7 Steps to a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom
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!
Anchoring Mathematical Discourse through Interactive Anchor Charts
The presentation would focus on providing and modeling an example of an interactive anchor chart, turn and learn, and sentence stems that supports language directly from a Eureka lesson. Time would then be given to educators to internalize a Eureka lesson in a group and work together to develop a purposeful and curriculum-aligned anchor chart, turn and learn, and sentence stems support for that lesson.
Art & Books - A Match Made in Heaven for Wellness Growth
Now more than ever, the arts are essential to promote creative skills and critical thinking, and growth in students’ social-emotional learning. How can we include art-focused activities within lessons in the short time that we have with our students? Come to this session to receive tips and tricks from a former special education teacher and now a librarian.
Bringing Words to Life: Vocabulary Beyond Definitions
Stuck in a rut with vocabulary? Looking for new ways to engage your students in lasting word-meaning instruction? Well-planned vocabulary activities can lead to the true internalization of words, their use, and their meanings. In this presentation, participants will engage in vocabulary activities that can be embedded into CKLA instruction. They will then select an upcoming lesson of their own and try out a new activity with their peers!
Building a Classroom Community Through Cooperative Learning Engaging Vocabulary Strategies
This presentation will focus on engaging strategies that can be used in a classroom to promote cooperative learning amongst our EB students. We will be sharing activities that will encourage our students to build their academic conversations, reading skills, and writing skills. In order for a student to be successful in class, they will need to be comfortable enough to truly express their learning and thinking process without focusing on if their answers or responses are right or wrong. Research shows that a cooperative learning environment increases EB students' participation and self-esteem.
Building Better Writers
Participants in this session will have an opportunity to gain insight into the unique needs of emergent bilingual writers by obtaining information from the book, "Building Better Writers" by Natalia Heckman. The author addresses practical strategies to address these needs. We will dissect the book to learn about instruction at the sentence level, instruction at the paragraph level, and instruction at the composition level. Finally, participants will leave with acquired knowledge of 60 different activities they can use in their classrooms.
Building Science Language
Words. Words. Words. Students struggle to understand the meaning and make connections with the words in the Science context. In this session, we will transform vocabulary words into interactive teaching tools to help build vocabulary knowledge, which is crucial to students' academic success. This session will be hands-on, interactive, and collaborative to showcase effective vocabulary instruction to help bridge the gaps.
Closing the Gaps- Tips on how to maximize your RTI block.
Participants will learn different ideas on how to plan, structure and implement the RTI block in your classroom.
Crafting and Communication: Makerspace in the ELL Program
Students need various opportunities to practice communication and critical thinking when they are creating hands-on, worthwhile products. Enter maker spaces! Topics in this session will include samples, hands-on experiences with different stations currently in use, and how to start a maker space within your classroom and budget (yes, grants will be discussed)!
Creating Confident Writers in Pre-K Classroom
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!
Cross-Curricular Teaching with Dual Language
Our presentation's focus will be on how to implement cross-curricular content to support student learning in reading, math, science, and social studies. Ms. Galindo and I are both teaching partners and have experience in planning activities, questions, visuals, and anchor charts to best support ongoing learning in all subject areas. In this presentation, we will use second grade as an example but this collaboration can be implemented for any grade level. Being able to work hand in hand with your teaching partner is essential and during this presentation, we will give examples on how to effectively practice that in the classroom. Examples will include ideas on how to expose the students to both content and language-supporting strategies such as gestures, visuals, sentence stems, and vocabulary to promote ongoing learning.
Cross-Linguistic Connections: Going Beyond the Cognates
During this session, participants will learn about multiple ways to create Cross- Linguistic Connections using the Sound-Spelling Transfer Kit. They will also learn other additional resources to use Explicit Instruction to teach OWDL EBs how to connect the Spanish and English languages.
Examples of strategies and resources will be shared.
Differentiating the 5E's for EBs
We learn in many different ways and through many different modalities and sources. Teachers have always been aware of these learning differences and have tried to accommodate and individualize learning to fit students’ needs. At times, this task of differentiating can feel overwhelming and insurmountable in terms of how to address each child’s need separately or mistakenly through defined learning styles. Come and Learn how to tweak your lessons for more student ownership in the 5E's for Emergent Bilinguals.
Engaging Vocabulary Strategies
In this presentation, we will discuss how vocabulary is implemented when connecting background knowledge. Background knowledge is a critical component not just for us reading/writing teachers, but across all subject areas and being familiar with the vocabulary is essential for students to master their learning objectives. Through various hands-on activities, we will demonstrate and collaborate with teachers on effective strategies implemented that our EB students enjoy using and help them succeed. Research shows in order for students to comprehend and connect they must be presented vocabulary, not in the textbook as traditional or writing it down in a notebook, but rather include multiple opportunities of practice where students are allowed to hear, speak, read, and write.
