English Learner

#ReadYourWorld

by Mia Ariela Allen

Mia is founder and Director of Professional Learning for Denver-based 4Ed Consulting. Mia currently is working with school districts nationally and internationally to develop language-rich learning environments. Mia is also a professional development facilitator and content developer for English Learner Portal.

As English Learner Portal prepares to celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day on January 25th, Mia shares her thoughts on supporting our students with literature. Hear the other English Learner Portal team members share their favorite multicultural children’s books by visiting https://englishlearnerportal.teachable.com.

Reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world, Freire & Macedo (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world.

Even if your students have not been exposed to all of the recent news stories about or even photos of refugees, they may have heard about the crisis impacting young children and families around the world. Many of our nation’s refugee families, are resettling in communities across the United States.

When we are talking to our students about the global refugee crisis, it is very important to reinforce your own student’s safety. The journey that many of our newcomers have had to take was incredibly dangerous. As you consider the students in your class, you will want to first consider these journeys and how to relate the stories about refugees to their experiences. As our students are able to begin to relate to these journeys to their own sense of safety, it will be important to first help students create their understanding of who a refugee is, where refugees may come from, and what newly arrived refugees might need to feel safe and welcomed in their new communities.

Children’s literature is an excellent way to support difficult discussions and to foster empathy and understanding about the refugee crisis. These children’s books focus on two central and common themes; the refugee journey to safety and their experiences within the new community.

I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien

K-1^st Grade Selection

This simple story is told through the eyes of three newcomer children; Jin from Korea, Fatima from Somalia, and Maria from Guatemala. All three children share the struggles of feeling safe, welcome and comfortable in their new American schools. Each student shares the challenge of communicating in English both in the classroom and on the playground. This simple and approachable story helps facilitate wonderful classroom discussion on community, collaboration, and caring for one another.

The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman & Karin Littlewood

1^st-2^nd Grade Selection

Hassan, a 1^st grade student from Somalia talks about feeling homesick in his new community. Hassan and his family have just recently arrived in the United States after fleeing war and spending time waiting in a refugee camp. Like many newly resettled refugees, Hassan misses speaking Somali, his home, his community and is struggling to communicate in his new language, English. Hassan is especially missing his cat, Musa, who he had to leave behind. When Hassan arrives in his new home, he believes he has left all of the colours of his world behind. This incredibly vivid story helps our students feel empathy and gain a better understanding of some of the experiences a student their age may have overcome to begin a new life in a new community.

Stepping Stones- A Refugee Family’s Journey

3^rd Grade and Beyond Selection

Our final selection is a beautiful story told by Margaret Ruurs and accompanied by the art of Nizar Ali Badr. As Ruurs highlights in the forward, the rock painting illustrations were created by Nazir, an artist in Syria. The l rock illustrations highlight the story, in both English and Arabic, a journey to safety. Much like the other stories, the newly resettled family is both hopeful and thankful for their new home and community.

Additional selections to consider for your classroom library

Ada, A.(2002), I Love Saturdays and Domingos
(1998). Mariante’s Story: Painted Words & Spoken Memories.
Anzalüda, G. (1993).Friends from the Other Side
Applegate, K. Home of the Brave.
Beckwith, K. Playing War.
Bunting, E. (1993) Going Home
Burg, A. Serafina’s Promise.
Cha, D. Dia’s Story Cloth: The Hmong People’s Journey to Freedom
Choi, Y. (2001). The Name Jar
Cohen, S. Mai Ya’ Long Journey.
Danticat, E. Mama’s Nightingale: A story of immigration and separation.
Deitz-Shea, P. The Whispering Cloth
Del Rizzo, S. My Beautiful Birds
DePrince, M. Taking Flight: From War Orphanto Star Ballerina.
Duncan, D.
Flores-Galbis, E. 90 Miles to Havana
Garza, C.L. (1996). In My Family: En mi familia.
Gillick, M. Once they had a country: Two Teenage Refugees in the Second World War
Gutiérrez, R. K’naan.
Hampton, M. The Cat of Kosovo
Hoffman, M. The Color of Home
Jimenez, F. (2001). Breaking Through
Jimenez, F. (1997a) The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
Kuntz, D. Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush’s Incredible Journey
Lai, T. Inside Out and Back Again.
Laure Bondoux, A. A Time of Miracles
Lofthouse, L. Ziba Came on a Boat.
Lord, M. A Song for Cambodia
Martinez, V. (1996) Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida.
Mead, A Girls of Kosovo
McCarney, R. Where will I live.
Mikaelsen, B. Red Midnight.
Palacios, A. (1997). One City, One School, Many Foods.
Park, F. My Freedom Trip.
Paulsen, (1995). La tortelleria
Pinkey, A. The Red Pencil.
Ruurs, M. Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey (Arabic & English Edition)
Sanna, F. The Journey.
Simon, R. Oskar and the Eight Blessings.
Smith Milway, K. The Banana-Leaf Ball: How Play Can Change the World
Soto, G. (1997). Buried Onions
John, W. Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
Tsang, N. (2003) Rice All Day
Young, R.
Wild, M. The Treasure Box.
Wilkes, S. Out of Iraq: Refugees’ Stories in Words, Paintings and Music.
Williams, M. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
Williams, K. Four Feet, Two Sandals.
Woodruff, E. The Memory Coat.

