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Title: Hope for English-Language Learners in the Every Student Succeeds Act
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Hope for English-Language Learners
The Every Student Succeeds Act finally prioritizes the progress of English-language learning students.
By Scott Sargrad
January 13, 2016
Greater diversity in our schools provides a tremendous opportunity to help students become global citizens and prepare them for success in the 21st century. But with these changing demographics, schools must adjust to better serve students with very different needs. While English-language learners are a significant share of the population, their performance lags far behind their native English-speaking peers. For example, on the most recent national assessments, only 14 percent of fourth-grade English-language learners were proficient in math, compared to 43 percent of nonEnglish-language learners. They also have some of the lowest high school graduation rates: Less than 63 percent of English-language learners graduate in four years, nearly 20 points below the national average.
But the Every Student Succeeds Act, which the president signed into law last month to replace No Child Left Behind, presents a new opportunity for English-language learners, their families and the educators that support them. It strikes a "grand bargain" of sorts by significantly strengthening accountability provisions while at the same time authorizing substantial increases in funding targeted at English-language learners.
Read the full article at http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-01-13/every-student-succeeds-act-brings-new-hope-for-english-language-learners
Source: U.S. News & World Report
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Title: 10 English Language Teaching Books Available for Free Online
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From http://www.teachthemenglish.com
Adam Simpson recommends 10 books for teaching English language learners, all available for free download, in this recommend blog post: http://www.teachthemenglish.com/2016/01/10-great-elt-e-books-that-are-free-to-download/
Source: Teach Them English
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Title: Grammar translation and Communicative Language Teaching Compared
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From https://gianfrancoconti.wordpress.com
Gianfranco Conti and Steve Smith provide background and definitions of two prominent methods of language teaching: grammar translation and communicative language teaching. While grammar translation is often set up as a straw man full of problems that communicative language teaching is meant to solve, in this lengthy blog post asserts that while “the bias should still be on communication,” in fact both approaches are called for; grammar translation can improve accuracy especially in situations where students receive little overall exposure to the target language. Here is Conti’s conclusion:
“Unlike students learning the L2 in an L2-speaking country, learners receiving instruction in acquisition-poor environments (i.e. with little contact with the L2) do not have many opportunities to internalize grammar subconsciously through frequent exposure; for the latter type of learners error correction and focus on L2 morphemes are crucial in order to learn accurate syntax.
“Moreover, current theories of second language acquisition posit that Noticing is often crucial to L2 learning (Schmidt, 1990). Noticing refers to the process whereby the learners realize that a structure works differently in the L2 system compared to its L1 equivalent. This realization, which often marks the beginning of L2 acquisition, is not fostered by strong meaning-based methods like CLT. Explicit grammar instruction on the other hands promotes Noticing, especially when it presents students with bilingual input illustrating the usage of the target L2 structures.
“Thus, I believe that CLT and GT should be integrated within an eclectic syllabus with a variable focus where functions and notions are still prioritised over form.”
Read the full article here: https://gianfrancoconti.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/grammar-translation-and-communicative-language-teaching-compared/
Source: The Language Gym
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Title: Templates for Curriculum Design
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From http://mmeblouwolff.weebly.com
Middle school French teacher Rebecca Blouwolff writes, “The way I see it, a good unit planning template keeps you honest. It ensures that you're really using backward planning (by making you pick your summative assessments early on in the process, before you write all your activities), that your vocabulary and grammar chunks have a communicative purpose connected to your Can-Dos, and that you're actually balancing the 5 Cs and the 3 modes and all that jazz. It's the way to make sure you're well-prepared and that you're going to achieve your goals by the end of the unit.” Here is a blog post in which she recommends three different templates to try out: http://mmeblouwolff.weebly.com/revolutionized-teaching/template-shopping-pick-yourself-a-winner
Source: My Revolution Française
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Title: Online Tool: Annotation Studio
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From http://hyperstudio.mit.edu/projects/annotation-studio/
Annotation Studio is an open source web application that engages students in close reading and textual interpretation. It integrates a powerful set of tools with an interface that makes using those tools intuitive for undergraduates. Building on students’ new media literacies, Annotation Studio develops traditional humanistic skills including close reading, persuasive writing, and critical thinking. Features of the initial Annotation Studio implementation, supported by an NEH Start-Up Grant, include aligned multi-media annotation of written texts, user-defined sharing of annotations, and grouping of annotations by self-defined tags to support interpretation and argument development. By enabling the user to tag texts using folksonomies rather than TEI, Annotation Studio allows students to act as “novice scholars,” discovering how literary texts can be opened up through the exploration of sources, influences, editions, and adaptations. In other words, Annotation Studio’s tools and workspaces help students hone skills used by professional humanists.
Access this tool and learn more about its use at http://www.annotationstudio.org/
Source: MIT
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Title: Apply Now for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program
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From http://www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program
The Gilman Scholarship Program aims to diversify the kinds of students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go by offering awards to U.S. undergraduates who might otherwise not participate due to financial constraints.
The Gilman Scholarship Program is open to U.S. citizen undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study and intern abroad programs worldwide.
The deadline to submit an application for Summer 2016 and Fall 2016/Academic Year 2016-2017 to study or intern abroad is March 1, 2016.
Learn more about the Gilman scholarship program at http://www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program
Source: IIE
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Title: Mingling Activity: Terry’s Trip
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From http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
Here is a mingling activity with scaffolding and multiple steps that could be adapted to any language: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/mingling-terry%E2%80%99s-trip
Source: British Council
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Title: Why Music Is a Universal Language
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From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2016/01/why_music_is_a_universal_language.html
When teaching about other cultures—especially in foreign language classes—music is often a key part of the curriculum. Jennifer Patterson, Founder and President of California Music Studios shares the reason why music is a critical component of understanding other people.
Read the article here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2016/01/why_music_is_a_universal_language.html
Source: Education Week
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Title: 4 Ideas for Getting Students to Use the Target Language
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Here are four quick ideas that you can use any time to get your novice learners dying to tell you something in their target language: http://senorhoward.com/blog/2016/01/12/motivating-students-target-language-use/
Source: Tuesday’s Tips for Staying in the Target Language
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Title: Blog Post: From Numbers to Descriptors
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From http://leesensei.edublogs.org
In last week’s Topic of the Week article, Nicole Naditz talks about some problems inherent in using a point-based system for grades. You may be wondering what alternatives can look like when it comes to what you actually put in your grade book. In a recent timely blog post, Colleen Lee-Hayes describes her evolving attempts to move her gradebook away from numbers. Read what she is doing and why here: http://leesensei.edublogs.org/2016/01/11/my-evolving-gradebook-from-numbers-to-descriptors/#.VpsDZPGaw68
Source: Language Sensei
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