Contents
Content Type: 1
Title: Halloween and Day of the Dead Resources
Body:
Here are three nice infographics: two comparing the Día de Muertos with Halloween, and one about how to do comparisons in Spanish: http://estudiafeliz.com/2014/09/10/actividad-con-infografias-los-comparativos-dia-de-los-muertos-versus-halloween/
Here is a collection of ideas for Día de Muertos: http://profehanson.weebly.com/blog/dia-de-los-muertos
Here is a class unit based on fears and scary movies from Zambombazo: http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/fears-scary-movies/
Here is a class unit about Halloween: http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/halloween/
Here is a unit about Day of the Dead: http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/day-of-the-dead/
Here are more ideas from Zambombazo: http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/betsys-recap-day-of-the-dead-activities-for-spanish-class/
Source: Various
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:47:12
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 1
Title: Southern Connecticut State University’s Training for All Teachers Program Launches English Learner Curriculum Library
Body:
SCSU's TAT Program, a National Professional Development (NPD) (http://ncela.ed.gov/grants/npdp) grantee, recently launched the English Learner Curriculum Library online. With a click of a button, teachers can access over 250 instructional units, Grades K-12. Connecticut teachers modified the units to make subject content accessible to ELs. Units include lesson plans, narratives, content and language objectives, modified materials, a checklist of sheltered strategies incorporated, and the original unit as it was designed for mainstream students. Also available at this site are Country/Culture Cards, one-page descriptions of the major countries represented by the state’s ELs, with cultural and linguistic information bullets for each.
The English Learner Curriculum Library is available at http://southernct.edu/groups/tat/index.html/curriculum-library
NCELA Nexus Newsletter October 24, 2014.
Source: NCELA Nexus
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:49:29
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 1
Title: ESL Rural Mural: Website for Small ESL Programs
Body:
From https://sites.google.com/site/eslruralmural/
The purpose of this website is to provide education leaders with key policies, guidelines, strategies and resources needed to follow or consider in order to make educational decisions most relevant to their small rural/suburban ESL programs.
The website is aimed mainly at teachers in New York state, but will be of interest to ESL teachers anywhere. This month’s topic is “The Challenge of Underutilized Language Proficiency Assessment Data.” Read about current constraints and solutions on the Rural Mural website: https://sites.google.com/site/eslruralmural/
Source: ESL Rural Mural
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:50:11
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 1
Title: Ways To Differentiate Texts
Body:
From http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com
What do you do when you have students at different levels, and you want them all to be able to read the same text in the target language? Here is a blog post with five suggestions for differentiating: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2014/10/ways-to-differentiate-texts.html
Source: mELTing activities
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:51:03
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 1
Title: Pointer for Learning Stations in Your Language Classroom
Body:
Teacher Colleen Lee has put together a nice document with helpful hints for using learning stations in your classroom. It is available here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/244288504/Stations-Information
Source: The Language Sensei
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:53:26
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 1
Title: Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition Has Exciting Projects Planned
Body:
Our sister LRC the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition has some exciting projects planning for the coming four years. Between now and the end of 2018, CARLA will be involved in the following:
Language Immersion Education: To increase language immersion practitioners’ understanding of research-based practice, and expand the research base supporting immersion, CARLA will 1) offer three summer institutes annually designed for K-12 immersion practitioners; 2) host the biennial International Conference on Immersion Education in 2016; 3) publish Research-to-Practice Briefs targeting topics of critical interest to immersion educators; and 4) carry out a multi-year program of research on instructional strategies and student learning outcomes for language and literacy in early total Mandarin immersion programs.
Advanced Proficiency in Academic Environments: To create and support curricular innovations that target higher levels of proficiency by integrating language and content across the disciplines, CARLA will: 1) construct a national repository of exemplary Languages Across the Curriculum syllabi; 2) develop a summer institute for teachers on incorporating authentic environmental sustainability content into language courses and host an academic seminar in Spring 2016 on the environmental humanities for both literature and language faculty; and 3) field-test an innovative multilingual curricular unit using social media to focus on culture and identity for high school heritage language learners.
