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Sorry, you have been blocked from accessing Edublogs. If you feel this was done in error please contact support@edublogs.org and include the information shown below. Public IP: 64.225.10.23 Ray ID: 96b7b2f56d065668

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edWeb webinar: Engaging MLs Across Content Areas

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edWeb webinar: Engaging MLs Across Content Areas

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Engaging Multilingual Learners Across Content Areas: Authentic and Meaningful Practices - edWeb

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This edWebinar will showcase creative strategies that give MLs multiple points of access to content, highlight translanguaging practices, and share tools you can put into practice right away.

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Creating Inclusive Classrooms (MABE Michigan)

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Creating Inclusive Classrooms (MABE Michigan)

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S2 E9 Dr  Denise Furlong on Creating Inclusive Classrooms

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Find Purpose and Practicality in Your First Years Teaching

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Padlet in a padlet! Books with diverse representation

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Padlet in a padlet! Books with diverse representation

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Inclusive Teaching Practices that Keep Learners First

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Inclusive Teaching Practices that Keep Learners First

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S3 - Teaching Ideas - Inclusive Teaching Practices that Keep Learners First

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One of The Educator Collaborative’s Fall 2025 K-12 Literacy Conference live streaming session.This session’s Padlet: https://padlet.com/drdenisemfurlong/lear…

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NJEA Review: A Climate of Support for our Newest Colleagues

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NJEA Review: A Climate of Support for our Newest Colleagues

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NJEA Review: A Climate of Support for our Newest Colleagues

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NJEA Review: A Climate of Support for our Newest Colleagues

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NJEA Review: Furlong & Orange-Jones Oct 2025

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Challenging our Perspectives: How to Empower Newcomers and Ourselves as Educators w/Dr. Denise Furlong - RBERNing Questions

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***For CTLE credit, click here***Episode Summary:This episode’s featured guest, Dr. Denise Furlong, shares insights from her award-winning book ‘Voices of Newcomers.’ We dive deep into the concepts and practical strategies in the book, which aims…

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Reading is a complex process. For a child to be able to read proficiently, they must master five key components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These "Big Five," as defined by the National Reading Panel, provide a comprehensive picture of what literacy means. Teachers can use the Big 5 to inform their instructional practices and identify areas in which students are proficient and where they may need more help.

While we must always remember that a student is more than a test score, assessments can be powerful tools to track progress and tailor teaching strategies to meet each student's individual needs. Let's explore how to assess student's progress in the Big 5 components of literacy.

How Do I Assess the Big 5 Components of Reading?

To understand where students need additional support, you'll want to get a sense of how they're performing in the Big 5 areas. We recommend using a universal screener and then drilling down from there. You can use our Assessment Flow Chart to figure out how your assessments can pinpoint just what your students need. From there you can put the data you've gathered into use in your small group instructional time.

Fluency

Fluency is how well a child reads and understands the content of what they're reading. Fluency is important to assess because there is a strong correlation between fluency and comprehension. Once a child is no longer focusing on reading the text, they can devote all of their attention on understanding the text.

You can use our Fluency Assessment to calculate a student's oral reading fluency score to get a picture of how they're reading compared to grade-level national norms. We recommend using trackers to monitor accuracy and WPM (words per minute) over time.

See it in Action!

Watch as these teachers guide their students in a fluency assessment. See how they explain what fluency is and what the children are expected to do? This communicates expectations and helps children better understand what they're about to do.

Comprehension

There are many ways to assess comprehension. One simple way to assess comprehension is by asking students to retell what they read and/or asking a couple of questions and scoring their responses using our Retell Rubric . Maximize time by using the same passage you used for the fluency assessment.

Phonics

You may find some of your students are having trouble reading fluently and understanding the text. Now you can use the Assessment Flow Chart to meet students where they are and scaffold what they need to fill in the gaps.

Phonics refers to the knowledge and ability to use letter-sound relationships to read and spell words. The data you get from phonics assessments can help you pinpoint specific skills students need more support with. Good phonics instruction helps students read decodable words - a vital aspect of fluency. Start by giving students a Phonics Survey that includes a list of real and nonsense words. If a student struggles with individual words, drill down more to understand a student's knowledge of letter sounds as this corresponds to a child's ability to read words.
Protip: When you sense a student getting frustrated, take a break! Praise them on their efforts and use it as an opportunity to make a shift and assess a student's understanding of letter-sound correspondence.
Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to detect, identify, and manipulate large and small parts of spoken language. Phonemic awareness - or the ability to detect, identify, and manipulate phonemes in a spoken word - is one aspect of phonological awareness. If you have to drill down as far as phonological awareness with a student, we recommend you also check their alphabet knowledge, even though it's not technically a phonics or phonological awareness skill. Knowing the names of letters can make it easier for a child to match the letter-sound correspondence.
Protip: If a student comes to a letter they do not know, let them skip it, but note it on your recording sheet.
Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings - an integral part of comprehension. Even if students can decode a word, if they don't know what it means, they can't fully comprehend the text. Students must have both fluent word recognition skills and a robust vocabulary. Without intervention, a student's word gap grows larger and larger, making comprehension harder to achieve.

Check out our list of engaging vocabulary formative assessment ideas to incorporate in your classroom. Remember, readers can't comprehend texts without most of the words mean, which is why we must always build upon our student's vocabulary knowledge.

Ensuring Literacy for All Children

The absence of automatic word recognition or vocabulary can be detrimental to a child's future. You can drill down to create a comprehensive picture of each child's reading abilities and keep track of their progress. Knowing your students makes it possible for us as teachers to adapt our instructions to make each child a successful reader.

Want to learn more? Take our free, video-based course " Assessing Our Students " to learn more about how you can effectively meet children where they are.

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The 5 Critical Components of Reading and How to Assess Student Progress | Cox Campus

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Reading is a complex process. For a child to be able to read proficiently, they must master five key components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These "Big Five," as defined by the National Reading Panel, provide a comprehensive picture of what literacy means.

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What Is Neurodivergence?

Neurodivergence

Formerly considered a problem or abnormal, scientists have come to understand that neurodivergence can have many benefits. With this shift, practitioners are no longer treating neurodivergence as an illness. Instead, they are viewing them as different methods of learning and processing information.

This article defines neurodiversity and provides examples. It also teaches you how to find out if you're neurodivergent and describes what it's like to be neurodivergent.

Understanding Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity is the idea that it's normal and acceptable for people to have brains that function differently from one another. Rather than thinking there is something wrong or problematic when some people don't operate similarly to others, neurodiversity embraces all differences. The concept of neurodiversity recognizes that both brain function and behavioral traits are simply indicators of how diverse the human population is.

The term neurodiversity was coined by sociologist Judy Singer, who is autistic, in 1997. Neurodiversity can be broken down into two categories of people: those who are neurotypical and those who are neurodivergent.

Neurotypical

Neurotypical is a descriptor that refers to someone who has the brain functions, behaviors, and processing considered standard or typical.

Neurotypical people may have no idea they are because the subject has likely never come up for them before. These people usually hit all of their developmental and behavioral milestones at the same times and ages that are considered standard for most people.

Once grown, they generally move through life without having to wonder if their brains function in the same way as others do.

Neurodivergent

Neurodivergence is the term for people whose brains function differently in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical.

There are many different ways that neurodivergence manifests, ranging from very mild ways that most people would never notice to more obvious ways that lead to a person behaving differently than is standard in our society. We'll examine the most common types of neurodivergence and the ways they manifest ahead.

The History Of the Word 'Neurodivergent'

Like the umbrella term neurodiversity, the word neurodivergent was also coined by sociologist Judy Singer. While originally used to refer specifically to people who have autism, usage of the term has broadened significantly in years since.

Neurodivergence now refers to any structured, consistent way that brains work differently for a group of people than they do for the majority of others. Let's learn about the many different types of neurodivergence.

Types of Neurodivergence

Because the idea of neurodivergence has grown to encompass a range of consistent ways that some brains work differently than others, it shouldn't be surprising to learn that there are many different ways neurodivergence manifests.

You may not have heard of all the different types, but chances are you are familiar with some. These are the most common examples.

Autism is known as a "spectrum disorder" because cases range from mild to severe. It previously had many subtypes, such as Asperger's and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), but now they are all classified as an Autism Spectrum Disorder. ASD can affect someone's behavior and emotions.

Autism is a broad set of conditions that may include challenges with socializing and social skills, repetitive behaviors, and speech difficulties that can lead people to communicate only nonverbally.

Autistic people often display the following traits: great attention to detail, strong focus skills, creativity, and visual learning abilities.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an executive function dysregulation disorder, which means an individual may have difficulties with managing their thoughts, attention, behaviors, and emotions.

People with ADHD may have difficulty with organization, may be restless, might seem disinterested or zoned out, and may show innappropriate behavior when experiencing strong emotions.

Thanks to their out-of-the-box thinking, people with ADHD are often great problem solvers, may be energetic and "fun," and are often sensitive to others.

This form of neurodivergence involves speaking, reading, and writing. Dyslexia is typically associated with misreading, writing, or speaking words or letters out of order, but it encompasses more than that. For example, it may involve confusion with certain letters, difficulty organizing words into sentences, trouble acquiring a vocabulary or pronouncing words, and/or challenges following directions.

People with dyslexia are often big picture thinkers who excel at visual processing. In addition, they tend to have strong spatial awareness and may be very creative.

Other Types

Other types of neurodivergence include Tourette's, dyspraxia, synesthesia, dyscalculia, Down syndrome, epilepsy, and chronic mental health illnesses such as bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, and depression.

