7 Steps to a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom (All Levels) (Virtual)

In this session, presenters from Rice University will take an in-depth look into building the foundation for writing in the early childhood classroom. After an examination of how young children’s emergent writing moves from scribbles to conventional print, we’ll explore developmentally appropriate activities used to move children through their own zones of proximal development. Participants will gain numerous practical activities to use in their classrooms that will inspire students to write willingly, happily, and excitedly!  

Daily Actions for Implementing Effective Content-Based Instruction (3 hour session) (Secondary) (Virtual)

Content-based instruction is the foundation for building effective programs for emergent bilingual students that are implemented to fidelity. This engaging session will outline practical, high-leverage actions that provide intentional, content-based instruction for teachers of emergent bilingual students and the administrators that support them. This will be a 3-hour session presented by Carlene Thomas.

From Silent Partners to Leaders (Secondary) (Virtual)

If your school is like many, you may have noticed that often EBS graduate without a single American-born friends who doesn't know their language. The gap between "us" and "them" is often not crossed. EBs may participate in events but rarely lead them. It can be different. This PD will cover practical ways to get your EBs speaking in class,

make connections with American students, and learn to be leaders.

Writing Instructional Approaches for EB Learners (Secondary) (Virtual)

The purpose of this session is to explore different instructional approaches for teaching writing to varying levels of emergent bilingual students using Ellevation strategies. The various approaches embody the best instructional practices for promoting social interaction and cultural awareness. In order to increase academic achievement in writing for secondary emergent bilingual students, educational leaders should have practical knowledge about content delivery with language scaffolds and embed cultural awareness activities in writing to reflect the diverse school environment. Therefore, this session will provide a foundation for teachers of emergent bilingual students to foster and increase writing proficiency levels through linguistically accommodated academic writing instruction.

How to Enhance Academic Language Proficiency for LTELLs Across all Contents (Secondary) (Virtual)

The United States has a growing population of Emergent Bilingual students that are categorized as Long-term English Learners (LTELLs). Most define this population as students who have been unable to meet the reclassification criteria in their school’s EB program for over six years. The growing number of LTELLs is a cause for concern around the country because some research has even shown that around 50% of these students were born in the country but have not been able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. While there is not much research that focuses on the population, it is important to continue to work on finding ways to best support this subset of students. This session will focus on strategies that support students in moving beyond social language production in order to enhance their academic language proficiency. 

Developing Mathematical Understandings and Oral Language at the Same Time (Secondary) (Virtual)

The session will be focused on language and math scaffolding for Emergent Bilingual students in a mixed math classroom environment in middle and high school settings. Participants will engage in activities that focus on fostering authentic communication in math lessons.

The Equity & Literacy Connection in Dual Language Education: What is the Truth About Translanguage? (Secondary) (Virtual)

In this session, we will help dual language teachers get back to the why of dual language, its equity origins, and what it means for how we plan instruction today. Myths about translanguaging and its role in ensuring access to all three goals of dual language are confronted. Samples of how concrete and student-centered translanguaging pedagogical shifts in how we plan, support, and assess students to ensure student ownership of biliteracy and bilingualism goals will be shared, as well as examples of the look-for’s in student learning and transfer of learning across both languages.

Using Ellevation to Enhance Small Group Instruction (Secondary) 

Small group instruction can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. The benefits of effective small group instruction can be powerful in addressing the individual needs and maximizing student engagement.  Participants will experience using Ellevation to scaffold and support small group instruction and facilitate peer-to-peer group collaboration while building and acquiring academic language.

You are the Water: Adapting ELLevation Strategies to the Needs of Diverse Learners (Secondary) (Virtual)

ELLevation is a useful tool for educators.  It provides strategies that can easily be adapted at all levels, and outside of English language arts and ESL-specific sections.  We will highlight how the strategy “Opinion Continuum” has been steadily adapted in a World Geography classroom as student needs changed. We will also look at an advanced graphic organizer for AP Physics that was inspired by the “Description” graphic organizer.  The presenters will share the evolution of the Opinion Continuum organizer while giving participants an opportunity to brainstorm adapting it for their own content areas. Participants will also be asked to make justifications for added elements to the graphic organizer based on student needs. 

Getting Students to the Finish Line (Secondary) (Virtual)

The goal of high school is to create students college and career-ready. There is a great deal of focus on the beginning of that path yet little to no support to get to the finish. Are your students graduating and prepared for life after high school? This training covers vital steps that are often overlooked by ELLs, their families, and their educators. This training will share intentional steps you can take to improve your high school graduation, college, and career-ready rate.

Improving Reading Achievement by Assessing Oral Language Proficiency (K-8) (Virtual) (3 hour session)

Join Dr. Linda Cavasos and Dr. Alma Ortiz! This session will focus on oral language development as the foundation for literacy success. Review procedures for administering and scoring informal assessments in the native language and in English. Learn how to interpret assessment results to identify patterns of strengths and needs across languages. Assessments include measures of receptive and expressive skills in the social and academic language domains (e.g., analyses of conversation samples, personal narratives,  storytelling, dictation, and cloze procedures). Guidelines for interpreting language performance and for using oral language data to plan language and literacy instruction for emergent bilinguals.  This will be a 3-hour session.

Leveraging Equity, Oracy and Engagement to Accelerate Biliteracy (Secondary) (Virtual)

Did you know that oracy is essential for dual language students to develop phonics and phonemic awareness skills in both program languages? This session will help dual language teachers understand why oracy provides the necessary practice needed to decode words in two languages and how it accelerates biliteracy development. We will share sample strategies, watch them in action, and collaboratively apply new learning. 

Promoting Strategic Interaction among Emergent Bilinguals in CTE Classrooms (Secondary) (Virtual)

This workshop is for Career and Technology Education teachers of Emergent Bilinguals (EBs). Participants will learn a variety of strategies and activities that promote interaction among EBs. Maximizing interaction in the classroom is an important factor in the development of students’ oral skills.

The Connection Between the Stages of Language Acquisition and Culture Shock (Secondary) (Virtual)

The focus of this presentation is to walk through the stages of language acquisition and the stages of culture shock to find the connection between both. How can we be culturally responsive and lower the affective filter in order for students to progress linguistically? Classroom strategies will be presented that address students academic needs while creating a safe and welcoming learning environment. Reference information will be taken from Pathways to Greatness for ELL Newcomers by Michelle L. Yzquierdo. 

Improving Reading and Social Studies Learning Among Secondary Emergent Bilinguals and Thier Peers (Secondary) (Virtual)

Despite their significant potential, many emergent bilinguals have difficulty meeting grade level expectations in reading and content-area classes. The presenter will share findings from ongoing research showing the positive impact evidence-based practices can have for secondary English learners and their monolingual peers. Recommendations for teachers and school leaders looking to move the needle for secondary English learners will be discussed.

Reigniting Cross-Linguistic-Connection: How to Plan the Stems that Make Cross-Linguistic-Connections so Powerful (Secondary) (Virtual)

In this session, we will help dual language teachers get back to the why of cross-linguistic connections and what it means for the steps that must be planned for today. We will use sample strategies to explain the key steps that must be included in all cross-linguistic connections for them to stick. We will also model the steps for how to plan for cross-linguistic connections that accelerate students’ transfer of knowledge and abilities in their two languages. We will show lots of visuals and models to help participants create their own anchor charts and samples that focus on these power moves. This is appropriate for all program models.