2024 SCHEDULE

Presenter: Madeline Cohen, Symphony Space/All Write!

Certain forms of poetry, such as cinquains, 5W poems, Where I’m From, and others rely on specific parts of speech, vocabulary connected to the five senses, a very simple format, and repetition.  In this workshop, we will model lessons on parts of speech and vocabulary with creative writing.  Participants will see how this makes writing an original, effective, and satisfying poem virtually foolproof, regardless of the student’s level. The activities bring essential building blocks of English into the realm of personal expression and imagination, providing students with ownership of the concepts. In the groups, participants will experience this writing process and share their work. Handouts will include worksheets with instructions for each of the poetic forms.

Category: BE, ESL Literacy, ESOL, Family Literacy, HSE

Presenter: Marguerite Brown, York College Learning Center, CUNY, and Brooklyn Public Library

Participants visit the Game Room to play games themselves and learn about the benefits of games in the classroom from a small poster gallery.  Participants are encouraged to share their games and game ideas.  Games available in the Game Room include games and icebreakers such as Sets, the Ecosystem Game, Math-Tac-Toe, Silent Line-up, IZZI, etc.

Category: BE, ESL Literacy, ESOL, Family Literacy, HSE, Engagement

Presenters: Sabbin Akter and Sarah Siddiq, Queens Public Library

The session covers strategies, challenges, and highlights the use of instructional technology with adult learners. In addition, we consider how digital tools boost student engagement, and promote critical thinking skills. We will look at a few case study examples at Queens Public Library Adult Learning Program of successful implementation of technology in the classroom. The session will include interactive activities that adult education practitioners can apply in their programs. One example of an activity would be having the audience use Padlet to pinpoint on an interactive map their home country/city, write a description of their country, and post a picture or gif as well as a video of their country. The audience can then see and read each other's posts. The session advocates for a technology-integrated approach to adult language education, ensuring a more effective and tailored learning experience for the diverse adult learners' community in Queens.

Category: BE, ESL Literacy, ESOL, Family Literacy, HSE, Civics, Instructional Technology

Presenter: Alex Buckey, Brooklyn Public Library

Reading tests are difficult. Students have to quickly digest and analyze challenging, often context-free passages. Text scrambles help students quickly master new texts: by physically manipulating and reassembling out-of-order paragraphs from nonfiction passages, students gain fluency in the structural cues that help us parse meaning.  In this workshop, participants will practice un-scrambling texts from challenging tests like the SAT and LSAT, then revisiting these texts to analyze key concepts. They will leave with some text scrambles to use in the classroom, as well as ideas for adapting the technique to their classes’ needs.

Category: BE, HSE, ESOL (Advanced)

Presenter: Mary F. Carpenter, New York University

Students often question the value of what teachers have them do. What students do needs to have value to them.  Teachers need to be prepared to communicate how the activities contribute to their students’ ability to become more competent and confident. Students know what they did, but often not why. When students know why, they often become more invested in the activity. Samples of several debriefing statements will be shared and analyzed. An example following a lesson on subordinating conjunctions such as if, while, although, could be “Your ideas can be more expressive and clear when you present supporting evidence using subordinating  conjunctions.” Workshop participants will work in groups to share an activity or a concept used in their class to develop debriefing statements.

Category: BE, ESOL, ESOL Literacy, Civics

Presenter: Scott Salesses, GED Test Services

This workshop will provide educators with key information and updates regarding the GED testing program. Topics covered will include an overview of the GED test program, GED Manager training and tips, making sure your students are connected with your prep center via their ged.com account, GED Ready Official Practice Test and other important resources, tools, products and updates for educators and your students.

Category: HSE, High School Equivalency

Presenter: Jennifer Ault, Queensborough Community College

Do you have students who are afraid to make mistakes? Does this stop them from starting to write? In this workshop, participants learn about how writing in role can liberate students from their critical inner voices and allow them to express themselves more creatively and freely. To write in role, students assume a perspective other than their own, for example, as a politician, an executive, or as a character in a novel, and so on. This method can be used to develop ideas, practice specific grammar structures, and enhance learners' critical thinking skills. Participants explore how to create writing assignments that lead students to write in role and discuss ways to easily incorporate this tool in the classroom.