How to Know If You're Neurodivergent

If you have ever been diagnosed with any of the above conditions, then you would be considered neurodivergent. On the other hand, if you have never been formally diagnosed, but you resonate strongly with the descriptors for one or more types of neurodivergence, then you might benefit from seeking a professional to find out for sure.

If you have never been diagnosed with any of the above terms and you've never felt that you had any symptoms of them, then chances are you are neurotypical.

What Is It Like to Be Neurodivergent?

There is no one answer to what it's like to be neurodivergent. There isn't even an answer to what it's like to have any kind of specific neurodivergent diagnosis!

People are individual and unique; in the same way that it doesn't feel the same for all people to have bodies, it doesn't feel the same for all people with different neurodivergent diagnoses.

Life is experienced differently by all humans, whether their brains function very similarly to the majority of people, or very different.

Learn More About Neurodivergence

If you're interested in learning more about what it's like to be neurodivergent, there is plenty available on the subject!

Books

Books such as "Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's," "Thinking in Pictures," and "Funny, You Don't Look Autistic" are personal accounts of being neurodivergent.

Fictional books with neurodivergent main characters include "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine," "Flowers For Algernon," and "On the Edge of Gone."

Nonfiction books about neurodivergence and the future of neurodiversity include "NeuroTribes," "Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Other Brain Differences," and "Divergent Mind."

Podcasts

For those who prefer to listen to materials, there are podcasts on the topic. These include The Neurodiversity Podcast, Neurodiverging, and Sensory Matters.

Social Media Accounts

If you'd like to diversify your social media feed with neurodivergent voices and advocates, some top choices to follow are Neurodivergent Activist, Nurturing Neurodiversity, Paige Layle, and The Chronic Couple.

The Future Of Neurodivergence

As society shifts its understanding of how the brain operates, the way in which we treat those who are neurodivergent will also change. For example, there is much work that has been done to stop treating autism as an illness that must be cured.

Special education is making progress in this arena as well, with approaches becoming centered around how people with assorted neurodivergent tendencies learn best.

Advocacy for neurodiversity acceptance may have begun with autism and how it is managed, but it has grown to include the many different neurodivergent types. The more we accept and understand that it's quite common for brains to work differently, the more easily we can go about accommodating people in ways that work best for them to learn, function, and thrive in society.

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What Is Neurodivergence and What Does It Mean to Be Neurodivergent?

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Formerly considered a problem or abnormal, scientists have come to understand that neurodivergence can have many benefits. With this shift, practitioners are no longer treating neurodivergence as an illness. Instead, they are viewing them as different methods of learning and processing information. This article defines neurodiversity and provides examples.

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Literacy development is the process of learning words, sounds, and language. Children develop literacy skills in order to learn to read and write confidently and eventually improve their communication skills overall. The stages of literacy development that a child goes through can vary depending on the child's comprehension levels but generally include the same key concepts along the way. Understanding literacy development in children as an educator is key for helping children master these core skills that set them up for their education. With an understanding of literacy development and how to address each of the stages of literacy development, both educators and students alike will be set up for success in the classroom.

Why is Literacy Development Important?

As the pillars of language and reading skills, literacy development is a crucial time in a child's life. Educators need to understand why literacy development is so important in order to effectively help children within each stage of their early literacy development.

Here are just a few reasons early literacy development is important:

Children with confident reading abilities typically struggle less with their studies and have a confident approach to their education.

Strong literacy skills translate well into independent learning and encourage consistent growth in and out of the classroom.

Literacy development affects the way students communicate and problem solve. Those with strong literacy skills usually have improved cognitive ability.

The Five Stages of Literacy Development

As a child grows older and demonstrates the key stages of literacy development they will improve their reading and writing ability. The five stages of literacy development include emergent literacy, alphabetic fluency, words and patterns, intermediate reading, and advanced reading. Each stage of literacy development helps the child move forward and become a stronger student. Keep in mind that a child's current age group doesn't necessarily mean that they're at that step in their early literacy development.

Stage 1: Emergent Literacy
Age Range: 4-6 years old.
As the earliest stage of literacy development, emergent literacy is the first moment that a child begins to understand letters and words. While many of the behaviors of the emergent literacy stage are not fully formed and irregular, these are still some of the first signs that a child is beginning to form literacy ability.

Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 1 Learners:

Pretending to be able to read children's books.

The ability to recognize the first letter of their name.

Singing the ABCs, even if unable to identify letters separately.

Trying to memorize certain books to "read" them.

The ability to recognize some letters and potentially their sound.

The ability to find words in their environment.

To learn helpful strategies to support emerging readers by helping them understand what alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness are and why they are both so critically important watch this free webinar, 5 Essential Strategies to Effectively Teach Letters and Sounds.

Stage 2: Alphabetic Fluency
Age Range: 6-7 years old.
As the child grows older and more comfortable with learning their words and letters, they enter the alphabetic fluency stage of literacy development.

Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 2 Learners:

No longer "pretend" reading.

Finger-pointing to words while reading them.

Beginning to recognize words.

Admitting that they're unable to read certain words.

Using pictures and context clues to figure out certain words.

Reading out loud word by word.

Stage 3: Words and Patterns
Age Range: 7-9 years old.
Sometimes referred to as the "transitional" stage of literacy development, the words and patterns stage is when children begin to develop stronger reading skills. This is the stage when children can vary the most in terms of skills and may adopt behaviors in multiple stages of literacy development.

Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 3 Learners:

Less decoding of words and stronger ability to comprehend reading materials.

More self-correction when what is read is unclear.

Less sound by sound reading and easier time grouping letters.

Able to recognize words that pop up most often automatically.

Less reliance on context clues to figure out unknown words.

Beginning to be able to spell complex consonant words like "-tch".

Stage 4: Intermediate Reading
Age Range: 9-11 years old.
During the intermediate stage of literacy development, children begin to rely less on educational crutches that help a child learn new words. This is also when children are becoming able to write out sentences with less error and develop stronger fluency overall.

Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 4 Learners:

Reading to learn new information and writing for multiple purposes.

Less difficulty with independent reading.

Reading to explore new concepts from numerous perspectives.

Reading longer materials such as textbooks with little difficulty.

An interest in wanting to learn and develop new vocabulary.

Stage 5: Advanced Reading
Age Range: 11-14 years old.
As the last stage of literacy development, advanced reading is when children become fully fluent and capable of relying on independent reading to learn new information. Reading and writing provide little difficulty and students can absorb complex reading materials during this stage.

Here are Some Behaviors of Stage 5 Learners:

The desire to read numerous types of reading materials.

Reading becomes a daily tool for learning new information.

The ability to formulate longer texts such as essays or book reports.

Readers usually have a strong understanding of the meaning and semantics of words.

The ability to understand and retain complex reading materials.

Develop Early Literacy with Learning Without Tears!

Each stage of literacy development provides its own unique challenges and triumphs in learning to become confident in reading and writing. Learning Without Tears specializes in early childhood development programs that help further progress within the stages of literacy development. Learning Without Tears offers a wide range of educational materials to help teachers create an engaging lesson plan that will get children excited to learn more. With resources for parents to get children set up for school and programs for teachers to teach early literacy concepts, Learning Without Tears is committed to helping children become confident students. Learning Without Tears has created resources and educational materials for children in pre-k to 5th grade to help students succeed during every stage of literacy development and early childhood education. Explore Learning Without Tears to help children get the most out of their education today.

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Why is Literacy Development Important for Children?

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Literacy development is the process of learning words, sounds, and language. Children develop literacy skills in order to learn to read and write confidently and eventually improve their communication skills overall. The stages of literacy development that a child goes through can vary depending on the child's comprehension levels but generally include the same key concepts along the way.

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How to Teach Phonological Awareness - Part 1

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What do you include in your reading instruction? This video answers that with an explanation of the Big 5 areas of reading that should guide your reading instruction. *Here is the FREE Reading Skills Step Ladder you can download to guide your instruction!

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The Thinking Effect - How can teachers use art to enhance literacy?

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Formative assessment-discovering what students know while they're still in the process of learning it-can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes-for teachers, not students-because we're using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point-no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it-isn't enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way-all while not creating an unmanageable workload. That's why it's important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day's work while students are getting settled-you can ask differentiated questions written out on chart paper or projected on the board, for example.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles: Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn't get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

What are three things you learned, two things you're still curious about, and one thing you don't understand?

How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?

What I found interesting about this work was...

Right now I'm feeling...

Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or circle emojis to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize, Kahoot, FlipQuiz, Gimkit, Plickers, and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can't kill a student's grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid's response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom's taxonomy and you'll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions ("What advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?"), and you'll get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they're sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:

write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,

draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or

do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A focused observation form is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students' understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don't have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students' learning.

For more introverted students-or for more private assessments-use Flipgrid, Explain Everything, or Seesaw to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it's helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the " muddiest point" in the lesson-the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check: Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column-you can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored stacking cups that allow kids to flag that they're all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards-"I agree," "I disagree," and "I don't know how to respond") and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they're ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you're only assessing the content and not getting lost in the assessment fog. If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it's OK to put it aside and try something different.

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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Within these methods you'll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they're still learning.

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The One Thing All Great Teachers Do | Nick Fuhrman | TEDxUGA

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The way we talk to students matters. The way we talk about students also matters. If there was a fly on the wall of your classroom walls or your teachers’ lounge, what would it observe? What would it overhear? Yes, we all have those moments that we need to vent- but our words can provide an insight…

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When inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits. It strengthens the ability of all kids to work together, understand and value different points of view, think critically, and be successful learners.