Effective Questioning within a CKLA Lesson
Questions and questioning are present throughout the CKLA curriculum, however, are we using these questions effectively? Participants will have the opportunity to explore CKLA lessons and the questions contained within them. Modeling of effective questioning strategies and scaffolding for EBs will be provided. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to plan and practice with a lesson of their own!
The Equity & Literacy Connection in Dual Language Education: What is the Truth About Translanguaging?
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.
Explorando nuestras raíces lingüísticas ¡El español y el inglés tienen más cosas en común de lo que pensamos!
Uno de nuestros principales objetivos como educadores bilingües es fomentar el desarrollo de la capacidad de análisis de nuestros estudiantes a la hora de aprender español e inglés para así desarrollar su capacidad de aplicar su conocimiento en situaciones del mundo real. Durante este taller práctico, repasaremos la historia del español y del inglés, y compararemos y contrastaremos los elementos que comparten. Además, utilizaremos estrategias prácticas para implementar en el aula que nos permitirán poner en práctica conceptos de lingüística aplicada (competencia metalingüística).
Fomentando el pensamiento creativo en la educación bilingüe: técnicas para maestros
Durante la presentación se explorará el concepto de pensamiento creativo, su importancia en la educación y cómo puede ser estimulado en los estudiantes bilingües. Se proporcionarán técnicas y estrategias específicas que los maestros pueden utilizar para fomentar el pensamiento creativo en el aula, con ejemplos de actividades prácticas y efectivas.
La presentación está dirigida a maestros de educación bilingüe que buscan mejorar su enfoque pedagógico y aprovechar al máximo el potencial creativo de sus estudiantes. Al finalizar la presentación, los asistentes tendrán una mejor comprensión del pensamiento creativo y cómo integrarlo en su enseñanza diaria en el aula bilingüe.
Frog Street's Music and Movement
This upbeat course shows educators how to create meaningful and pleasurable music and movement experiences for children. Studies show that children can learn concepts, such as patterns, rhymes, shapes, and vocabulary, through music. The combination of music and movement enhances a child’s physical and cognitive development.
From Struggle to Success: Language Strategies for Emergent Bilinguals
Research suggests students who are appropriately challenged tend to be more engaged and are more likely to be successful in their learning. Creating a classroom environment that promotes student engagement can facilitate language acquisition in EBs. including in Speaking, listening, and reading skills. Teachers will have the opportunity to walk away with instructional ideas to implement immediately in the classroom and 2 books to support the implementation of language strategies in the classroom.
Guiding Students to Construct Quality Written Responses to Open-Ended Questions Across
Writing is an instrument of thinking that allows students to express their thoughts and helps them understand and share their perceptions of the world around them. If students are to be successful in school, at work, and in their personal lives, they must learn to write. Teachers can give students power in their world by teaching them to write and to write well. In this session, teachers will explore different strategies to promote writing in their classrooms, such as: Responding with RACE, Mix and Match with Constructed Responses & Writing Windows.
Improving Reading Achievement by Assessing Oral Language Proficiency (K-8) 3-hour Virtual
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.
Increasing Student Ownership with NearPod
This beginner-friendly presentation will focus on using basic NearPod functions to generate interactive opportunities for students to collaborate. We will address how students can practice listening, speaking, and writing skills during content-specific lessons. Although math content will be used in the presentation, the skills and knowledge gained in this presentation can be used across content areas!
Internalizing English Language Development through PVR with CKLA
A great strategy to connect English and Spanish is through PVR: Preview, View, Review. Teachers will have the opportunity to internalize a lesson and learn how to use the PVR strategy for English Language Development in a CKLA lesson.
Inspiring Authentic Writing Through the Use of Writing Baskets
Join presenters from Rice University. Do you want to cultivate the love of writing in young learners while honoring their voices, nurturing their interests, AND supporting curriculum units? Come and learn how to create and implement writing baskets in your classroom. You will leave this session with a writing basket to use immediately in your classroom.
Introduction to Fortify Output
Multilingual learners benefit from expressing themselves in low-anxiety academic settings. These opportunities help strengthen their output or the language they produce through speaking and writing. Learn why a classroom culture that fosters meaningful output is so important for multilingual learners.