Do you have a favorite multicultural children’s book you’d like to share in our online collection? Make a video of you sharing your favorite and reasons why and send it to info@englishlearnerportal.com. We’d love to have you!

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Teacher-Student Conferencing: The Essential Component of English Learner Writing

by Susan Zimmerman-Orozco

Susan is an elementary ESL teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools and consultant with English Learner Portal.

I love co-teaching with the Lucy Calkins program. I get to use my expertise as the purveyor of academic language. At the same time I’m learning from my co-teacher, my mainstream students, and the Lucy Calkins writing guide.

Once or twice a week I plan and teach a whole-class lessons that ESOL-izes concepts that I know are mystifying my English learners, or it anticipates confusion in upcoming lessons by providing background knowledge I know my students and other diverse learners will lack. As the self-appointed expert in academic language instruction, I’m always ready with daily language objectives, strategies, and activities to provide support that will extend my students’ language skills. I’m especially proud that, at the same time, I’m probably extending the academic language of 70% of the rest of my diverse classroom.

Arguably, however, the most valuable component of the Lucy Calkins approach to writing, and where I feel I make my most valuable contribution, comes from the frequent opportunities it provides for teacher-student conferencing. In the traditional Writing Process approach, dedicated teacher-student conferencing doesn’t appear until quite far along the continuum, after students have brainstormed, created drafts, peer edited, and revised their work. English learners, though, as we know, need quite a bit of hand-holding and scaffolding to be successful writers, especially if we want them to advance in their proficiency by adding more academic-level vocabulary and complexity to their writing.

In our co-taught classrooms, daily, once a whole-class lesson is presented, students return to their places, usually with a writing partner, to work on their current writing. In our class, we maximize teacher-student conferencing time by grouping students at two large tables, each with a teacher. This configuration that allows us either to review student work in progress and make suggestions or to troubleshoot individual student needs as they arise, especially to answer their plaintive, “How do you spell…?” even though we invariably respond for the 100th time, “Sound it out, ” or “Look on the word wall.”

Our groups are fluid. Some students just prefer to work on their own, and we have some highly productive student partners who produce inspiring writing conferencing only with each other. I often work with non-English learners, and my amazing co-teacher, Tara, is so beloved by some of my English learner girls that they usually make a bee-line to her group. The point is that there are two of us, and we are both committed to getting our kids the individualized help they need to succeed as writers.

Furthermore, and frankly, as a school with a highly diverse population, some of our students come to us better prepared than others to work independently. As Tara commented, “Conferencing in a group limits unwanted behaviors that would distract others. In a group setting, sitting all together at the table, I can conference with one student, get him or her on the right track, and quickly move on.”

She continued, “I feel all of our students need support, and more than anything they need reassurance that they’re doing the right thing.” Referring to some of our students with behavior concerns, she added, “Sometimes kids who are the most reluctant writers act out because they don’t want to fail. If I’m there with them, insisting they can do it, and helping them, I can show them that writing doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and they CAN succeed.”

I know I’m not alone in feeling that the Lucy Calkins Writing program in particular, and probably teaching writing in general, is challenging when English learners comprise a large portion of our class. I feel fortunate to be able to support my students, and my colleagues, by co-teaching writing. I can’t think of any other content area where my particular expertise in academic language has been more beneficial, not only to students, but also to my colleague.

One of the most satisfying and unexpected outcomes of working with my co-teachers this year has been watching them evolve into educators who have become sensitized to and skillful in structuring their classrooms to better support their English learners. More and more often I look around my co-taught classroom at my colleague as she’s presenting the whole-class lesson, smile, and think, “My work here is done. I don’t think she even needs me…” For an EL educator, it’s the best feeling…ever!

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Teaching Writing: What is successful language teaching?

Frank Bonkowski is an educational writer, English language teacher, and e-learning specialist, passionate about learning and teaching. As a lover of writing, Frank has a twofold mission: to teach English learners to write better and to train language teachers in teaching effective academic writing. He was a teacher trainer at several universities, including McGill, Concordia, and TELUQ, a center of distance education. We are thrilled to have Frank as a member of our online course community at English Learner Portal.

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Teaching Writing: What is successful language teaching?

In today’s post I give you a peek into part of the lecture “What is successful language teaching?” in Module 2, from my new three-credit graduate course in teaching writing.

JOIN me on June 28 for a 2-hour online writing workshop!