Inclusive classrooms also reduce stigma. Imagine this kind of learning community:

Understanding inclusion

Is it inclusion?

This chart, developed by inclusion expert Nicole Eredics, can help you understand what inclusion is and isn't.

Child spends the majority of the day in the general education classroom.

Child spends the majority of the day in a special education classroom and goes to a general education classroom for one or two periods.

Child's desk is included with the other groups of desks in the classroom.

Child's desk is away from the other desks in the classroom.

Child has access to and is included in classroom lessons and activities that are adapted or modified to meet his/her special needs.

Child works on his/her own curriculum.

Child attends outside activities with the class including assemblies, field trips, enrichment classes, and recess.

Child is given alternate activities and options with other special education students.

Child is an independent, valued, and respected classroom member.

Child is looked upon as helpless, needy, and dependent.

The child's paraprofessional facilitates access to the curriculum and classroom activities.

The child's paraprofessional determines access to the curriculum and classroom activities.

The paraprofessional encourages child to complete work as independently as possible, while providing support when needed.

The paraprofessional does not provide many opportunities for the child to complete work independently and "hovers."

Child receives specialist support (therapy, speech, and language) with minimal disruption to the class routine and program.

Child is pulled from the classroom lessons and activities for specialist suport without consideration for what the child will miss.

The teacher can identify your child's strengths and areas for improvement.

The teacher refers to the specialists and paraprofessionals to identify child's development.

Child can name classmates and has many common classroom experiences.

Child does not know classmates and does not have many common classroom experiences.

The trend toward inclusive general education classrooms

Can special education students thrive in general education classrooms? Watch Carl Cohn, a former superintendent, talk about the trend toward inclusive classrooms (also called inclusion classrooms). Hear his tips on what to ask if a school suggests your child should be in a separate, self-contained classroom. Learn more at Understood, 4 Benefits of Inclusion Classrooms.

Read about a New York City public school program called ASD Nest in this article from The Atlantic: What School Could Be If It Were Designed for Kids With Autism.

Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In

This video, "Meeting the Needs of the Whole Child," overview is part of the Edmonton Public Schools' Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In initiative. The District was selected as a change agent for Alberta's Action on Inclusion initiative - to share information about best practices to welcome, include and support students' needs in the classroom and community. (Edmonton Public Schools, Alberta, CA) View all of the "Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In" video >

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Inclusive Classrooms: A Primer for Teachers

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When inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits. It strengthens the ability of all kids to work together, understand and value different points of view, think critically, and be successful learners. Inclusive classrooms also reduce stigma. Imagine this kind of learning community: "Inclusive classrooms are filled with diverse learners.

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Essential Strategies for Inclusive Teaching - ASCD

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Emerging data on student academic outcomes during the pandemic indicate that Black students (and other underserved groups) suffered academic losses in areas such as reading and math (Dorn et al., 2020). Many teachers struggled to get Black students to consistently engage during the pandemic. But to

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Inclusive education: a way to think differently about difference | Peter Walker | TEDxAdelaide - YouTube

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What kids wish their teachers knew | Kyle Schwartz | TEDxKyoto

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Teaching Students To Give Effective Peer Feedback - Science Lessons That Rock

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When we ask students to review each other’s work and give feedback, we often hear…“Why did you do that?” or“It’s just wrong.” or“It’s good” (even when it’s not). Teaching students to give effective feedback is hard and takes a lot of student practice. And then more practice. If you are using project…

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... the focus is now very much on her GCSE's. We are confident that she will do herself justice in the summer when she takes them, and feel that this is really a success story ...This shows what can be achieved if children with speech, language and communication needs are given the right support, and how important it is that they should get that help.

Students with a receptive language disorder have problems understanding oral language or in listening. They may have difficulties processing and retaining auditory information, and in following instructions and directions. Difficulties understanding what is said may be exacerbated in group discussions. Difficulties in answering questions may be related to a limited understanding of question forms. Students may have difficulties filtering out background noise and have difficulties with verbal reasoning. Difficulties remembering strings of words and difficulties with sound discrimination may also be evidenced. Language limitations may also interfere with topic maintenance. As a result of comprehension difficulties, students may experience difficulty with turn taking in conversation. There may be pragmatic difficulties such as poor understanding, poor use of tone, facial gesture and body language, and poor eye contact. Difficulties may occur in establishing and maintaining peer relationships.

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the focus is now very much on her GCSE's. We are confident that she will do herself justice in the summer when she takes them, and feel that this is really a success story ...This shows what can be achieved if children with speech, language and communication needs are given the right support, and how important it is that they should get that help.

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A child with receptive language disorder has difficulties with understanding what is said to them. The symptoms vary between children but, generally, problems with language comprehension begin before the age of three years.

Children need to understand spoken language before they can use language to express themselves. In most cases, children with a receptive language problem also have an , which means they have trouble using spoken language.

It is estimated that between three and five per cent of children have a receptive or expressive language disorder, or a mixture of both. Another name for receptive language disorder is language comprehension deficit. Speech-language therapy is used to treat receptive language disorder.

Symptoms of receptive language disorder

There is no standard set of symptoms that indicates receptive language disorder, as it varies from one child to the next. However, symptoms may include:

not seeming to listen when they are spoken to

appearing to lack interest when storybooks are read to them

difficulty understanding the meaning of words and sentences

difficulty remembering all the words in a sentence in order to make sense of what has been said

inability to understand complicated sentences

inability to follow verbal instructions; especially if the instruction is long or complicated.

Cause of receptive language disorder

The cause of receptive language disorder is often unknown, but is thought to consist of a number of factors working in combination, such as:

genetic susceptibility (family history of receptive language disorder)

limited exposure to hearing language in their day-to-day environment

general developmental and cognitive (thinking) abilities.

Receptive language disorder is often associated with developmental disorders such as autism or Down syndrome. (Although for some children, difficulty with language is the only developmental problem they experience.)

In other cases, receptive language disorder is caused by damage to the brain, for example due to trauma, tumour or disease.

Receptive language disorder may also be related to:

hearing impairment - due to decreased exposure to language

vision impairment - due to the absence of cues such as facial expression and gestures

attention disorders - due to difficulties in attending fully to what is being said.

Diagnosis of receptive language disorder

Assessment needs to pinpoint the child's particular areas of difficulty, especially when they do not respond to spoken language. Diagnosis may include:

hearing tests (by an audiologist) to check whether the language problems are caused by hearing impairment and to establish whether or not the child is able to pay attention to sound and language (auditory processing assessment)

testing the child's language comprehension (by a speech pathologist) and comparing the results to the expected skill level for the child's age. If the child is from a non-English speaking home, assessment of comprehension should be performed in their first language, as well as in English, using culturally-appropriate materials

close observation of the child in a variety of different settings while they interact with a range of people

assessment by a psychologist to help identify any associated cognitive problems

vision tests to check for vision impairment.

Treatment for receptive language disorder

Treatment options for receptive language disorder may include:

speech-language therapy (one-on-one or as part of a group, or both, depending on the needs of the child)

providing information to families so that they can facilitate language growth at home

special education classes at school

integration support at preschool or school in cases of severe difficulty

referral to a psychologist for treatment (only if there are also significant behavioural problems).

A child's progress will depend on a range of individual factors, such as whether or not brain injury is present.

Symptoms of expressive language disorder

A child with receptive language disorder may also have expressive language disorder, which means they have difficulties with using spoken language. Symptoms differ from one child to the next, but can include:

frequently grasping for the right word

using the wrong words in speech

making grammatical mistakes

relying on short, simple sentence construction

relying on stock standard phrases

inability to 'come to the point' of what they're trying to say

problems with retelling a story or relaying information

inability to start or hold a conversation.

Where to get help

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A child with receptive language disorder has difficulties with understanding what is said to them. The symptoms vary between children but, generally, problems with language comprehension begin before the age of three years. Children need to understand spoken language before they can use language to express themselves.

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Eliza has struggled to understand and be understood since she was very young. In first grade, her teacher noticed she often had trouble following directions and rarely spoke during class. When Eliza did speak up, her sentences were hard to follow and frequently filled with "umms" as she searched for the words she wanted. She had no trouble pronouncing words, but putting together coherent sentences seemed to be a challenge. Her teacher recommended an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist, who diagnosed Eliza with a language disorder.

What are language disorders?
Source: Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
Language disorders refer to a condition where a person has difficulties learning, using, and/or understanding spoken or written language. They fall under the larger umbrella of communication disorders but are distinctly different from speech disorders, like lisps or stuttering. Children with language disorders don't have difficulty pronouncing words or sounds themselves. Instead, they struggle to find the words they want and put them together in the correct order or have problems understanding what's being said to them.

Language disorders are broken into three types:

Receptive: People with receptive language disorder have problems understanding and processing what others say to them, despite having no hearing problems.

Expressive: Expressive language disorder causes problems with using words to express thoughts, although the person has no physical problems in pronouncing the words themselves.

Mixed Receptive-Expressive: Those with this form of language disorder have trouble with both expressing their thoughts in words and understanding what others say to them.

Language disorders can be acquired at any time during life, usually caused by brain injury or illness. For most children, though, language disorders are developmental. The exact causes of developmental language disorders are unknown, though heredity and prenatal nutrition deficiencies are both possible suspects. Children with language disorders may also have related conditions, like autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and mental health issues. They usually have average or above-average intelligence.