Online Education: To improve language teachers’ understanding of new online teaching methods and effective technology integration in developing online proficiency-based language courses, CARLA will: 1) offer an experiential online course on teaching language online on an annual basis; and 2) support a growing network of online language teachers. CARLA will also offer two annual summer institutes and a series of annual local/remote audience workshops for teachers on effective integration of online tools in language instruction.
Language Teacher Education: To provide a forum for language teacher educators to share research and best practice, CARLA will host the popular biennial Language Teacher Education Conference in May 2015, and assist the National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) in hosting the conference in Spring 2017 in Los Angeles.
Less Commonly Taught Languages Database: To help prospective learners locate and evaluate the characteristics of LCTL programs in the nation, CARLA will continue to update and maintain its comprehensive LCTL database showing where LCTLs are offered throughout North America, with up-to-date information on grade levels, instructional levels, proficiency targets, time frames, and most recently, interactive maps.
Learner Language: To help teachers better understand their students’ second language acquisition processes, CARLA will create new multimedia materials on learner language produced by foreign language and heritage language learners of Spanish.
Dissemination of Resources and Activities: To expand K-16 teachers’ national access to CARLA resources and professional development, CARLA will: 1) expand its popular annual summer institute program with new topics and local/remote delivery methods; 2) offer two webinars a year to extend the reach of CARLA-based initiatives; and 3) further develop the CARLA website to ensure that it remains the “go-to” website for foreign language teachers, immersion teachers, and language teacher educators.
Learn more about CARLA and its work at http://www.carla.umn.edu/about/lrc/
Source: CARLA
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:54:19
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 1
Title: Five Ways To Use Playing Cards in the Language Classroom
Body:
From http://www.thefrenchcorner.net
Here is a nice blog post with suggestions for activities that use a regular deck of cards: http://www.thefrenchcorner.net/2014/10/5-easy-ways-to-use-playing-cards-in.html
Source: The French Corner
Inputdate: 2014-10-25 21:55:46
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 4
Title: Engaging Heritage Learners with their Own Community
Body:
As learners begin to study their heritage language in a formal context, numerous emotions, identity questions, and perceptions can arise. A key to helping learners maneuver these feelings, both positive and negative, is engagement with one's heritage community. The interviews can be done in the language that learners are studying or in a different common language, depending on the level of the learner.
Objective: To interview members of the heritage community about a topic of interest.
Resources: Interview Resource Sheet
Procedure:
- Pre-interview: Work with learners to highlight questions they might be interested in asking members of their hertigage community. This brainstorming session can also be used to sensitize learners to engagement in the heritage community and any issues that might arise.
- Interview: Have learners interview two people from their heritage community.
- Reflect: Ask learners to compare the perspectives of each of the two people they interviewed and reflect on the overall experience.
Note: As is often the case in language classes, you may have heritage and non-heritage learners. In these cases, a number of modifications can be made to this activity. First, the learners can work in pairs to do the interviews, with non-heritage learners partnering with their heritage peers. In addition, all can interview someone in their home about the target language or non-heritage learners can also interview someone from the target language community. Choices about this context will be highly dependent on the local context.
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
Inputdate: 2014-10-26 06:54:34
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-10-27 03:09:21
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-10-27 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-10-27 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 5
Title: UO Chinese Flagship Retreat
Body:
Last weekend, the UO Chinese Flagship BanZhang (Student Leader Committee) led an annual fall retreat where we aimed to connect upper and lower classmen to promote language and cultural experiences. The successful retreat hosted over 30 students ranging from freshmen in Chinese 199 to seniors in the highest level content courses returning from their Capstone year in China. This retreat allowed the BanZhang Committee to refine their leadership skills given that every activity was student led. The mission of this retreat was to promote the Flagship Program through language and cultural activities, educate students about what their Flagship experience will be with upper classmen presentations, and kick-start the new mentoring program.
One goal of the retreat was to encourage bonding between students from various ages and levels of Chinese in a language-focused environment, which will create a stronger, more dynamic Flagship Program. The BanZhang Committee initiated these connections through a series of student events, including mahjong, Chinese cooking, Chinese songs and games, and Chinese Pictionary. These activities allowed the students to interact with one another while promoting language skills. The Chinese cooking was a particularly useful given that the students with lower levels of Chinese were immersed in the culture, “I enjoyed the student led activities and how relaxed it was. It allowed everyone to get to know each other at their own pace and within their own comfort levels,” said Flagship Perrie Gregg. Another activity supervised by the BanZhang team was presentations held by the students recently returned from their Capstone years. These presentations were academic, professional, and educational; “It was awesome to see what my next four years might look like and to see how steep the learning curve is from freshman to senior year, especially during the capstone year,” says new Flagship student Kyle Armstrong. The presenters brought pictures of their year abroad and shared their enjoyable, adventurous, and even bizarre experiences with the new students.
