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"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." 

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"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." 

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I think that this would be an important poster to have in a classroom, especially one filled with many emerging bilingual students. It shows that all students in the classroom are saying the same thing in their own language. I think it would be important for them to create their own reflection on what the quote means to them in order for them to grow in their empathy with their classmates.

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Starting on Page 34, Congress outlines the special educational needs for the Emerging Bilingual and English Language Learning population. Here, they also outline the funding for the national program and the requirements for each aspect of each local program. It is important to have this resource here because it outlines the recognition for the special population at a national level. It also helps teachers realize that this is a recognition across the nation, not just in their classroom or school.

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Senate Bill 560 - Emergent Bilingual Strategic Plan 

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Senate Bill 560 - Emergent Bilingual Strategic Plan 

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The Bill outlines the plan for how the state of Texas wants each school district to carry out bilingual education. It is important to have this resource in this tool kit because there are strategies as to how professional development and bilingual education should be carried out through each role in a school, specifically at the administrative and teacher levels. It is also important to have this resource here as a reminder as to how bilingual education is a direct relationship to the growth in graduation rates for the bilingual education in the state of Texas. It is a strong reminder as to how teachers can influence an emerging bilingual into continuing their education, and therefore keeps a teacher persevering through hard times during their career.

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This lesson plan outline provides teachers a resource for explicit instruction on teaching students empathy, which is one of the hardest qualities for people to learn. When implementing this lesson early in a student's academic career, it allows the students to have the most amount of time to grow in empathy for their classmates. This resource will serve students past a classroom full with emerging bilinguals and shape them into people who will enhance all aspects of the world.

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Activities will help students:

understand empathy

identify ways to be more understanding toward others

What does it mean to put yourself in someone else's shoes?

What kinds of behaviors show that you understand someone's feelings?

Vocabulary

empathy [em- puh-thee] (noun) the understanding of or the ability to identify with another person's feelings or experiences

Overview

When we put ourselves in another person's shoes, we are often more sensitive to what that person is experiencing and are less likely to tease or bully them. By explicitly teaching students to be more conscious of other people's feelings, we can create a more accepting and respectful school community.

Activities

1. Sometimes the look on our faces can show how we're feeling. Look at the four different types of smiley faces. Which feeling(s) do you think each face shows? ( Note: Help students reach consensus, for example, happy, sad, proud, angry.)

2. ( Note: Read aloud How Would You Feel?) For each story, choose the smiley face that shows how you would feel if the story happened to you, and place the smiley on the line provided.

Discuss each story with your class:

Finn thinks Jacob is bragging, but if he stopped to think about how he might feel in Jacob's situation, what might he realize about how Jacob is feeling? When we try to understand other people's feelings, we're putting ourselves in that person's shoes. If Finn was really listening to Jacob, he might have better understood that Jacob is proud to have gotten his first A+ after having studied all weekend.

Durrell thinks that Mike is being mean to him, but if Durrell put himself in Mike's place, what might he realize? If you got into trouble for something a friend did, you might be angry. The same is probably true for Durrell.

Does Tina show Suri any understanding? What might have been a better way to talk to Suri? If Tina had thought about how she would feel if her best friend had moved, maybe she would have realized that Suri was feeling sad and she would have treated her more nicely.

Valerie gets annoyed with Meegan because she is acting silly. If Valerie had thought about how Meegan might be feeling about her trip, she might have realized what was causing Meegan's "weird" behavior. Why do you think Meegan was acting that way? Would you be happy and excited if you were the one going on vacation?

5. Now choose a partner and pick your favorite of the four stories you just read. Rewrite the story so that it illustrates being understanding of someone else's feelings (e.g., if you're rewriting story #1, you will change how Finn acts so that he is showing understanding toward Jacob). You may write the story in any format you wish (e.g., comic strip, skit script, short story).

6. Share your rewrites with the class.

Extension Activity

Thinking about your story, make a poster that shows how to be more understanding. Hang the posters around school to teach others about being understanding of other people's feelings.

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This lesson explicitly teaches students to be more conscious of other people's feelings to create a more accepting and respectful school community.

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In order to have effective communication, coherent sentences are more than vital. Coherent, simple sentences allow for people of all language levels to have understanding within a conversation. This graphic provides a visual representation of sentence structure in order to have clear understanding sentences for effective communication.

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This graphic differentiates between the two bilingual and ESL programs for emerging bilinguals in Conroe ISD. This would be important for a teacher to have as an on-hand resource to have for parents who have struggling, emerging bilingual children in their class. Teachers need to advocate for their students and their specific needs in order for them to have the most impact in their education.

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Grammar is one of the elements within the sentence structure of English in order to have effective communication. Grammar is more than punctuation. Grammar allows you to convey both precise and accurate language in communication. You can have the same words in one sentence, but grammar can be one of the elements that change the entire meaning of the sentence. When you have grammar as fundamental knowledge, you are able to communicate better to people of all language levels.

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Master English grammar with Dave's ESL Cafe's Grammar section. Our comprehensive resources aid educators and students in understanding complex grammar rules. Enhance your language skills, making teaching and learning English more effective and enjoyable

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This document provides teachers success criteria for emerging bilinguals students to not only meet, but also exceed. In my opinion, teachers should use this criteria and provide documentation that justifies a teacher's claim on a student's language proficiency based on the criteria.

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Supporting Immigrant Students and Families

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Supporting Immigrant Students and Families

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This resource provides teachers explicit ways that teachers can support immigrant families. It is important for teachers to utilize this resource because immigrant families and emergent bilingual families need help past what teachers might see as the minimum.

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Key Strategies

1. Help families keep their emergency contact information updated. This step can make the difference in whether a child goes home with a known caregiver if a family member is detained. Remind all families to update their contact information regularly.

2. Ensure all staff understand immigrant students' rights. All K-12 staff have an obligation to protect students' privacy and civil rights, as well as their access to an education, regardless of immigration status. This is critical for staff working in the front office and on enrollment.

3. Let all students and families know that they are welcome. A welcoming environment that celebrates students' cultures and encourages family leadership creates a strong foundation for relationships, as well as for identifying and addressing challenges.

4. Create different channels for communication in families' languages. Schools must communicate in families' preferred language. Identifying families' preferred means of contact can also help schools communicate more effectively and efficiently.

5. Become familiar with relevant immigration policies so that you can answer questions. This may include "sensitive locations guidance" (which directs immigration enforcement to avoid activity in certain public spaces like schools and early childhood centers), district policies on immigration enforcement, discipline policies, and other related program/local/state policies. Ideally, all staff should understand these policies and protocols.

6. Connect families with resources and provide opportunities for them to ask questions. It is critical to hear from your families about their questions and concerns before determining what kind of support will be most useful. At that point, educators, schools, and/or districts can identify which resources will be appropriate to share in ways that follow district guidelines.

7. Reach out to community organizations that represent and serve your families. Community partners can provide valuable support and insight regarding immigrant families - as well as volunteers! They can be especially helpful on issues related to meeting students' basic needs and connecting families to legal resources.

8. Learn how stress, anxiety, and trauma impact students of all ages. The impacts of these stressors will vary based on students' ages. Learn how different kinds of stressors affect students in your age group; become familiar with age-appropriate forms of self-expression and social-emotional support; and take steps to prevent and address bullying.

9. Learn more about the ways immigration issues impact students. Immigration policies affect students in complex ways that students may not discuss openly. Learn more about the immigration issues that may impact your students and families, and how to extend that conversation to your school, program, or community.

10. Provide opportunities for staff to collaborate, debrief, and recharge. Collaboration gives staff the chance to draw upon different perspectives and expertise - which leads to more effective support for students and families. In addition, providing social-emotional support for staff working on challenging issues (or who are impacted by those issues themselves) can help the team sustain their work throughout the year.

You are welcome to print copies or republish materials for non-commercial use as long as credit is given to Colorín Colorado and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact [email protected] .

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Ten Strategies for Supporting Immigrant Students and Families

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Help families keep their emergency contact information updated. This step can make the difference in whether a child goes home with a known caregiver if a family member is detained. Remind all families to update their contact information regularly. Ensure all staff understand immigrant students' rights.

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This document is a resource for teachers that outline the barriers when it comes to engaging families of English Language Learners. I think it would be important to have this resource on hand because it even though it does outline the barriers, it will also allow teachers to think of how they can combat the barriers they are seeing in their classroom.