About five percent of children are believed to have language disorders. That means that in a classroom of 20 students, you're likely to have at least one who is affected. Early childhood and elementary educators are more likely to encounter undiagnosed language disorders. The condition is treatable but not curable, so teachers of all ages should know what these disorders look like and how to help.

What do language disorders look like?
Source: Boys Town National Research Hospital
Expressive language disorder is easier to identify than receptive. Parents usually notice when their child doesn't begin talking by the age of two. When the child does start talking, their vocabulary is usually much more limited than others their age. Their sentences may be garbled or lacking key words. By school age, expressive language disorder signs may include:

Using filler words like "um" or "stuff" frequently instead of more specific words

Having extreme difficulty learning and using new vocabulary

Using only short basic sentence structures

Often leaving out pronouns or verbs when talking, creating incoherent sentences

Seeming frustrated by the inability to express themselves verbally

Simply giving up and remaining quiet, both in class and with friends

Receptive language disorder can be harder to spot in young kids. By school age, parents and teachers may notice persistent difficulty in following directions. Other signs might include:

Wandering attention during stories or lessons; tuning out because they can't really follow what's happening

Frequent interruptions on unrelated topics during lessons or casual conversations

Unrelated answers to questions that indicate they didn't understand the question itself. For example, the teacher pauses during a lesson on Abraham Lincoln and asks "Where did Lincoln grow up?" The child might answer, "He freed the slaves."

These disorders are hard to identify definitively without an expert's opinion. If you suspect a child in your classroom may have a language disorder, speak with the parents or school administrators about a professional evaluation.

Support students with language disorders.
Source: Banter Speech + Language
Kids with language disorders show the most improvement when they start treatment early, preferably by preschool. However, even with effective treatment, school-age kids are likely to continue to need some accommodations to succeed. Students with language disorders may have an IEP/504 plan that specifies accommodations and goals, such as the ones listed here:

Be patient.

These kids need more time to fully understand questions and put their thoughts together before they respond. They may speak slowly or too fast and leave out important words, repeating themselves or using filler. Allow them the time they need, without interrupting or jumping in to provide words or direction. If they stray off topic, gently redirect them and allow them to continue.

Allow them to prepare.

It can be very difficult for kids with language disorders when they're called on unexpectedly in class. Let them in know in advance you'll be asking for their thoughts and that they're welcome to make and refer to notes as needed.

Model behaviors.

It's important to encourage as much practice with complete sentences as possible for expressive language disorder. If a student responds with a one-word answer, model back a complete correct sentence and ask them to repeat it.

Give directions differently.

Following a set of complicated instructions is often more than those with receptive language issues can handle. After giving instructions to the class as a whole, spend a few minutes one on one with the student going over the directions. Break them down into smaller chunks and encourage the student to write them down or even draw pictures for reference. Make eye contact with the student while talking to be sure you have their attention.

Be direct.

Teachers are usually encouraged to ask open-ended questions of students, but sometimes it's better to give kids with language disorders a simple choice. Instead of "What do you want to work on now?" ask "Do you want to go the reading station or practice your spelling words?"

Accept silence sometimes.

If class participation or public speaking isn't necessary for learning the material at hand, don't require it from students with language disorders. Find other ways to test them on their knowledge of the subject.

Get resources on language disorders.

Online:

Books:
Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves! Do you have experience dealing with language disorders in the classroom or want to get advice from others who do? Come ask your questions and share your knowledge in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE Facebook group. Plus, what teachers need to know about dyspraxia.

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What Teachers Need to Know About Language Disorders

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Eliza has struggled to understand and be understood since she was very young. In first grade, her teacher noticed she often had trouble following directions and rarely spoke during class. When Eliza did speak up, her sentences were hard to follow and frequently filled with "umms" as she searched for the words she wanted.

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*Effective reading instruction involves a combination of powerful instructional settings. This post is the next in our "What is...?" series, where we define each instructional context that makes up a coherent literacy system.

What is shared reading?

During shared reading, you and your students read aloud an enlarged version of an engaging text that provides opportunities for your students to expand their reading competencies. The goals of the first reading are to ensure that students enjoy the text and think about the meaning. After the first reading, students take part in multiple, subsequent readings to notice more about the text. They discuss the text, and you select teaching points based on their needs.

Why is shared reading important?

As an instructional context, shared reading:

Provides enjoyable, successful experiences with print for all students

Promotes the development of all aspects of the reading process

Builds language skills and enhances vocabulary

Provides opportunities to engage in expressive, meaningful, fluent reading

Builds understanding of various types of texts, formats, and language structures

Builds a community of readers

"Shared reading enables all children, regardless of their reading levels, to have enjoyable literacy opportunities every day." - Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

What does shared reading look like?

Students sit together as a whole group and, following your first reading, engage in an oral reading of a common text. They use their voices to interpret the meaning of a text as they read in unison with others. Alternatively, students are assigned parts to read.
Structure of a shared reading lesson:

1. Introduce the Text - Engage students' interest in the text with a few opening words.

2. Model Reading of the Text - Read the text to students at a good pace with a focus on enjoyment and understanding. Have a brief discussion.

3. Read the Text Together - Have students read the whole text or selected parts with you.

4. Discuss the Text - Guide conversation about the meaning and language of the text, and invite students to share their thinking.

5. Teaching Points - Select a specific part or parts of the text to revisit to make teaching points. This can be accomplished over a number of subsequent readings.

6. Repeated Readings - Revisit the text again on subsequent days, making additional teaching points and supporting students in gaining independence in processing the text.

Shared reading is an enjoyable experience for your classroom community and an important opportunity for children to "step up together" into more challenging texts while also beginning to notice and acquire the processes they need to read texts independently.

To learn more about the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ Shared Reading Collection, click the link below.
~The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ Team Check out the entire "What is?" blog series:

1. What is Guided Reading?

2. What is Interactive Read-Aloud?

3. What is Shared Reading?

4. What are Reading Minilessons?

5. What is Independent Reading?

6. What are Book Clubs?

7. What is Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study?

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Shared reading is an enjoyable experience for your classroom community and an important opportunity for children to "step up together" into more challenging texts.

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Teaching Emergent Readers: 14 Tips to Ensure Success! | Education to the Core

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“My kindergarteners need to be able to do what?!” I still remember the day my principal sat my team down and explained to us that by the end of the Teaching reading to pre-emergent and emergent readers can seem like a daunting task. You may realize that you are doing some of these already in your c…

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UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning. When you teach using UDL, your lessons are designed in flexible ways to meet the needs of individual learners. Read more about UDL.

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Video Transcript for Using Math Talk with Preschoolers to Support Learning
This video has captions. You can turn them on by clicking the CC icon at the bottom of the video. Download a transcript of this video in .pdf format.

Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith, Host: When you think of teaching math concepts to preschoolers, you may think of counting exercises or other explicit number activities. But new research from the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University suggests that a lot of math learning occurs within the context of classroom play, especially when teachers are talking with children about how to solve problems involving number.

Teacher: Want to help me count?
Child: One, two, three, four, five.
Teacher: Five.

Dr. Sudha Swaminathan, Expert: Research has shown that number sense is very critical in preschool and children are actually developmentally tuned in to learn number sense in preschool. The more you talk about numbers to children, the more they learn numbers.

Teacher: How long do you want the tape?
Child: Forty hours.
Teacher: Forty hours? Or forty pieces?
Child: Forty pieces.
Teacher: Forty pieces? Ok, how many pieces do you have there? Child: One.
Teacher: There's one.

Cynthia Dejesús, Teacher: I find myself trying to math talk in every center that I'm in, even at the snack table. How much more juice do you need?

Cynthia Dejesús: How many children are in the block area? Is there space for you? So just casually using it throughout the day.

Teacher: Snack and THEN blocks.
Child: And then finish my picture
Teacher: That's three things!
Teacher: She said snack, THEN blocks, and THEN finish picture. She told me three things she will do today.

Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith, Expert: If teachers use rich language about math or if they encourage children to kind of talk to themselves or to others about mathematics, they'll learn more concepts.

Teacher: How big do you think his house needs to be?
Child: Um, bigger than it wants to be.
Teacher: Ok.

Cynthia Dejesús: I try to engage children using math talk casually, so just modeling the language and the use of numbers: How many cuts do you need? Is it bigger; is it smaller?
Teacher: How will you know if he fits in there?

Child: He fits in there like this. He just...I just stick him in the hole.
Teacher: Alright. Does he fit? Let's try.
Teacher: Do we need to make the house a little bigger?
Child: mmm...yeah.

Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith: When teachers either ask questions of children, they encourage them to talk about their mathematical thinking or how they solve mathematical problems that they also promote mathematical competence.

Dr. Sudha Swaminathan: Math communication is not actually part of the curriculum in many other cultures. There's a lot of DOING math; there's not as much TALK in math. We found communication [related to mathematics] was significantly important for children.

Child: Tape more.
Teacher: More tape? How much tape do you think you'll need? How long do you want your piece of tape?
Child: Long, long, long
Teacher: You tell me how long. You tell me when to stop.

Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith: Engaging children in discussions and activities around number-whether it be counting or judging amounts or how many spaces to move in a game-those kinds of interactions are very useful for promoting math learning.

Child: Piggy!
Teacher: What number do I need to get to the pig?
Child: Um...one.
Teacher: You think one? Ok, let's see. Child: No.
Teacher: What did I get?
Child: One, two.
Teacher: Two. Ready? Count with me. Together: One, two.
Teacher: I DID get to the piggy!

Dr. Sudha Swaminathan: For teachers to encourage children to talk about say a wrong answer, to talk about a misconception, to talk about a failed reasoning, those are all very, very valid.