Category: BE, ESL Literacy, ESOL (Intermediate to Advanced)

Presenters: David Hellman, CUNY; Sam Seifnourian, CUNY; Valentina Michelotti, The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs

No, we’re not changing the name of the We Speak NYC series. But we are breaking new ground with a new episode called “One Home” about the climate crisis and what we can do to protect the environment. It’s a musical drama that asks the questions: Where is home and what can we do to sustain it? In this workshop, we introduce “One Home” and a content-rich Study Guide you can use to teach this consequential subject, and even sing about it.

Category: BE, ESOL, HSE, Civics

Presenter: Kate Gill, Riverside Language Program

This workshop highlights the use of inquiry strategies to promote active reading, discussion and critical thinking. Participants will examine both an illustration and text about a key incident in Rosa Parks’ life as described in her own words. First participants will look at the illustration and generate questions about it; then they will read the text, making connections and sharing perspectives about how the picture does and does not represent what happened according to the text. At the end, we will discuss how to use inquiry strategies to spark critical thinking and active reading in students at all levels.

Category: ESOL, Civics, Developing Critical Thinking Skills, Social Justice

Presenter: Paul Fraccalvieri and Linda A Pelc, The English Language Center, LaGuardia Community College CUNY

In this workshop presenters will show materials (stories and dialogues) and techniques that they have effectively used to teach beginners grammar and vocabulary through stories and dialogues that engage students in reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar and pronunciation.  The context of the stories and dialogues provides students with extensive language practice. The presenters will share their materials and techniques with participants.  Participants will also have the opportunity to create their own activities from stories and dialogues provided.

Category: ESOL (Beginning Levels)

Presenters: Nana-Afua Boyd and Monique Scrubb, Brooklyn Adult Learning Center, Office of Adult and Continuing Education, DOE

This workshop will address the benefits of utilizing technology to effectively instruct adult ESL learners. This session will include hands-on activities from three learning platforms, creating activities, and highlighting best practices for integrating technology. Interactive group discussions will be used to generate ideas to implement in crafting lessons.

Category: ESOL, Instructional Technology

Presenter: Cristina Morales, Bronx Community College Adult Education Program

Ratios are everywhere, hiding in plain sight. Many adults find them easy to deal with when baking or shopping, but may still be alarmed at the appearance of a fraction or decimal in an exam question. This workshop will focus on ratios written in different ways, including the language and vocabulary used to discuss them, with the goal of letting teachers who primarily focus on literacy feel more comfortable discussing math or science topics in their classrooms. It will include demonstrations and discussions of activities that teachers can use in their own classrooms with minimal equipment.

Category: BE, HSE, Math

Presenters: Amelia Hessling and Barry Nitzberg, Burlington English

Are you looking for more ways to incorporate fun into your lessons? Join us to learn about the many lessons and activities in Burlington English. We’ll explore lessons and activities that focus on timely events that occur throughout the program year, ways to promote active learning, and ideas for keeping students engaged and returning to class. Let’s make learning English FUN!

Category: ESL Literacy, ESOL, Family Literacy, Civics, Instructional Technology

Presenter: Lindsay Messoline, Collaborative Voices; Selina Josephs, 32BJ Training Fund

With so much to cover in an ABE class, it can be hard to make time for writing activities. Additionally, lack of access to quality education and societal and systemic issues have contributed to adult learners' negative perceptions around writing. It is our responsibility to address those issues and provide engaging activities that not only build their abilities in writing, but also their self-esteem! Discover creative and fun writing activities including, but not limited to, using inspirational and representative stories, photo descriptions, and a social media caption activity. In this workshop, participants will brainstorm and share ideas, answer reflection questions, share in small and large groups, and role-play to try new ideas.

Category: BE, ESOL, HSE

Presenter: Nina Rumi

There are not only linguistic but also psychological and cultural barriers for students in cross-cultural and multi-level ESOL classes. Engaging them into acting in short theatrical pieces helps students overcome these difficulties and start to speak English more confidently. In this workshop, the presenter will introduce scripts, which are based on works by well-known masters of English literature, explain how to use them in the multi-level class, show the advantages of this method, and ask the workshop attendees to try acting themselves! 