Fomentando el pensamiento creativo en la educación bilingüe: técnicas para maestros
Durante la presentación se explorará el concepto de pensamiento creativo, su importancia en la educación y cómo puede ser estimulado en los estudiantes bilingües. Se proporcionarán técnicas y estrategias específicas que los maestros pueden utilizar para fomentar el pensamiento creativo en el aula, con ejemplos de actividades prácticas y efectivas.
La presentación está dirigida a maestros de educación bilingüe que buscan mejorar su enfoque pedagógico y aprovechar al máximo el potencial creativo de sus estudiantes. Al finalizar la presentación, los asistentes tendrán una mejor comprensión del pensamiento creativo y cómo integrarlo en su enseñanza diaria en el aula bilingüe.
Fortify Student Output with Classroom Chatter
Multilingual learners are often quick to develop the ability to communicate socially but need explicit instruction to learn the academic structures of the language. Educators can provide multiple opportunities for students to strengthen their academic speaking proficiency and make classroom chatter purposeful in every class, every day.
Frog Street's Music and Movement
This upbeat course shows educators how to create meaningful and pleasurable music and movement experiences for children. Studies show that children can learn concepts, such as patterns, rhymes, shapes, and vocabulary, through music. The combination of music and movement enhances a child’s physical and cognitive development
From Struggle to Success: Language Strategies for Emergent Bilinguals
Research suggests students who are appropriately challenged tend to be more engaged and are more likely to be successful in their learning. Creating a classroom environment that promotes student engagement can facilitate language acquisition in EBs. including in Speaking, listening, and reading skills. Teachers will have the opportunity to walk away with instructional ideas to implement immediately in the classroom and 2 books to support the implementation of language strategies in the classroom.
Leveraging Equity, Oracy, and Engagement to Accelerate Biliteracy (Primary and Elementary) 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.
Literacy & Art for Young Students 2.0 (Primary and Elementary)
Come make art with me! Making connections between children’s books and hands-on experiences. Participants will use children’s books to build background and provide young learners with visual supports before making a piece of artwork. Participants will be taken through an art lesson that uses both English and Spanish children’s books.
Looking Closer at Writing Mini-Lessons Within Benchmark Writer's Workshop/Taller de escritor in a K-1 Classroom (3 hour session)
Provided by Benchmark, participants will review the instructional design of Benchmark Writer's Workshop resources. Teachers will review the importance of a writing environment to build community. Teachers will explore types of writing sessions and how they support students as they grow as writers.
Looking Closer at Writing Mini-Lessons Within Benchmark Writer's Workshop/Taller de escritor in a 2-5 Classroom3 hour session
Provided by Benchmark, participants will review the instructional design of Benchmark Writer's Workshop resources. Teachers will review the importance of a writing environment to build community. Teachers will explore types of writing sessions and how they support students as they grow as writers.
Making Every Moment Count in the Bilingual Classroom
This interactive session will focus on creating developmentally appropriate bilingual and dual-language classroom environments that support learning through play and community building. Practical research-based strategies for teaching skills through intentionally designed literacy learning centers will be shared.
Más allá de cat - mat - hat… Conciencia Fonológica en el salón Bilingüe/Lenguaje Dual (
La conciencia fonológica es muy importante para la lectura tanto en inglés como en español. Los participantes aprenderán diferentes estrategias para desarrollar la conciencia fonológica en sus estudiantes usando canciones y rimas tradicionales y originales en español.
Moving with Lead4ward
In this session, we will provide teachers with various lead4ward strategies to engage EB students in an academic setting. Teachers and EB students will benefit from building background knowledge, and discourse to comprehend, connect, and communicate effectively with peers.
Oracy in the Classroom: Creating Variety in Student Discourse
From setting expectations to supporting discourse in your class; this session aims to support you and provide more ideas to facilitate student discussions to support Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
Oral Language Development for EB's Across Content Areas
The objective of this session is to assist teachers in making academic language accessible in the classroom. Making content comprehensible and building academic language are key components to the academic success of our emergent bilingual students. When we understand their speaking proficiency levels, we can help them meet their language goals with activities geared specifically to their academic needs. Sources: Diverse Learner Flipbook by Seidlitz; Growing Language & Literacy by Honingsfeld.
Planting the Seeds to Meet Their Needs - Primary Session
Participants in this session will learn the best practices that will support student ownership and superior outcomes in classroom management. Participants will be provided with many strategies and procedures that will help them create a culturally and linguistically responsive environment to support emergent bilinguals in their journey toward biliteracy. From morning messages to daily routines and procedures to nursery rhymes and songs that will assist students in their cross-linguistic transfer, this presentation is a high-energy, engaging demonstration full of activities that will build knowledge and foundational skills across content areas.