Child: One, two, three, four.
Cynthia: Four?
Child: I wanted the cow.
Cynthia: You wanted the cow? Well, you had six.

Child: Okay. One, two.

Cynthia Dejesús: You really can see how you can incorporate it everywhere. It becomes part of your classroom lingo and part of your classroom language.

Teacher: How many more do you need to add?
Child: One, two, three, four, five, six.

© Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.

May be reprinted for educational purposes.

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While many preschool classrooms use explicit, teacher-directed activities to help children develop basic math skills, recent research from the Center shows that a lot of math learning occurs within the context of classroom play, especially when teachers are talking with children about how to solve problems involving number.

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In order for English Language Learners (ELL) to reach their goal of understanding another language in a proficient manner, they need to consistently practice for as long as it takes. However, because no student is the same, the teacher as well as the students need to figure out certain classroom applications that work for all. Two of the many methods that can be used to help students with their proficiency levels are word study and/or phrase recognition exercises and semantic connection exercises.

Learning a new language requires knowledge on how to organize ideas in a way that native speakers can understand; therefore, from a structural linguistics point of view, focusing on the word order, form and Parts of Speech seems to be a good starting point. For instance, the noun phrase which consists of the combination of the article, adjective/s and Noun/s or the Noun phrase and verb relationship at the sentence level that determines the agent and action or its morphology require a certain word order. Since students speak languages where this may differ, it is necessary for them to understand this and have enough practice to assimilate it into their language use routine. For example,
1. It is a little expensive. -> a little + adjective 2. She needs a little money. -> a little + noun
Although both sentences are syntactically correct, " a little" plays different roles because of the part of speech it is modifying. In sentence 1, "a little" is working as an adverb since it is before an adjective; however, in sentence 2, "a little" is working as a determiner since it is modifying a noun. By practicing word forms and their function in a sentence, this could be somehow easily understood by ELLs at all levels. However, when learning languages we cannot forget the manner in which some words work together naturally. That's why, after learning word forms, students need to be introduced to the concept of collocations. Showing students that within the same relationships not all combinations are acceptable is where things become cumbersome.

For instance,
3. She screamed stressfully.
In sentence 3, even though the sentence structure, the word order and function are correct, "scream" and "stressfully" cannot be combined naturally. Instead of "stressfully, adverbs like "loudly" or "hysterically" are appropriate associations. This is not an easy concept to explain, and it requires the help of various resources, such as dictionaries and other reference tools. Nowadays, with the development of new technology, dictionary look-ups can pop-up with a simple tap or the click of a mouse making learning new information fun and less intimidating; consequently, focusing on developing a more enhanced flash card or word study activity (see picture 1) may encourage students to search for new words and/or their word families.

Picture 1: New & Improved Flash Card

The goal of the enhanced flash card is to focus on one meaning and to give students the chance to discover word families, synonyms, antonyms, collocations and parts of speech related to only one definition in the dictionary.In addition, ensuring the flash card is fully completed challenges students to spend as much time as needed searching for all items on the list.

When completing the enhanced flash card, the first step is to find the appropriate meaning of the word to study based on the context of a reading. This focus will control the word search, especially when looking for synonyms and antonyms, and, most importantly, it will be a strategy students can apply when reading and writing. For example,

Sally admires Dr Evans. She has a lot of respect for her professor because he is brilliant. He always knows the answers to her questions and never makes her feel dumb for asking so many. He also graduated from one of the best colleges in the world, Oxford University.

The paragraph in the example introduces the verb " admires" in the first sentence and the noun " respect" in the second one which is supported by " brilliant." When looking at the dictionary's definition of the noun " respect", admiration is chosen because of the words " admires" and " brilliant ". Moreover, because "respect" and "admiration" appear in the same entry, they are closely related, and therefore, synonyms, Also, the dictionary shows that for that specific meaning, the verb and noun need the preposition "for.," so this needs to be added to the flash card. Finally, It is important to note that not all word families have nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs; therefore, sometimes there is a need to borrow information from its synonyms. In the case of "respect," in the adverb section, "admirably" should be added(see Picture 2).

Picture 2:

This may take a little time at the beginning since students are not used to the concept of word study, so they may not dedicate the time required to complete this task. However, when given the chance to practice working with it in class and at home, this activity will become part of their language study routine promoting this not only independent but also "incidental learning."
Integrating Vocabulary study to Writing
Integrating the idea of creating a flash card /word study focused on one meaning is very useful when preparing vocabulary to write and support the topic sentence in a writing assignment. In addition, organization plays a significant role in this exercise because it allows for the generation of new ideas which could be categorized as supporting ideas to develop the topic assigned. For example, if students were asked to write a paragraph, or essay, about somebody they admire and why, they'd usually struggle with finding vocabulary that could help them express their ideas; however, if they were to look at the already completed flash card of the noun "respect," (Picture 2) which is a synonym for "admiration" or "to admire," writing down and grouping supporting ideas should not be intimidating.

To provide an easy process of transferring the information gathered on the flash card to an outline, students use the Say/Explain/Example (S.E.E.) rule and chart (picture 3) which is a much simpler version of the theory of evidence chart. This is a task-based activity, which some may consider as a more developed concept of mapping guides, for students to find vocabulary pertinent to the topic, evaluate all the gathered information and assess which piece is relevant to help support their opinion. The S.E.E. chart reminds students of the writer's need to clearly visualize what they are communicating. The following is an example of how a student applied the enhanced Flash Card and SEE activity in class:

Word study

Picture 3: SEE chart

After receiving feedback and editing the students' paragraph, the final product was:

3.Writing

All in all, students were very motivated to write since these activities allowed them to break down the essay writing process and focus on supporting their ideas one paragraph at a time in a less stressful manner. The flash card and word study helped them stay on-topic and provided plenty of information for them to use naturally.
Integrating SEE to Reading
Carrell (1985) suggested focusing on strategies learned in writing class such as exploring discourse patterns or text organization could improve students' reading comprehension.

As students read, they encounter words unfamiliar to them. However, by following the S.E.E rule they learned in writing class, they know that if they do not understand the first idea, the second one will be an explanation or example of it, and so on. This is very helpful because it allows them to infer the meaning of new words based on the fact that they know synonyms and antonyms are being used in the "Explain/Example" to explain the "Say" in the SEE strategy. For example,
(1) Sally admires Dr Evans. (2) She has a lot of respect for her professor because he is brilliant. (3) He always knows the answers to her questions and never makes her feel dumb for asking so many. (4) He also graduated from one of the best colleges in the world, Oxford University.
SEE - breakdown:

(1) admire (S) => (2) respect for (E) => because => brilliant (E)

(2) brilliant (S) => (3) knows all the answers (E) => and => she does not feel dumb (E) => also => he graduated from one of the best colleges (E)

Although the main idea in this paragraph is "admire" which is supported by "brilliant," when students are asked to explain it with their own words this is not a difficult task since all the information is in the flash card / word study (Picture 2); therefore, the answer could be:

"Sally looks up to her professor because he is very intelligent."

In general, as part of students' assignments, students are expected to skim through long articles looking for important information which will be used to write summaries that paraphrase the writer's main ideas. This may be a little intimidating; however, if students are aware of the SEE process in writing and apply this rule to their reading, then articles could be broken down into smaller parts.

Also, knowing that the focus is on one meaning, encourages students to further their study of a word's theme. For example, in a reading about a bank robbery, the vocabulary in the story is related to the themes "crime" and "law." Students can expand their vocabulary by looking into each theme (Picture 4) in the dictionary or online:

Picture 4:

Conclusion

References
Speaking naturally and confidently is a goal all second language learning students aspire to; therefore, introducing learning strategies such as a flash card/word study and the SEE rule/chart, can help students improve their vocabulary, have more control the language and organize their ideas easily not only in the classroom but also in their everyday activities.

Carrell, P. (1985). Facilitating ESL reading by teaching text structure. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 727-752.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online - https://www.ldoceonline.com
Leah Carmona is an ALP/ESL Program Assistant Professor at Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ (BCC). She teaches Grammar, Reading, Writing, and advanced ESL Courses such as TOEFl and Paired Courses, Reading & Sociology. She is the Faculty Liaison for the English Language Resource Center (ELRC) at BCC.

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In order for English Language Learners (ELL) to reach their goal of understanding another language in a proficient manner, they need to consistently practice for as long as it takes. However, because no student is the same, the teacher as well as the students need to figure out certain classroom applications that work for all.

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Phonics...phonemic awareness...phonological awareness...there are a LOT of terms to know if you teach reading in the primary grades!

It's hard to keep it all straight.

But it's also important to keep it all straight.

Teaching students to read is one of our most important jobs as teachers! And the more we know about how the English language works, the better we can teach reading to our students.

So in today's post, I'll explain exactly what the terms "phonics" and "phonological awareness" mean. I'll also go over a whole lot of other related terms - everything from a digraph to a diphthong to a morpheme!

Just What is Phonics Anyway?

In my blog post What is the Science of Reading?, I talk about the importance of teaching phonics explicitly and systematically.

PHONICS focuses on the sound-symbol relationships used to read and write. When you teach phonics, you help your students attend to the sounds of language, the symbols of language, and the relationships between the two. (Phonics = connecting sounds and letters.)

And as you probably already know, a solid phonics foundation is essential to becoming a successful reader and writer.

Now let's dig into into some more specific terms related to phonics!

But first...a little Greek lesson!