New Online professional development course

Teaching Writing to Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners is now available. This 3-credit graduate course is aimed at beginner and experienced English-language teachers who want to improve their knowledge and skills in teaching academic writing.

Teaching Writing, a multimedia course containing five modules, is your complete guide to teaching academic writing. Each module has a short video introduction, several recorded lectures, an accompanying tape script, a reading, an interview with a writing expert (in three of the modules), and a self-assessment exercise. To obtain university credit for the course, participants must complete five quizzes and two assignments.

A peek inside “What is successful language teaching?”

Agenda

In today’s lecture, we’re going to paint a broad picture of effective English language teaching and learning.

We are going to answer the following questions:

How can teachers help students learn successfully using a model called ESA: engage, study, activate?
What can teachers do to engage students?
What are some effective study activities?

ESA Model

The ESA model—which involves equally teacher and learners—is based on the ideas of Jeremy Harmer from his influential book, How to Teach English.

In a nutshell, this teaching/learning model is based on these three principles: learners need to be motivated, exposed to meaningful language, and provided chances to use the language.

I will illustrate these three principles using examples from my own teaching with second-language learners. I will present different materials and activities dealing with the story “The 39 Steps.”

Engage

In the language classroom, for students to learn it makes good pedagogical sense to engage them. You need to “arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions” (Harmer 25).

In my experience, even before you get students interested, you first have to catch their attention. When I started second language teaching in high school many years ago, I was lucky to have a brilliant pedagogue as school principal. He would often remind teachers about the importance of being enthusiastic and engaging ourselves in our subject matter. You can’t expect learners to be interested if you are not passionate about what you’re teaching. I have never forgotten that sound advice.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

As you can see in the chart below showing Bloom’s Taxonomy: The Affective Domain, the very first level is “receiving phenomena.” Learners need to be aware, show willingness to hear, and be attentive. In my very first meeting with new second-language learners at the beginning of a new term, I always demonstrate and practice “receiving.” How so?

First, I tell learners my name. Then I mention something interesting about myself, such as how I like to do triathlons—a combination of swimming, running, and biking. This always catches their attention, even if they are not particularly interested in sports.

I then ask students to say their name and something memorable about themselves. This is not only stimulating but also challenging for learners. By the end of this exercise, an added bonus is that I’m usually able to remember about 80% of the students’ names.

Notice in Bloom’s Taxonomy, it is at the second level: “response to phenomena” that learners can be expected to participate actively in the class.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: The Affective Domain

Useful activities and materials

Here are some useful activities and materials to engage students’ interest (Harmer 25):

Stimulating pictures
Games
Music
Discussions
Dramatic stories
Amusing anecdotes

The 39 Steps: activity

For example, in each new term I take learners to see a live play. But before talking about the live play students will be attending, I show a stimulating picture. Recently I took students to see “The 39 Steps.” I showed this picture and asked students to guess what they think the play is about, who the man is, what the menacing hand suggests, and what the title means.

By the way, I shared these interesting fun facts with students. The 39 Steps was originally a spy novel written in 1915 by John Buchan. Alfred Hitchcock made it into a suspense film in 1935. Later, it was brought to the Broadway stage as a thriller/romance/comedy in 2005 and won numerous awards.

In addition, since students usually have their cell phones handy, I asked them to work in pairs and to Google the term “The 39 Steps.” I gave them 8 to 10 minutes to take notes and then share what they found with the class.

When students saw how excited I was about this story, they participated well in the activity.

Study Activity: 3 parts

In study activities, students focus on language or information and how it is constructed. For higher-level students, these activities can range from the study and practice of new vocabulary to an analysis of how a writer achieves an effect.

There are different ways to do study activities: the teacher can explain or demonstrate a particular point or students can work alone, in pairs, or small groups to discover language for themselves.

Let’s look at this three-part language activity I used with learners before they attended the play “The 39 Steps.”

In the first part of the activity, I had students watch the first 15 minutes of Hitchcock’s 1935 movie that is available on YouTube. Interestingly, one student commented to me after seeing the live play that viewing the opening of the film was extremely helpful in understanding the complicated plot.

In the second part of the activity, I referred learners to the synopsis of Act 1 that was in the Teacher Guide (See below). Initially, I asked learners—working in pairs—to define the verbs that are underlined in the first paragraph.

These verbs include: rings out, turns out, trailed, lurking, seek, on the run, and clear.

Then I asked them to define any other verbs in the text that they did not understand.

In part three of the activity, I asked learners to write down in their own words the principal events in Act 1. I instructed them to use either the simple present or the present progressive tense in rewriting the plot.

Here’s an example of what I asked students to write:

Richard Hannay is attending a play in London.
Someone shoots a gun in the theater.
A lady called Annabella goes home with him.

