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00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 Welcome to Your Morning Boost, your daily leadership advice to help you lead your school community.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 Brought to you by AWB Education and sponsored by Grundmeyer Leader Services.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:14 Where together we are transforming education, one leader at a time.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 So good morning and welcome to Your Morning Boost.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:21 I'm your host today, Melissa Grinstead, and I am a lead ESOL contributor to
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 the work of AWB Education.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:29 Today, we are going to dive into a topic that is important to all teachers that
00:00:29 --> 00:00:33 I work with, and that is tell me about resources that are helpful for working
00:00:33 --> 00:00:34 with newcomer students.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:41 What can I tangibly go to and find great ideas, strategies, supports to help
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 my ELs when they're sitting in my classroom?
00:00:44 --> 00:00:48 So hopefully today I will be able to share with you a few tips and tricks that
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 will help you feel successful in getting your ELs to access your curriculum content.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:56 I know it can be super daunting for both the teachers and the students when
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 those language barriers exist.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:02 But thankfully, there's a ton of great resources out there that are available
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 to help bridge that gap. And hopefully, you'll hear about a new one today.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:09 We know that there's going to be a language barrier as our students are sitting
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 in our math or our science or our social studies classrooms.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:17 And so remember that these students have the cognitive ability to be able to
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 access these concepts, but we just have to sort of be creative in the way that
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 we can eliminate some of the linguistic barriers.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:29 One of my favorite sites to go to is Kohler in Colorado, and it is a fantastic website.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:35 It has tons of articles, tips, resources for any teacher who's working with ELs.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 There's a ton of information on there about strategies for differentiation.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:45 There's tips on cultural backgrounds. Really anything that you might be wondering
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 about ELs, you'll likely find something to support you on that website.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:53 I would also suggest accessing one of the many great blogs out there.
00:01:53 --> 00:01:57 For me in particular, I found some gems on Larry Ferlazzo's site.
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 But really, just dig around. There are so many great blogs that can support you.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:06 Another great resource that I like to tap into is both the ELPA21 and the WIDA
00:02:06 --> 00:02:13 websites. We are an ELPA21 state here in Iowa, but WIDA is also a widely used
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 consortium across many of the states.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:20 And they have some really great resources, particularly for helping understand
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 language acquisition frameworks, assessment.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 There are professional development opportunities on there as well,
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 which can be really invaluable. So I would encourage you to check both of those
00:02:29 --> 00:02:33 out to get some more learning around standards, assessment, things like that.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:37 When we're thinking specifically about content areas like math or science or
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 social studies, a really great resource that I've found, especially for our
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 learners who are more visual learners, which is most of our ELs,
00:02:44 --> 00:02:48 PebbleGo or its counterpart PebbleGo Next can be a game changer.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:54 So PebbleGo is geared a little more elementary, where PebbleGo Next has more
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 of that intermediate middle school feel.
00:02:56 --> 00:03:03 And they both offer tons of videos and interactive activities and text that
00:03:03 --> 00:03:08 is as academic rigor, but is linguistically more simple that can be read aloud.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:12 And these really help make some of those more complex concepts more understandable.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:17 Additionally, anytime that we can supplement those with any visuals or graphic
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 organizers, we can really work to transcend those language barriers and make
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 that content more accessible.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:27 Another great resource that I love to share, I actually just stumbled upon this one not too long ago.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 I get questions a lot about, okay, you keep talking about visuals.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 Every time we talk about English learners, I hear visuals, visuals, visuals.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 Where do I find good visuals? I don't have time to scour the internet looking
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 for the perfect visual. I get it.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 So one that I recently learned about is called The Noun Project,
00:03:43 --> 00:03:48 and it's a really fantastic resource for both icons and real pictures.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:52 You simply type in a topic and you will be presented. You can choose if you
00:03:52 --> 00:03:53 want an icon or a photograph.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:58 The photographs are real color. They're very detailed. There's tons of examples.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 Your icons are going to be more of those black and white sort of symbol type
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 images, and they're both super great.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 Of course, simply using Google Images can be helpful as well.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:11 It's just important to be mindful of copyright and choose images that are culturally sensitive.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 And the last resource that I'd love to share with you is Newzella.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:20 So Newzella can be super powerful, especially for our students who are later
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 elementary or into those secondary years.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 Newzella offers articles at different reading levels.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 You can adjust the Lexile level to meet the needs of your ELs.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:34 But it really makes it possible to provide students with information about whatever
00:04:34 --> 00:04:38 it is that you're covering in your content area in a differentiated way so that
00:04:38 --> 00:04:42 they can access it linguistically, but still understand those key concepts.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 Those articles are really great about providing just the right amount of challenge
00:04:45 --> 00:04:49 for students and helping them to really get the gist of those key concepts.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 Hopefully, at least one of those tools is new to you.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 I would encourage you to check them out. Remember that alongside that,
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 patience and empathy are going to be paramount as our students are working to
00:05:00 --> 00:05:05 access some of these really rigorous content concepts as they also navigate the language barrier.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:09 But remember to celebrate their progress no matter how small.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:13 Language acquisition is going to take time and just be supportive and patient
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 as you walk alongside your learners, as I know you all do.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 And that is your Morning Boost for today. We will talk with you again soon.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:23 Have a great day. You have been listening to your Morning Boost by AWB Education
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 in partnership with Grundmeyer Leader Services.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:31 You can find out more about our services by clicking on the links in the description.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:36 Remember, you are doing this vital job that only a few can do.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:40 So until next time, thank you for your service to your community.