Another highlight of the retreat was the introduction of the new Mentorship Program, created by the BanZhang Committee itself. Last year, the committee saw a need to connect upper and lower classmen in the program so that we can form a stronger network within the Flagship Program. This new program allows the lower classmen to have a go-to student advisor for questions about courses, choosing a second major, study abroad programs, and more. This also allows the upper classmen to have a leadership role in advising their mentee. Both mentor and mentee can practice their Chinese together, “I believe that the Mentorship Program will be a great success. It will allow us to be more connected with one another and make for a better overall program. Plus, I will love having another person to speak Chinese with!” said student Stephanie Collins. The goal of the Mentorship Program is to facilitate language while being able to make a friend and trusted mentor.
The retreat accomplished its goals of promoting language and cultural experiences while forging connections between the students. “I had a great time at the retreat! It was fun getting to meet all the upper classmen while speaking Chinese!” says participant Shawna Sullivan. Given the success of this retreat, the BanZhang Committee is ready for the next year and even looking forward to next year’s retreat.
The Oregon Chinese Flagship Program is funded by The Language Flagship through the National Security Education Program.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
Inputdate: 2014-10-29 05:18:46
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-11-03 03:07:20
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-11-03 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-11-03 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
Content Type: 3
Title: Dual Language Immersion for All: Equity of Access
Body:
Michael Bacon is the Chinese Flagship Director and Immersion Achievement Coordinator at Portland Public Schools.
The benefits of immersion are well documented. Besides bilingualism and biliteracy, students tend to perform better academically than their peers in English only programs, develop higher cognitive skills, and acquire strong cross-cultural skills. In their book “Dual Language Education for a Transformed World” (2012), Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas share research that shows these benefits also occur for historically underserved subgroups such as African Americans and children of poverty. Furthermore, research clearly demonstrates that immersion programs, unlike traditional ESL programs, close the achievement gap for Emerging Bilinguals (EB’s = English Language Learners) (Thomas & Collier 2009)
Portland Public Schools (PPS) is engaged in racial equity work requiring continuous examination of practices and perspectives to move towards equitable outcomes for students of color. Based on research, data and this equity work, increasing access to immersion became a district priority, especially for our EB’s and students of color. There are “wins” for our children:
Win for African Americans: Last year only 2% of the students enrolled in PPS immersion programs were black in contrast to 11% district wide. However, Albina Head Start, located in North Portland in the heart of the African American community, began offering Mandarin lessons two years ago. Albina families wanted more, but the only elementary school offering Mandarin was Woodstock located far away. So PPS partnered with Albina Head Start and others to establish a new Mandarin immersion program at King School (K-8) providing much better access for students of color and poverty.
Win for Vietnamese: After two years of collaborating with the Vietnamese community leaders, PPS established the first two-way Vietnamese immersion program in the State of Oregon this fall. With an estimated population of over 45,000 in the Portland area the Vietnamese community is a large linguistic and cultural asset, but whose children’s academic, cultural and linguistic needs are often ignored. The two-way Vietnamese immersion program at Roseway Heights reverses that trend.
Win for Chinese: The Woodstock Mandarin immersion program receives significant attention as a model program. However, up until this fall the program primarily served English speaking children learning Chinese as a second language with no priority given to EB’s. Applying an “equity lens” PPS worked with staff and parents to change the enrollment process to serve both Chinese and English speaking children.
Win for All: Improving equity increases bilingual educational opportunities while embracing the linguistic and cultural assets of all children.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
Inputdate: 2014-10-31 19:10:22
Lastmodifieddate: 2014-11-03 03:07:20
Expdate:
Publishdate: 2014-11-03 02:15:01
Displaydate: 2014-11-03 00:00:00
Active: 1
Emailed: 1
Isarchived: 0