Act 1 (Teacher Guide)

After heading to a London theatre to find some excitement, a man named Richard Hannay is watching a performance by a man with a photographic memory named “Mr. Memory”, when an unexpected gunshot rings out. As the audience clears out, a woman named Annabella follows him home, and that’s when the real excitement begins. She turns out to be a spy on a dangerous mission, trailed by assassins who want her dead. Aware of danger lurking outside, she warns Richard about a dark figure at the head of an international espionage ring and “The 39 Steps,” which she does not explain. Her plan is to seek help from a professor in Scotland at a place called Alt-Na-Shellach the next day, but before Richard can get more details, she is killed, sending Richard on the run in an effort to clear his name and save Britain from its enemies.

Exiting his building cleverly disguised as a milkman, he hops a train to Scotland, with the law hot on his trail. When police begin to search the compartments, he masks his identity by kissing a female passenger. Although this buys him some time, the woman (named Pamela) isn’t buying his story, and she quickly turns him in. Luckily, he is able to jump from the train, and eludes capture.

Later that night, with Alt-Na-Shellach in the distance and the cold reality of the Scottish moors setting in, Richard convinces a poor old farmer named Crofter to offer him some shelter. However, tension arises when Margaret, the man’s beautiful young wife, finds herself attracted to her guest, and he to her. Feeling threatened, Crofter calls the police in the middle of the night, but Margaret wakes Richard to warn him. He then pays the farmer for his silence and steals a few kisses from Margaret before slipping out with Crofter’s best Sunday coat on his back.

After eluding the police, he is welcomed at Alt-Na-Shellach by the professor and his wife. However, the amiable pair is not what they seem. Richard realizes too late that the professor is missing part of his little finger and is the spy Annabella warned him about. Before he can act, the professor shoots him in the chest and leaves him for dead. Lucky for him, the hymnbook in Crofter’s coat pocket stops the bullet and saves his life. (Cleve 4-5)

For more helpful teaching tips, enroll now in Teaching Writing to Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners and earn 3 university credits.

In the next blog post, we will take a look at the lecture on “Plagiarism“ in Module 3 of the course.

JOIN me on June 28 for a 2-hour online writing workshop

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Cultural responsiveness in the classroom and school community

English Learner Portal welcomes our guest blogger and new online course developer, Sarah Said. Sarah is currently a Director of English Learning in the suburbs of Chicago. She has been an advocate, writer, speaker, and constant learner about English learners for over a decade. Sarah has firm beliefs that all students have the potential to be successful. In July of 2018, Sarah will join the Mawi Learning team as the Director of English Learner Impact where she will have an impact on the education of students worldwide. Sarah’s new online course on cultural responsive teaching and learning will be available through English Learner Portal’s online classroom in September 2018!

Engage your School Community and Keep it Warm with Engaging All Cultures: Cultural Responsiveness in the Classroom and the School Community

I grew up in what is proudly today one of the largest Arab and Muslim communities in North America. In my youth, the Bridgeview area was in its prime and growing to become what is now called today “Little Palestine” on Google Maps. We were one of the first groups of families to move into the community thirty years ago. Still today, the community is thriving as the epicenter for the Arab and Muslim communities in the Chicagoland area. As a child in the early nineties, my teachers were just beginning to learn about our culture. When my Grandmother came for Grandparent’s day to eat lunch with me, teachers asked why she covered her hair. In grade school, I quickly learned to remind teachers not to order me sausage pizza and give them an explanation of why I don’t eat pork products. I was well versed in telling adults who were not of the Muslim faith that I couldn’t have jello or marshmallows if I did not know what was in them.

Now, some schools across America have peanut free tables in the lunchroom. My school cafeteria had a different type of table one month out of the year. From second grade on up, I began to practice fasting during the month of Ramadan. To fast during the month of Ramadan means to not have any food or drink from sunup to sundown. At this young of an age, I didn’t practice it to its full extent. Sometimes I fasted half days, other times I completed whole days. The “fasting table” that I shared with my Muslim peers was placed smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria, so the cafeteria ladies could keep an eye on those “fasting Arab kids”. Yes.. I said it.. the fasting kids (who were not eating lunch) sat in the middle of the cafeteria. As we sat, we tried to entertain ourselves with by playing UNO or drawing pictures. It was not easy for a group of kids who chose to fast because they wanted to be a part of their families’ traditions to continue to maintain their fast while watching their peers drink juice boxes, eat sandwiches, and trade bags of chips. Oh how I wanted a Lunchable when I got home and it was sundown! I’ll admit it, there were times where I would not continue to fast because I would want to eat with my friends and enjoy a Snackpack and a bag of Doritos that my mom had packed in case I got hungry and couldn’t handle fasting.