Here are a few Greek roots that will help you remember and make sense of all these phonics-related terms:

Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonological Awareness

"Phonemic awareness" and "phonological awareness" are two commonly-confused terms. Here's how they differ - and what they have to do with phonics:

PHONEMIC AWARENESS focuses on the INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS of words. A phoneme (as we'll talk about later) is the smallest unit of sound in a language. For example, if we think about the word "hop," we can break that word up into the sounds /h/ /o/ /p/. Each one of those sounds is a phoneme. So phonemic awareness = awareness of phonemes, individual sounds. Some phonemic awareness skills include:

Hearing the word turtle and naming the initial sound - /t/

Hearing the word dog and segmenting it into these three sounds: /d/ /o/ /g/

Hearing the word man, substituting the /f/ sound for the /m/ sound to get fan

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS is a broader category of knowledge and skills. Phonemic awareness is one type of phonological awareness. Some phonological awareness skills (in addition to phonemic awareness) include:

Identifying the individual words in a sentence spoken aloud

Identifying and generating rhyming words

Separating words into onset and rime and combining onsets and rimes into words

Separating words into syllables and blending syllables together to make words

In a nutshell, phonemic awareness is one (very important) type of phonological awareness skill.

And remember, phonics work incorporates written letters. Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness only deal with sounds.

But applying phonics knowledge to spell a word, for example, also requires students to use their phonological awareness / phonemic awareness skills. Kids hear the sounds in the word (phonemic awareness) and then translate those sounds to words on the page (phonics).

Kids need both phonological awareness and phonics instruction. They can be taught separately and together. And you don't need to wait for a child to become more proficient in phonological awareness to begin working on phonics!

The Building Blocks

Next, I'm going to talk about some of the terms you might come across when reading about phonics or using a phonics program (like my phonics program, From Sounds to Spelling).

Phonemes, Graphemes and Morphemes

When you think about phonemes, graphemes and morphemes, think small...very small. These are some of the smallest units of language you work with in phonics.

PHONEME: One unit of sound in a syllable or word. The word man has three phonemes. The word beach also has three phonemes.

GRAPHEME: One or more letters that represent one sound. The (m) in man is a grapheme. The (ch) in beach is also a grapheme.

MORPHEME: The smallest part of a word that has meaning or influences the meaning of a word. The word wonderful has two morphemes (wonder) and (-ful). Adding (-ful) to the word (wonder) changes the meaning of the word, yet the words are still related.

From Units to Words

We put phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes together to make words!

Consonants, Vowels and CVC Words

The 26 letters of the English alphabet are divided into two groups: consonants and vowels.

They're often marked as C for consonant and V for vowel. A CVC word is a Consonant Vowel Consonant word,. Words like man, pig and hat are all CVC words.

You might also see variations of this abbreviation, like CCVC (e.g. swim), CVCC (e.g. pond), or CVCe (e.g. lake).

In English there are 5 vowels: a, e, i, o, and u. Vowel sounds are considered LONG VOWELS when the sound matches the name of the letter (e.g. the a in cake). This is in contrast to SHORT VOWELS, like the a in tan.

Any alphabet letter that's not a vowel is a CONSONANT!

Names for Groups of Letters

CONSONANT CLUSTERS are two or more consonants strung together. You can still hear each individual consonant sound, but the sounds are blended together. Some consonant clusters are the (str-) in strap and the (pl-) in play.

When a consonant cluster appears at the beginning of the word, it's called a BEGINNING BLEND or an INITIAL BLEND. Some beginning blends are the (br-) in bread, the (sn-) in snake, and the (cl-) in cloud.

Some consonant clusters that appear at the end of a word are called ENDING BLENDS or FINAL BLENDS. Some ending blends are the (-mp) in camp or the (-ct) in fact.

DIGRAPHS are two letters that work together to make one phoneme (sound).

Digraphs like the (ch) in beach and the (sh) in shut are known as CONSONANT DIGRAPHS. These letters come together to make a new , single sound - which is different from a cluster or blend, where each individual letter's sound is still heard.

Digraphs like the (oa) in boat or the (ea) in beak are known as VOWEL DIGRAPHS - often called VOWEL TEAMS.

DIPHTHONGS are different. Diphthongs are made up of two vowels, but the sound of the first vowel glides into the sounds of the second vowel to produce a unique sound. Some examples of diphthongs are the (au) in author and the (oi) in boil.

R-CONTROLLED VOWELS are vowels followed by the letter r, where the letter r changes the sound of the vowel. In the word cat, the vowel makes the short a sound. But in the word car, the sound of the vowel is a bit different because of the r following it. Sometimes this r is called the "bossy r", because it "bosses around" the vowel.

Consonant clusters, blends, digraphs, diphthongs and r-controlled vowels occur regularly in the English language. Knowing how these different letter combinations work helps kids learn to read and spell!

Breaking Apart Words in Useful Ways

In addition to learning about letters and sounds, kids need to expand their understanding of words and how words work.

Breaking words into chunks is extremely useful in reading and writing, and there are several different ways to do that.

Onset and Rime

The ONSET of the word is the consonant sound or sounds that come before the first vowel in the word or syllable. The RIME is the vowel or vowels and remaining consonants, or what's left after the onset is taken away.

Here are some examples of words broken into ONSET and RIME.

A SYLLABLE is a word chunk that contains one vowel sound. (A syllable may have more than one vowel in the spelling, like the word "teammate." "Teammate" has two syllables: team/mate. Each syllable does have 2 letters that are vowels, but only one vowel sound per syllable: long e and long a.)

Changing the Meaning of Words

Phonics isn't just about learning letters and sounds, however! Word parts and word structure also play a role in the meaning of words.

AFFIXES are morphemes. Adding a morpheme (one or more letters) to the beginning or end of a word changes the meaning of the word.

Adding the affix (-s) to the end of the word cat gives you cats.

Adding the prefix (pre-) to the word test gives you pretest.

The meaning of the word changes, yet the new word is still closely related to the initial word.

PREFIXES are affixes that are added to the beginning of a word and change the meaning of the word. For example, (dis-) + (agree) = disagree.

SUFFIXES are affixes that are added to the end of a word and change the meaning of the word. For example (sad) + (-ness) = sadness

INFLECTIONAL ENDINGS are special suffixes that are added to the end of a word to indicate the tense of a verb ( jump vs. jumped), the quantity of a noun ( cat vs. cats), possession ( Ann's cat), or to make a comparison ( high, higher, highest).

Lots of Learning

Wow, that was a lot of info!! Congrats on making it to the end!

Want to keep this info handy, all in one convenient place? Download my FREE guide for K-2 phonics terms and rules here. It includes over 25 phonics terms and a list of phonics rules!

Happy teaching!

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Phonics Terms That Every K-2 Teacher Should Know - Learning at the Primary Pond

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Phonics...phonemic awareness...phonological awareness...there are a LOT of terms to know if you teach reading in the primary grades! It's hard to keep it all straight. But it's also important to keep it all straight. Teaching students to read is one of our most important jobs as teachers!

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"Understanding ADHD Helps me to Not Blame Myself"

By Jason, 9 years old, and his mom Nicole Biscotti, M.Ed.
We don't generally diagnose ADHD until a child attends school. The medical community has their reasons for this, mostly revolving around the fact that ADHD does not have a blood test or any other quantifiable measure to diagnose the condition. ADHD is diagnosed solely on behaviors observed by parents and educators and then evaluated by a clinician. The acting out that we often see in young ADHDers has a big overlap with "typical" behaviors in toddlers and preschoolers. We also generally wait until children enter school to even consider seeking a diagnosis because their behavior in the school is a determining factor in diagnosis.

Science, of course, has its merits, but so does practical experience. I can tell you with great certainty that my little ADHDer had very different behaviors from a young age. The intensity, frequency, and disconnect that Jason's acting out had from preschool was very different than most other children.

Considering that ADHDers usually stand out with some pretty noticeable behaviors and receive a lot of negative attention, how can we not help them to understand themselves better? I wish I could have shielded Jason from the almost daily incidents where he was in trouble but that wasn't possible. I also wish that I could have protected him from noticing that he acted differently than most other children, but that was equally impossible since it was usually him running out the door, fighting, or throwing things. Those are the visible symptoms of his condition, I can't even begin to know how he felt internally at preschool.

Jason explains that "What makes me sad is that the teachers never understand me and that other kids don't understand either. Sometimes I feel sad and angry at exactly the same time and the teachers just get frustrated with me and put me in punishment or something. Then I just get more sad and more angry and then I feel like I'm about to explode and when I feel like that I don't think about what I'm doing anymore. I don't like think about if I'm going to hurt somebody or hurt something but I'm just so angry it doesn't really matter to me what I do at that time. I'm just angry and I just feel like I need to do something like to get the energy out of me and then afterwards I feel sad and bad about what I did and I feel like the teacher is mad at me. I realize at the end it felt like I was turned off but somebody or something was still moving me and then I realize what I did and I start feeling so sad and angry and I wish I could be good. Like I know it's possible to be good but at the same time it's impossible for me but I still know it's possible for me, I just can't seem to do it. Sometimes I feel ashamed of what I did and of my actions and I wish I could just like reverse it."

Getting a label for Jason's condition was a gift to me as a parent because it gave me something that I could learn about and a framework with which to understand and approach his behavior. Jason shares "When I was little and I heard that I had ADHD I didn't really know what that meant exactly but I guessed that something was making it hard for me to behave not just like I didn't want to behave because I really actually did."

When Jason was small we used to talk about how ADHD would make it hard for him to pay attention or to not move so much because his brain worked really fast. When he took medication we talked about how the medicine would help "ADHD" take a nap so that he could focus better at school. Every child is different, I don't know that we arrived at the best explanation but it worked at the time. As Jason gets older, we watch videos together and explore other resources to better understand ADHD. Understanding how Jason's brain works is an ongoing process. We are all on a continual journey of self discovery. ADHD is a big piece of Jason's daily life and to deprive him of the opportunity to learn about the advantages and challenges of ADHD would be to deny him access to a big puzzle piece in understanding himself.

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At What Age Should a Child Know they Have ADHD?

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"Understanding ADHD Helps me to Not Blame Myself"By Jason, 9 years old, and his mom Nicole Biscotti, M.Ed. We don't generally diagnose ADHD until a child attends school. The medical community has their reasons for this, mostly revolving around the fact that ADHD does not have a blood test or any other quantifiable measure to...

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Understanding the Formative Assessment Process

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Podcast Episode · The Intentional TESOL · 06/11/2024 · 14m

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Learners First applies an equity lens to topics essential to every novice teacher, empowering educators to foster inclusive classrooms and develop as…

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This is an easy-to-read guide for all teachers looking to meet the needs of Multilingual Learners/English Learners, in particular Newcomers and SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education). Educators may feel intimidated admitting that they need to learn more about ways to help their students; here they will find easy-to-implement and non-judgmental support that busy teachers can put into place from the first moment they pick up the book.

How to manage the first days and first weeks to assist their Newcomers in adjusting (academically, emotionally, socially) to their new school and class

Asset-based perspectives on the progress of Multilingual Learners (MLs)

Information that will help teachers academically engage these students, in addition to ways to assess and motivate them

Reflection questions and discussions for each chapter to guide book clubs or conversations in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

Ready-to-use resources are provided to support educators as they meet the needs of MLs

This book is designed to be a go-to resource for general education teachers, preservice teachers, administrators, and ESL/ENL teachers who need support in teaching children who are new to the country and have little English. By amplifying the voices of these students, their families, and their teachers, this handbook includes real-life stories to help educators understand these diverse perspectives. This book is practical for educators of all ages who want to best empower their students to succeed.

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Voices of Newcomers: Experiences of Multilingual Learners

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Voices of Newcomers: Experiences of Multilingual Learners [Furlong Ed.D, Denise Ammeraal] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Voices of Newcomers: Experiences of Multilingual Learners

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In schools across the country, educators are serving more and more multilingual students and families. This book equips you with the considerations, tools, and resources you need as you fight for equity and advocate for those you serve.

Author Carly Spina unpacks a variety of approaches and lenses, including multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) structures, family engagement, centering student experiences, and nurturing and cultivating a multilingual mindset throughout school classrooms and communities. Each chapter provides practical tools, tips, and vignettes to help you go beyond the "why" to take action. Throughout the book, you will be called to Question, Equip, and Act!

As you work through the book, you'll be inspired to move your systems forward on your equity journey for multilingual students. Get ready to Ignite Real Change!

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Igniting Real Change for Multilingual Learners (Equity and Social Justice in Education Series)

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Amazon.com: Igniting Real Change for Multilingual Learners (Equity and Social Justice in Education Series): 9781032823362: Spina, Carly: Books

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Multilingual Learners and Special Education: Process and Practicalities

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The power of inclusive education | Ilene Schwartz | TEDxEastsidePrep

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At the end of every year (and school year!), there is often a lot of discourse about the difficulties and challenges of the past year. We talk about how awful the year was and our hopes for a better year. Social media posts blast the hard times almost as if these experiences were a personal attack on the poster. It's almost as if anyone who recalls the past year as a positive one in their life is arrogant or should just keep quiet to avoid resentment directed their way.

I have experienced very hard times, as everyone has. And, to be honest, I am often a "glass-half-empty" type of person if I don't check myself. Since this is a safe space, I'll also admit that I work through anxiety, especially when things concern my children. However, in the most difficult of years-even through major struggles-I can see that there were lessons I've learned or blessings I have experienced. Professionally, I have had years that made me question my calling in education and I have felt like I lost my passion-and other years when I feel energized and hopeful that I am making a difference in the lives of my students and colleagues. My mother passed away the same year my son was born, and the paradox of the beginning and end of life was really difficult for me to reconcile. My father passed in 2020 alongside the challenges we all experienced, but I can also objectively look back at that year at things that shaped me positively as a person.

I also have had this type of reflection every June as the school year ends. By this time, most educators are spent and stressed. We have our eye on moving on from the school year that is ending and our focus is on a well-anticipated break. It is easy to focus on the challenges of the past year (especially in recent years) and count the days until we are "free." We hope that the summer will renew and refresh our commitment to education and our students.

As a lifelong educator, I have always felt that my "New Year's Day" was Labor Day. It's a fresh start for me and a time of anticipation of new beginnings. I often find myself out at sunrise reflecting on what is to come. New class, new students, a breath of fresh air. The "buffer" of summer may have made things that stressed us in May and June a distant memory. At least that is what has happened in the past.

In recent years, I have seen many educators that I know begin the school year without that refreshed feeling or excitement of new starts. The pressure of starting again is sometimes overwhelming. I have been thinking about what we can do to support ourselves as we have these feelings. We have to start in June, though.

Much like reflections in December, we must remember our purpose in education every May and June. This is when we recall the positive things we have accomplished and experienced during the school year. Creating a portfolio of positive memories, interactions with students, notes about professional learning, and small successes can renew our passion for our work. These empowering times can be easy to forget when other feelings are so strong.

I will share some advice that has helped me in the past:

I remember that life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes the lower parts of our lives seem to "outweigh" the high points, but we have to remember this is the nature of life. We learn from the difficult times, whether it benefits ourselves or our families or we share those experiences to help others. We celebrate the exciting and happy times and hopefully, they will boost us through the rest.

I started to keep a journal at the beginning of the pandemic. In this book, I write down events as objectively as I can-and I find that my perspective of events changes with time.

Some people keep a jar of positive thoughts throughout the (school) year. We sometimes forget the impacts we make, the laughs we have, and the small joys of teaching. Unpacking this jar in October of the following year may help you as the "bloom is off the rose" of the new school year. I may even suggest opening the jar once a week to keep you centered and focused on the small successes that you may otherwise have forgotten. Feel free to pin on a bulletin board to keep visual reminders of good times and that you are building your jar for the current year.

Share with others. When you think something positive about a colleague, student, parent, or admin, you should write them a short note. It can take two minutes of your time, yet make someone else's day. We know how important it is to communicate our appreciation and admiration-but often do not take the steps to do it. As you make this a habit, you will find yourself looking for ways to connect positively with people and that can help improve your overall interactions with others and feelings within yourself.

Give yourself a break! Be kind to yourself and consider all the good you do. You make far more of a difference than you realize.

So, I take this time to wish you the best of beginnings and endings! Although we can't always focus on the good, making a conscious effort to set ourselves up with the support we need to consider our mental health is important for all of us.

Happy New Year, teachers-whenever you choose to celebrate and reflect!

Dr. Denise Furlong currently is working her dream job as a teacher educator for Georgian Court University in New Jersey. She has over 20 years experience teaching diverse learners and coaching their teachers in grades K-12. She lives at the Jersey Shore with her husband Tim, her kids (Ryan, Joey & Sarah), and their two dogs. You can connect with her on Twitter at @denise_furlong and Instagram at denisefurlong.

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At the end of every year (and school year!), there is often a lot of discourse about the difficulties and challenges of the past year. We talk about how awful the year was and our hopes for a better year. Social media posts blast the hard times almost as if these experiences were a personal attack on the poster.

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Essential Strategies for Inclusive Teaching - ASCD

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Emerging data on student academic outcomes during the pandemic indicate that Black students (and other underserved groups) suffered academic losses in areas such as reading and math (Dorn et al., 2020). Many teachers struggled to get Black students to consistently engage during the pandemic. But to

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BOOSTING ACHIEVEMENT: Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education is a guide to help educators and school districts navigate the challenges and learning opportunities unique to SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education). Circumstances such as upheaval due to war and political turmoil in their native countries may have contributed to minimal education experiences, thus prompting current educators to adopt an innovative approach in meeting students' cognitive, affective, and linguistic needs. In the pages of this teacher-friendly framework, educators will explore interactive and engaging learning strategies which maximize English language development as students learn academic content. A distinctive thread woven through the pages is the growth mindset belief that with effort and targeted strategies, students are able to accelerate their learning despite challenges they may have faced. Boosting Achievement encourages a practical approach to instruction that incorporates authentic learning experiences while leveraging students' unique backgrounds and perspectives to enrich our classrooms and learning environments.

In this much anticipated 2nd edition, we bring you the following:

Additional classroom activities plus an activity index for easy reference

Carol Salva's doctoral research on persistence of SLIFE

A program leader's guide based on current research findings

Updated research on second language acquisition as well as effective literacy practices for multilingual learners

An expanded section on "Rapid Literacy for Older Emergent Bilinguals"

A suggested scope, sequence, and flow of the newcomer class

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Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (2nd Ed.)

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Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (2nd Ed.) [Dr. Carol Salva, Anna Matis] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (2nd Ed.)

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Showcasing Cultural Stories Globally: The Cross-Cultural Storytelling Project w/Melissa Campesi - RBERNing Questions

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***For CTLE credit, click here***Episode Summary:In this episode, Melissa discusses impactful ways to showcase the rich cultural landscape of our multilingual students on an international level. Through the Cross-Cultural Storytelling project, bot…

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Every year, in classrooms all over the country, the population of English language learners continues to grow. Depending on where you live and how far along your school's ESL program is, you may have to figure out how to help non-English speaking students participate in your class, even if you have no ESL training yourself.

