainstorming ideas for differentiating classroom instruction and assessment.  Some of you know that I teach a graduate course on assessment of ELLs.  Recently I asked my students (in-service teachers pursuing their ESL or bilingual endorsements in Illinois) to choose one ELL that they currently teach.  Then I asked them to list the CAN DO Descriptors that correlate to that student’s current English language proficiency (ELP) level.  Lastly, I asked them to list ways they could differentiate their instruction and classroom assessments to better align with that student’s level of ELP.