Planting the SEED: Cultivating a classroom of Teaching and Learning with Scaffolded Lessons, TEKS, and DI so ALL students grow and flourish.
Join Ms. Dorito for this professional development session. Elementary school teachers will leave feeling equipped, inspired, and empowered to scaffold lessons effectively using the Texas State Standards (TEKS) while meeting the diverse needs of Multilingual Learners (MLs) and ALL students. With a repertoire of strategies, a renewed belief in their students, and a toolbox of foolproof instructional techniques, participants will embark on a transformative journey towards fostering inclusive and impactful learning experiences. That is, if you B.E.L.I.E.V.E.!
The Power of Total Physical Response (TPR) in the K - 2 Classrooms (Grades K-2)
Total Physical Response (TPR) uses physical movement to respond to vocal input in order to teach language or vocabulary topics. The method lowers stress levels in students and replicates how young children learn their first language. Participants will leave this session with ideas they can implement in their classroom in any subject. The techniques will help make content comprehensible.
Promoting Student Comprehension Using Story Baskets
What happens during and/or after the Read-Aloud? Have you ever wondered how you can promote your students’ understanding?
Engagement is key! Research suggests storytelling engages areas of the brain that process complex information, which supports the building of background knowledge.
Join us for some of the other non-traditional stories that we currently see in the PreK - K classrooms! In this session, teachers will receive ideas and some materials to start their own story baskets for the classroom where students can engage in storytelling, story extensions, and /or change the endings through story baskets.
Proudly Playing with Puppets for a Purpose - Literacy Strategies for EBs and More
This session will provide teachers with outside-of-the-box strategies to incorporate a built-in co-teacher (a friendly puppet) to support oracy and literacy development including phonological awareness and building background knowledge.
Research suggests puppets are useful tools in getting children's attention, providing support to act out various scenarios, and encouraging an endless imagination. Teachers will walk away with their puppets and book in hand.
Raising the Bar: Teaching EBs with Depth and Complexity Part A and Part B (3 hour GT Credit)
Who is the gifted multilingual learner? What are the characteristics of gifted multilingual children? This session will emphasize classroom instruction that encourages multilingual learners to exhibit in-depth, complex thinking while also increasing their achievement and proficiency in English. Participants will explore ways to combine the thinking model of Depth and Complexity with Sheltered Instruction in classroom instruction. Examples of activities that structure classroom interaction for multilingual learners to use academic vocabulary will be provided. These activities provide students opportunities to listen, speak, read, and write while at the same time thinking in in-depth, complex ways.
Reigniting Cross-Linguistic-Connection: How to Plan the Steps that Make Cross-Linguistic Connections So Powerful
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.
Say More About That !! Mathematical Discourse in the Eureka Classroom
Participants will be able to facilitate great conversations in this session. Teachers will provide students with opportunities to engage in mathematical argumentation and conceptual explanations improves students’ learning (Chapin, O’Connor, & Anderson, 2009).
The focus is that we will show best instructional practices to enhance student discourse in order to Help teachers evaluate misconceptions and help students to Reflect on their own understanding.
Participants will have hands-on experiences with ELLevation strategies and examine questioning strategies through group and partner work.
Small Bites - Small Group Instruction for EBs
This session will provide teachers with a variety of hands-on activities and resources that can be used to pre-plan or respond to students’ differentiated needs during small group instruction. Teachers will understand how to use these resources to build a strong foundation for phonological awareness, phonics and decoding, and more.
Small Moves: Big Gains: Examining Teacher Habits that Help Students to Talk More, Think more, and Achieve More
In this session, participants will acquire knowledge of high-yield strategies that benefit all types of learners. We will examine the text "Small Moves: Big Gains" by Nancy Motely, and learn the practical steps for turning the moves into automatic habits by showing how to do them, why they are significant, and possible variations. Participants will leave with a plethora of new knowledge and materials that will help them with implementation.
ST Math Puzzle Talk Foundations Grades K-2
Learn to engage students in rich mathematical discourse and creative problem-solving using ST Math. During this in-depth workshop, educators will experience a Puzzle Talk, explore Puzzle Talks at their grade level, and create a plan to integrate Puzzle Talks into their practice
ST Math Puzzle Talk Foundations Grades 3-5
Learn to engage students in rich mathematical discourse and creative problem-solving using ST Math. During this in-depth workshop, educators will experience a Puzzle Talk, explore Puzzle Talks at their grade level, and create a plan to integrate Puzzle Talks into their practice.
Structured Literacy Instruction For Emergent Bilinguals
During this session, participants will explore each of the components of Structured Literacy along with evidence-based strategies for lesson design and effective implementation. We will reference the work of Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan as we present the essential components of Structured Literacy; discuss special considerations for the implementation of Structured Literacy among emergent bilinguals; highlight cross-linguistic features for the development of second language and literacy skills.
