ELLMA Fall Memo August 2024 - an overview of ELL-related required and recommended actions and ELLMA resources
Memo: Designated ELD Guidelines for Middle School ELLs, Spring 2024
Memo: Designated ELD Placement for Secondary ELLs with IEPs, Spring 2023
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Published monthly.
The ELLMA Newsletter providers teachers, leaders and community updates on the powerful work in our schools to support and uplift our Multilingual Learners. Each newsletter is organized
Current Newsletter
May 2024 Issue 10 - Celebrating our Multilingual Learners!
As we close out the 2023-24 school year, we want to take a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of our brilliant multilingual learners! We also want to thank OUSD educators - surely, the most passionate, committed, and talented in the state - for all that you do every day for our students and families. Read on to hear about and from some of OUSD's phenomenal scholars and educators.
Read more! See here for a parent-square link and here for a link to a PDF version .
Archives
April 2024 Issue 9 - Essential Practice in Focus: Whole Child
In this edition of our ELLMA newsletter we explore the ways we can address the whole child as we seek to provide a joyful and excellent education for our multilingual learners. Indeed, we know we must consider the strengths and needs in the areas of wellness, community, and socio-emotional learning. Leveraging family and community support and activating resources to address the unmet, non-academic needs that can hinder ELLs’ ability to thrive in school is an important part of what OUSD strives to do for all students.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
March 2024, Issue 8 - Essential Practice in Focus: Asset-Based Instruction (Newcomers)
In our March newsletter we are focusing on our essential practice of Asset-Based instruction, with a special spotlight on what this means in classrooms with many of our newcomer students. Asset-based instruction means lifting up students’ cultural and linguistic resources in the classroom and creating lessons that build on the expertise students bring from their homes and lived experiences to learning new content and language.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
February 2024, Issue 7 - Essential Practice in Focus: Asset-Based Instruction (Dual Language)
We focus this month on how Asset-based practices are coming alive across Dual Language classrooms. Read on to see our newest Dual Language school video series, learn about how Transitional Kindergarten teachers at Global leverage the assets their students’ bring and how a student at Lincoln uses his home language Mandarin as an asset in an English Language Acceleration Program (ELAP) classroom.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
January 2024, Issue 6 - Essential Practice in Focus: Data Driven Decisions
In order to make effective programmatic, placement, and instructional decisions for English Language Learners, we must regularly analyze the variety of evidence available to us about our students. This data can run the gamut of ELPAC scores to first language skills to performance on in-class writing and speaking tasks. The better we know our students as multi-faceted learners, the more we can hone the supports we provide them.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
December 2023, Issue 5 - Essential Practice in Focus: Integrated ELD
A guiding belief in ELLMA is that all teachers are teachers of language. And this is exactly what is at the heart of integrated ELD! Integrated ELD means planning lessons that include an eye on the language students need to both access the content and to write and speak about that content. Teachers across grade spans and disciplines in OUSD are embedding explicit language teaching into their lesson planning through exemplary integrated ELD practices.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
November 2023, Issue 4 - Essential Practice in Focus: Designated ELD
Getting our students to reclassify before middle or high school matters! The best way to get our students to reclassification is through robust high quality Integrated and Designated ELD! Integrated ELD is the language support and instruction that occurs alongside content instruction all day, every day, while Designated ELD is a protected time of day focused on language study. This month we will focus on Designated ELD and next month we will explore Integrated ELD.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
October 2023, Issue 3 - Essential Practice in Focus: Access and Rigor
In this October issue, we explore ways our educators are working to provide access for our language learners to meaningful and rigorous educational experiences, centered around our first Essential Practice for ELL Achievement: Access and Rigor. Learn about an instructional strategy to provide access to complex text and hear how ECCCO, an amazing summer internship program, provides access to our ELLs and newcomers.
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
September 2023, Issue 2 - Essential Practice in Focus: Access and Rigor
Welcome to our second ELLMA newsletter of the year. In this issue, we introduce our Five Essential Practices for ELL Achievement and share several resources and updates on the critical work to support our ELLs and Multilingual Learners. Don't miss the the ELLMA Spotlight highlighting how Korematsu TK/K teacher Maria Pirner creates a culture of safety, inclusion and belonging. We hope you enjoy and share with your colleagues!
Read more here (parent square link) or here!
August 2023, Issue 1- Welcome back, Summer Highlights, and Getting Started with d-ELD
Welcome to our second ELLMA newsletter of the year. In this issue, we introduce our Five Essential Practices for ELL Achievement and share several resources and updates on the critical work to support our ELLs and Multilingual Learners. Don't miss the the ELLMA Spotlight highlighting how Korematsu TK/K teacher Maria Pirner creates a culture of safety, inclusion and belonging. We hope you enjoy and share with your colleagues!
Read more here parent square link) or here!