Was there a bad intention here? Not at all, these were great people who did have it in their hearts to care about kids. They thought they were doing the right thing for us, by putting us on our own table. We did need to be supervised after all. However, they really needed more education on appropriately accommodating students culturally. This would have required them to first learn about how culture and a child’s brain activity go hand in hand. They also needed education on the different cultures in the building and their traditions. After gathering all the information, their school leaders really needed a plan on serving the specific population. Yes, thirty years later districts in the Bridgeview area now have plans to accommodate students during the Ramadan holidays. After thirty years of dialogue between our parents’ generation and school officials and then our generation later, districts now have better plans for our children during the Ramadan holiday. There needed to be a bridge built between the community and the schools in order for staff to develop an understanding of our needs. School leaders now see the asset our community is to their school climate.

How Do Culture and a Child’s Brain Activity Go Hand in Hand?

The human brain has the ability to stretch and grow. It adjusts over the time given the environment provided for growth and the circumstances. With that said, it is time to think about the environment that we provide in our classrooms. Some of the questions that we need to ask ourselves are: 1) Am I creating an environment that is safe that makes children feel physically and emotionally safe? 2) Am I creating an environment where children are confident in sharing who they are?

When answering these questions, it is important to think about the science behind them. “The brain’s two prime directives are to stay safe and be happy.” (Hammond 2015) With that said, learning is difficult when a child is preoccupied about their safety. Yes, physically safety is key. But emotionally safety, can also really impact a child’s learning. I attended a school where teachers really did their best to make me feel secure about who I was. With this, I was able to focus on learning because I didn’t feel that my identity put me in jeopardy.

As a teacher and administrator working with English Learners, I have spent years searching for the right strategies to assure my students felt safe in my classroom. As a teacher, I worked mostly with upper grades. I also believed in starting the period off by having students volunteer to share something about their day, something exciting their anticipating, or just something they like. When students are encouraged to share and learn about each other, it really does support a strong classroom climate for all student populations. Our English Learners who may not want to share in the beginning, will eventually share later.

Also, having students create projects related to content that share information about their identity is key in the classroom. Yes, we do our “star student” and “all about me” projects at the beginning of the year, but we need more depth in how we have our students really express themselves. Lots of teachers are trying something new by having students create “vision boards”. Vision boards not only teach teachers about a student’s background, they also teach teachers about students’ goals. Students can use the vision board later to refer to their own goals. A vision board can take form in any way. It just has to be goal oriented.

This vision board was made on a software called Canva. As you can see, the board is a visual of the student’s future goals and ambitions. This could support the child feeling validated in the environment by their teacher. Continuing to integrate these types of projects into the curriculum could foster a classroom climate that builds student confidence.

In addition to creating projects that truly allow students to express themselves, knowing the type of literature or content that really appeals to the group of students you have is key. If a teacher is teaching English Language Arts, having a diverse selection of titles related to students and their culture is vital. Students need to see role models that look them in order to build their confidence levels in the classroom and outside of the classroom.

When these experiences are being provided in the classroom, it gives the child a pleasant memory of their school experience. Valuing that child goes a long way for a lifetime of confidence in who they are. Going back to brain science, the schema that is built for a child of experiences in the classroom will help reduce anxiety towards future classroom experiences. It will also help the child overcome adversity when they experience it because a teacher helped build a foundation of confidence.

Educating Staff on the Different Cultures in the Building

Teachers and staff need education about the communities they work with. This is not something that can be done in a one time professional development. Yes, professional development on the different cultures in a school community is helpful. Actually, there is now a mandate in Illinois and other states that requires school districts to train staff on understanding the different populations in their district. In addition to professional development that is ongoing, staff really need to engage with the community. It cannot be a one time deal. Some districts hold community dialogues where community members come by to have conversations with school teams about their needs. Again, this is not a just one time event. This needs to be constant.

There are some districts that have teachers visit local festivals and community centers. There teachers learn first hand about the community their students reside in. It’s important for school officials, teachers and staff to really explore the community- shops, places of worship, and attractions. This gives staff a day in the shoes of the students and families that they support.

The most valuable resources in learning about cultures are students who are willing to talk to teachers about where they come from. When I was student teaching about fifteen years ago, I was placed in a neighborhood that I no background on prior to the assignment. I was placed about an hour north of where I grew up in a community called Humboldt Park. I drove around the neighborhood to learn more about it. One day, during a time where we were working students collaboratively in the classroom, I mentioned to a group of ninth graders where I had been and what I learned. Suddenly, this group became very excited with the fact that I wanted to learn more. They then spent ten minutes telling me all about their community. This is a community in Chicago that has a large Puerto Rican population. It was my first exposure to the Puerto Rican community. My conversations with my students taught me so much about traditions. I continued to engage in them. Years later, I ended up working in a Middle School fifteen minutes away in Albany Park that served a large Hispanic community. The school had a significant Puerto Rican population. My conversations a decade prior to that with students helped me build relationships in my new environment as a language arts teacher then later as a Dean of Instruction. Students felt safe with me because I tried to learn their culture and bring it into the school and classroom.