Category: ESOL (Beginner to Pre-Intermediate)

Presenter: Claire Lanini, New York Public Library

This civics-focused workshop will follow a historical thread of “taking a knee” in protest from Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, to more recent protests by Colin Kaepernick, and Black Lives Matter protesters in the summer of 2020. 

Connecting this topic to USCIS Citizenship Test question #55, “what are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?”, we will explore resources for ELL-friendly news (e.g. BreakingNewsEnglish); vocabulary for expressing opinions; and audio-visual resources to use as a basis for cloze listening activities (e.g. Demi Lovato Sings the National Anthem at Super Bowl LIV), photo analysis, and scaffolding class conversations around cultural diversity, equality, and discrimination. Participants will leave with ideas for individual, group and whole-class extension activities.

Category: ESOL, Civics

Presenter: Leah Clay-Youman, City University of New York

Teachers in adult literacy classrooms desperately need more quality, authentic beginning level reading material that reflects the lived experiences of our ESOL students. The solution is to create more texts that highlight the strengths and struggles of our learners! In this workshop participants will engage in several interactive pre-reading activities that introduce the language and content in a short new book. It is based on a true story of one English learner and how her class helped prepare her for an unexpected turn of events. Participants will have the opportunity to explore how they can facilitate the creation of other materials by and for their students.

Category: ESOL, ESOL Literacy (Beginner to Low Intermediate)

Presenters: Missy Watson, Associate Professor; Emily Bloodworth, Marcelis Elizabeth Campo, Anna-Kay Rose, Danny Katch, MA in Language and Literacy, City College of New York, CUNY

The goal to honor and invite students’ linguistic diversity in the classroom is commonly shared by teachers, yet many of us still struggle to develop classroom strategies that effectively achieve this goal. This workshop invites participants to develop ideas for applying to their own classrooms three central strategies for teaching toward linguistic diversity: 1) designing assignments and lessons that promote students drawing on their different languages, 2) treating “error” as opportunities for student-teacher negotiation rather than correction, and 3) providing opportunities for students to examine harmful perspectives on language that hamper more multilingual exchanges in the first place. Participants elect to join one of three discussion groups based on the three teaching strategies introduced.

Category: HSE, ABE, ESOL (Advanced)

Presenter: Nell Eckersley, Literacy Assistance Center

Are you looking for ways to engage your learners, develop digital skills on mobile devices, and strengthen language skills? This session will explore how GooseChaseEDU, a phone app scavenger hunt tool, can be used for all this and more. Participants will work in teams to complete a scavenger hunt, We will look at the scavenger hunt responses and what the experience was like for participants. We will learn how to develop scavenger hunt items in GooseChaseEDU and how to share and manage content that participants create. Come with your mobile phones ready to download the app!

Category: BE, ESOL, Family Literacy, Instructional Technology

Presenter: Greg Stultz, ProLiteracy/New Readers Press

In this workshop, New Readers Press Training Coordinator Greg Stultz will share key concepts for teaching a multi-level ESOL class. Next, he will introduce four series by author and teacher Ann Gianola, providing an overview of each and calling out features that support the key concepts discussed. Then, using a template, participants will work in teams to create a lesson plan using one of Ann's series. The session concludes with groups sharing/celebrating their ideas. Each workshop attendee will receive a free examination copy of one of Ann's books!

Category: ESOL (Beginner to Low Intermediate)

Four speakers will discuss successful strategies for learning from their own teaching experiences.  The strategies range from: successful programming at a Queens Library branch; to incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom; to understanding math data in a simple, clear, sense-making, and methodical way; to research for writing and clarity in writing.

"Successful Programming"

Speaker: Michelle Johnston, Library Literacy Center Manager at Elmhurst Adult Learning Center, Queens Public Library

"Using Slow Reveal Graphs"

Speaker: Timothy Berrigan, Adult Education Instructor at Brooklyn Public Library

"Writing Research Papers"

Speaker: Debra Brooks, Instructor at CUNY Language Immersion Program, Bronx Community College, CUNY 

"Using ChatGPT"

Speaker: Cynthia S. Wiseman, Professor of Academic Literacy & Linguistics at Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY