The focus of this lesson is to provide an opportunity for children to develop oral language skills and to record their oral language to share with others.

There is great need to understand individuals' functional language abilities, not only in education but in commerce and public policy discussion. The aim is to quantify language use patterns, proficiency, and dominance in the two languages of bilinguals. The Bilingual Language Profile (BLP) is an instrument for assessing language dominance through self-reports that is concise, quick, and easy to use. The BLP is intended to produce a continuous dominance score and a general bilingual profile taking into account a variety of linguistic variables. The BLP is an open and free assessment tool for researchers, educators, and anyone with an interest in assessing language dominance.

Many people speak more than one language, like the narrator in this poem. How does being bilingual affect you?
These resources would be a good way to share different cultures and identities.

This version of the classic holiday story has been slightly abridged and lightly adapted for advanced students of English language. The text includes comprehension checks, discussion questions, and collaborative activities.

This is a great resource to help school leaders determine possible action steps for creating a more welcoming environment for EL parents at the school.

Students explore the idea of ńcrossing boundariesî through bilingual, spoken-word poetry, culminating in a poetry slam at school or in the community.

This video presentation shares the challenges and rewards of working as a Title 1 principal in a school that serves students with high-needs. You will get to understand the challenges and how they were addressed. It is very encouraging for principals and teachers.

This letter provides policy guidance that has been issued to provide recipients with information to assist them in meeting their obligations and to provide members of the public with information about their rights under the civil rights laws and implementing regulations that the Departments enforces.

This poem describes the differences that exist between two people.
Read the poem aloud and focus your attention on the way the author describes the differences between two people.

This website provides resources that provide the first steps in building a partnership with English language learners (ELLs) families. This is to make sure that they feel welcome at their child's school. This resource section includes ideas that all members of the school community can try!

This video presents a Classroom Close-up lesson that helps English learners develop their language skills in a meaningful way. English learners will be provided with an autobiography assignment that gives ELs the opportunity to research their family histories and hone in their writing and speaking while encouraging and building their confidence.

As part of their ELA coursework, students are reading an autobiography to study author's craft.  In particular, students are exploring how authors use dialogue, transitional phrases/clauses, and sensory details to tell a personal story. The unit will culminate with students writing their own memoirs. The bulk of the unit takes place in the ELA classroom. In the ESL support block, students will receive support with reading an autobiography of their choice, noting examples of author's craft in the autobiography, and integrating this craft into their own writing.

In this first lesson of the unit, students choose from two memoirs 15 on the Road to Freedom and the Big Lie. Students participate in a F2F mini-lesson in how dialogue can develop characters in an autobiography. Students then transition to technology for a book introduction with historical context and a chapter 1 book preview (guided reading). Students in 15 on the Road to Freedom then continue to receive support via Ed Puzzle for identifying dialogue and documenting in a graphic organizer, while students in The Big Lie meet with the teacher for the support. While students in The Big Lie transition to continue completing the graphic organizer independently, students in the 15 on the Road to Freedom meet with the teacher F2F to discuss their completed graphic organizers. Students then return to their autobiographies (written on google docs and organized in google classroom) to include additional dialogue in their stories and peer-review a partnerÅ› story. Students then participate in a full group F2F wrap up/reflection where they share out examples of dialogue their partner included in their writing as a result of the lesson.

Online Lesson for Books: Historical Context/Chapter 1 Intro/Graphic Organizer Support

15 on the Road to Freedom: Book Introduction, Chapter 1 Preview, and Support with Graphic Organizer Task
The Big Lie: Book Introduction, Chapter 1 Preview (Note that support with graphic organizer is given F2F for this group)

Graphic Organizers

I can identify how authors use dialogue to develop characters
I can identify precise language authors use to introduce dialogue
I can identify how authors use sensory details to develop experiences
I can identify how authors use transitional words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence shifts

Assignment Sheet

ELA Autobiography Assignment Sheet (Created by Julia Koli, Connie Ray, and Elliot Willis-Begley at Scarlett Middle School, Ann Arbor MI)

F2F Mini-Lesson #1

Mini-Lesson on Character Development Through Dialogue

Please email daughertye@aaps.k12.mi.us if you would like me to send you the additional resources I created for the remaining mini-lessons and book chapters!

This lesson plan will guide teachers on the fundamental areas for content and language teaching. For new teachers, I would suggest using the WIDA ELD Framework to help guide them in the process.

This sample lesson plan will allow for content area teachers to be able to write lessons that will meet the needs of English learners.

This project discusses what an English Language Learner is and the challenges they face in English education. This project also discusses the misplacement of ELL students in SPED classes and why they are incorrectly classified as such.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released joint guidance on January 7, 2015, reminding states, school districts, and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English Learners (ELs) have equal access to high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. In this context, the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) at the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is pleased to provide the English Learner (EL) Tool Kit, a companion to the OCR’s and DOJ’s “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL). The tool kit is designed to help state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) in meeting their legal obligations to ELs and in providing all ELs with the support needed to attain English language proficiency while meeting college- and career-readiness standards. The EL Tool Kit is intended primarily for state, district, and school administrators, as well as teachers, but may also inform other stakeholders concerned with the education of ELs (U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition. (2016). English Learner Tool Kit (Rev. ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Formulating, organizing, and presenting ideas clearly in writing. Reviews basic principles of rhetoric. Focuses on development of a topic, thesis, choice of appropriate vocabulary, and sentence structure to achieve purpose. Develops idiomatic prose style. Gives attention to grammar and vocabulary usage. Special focus on strengthening skills of bilingual students. Successful completion satisfies Phase I of the Writing Requirement. The purpose of this course is to develop your writing skills so that you can feel confident writing the essays, term papers, reports, and exams you will have to produce during your career here at MIT. We will read and analyze samples of expository writing, do some work on vocabulary development, and concentrate on developing your ability to write clear, accurate, sophisticated prose. We will also deal with the grammar and mechanical problems you may have trouble with.

Students will explore five different "Discovery Buckets". These buckets will give them opportunities to practice expressing both their thoughts and feelings. Main Curriculum Tie: English Language Arts Kindergarten Speaking and Listening Standard 6, Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly. We recognize that an increased ability to communicate thoughts and feelings gives children the skills they need in their interactions with others. Acceptance by peers is not only correlated with positive attitudes toward school; it is a powerful predictor of social adjustment throughout life. This lesson helps children understand their emotions and how to appropriately express thoughts and feelings with others.

This book contains 10 easy picture stories for beginning students of English. The stories have a Lexile level of 100L-500L and address common home and school situations. Each story includes images, self-correcting comprehension exercises, and a conversation prompt.

Follow an Iraqi refugee and learn how his experience in an inclusive charter school has helped his English language skills, in this video from NOVA: School of the Future. In 2013, high schooler Murtada Mahmood arrived in Massachusetts from Iraq speaking only broken English. Because he was placed in a class for English learners (ELs) and separated from the school’s student body, his language skills suffered. After switching to KIPP Academy in Lynn, where ELs are included in regular classes, Mahmood’s self-image improved. As his English skills developed, he raised his expectations for what he could accomplish. This resource is part of the NOVA: School of the Future Collection.