Have A Plan for Working With The Different Communities In Your School

The best way to begin a plan for culturally responsive classrooms and schools is really to develop a survey for your students and stakeholders on the needs of students and families. From there, you can really look at your data to measure where you are strong and where you are weak in fostering students’ identities.

Here are some questions that you can ask:

Parents:

Do you feel that your child is included in school activities? Why? Why not?
Do you feel that your child’s classroom accommodates your home culture?
What are some ways that the school can value your home culture more?

Students:

Do you feel confident in participating in classroom discussions and school activities? Why? Why not?
Do you feel that your classroom values who you are?
What can the school do to value who you are?

The answers to this survey may surprise you. They will also give you a guide to making your school more engaging towards the cultures that are represented in the population.

Some aspects to think about for planning to be more responsive to students needs are dependent on your population and also budget. Finding teachers that the home language is vital for schools with large English Learner populations. If the school can afford paraprofessionals that speak the languages of the majority of English Learners to support them in general education settings, this is key in making students feel engaged. When this is done, it is important to train paraprofessionals with teachers in the various school initiatives. With paraprofessionals they need to be trained to support students in the classroom for language. They should learn to support student agency and give students a rigorous push when needed rather than only translating for students.

In addition to paraprofessionals, family engagement personnel that speak the home languages are needed for language groups larger populations. They can support parents at IEP meetings and parent conferences. They can also be a resource for school leaders to understand different populations and parents to understand a school environment. They could hold trainings for parents who need more support from the school in the home language.

In developing a plan, leaders need to assure that teachers are also involved in creating it. Teachers know what their students need because they are the ones who encounter them daily. Teachers are on the forefront for communicating with families and realizing their needs. They want to assure that schools are serving the child in the best manner.

All students matter in school environments. It is important for a school to malleable in adjusting to needs of all learners. When developing plans on the wider scale for school and district wide engagement or targeting key classroom practices all students needed to be considered. Think of it this way, your school is a quilt, every piece helps shape its design and the structure of the fabric. Without each shape, the quilt falls apart. Engage your school and keep it warm with engaging all cultures!

Citation:
Hammond, Zaretta. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin, Inc.

For further reading on this topic:
Asgedom, Mawi. Even, Johanna. Empowering English Learners For Classroom Success: 6 Keys to Academic and Social-Emotional Growth. Elmhurst, IL. Mawi Learning, Inc.
Delpit, L. D. (2006). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.

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Increase Equity through Family Engagement

Today’s blog is written by Laura Gardner. Laura has 16 years of experience working in public education, refugee resettlement, and social work. While in public education, she worked as a district level manager for immigrant family and community engagement as well as a school social worker. Learn more about Laura on our English Learner Portal website.

20 Ways to Increase Equity through Family Engagement with English Learners & Immigrants by Laura Gardner

Making international families feel welcome and included in your school is crucial to building success for students. Not only can you increase family engagement through language access, it is also a legal responsibility. What does your school system offer? How can you raise the bar for your school and classroom? Take a look at the tips below!

At the school level

Translate your parent newsletter – and all information going home to parents! – into the major languages of your school community. This includes information about field trips, after-school programs, and extra-curricular activities.
Make sure non-English speaking parents know it’s their right to ask for an interpreter when they’d like one and that they know how to request one.
Offer English Learner and immigrant parents an orientation workshop (or video) in their language with information about your school and how to get involved.
Talk to English Learner and immigrant parents about the concept of “parent involvement” in the U.S. and expectations around it. Make sure parents understand it is not disrespectful for them to visit school and/or ask the teacher questions.
Make sure signage is translated by the front door of the school and in the front office.
Translate report card comments or have a mechanism in place for parents to call and get oral assistance understanding the comments.
Consider overhauling how you do Back to School Night or Open House to make it more accessible and less confusing for all Advocate for as many interpreters as you need.
Balance the family events in your school in such a way that some events are 1.) for all parents (with interpretation provided for parents needing it) and other events are 2.) just for English Learner / immigrant parents (typically funded by Title III) so that they can hear the information in their language and topics can be specifically geared towards immigrants.
Make sure your parent events or opportunities are linked to students’ learning! For example, potlucks are nice, but why not choose a high-impact family engagement strategy? (Check out our online course on immigrant family engagement for loads of ideas.)
Advocate, advocate, advocate for immigrant families’ needs. But don’t only advocate for the Spanish-speakers!