La tecnología al servicio de educación bilingüe: Soluciones innovadoras para superar la brecha del idioma
En la actualidad, la educación bilingüe se ha convertido en un enfoque fundamental para garantizar una educación inclusiva y equitativa. Sin embargo, la brecha del idioma puede ser un gran obstáculo para muchos estudiantes, y es ahí donde la tecnología puede marcar una gran diferencia.
Desde el uso de aplicaciones móviles y juegos interactivos hasta la implementación de plataformas de aprendizaje en línea, la tecnología puede ser una herramienta poderosa para mejorar el aprendizaje de los estudiantes bilingües. En mi presentación, explicaré cómo estas soluciones innovadoras pueden ser personalizadas para cada estudiante, adaptándose a su nivel de comprensión y habilidades lingüísticas.
Además, hablaré sobre cómo la tecnología puede ayudar a los estudiantes a mejorar su comprensión auditiva y escrita en ambos idiomas, así como a fomentar la comunicación y la colaboración en el aula.
Thinking Aloud: Modeling the Thought Process for Our EB's
Comprehension plays a pivotal role in language development. As EBs grow in their reading fluency, we must also guide them through the thinking process of comprehension. Throughout this session, we will explore ways in which Think Alouds can be incorporated into CKLA and Eureka lessons in order to move beyond simply modeling the steps, to explaining the thinking behind them.
A Tisket, A Tasket: What's in a Story Basket
Do you want to bring your favorite children’s books to life? Come learn about story baskets and how to use them in a preschool, pre-K, kindergarten, or first grade classroom. Story baskets enhance narrative development and comprehension in your classroom. You will even make a story basket during the session to use immediately in your classroom.
¡Tilde o no tilde, esa es la cuestión! Aprendamos a usar la tilde de forma creativa y sin confusiones"
Algunos consideran que saber marcar el acento ortográfico o tilde es un verdadero arte; su uso modifica cómo se pronuncia una palabra e incluso su significado. A menudo nos centramos en memorizar las reglas. En este taller, revisaremos las actividades de conciencia fonológica que nos permiten comprender dónde se marca el acento ortográfico o tilde y su razón. Además, revisaremos los criterios para determinar cuándo utilizar y aplicar los conocimientos y estrategias adecuados (procedural knowledge).
Así pues, ¡aprendamos el arte de usar el acento ortográfico o tilde mediante estrategias que activan nuestras habilidades cognitivas y creativas!
Too much WEPA! Helping neurospicy students succeed in class. (Primary and Elementary)
How do you support your neurodivergent students in your classroom? Learn how to provide choices, opportunities and growth for our students through read-alouds and behaviorally supportive activities. We will share our toolbox of tips on how to support our neurodiverse students in an inclusive and culturally responsive classroom.
Total Participation Techniques
Do you have the same handful of students who are eager to answer your questions and participate in the classroom? How do we motivate ALL our students to think and be actively engaged? This session will provide teachers with a variety of engaging activities that will ensure student ownership.
Turning the Pages: Manga for Elementary
You may have heard of the word “manga” among elementary students, especially in recent years. But what is it exactly? Manga is generally used to describe comics that originated in Japan, and over time, due to cultural globalization, extended its reach all over the world. Manga allows students who are considered reluctant readers and who fall in the special populations' category to be immersed in reading. There are many levels to manga, especially what to consider when developing a collection geared toward elementary students. In this presentation, educators will be able to gather tips on how to get started with manga while creating engaging lessons focusing on writing and storytelling.
A Window Into Diverse Texts: Integrating Into All Content Areas
Are you desiring to find multicultural resources and literature to use for upcoming lessons, whether it be online or face-to-face? The focus will be on reaching special populations through a variety of books and resources. There will be a discussion on why it is necessary to have diverse literature and what attendees can do to implement the tips shared! Participants will receive materials.
Work Smarter not Harder: Using Benchmark to Teach SLA in the Social Studies Classroom
It is no secret that there are never enough minutes in the instructional day. In this workshop, participants will learn how to explicitly teach SLA using Benchmark resources in the Social Studies classroom. There will be an emphasis on scaffolding questions and instruction around Spanish Language Arts standards utilizing texts within Benchmark that align with Social Studies TEKS. Specific opportunities will be provided for participants to look at question stems from STAAR (including the new item types introduced in 2023) and how to weave these opportunities into explicit instruction that provides multiple opportunities to teach for transfer in students' primary language as well as look at ways to bridge these practices into English.