At the district level:

Make sure your legal office is aware of all federal, state, and local language access laws.
Make sure interpretation and translation services are budgeted for! Do not rely on Title III for all needs. Be aware of “supplement vs. supplant.”
Consider having a language access committee or task force that includes staff from multiple offices such as communications, ESOL/English Learners, and family engagement. That said, no matter the size of the district, make sure there is at least one person at the central office who is ultimately responsible for language access.
Provide multilingual outreach for all district-wide invitations to events or activities. Never attempt to document the need for interpretation services at a particular event unless the outreach for such event was translated.
Make sure all information going home to parents from the central office is translated into the district’s most dominant languages. This includes information about any gifted and talented programs, magnet programs, and any other accelerated programming. This also includes information about the budget and any opportunities to weigh in on the budget.
Make sure all robo-calls and/or text messages are sent out in the major languages of the community, particularly for emergency situations.
Make sure the district has a contract with a phone interpretation system. It is the cheapest and most convenient form of instantaneous language access there is.
Provide training for staff on language access laws and how to work with interpreters.
Provide simultaneous interpretation for school board meetings (via headsets and equipment), particularly for opportunities for public comment.
Don’t forget about all of the language backgrounds besides Spanish! While it may not be legally required and/or cost efficient to create written translations for smaller language groups, be sure to have other mechanisms in place for parents in those communities to access the information (i.e. through your phone interpretation system, etc.).

Can you think of other ways? Comment below and join in the conversation!

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Set a larger table….

Set a Larger Table
by guest blogger Laurie Meberg

I had never felt more isolated in my life. My family had just moved to a town where we knew only one family. This was my first opportunity to live in a foreign town where I did not have a local community on which to rely. To make matters more isolating, I was a stay at home mom to two girls under the age of three while my husband set up his office in the town center. My shortcomings in the local language limited me further. Finally, I was used to blending into the chaos of an international city and had found myself in a small town where I stuck out more than I had in the city. While I saw the same people every time I went out of the house, they did not seem to recognize me.

My neighbors did not know what to make of this blonde-haired, fair-skinned family who had just moved into their building. They had heard through the grapevine that my husband would be teaching English lessons to take the place of our dear friends in the local language institute. While most of the neighbors and people in our community avoided us as they passed us by – watching us only out of the corners of their eyes – one family in particular took us in. My next-door neighbors and their five teenage daughters were life to me in that season.

Within a week of our arrival, Muzyen and her family greeted us and welcomed us. When I came home from errands, they eagerly kept the kids while I shuttled groceries up the three flights of stairs. Muzyen understood my younger daughter’s nervous cries and stood singing to her in the hallway as they watched me work. When her daughters were home, one of the daughters would keep my girls entertained while I cleaned the house or cooked dinner – teaching them songs, hand-games, and stories. When my family returned from outings and clomped and chattered our way up the stairs, Muzyen’s family would open the door to talk with us and visit with our little kids. Occasionally, on long afternoons, Muzyen would break up the monotony of my day by inviting me for tea. She offered sweet pastries and savory dishes as we fumbled through small-talk and conversation.

I learned through our visits that Muzyen’s husband had recently retired from a career in mining. In their early years of marriage, the couple lived far from their families while Muzyen’s husband worked long shifts in the mines. She spent those years home with little children having to find her own friends and support system but the early years had been very hard. She encouraged me by empathizing with my isolation and welcoming me into her life.

Holidays were the hardest days for me as a foreigner in a strange land. Surprisingly, our own holidays were not so hard. Rather than wallow in self-pity about missing our family, I would find creative ways to make traditional foods, decorate with what we could find, and teach the children about our holidays. While I missed celebrating with our extended family, I would visit with friends in other cities. I found that – rather than our own holidays – the local holidays were harder for me.

As a local holiday drew near, I noticed the community brimming with excitement as everyone prepared for a big event. The neighbors would clean their homes top to bottom – so thoroughly that they would even hang their carpets over the balconies to dry after hand-washing them. The community scoured the local markets and stores for specialty foods they would use for traditional meals, toys to give their children, and outfits to wear for the festivities. Furthermore, people stocked up their kitchens as shops would be closed for a few days.

While some ex-pats might take this as an opportunity to relax and stay home, I could not. Despite my introversion, I longed to be part of the festivities. I too wanted a reason to cook, clean, shop, and visit – anticipation that transformed the routine.

Muzyen knew what it was to be an outsider. Because of that, she invited us to join her family’s festivities. One of the more intimate components of their celebrations was a breakfast to break their fast. Muzyen had already graciously included our family at a few of their iftar dinner meals. The breakfast marked the beginning of a three-day celebration. This was more of a family affair. Normally new friends or neighbors might visit on the third day, but in my observation not typically the first breakfast.

Muzyen taught me a lesson that day. She modeled for me how to be a neighbor and how to be a friend. There were not elaborate schemes or agendas hidden in her invitation – rather a simple invitation from one woman who had experienced isolation to another woman who was in the midst of it. She had no idea that some of her traditional foods were similar to those of my grandparents and she had no idea how honored I was to be included. She expanded her table, added four plates, and welcomed us in – not as strangers but as if we belonged.

I have applied this lesson many times in the past ten years. How hard is it for me to welcome a newcomer to our celebrations? Being a newcomer is lonely. But to welcome a newcomer in speaks volumes.

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Laurie Meberg has been working cross-culturally for seventeen years as a teacher, community developer, and refugee liaison. She learned two languages through immersion and tried to learn a third through friendships in a multicultural community. She has frequently helped emerging English speakers by being a conversation partner – mostly over cups of tea. She lives in Colorado with her husband and three children.

She can be found on instagram @ _lauries_stories_

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Click HERE to join the English Learner Portal mail list! Receive information about our free resources and new courses as they are released, including upcoming spring and summer courses in our online classroom! Check out our Spring/Summer 2018 course list HERE. New courses beginning in March!

English Learner Portal January 2018

What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?
by Gracie Williams, Guest Blogger

I remember the first time when I called myself “Gracie.” I was in second grade, and I clearly remember my second grade teacher not being able to pronounce my name. She tried several times, and, with each time she attempted it, my classmates laughed. I went home that day and told my mom what happened, and that’s when she said, “Just have them call you Gracie.” From that day forward, I was “Gracie.” At that moment, I felt both a sense of relief and a deep sadness: relief in that I could call myself a name that I was comfortable to share and say out loud without having to repeat it over and over…but it was tempered by sadness because a part of what I knew about myself was being changed…and lost. This was a blow to my self-esteem because I felt that I was changing myself to conform to the comforts of someone else’s perception of me. It’s not easy having a difficult name to pronounce, but, with time, I have learned to accept the challenge and accept that my identity is what I make it regardless of the name I choose.

No doubt, many of you currently have students in your classrooms who have difficult names to pronounce or different spellings of popular names. The challenge when working with many ELL students is being able to connect with the students on an individual level despite the language barrier. Learning their names and being able to pronounce them correctly is very important for ELL students—especially for new, incoming students. Names are representations of who we are and where we come from. For many students, the significance, spelling, and pronunciation of their name means more to them now that they are in a new, unfamiliar environment. This is not to say that many students won’t change their name, because many will. They may modify their name to include nicknames or even slightly change the spelling of their name, and that is okay because it is their choice. So, for now, embrace those difficult-to-pronounce names and practice rolling your Rs because I promise that, as the teacher, counselor, or school administrator, you being able to correctly say your student’s name means more to them than you will ever know. It is recognizing and accepting them for who they are and what they represent. Names make up who we are; they are part of our identity, and our identity is unshakably tethered to our self-esteem. Promoting positive environments where students feel accepted and connected can help promote school success for the English language learner.

Included below is a great activity that promotes name association with positive personality characteristic traits. Students can work on beginning to identify positive aspects about themselves and work on being able to share them out loud with each other in a classroom setting.

Self-Esteem Activity

Goal: Students will be able to identify positive personality traits and be able to associate them with themselves.

Materials: Mini canvases, paint, paint brushes, positive adjective worksheet (search the web for an appropriate word worksheet).

Warm-up: Begin the session by talking about positive traits and having students understand the meaning behind each trait.

Activity: Allow students to be creative with the colors and the words that are used. Let them know that, at the end of the activity, each student will have an opportunity to share their project with the class.

Share out: Allow each student to share their name and explain why they chose the personality traits that they used in their project.

I’d love for you to share how this activity worked for your students and/or how you modified the activity to make it even better. Drop us a note at info@englishlearnerportal.com to share!

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Graciela Williams “Gracie” is a licensed bilingual school social worker in Annapolis, Maryland. Gracie currently works with newcomer students and runs several social skills groups around the county. She specializes in working with international students who have experienced trauma. She has done extensive work incorporating and facilitating student and parent reunification groups within the school system. Gracie has worked as an Adult ESL teacher and program manager for literacy centers in South Carolina and Colorado. She has a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Bob Jones University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of New England. Gracie is also an Adjunct Professor for Goucher College, where she teaches a graduate level seminar course regarding At Risk Students, and she is an Adjunct Community Faculty for The University of New England providing field instruction to current MSW students.

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Click HERE to join the English Learner Portal mail list! Receive information about our free resources and new online courses as they are released, including an upcoming course by Gracie! Check out our current courses HERE. Check out our Spring/Summer 2018 course list HERE. New courses beginning in March!

English Learner Portal January 2018

Reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world, Freire & Macedo (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world.

I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien

The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman & Karin Littlewood

Stepping Stones- A Refugee Family’s Journey

Additional selections to consider for your classroom library

Teaching Writing: What is successful language teaching?

New Online professional development course

A peek inside “What is successful language teaching?”

Agenda

ESA Model

Engage

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Useful activities and materials

The 39 Steps: activity

Study Activity: 3 parts

Act 1 (Teacher Guide)

Citation: Hammond, Zaretta. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin, Inc.

Citation:
Hammond, Zaretta. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin, Inc.