Sadly, many teachers in this situation will just have these students sit there, watching as their classmates engage in learning activities. Or we might give students a coloring page, just so they have something to do with their hands. It's not even close to ideal-we know this-but with no other tools at our disposal, what else is there?

In an earlier post, I shared 12 strategies regular classroom teachers can use to support ESL students in their classrooms. If you haven't read that, definitely check it out. Since then, I have been shown one more tool that can make a huge difference for these students: the Can-Do Descriptors, downloadable for free from an organization called WIDA.

These descriptors are designed to help classroom teachers understand what students at different levels of English proficiency should be able to do in a regular content area classroom. The tasks are separated into four domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The descriptors can help you look at an activity you plan to do with your English-speaking students, then scale it back for ELL students so that they are still interacting with the academic content, just at a simplified level.

How the Can-Do Descriptors Work

Let's walk through an example so you can see the Can-Do charts in action. Take a look at this page of descriptors for grades 9-12:

WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for Reading and Writing, Grades 9-12. Level 1 is the lowest level of proficiency and Level 6 is the highest.

Suppose you want students to write research reports that integrate information from a variety of sources. If you look at the "Writing" row on the chart above, you'll see that this activity is listed as something a Level 5 student should be able to do. Let's assume you have three ELL students in your class: Seda, who speaks almost no English (Level 1), Pavlo, whose English is progressing, but still hasn't reached proficiency (Level 3), and Ife, who is approaching fluency (Level 5).

Ife can most likely do the research report as assigned (see the top bullet in "Writing" under Level 5). She may need a bit of help with some of the vocabulary, but at level 5, her proficiency is strong enough to do the same work as her English-speaking peers. Pavlo, at Level 3, could be given a template or graphic organizer that asks for specific information about his chosen topic. In order to complete this template, he will still need to do research, but he won't need to rely on the advanced English skills required to compose a well-written report. Meanwhile, Seda may only be able to label pictures of items related to a topic similar to those students are researching. If all students are researching careers, for example, you might find out what types of jobs Seda is interested in, have her choose one, then give her pictures related to that job to look up and label.

Here's another example from 3rd-grade teacher Kelsey Davis, using the grades 3-5 descriptors:

What If You Don't Have Access Scores?

The levels in these charts are based on student scores on the ACCESS test, which is given in many states to measure English language proficiency. If your state doesn't use this test, if you are outside of the U.S., or if you are working with a student who hasn't been tested yet, use these charts as a guideline: The point is to use the descriptors to challenge each student as much as possible within their current language abilities, so make your best guess about what the student might be able to do, try it, and adjust as necessary.

It sure beats having them sit and color. ♦

Download a Free Copy of the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for your target age group HERE. And check back later: WIDA is currently working on additional versions of the descriptors, including a set in Spanish.

Come back for more.
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Can-Do Descriptors: A Free Tool for ESL Differentiation

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If your non-English speaking students aren't ready to do the regular class work, what should you have them do instead? This handy tool can help.

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Let the Glitter Settle: Mindfulness for Teens: Lachenauer, Stefanie: 9798993424408: Amazon.com: Books

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Let the Glitter Settle: Mindfulness for Teens [Lachenauer, Stefanie] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Let the Glitter Settle: Mindfulness for Teens

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Fight burnout and join thousands of teachers saving hours of time using MagicSchool to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPS, communicate clearly, and more.

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Join thousands of teachers saving hours of time using AI to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more!

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Planning to read aloud to kids in my class is one of my favorite things to do as a teacher! There's a kind of magic when you read aloud, as students become locked into a good story, or just can't hold in their responses! However, one thing I've noticed in my years as a teacher is that often when we read aloud to kids who are learning English as an additional language, they can struggle to stay engaged and comprehend what we're reading.

Imagine if you were visiting a foreign country and went to see a movie in the theater...but there were no subtitles. Everyone else was laughing and enjoying the plot twists, but you couldn't. This is, I imagine, how our English learners must feel as we read aloud to the whole class.

There are numerous ways that read-alouds benefit all of our students. For English learners in particular, they get to hear the pronunciation and usage of English modeled. Also, we build their background knowledge and connect to their prior learning. There are also many cultural connections and new learning that we can invite students into. But...

Without being properly supported by means of instructional scaffolds, or supports, our diverse learners may be left out of the rich experience of our read aloud time. In order to provide equity when we read aloud to kids who are multilingual, we must be intentional in our preparation and presentation of read alouds. Need some practical tips for how to do this? Read on to learn 14 strategies that you can implement in your class!

Here's What Reading Comprehension or Listening Comprehension Challenges to be Aware of as You Plan Your Read-Aloud

Planning for a great read aloud doesn't need to take super long. Give yourself a few minutes to consider what reading comprehension or listening comprehension obstacles may arise. You know your learners. Hopefully you're familiar with their English proficiency levels. Here are some ways you can set them up for success:

1. Preview the text for cultural differences that can be investigated & celebrated.

Books are one of the best ways to let your diverse students see themselves represented in the classroom, and also to learn about other cultures. Books serve as "mirrors and windows," revealing the beauty of our own unique characteristics, and teaching us about those who are different from us. So before you read aloud, think about what cultural differences the text is inviting you to talk about and celebrate with your class.

2. Build/tap into background knowledge.

Your students all come to your classroom with a wealth of prior experiences and understandings. As you prepare your read-aloud, look for ways to connect the text with what students are familiar with. Additionally, you may need to build essential understandings before reading aloud. This may be taking a look at the setting and geographical context of a book. Perhaps it's painting a picture of the culture or historical timeframe. It might be pointing out something during a text preview that you know the students are interested in.

3. Pre-teach 1-4 key vocab words.

As you pre-read the book yourself, see what "juicy" vocabulary pops up. You don't need to make a list of every word that may be new to students. (If you introduce too many, students won't remember the meanings as well.) However, you do want to pull out and pre-teach those words that have a special impact on the story overall. Perhaps it's a word that shows up multiple times. It could be a term unique to the cultural setting of the book. Maybe it reflects a character's traits or the theme. To get started, introduce the selected terms' meanings, along with visual representation and examples.

4. Create an essential question to pose to students.

Plan in advance a higher-order question that elicits critical thinking about an important concept related to the read-aloud. Make it a question that has more than a "yes or no" answer, and challenges students to think and apply new learning. Before reading, write this on the board and introduce it to the class. As you proceed with reading, revisit this essential question. Look for ways it can open up student response and interaction opportunities (speaking and writing).

5. Identify a prominent language element that you can teach (letting the book serve as a mentor text).

Books can provide a context for learning language patterns and forms. Maybe you're teaching a certain writing or grammar skill as part of your ELA curriculum. Or there may be a feature that you notice appearing frequently in the text, which you can highlight. Plan to do a quick "mini lesson" with the class, explaining the language form. If you can project/display the text for students, teach the form, and give opportunities to practice for themselves.

Provide ELL Supports During Your Read Aloud Activity

Now you've got the students gathered, and you're ready to dive in to the read-aloud activity. There is a lot you can do while you're reading to support English learners' understanding. The more they understand, the more they will be able to attend and engage. Understanding doesn't necessarily mean that they need to know every word read. Their overall comprehension can be strengthened as you try some of these supports during the read-aloud activity:

6. Use facial expressions, gestures, & rate of speech to support comprehension.

Sometimes I really get going with a read-aloud and forget to stay conscientious of how my English learners are hearing the words I read. Using character voices are amazing, but can students still recognize words and sounds? Also, how can I use my face, my hands, and my body language to convey meaning?

7. Choral read/echo read parts of text.

One of my favorite techniques is to stop at a new, interesting, or important word/phrase in the text and invite students to "Say it with me." By engaging their speaking modality in addition to just listening, they are practice pronunciation and fluency! If your text is displayed, you can also have students read along with you an extended portion of text.

8. Model by doing a "think-aloud."

As students learn new academic language patterns, they need a lot of modeling. When you show them how you think and what you say in response to a text, they become more familiar with various ways we can interact with a text. Stop periodically while reading, to offer an inside look at how you might use comprehension strategies such as questioning, predicting, and approaching unknown words.

9. Offer interaction and response opportunities throughout.

Want to really get students actively engaged in a low-stress way? Give them directed activities and tasks to complete as you read. This could be a "stop and jot," where you prompt students to write something on whiteboards or in a journal. It may be a "turn and talk" moment. You could co-create an anchor chart, having students contribute to the content, or come up to add sticky notes. These are ways to get students chatting and writing in response to key parts of a read-aloud.

10. Bring in realia that connects with text.

I love a good object lesson. This doesn't need to be complicated. Bring in a physical object that represents something in the read-aloud. For example, maybe it's an antique item from the same time period. An article of clothing that holds special meaning for a character. If the characters in the book are preparing for a soccer tournament, use a soccer ball as a "talk tool" during class discussion. This is a great way to tap into your students' background knowledge and interest!

Create a Scaffolded After-Reading Student Engagement Activity

Finally, what you do with students after the read-aloud is so important. It gives them the opportunity to process, reflect, interact with, and apply what they received from the text. As you plan for the read-aloud, consider a student engagement activity that will help your learners connect with the text and move toward your content/language objectives. Here are some after-reading strategies:

11. Allow for supported response activities.

When giving a task immediately after reading, support and scaffold student speaking or writing, as needed. You could give them a writing prompt, and offer your ELs a sentence or paragraph frame to get them started. Provide some accountable talk "moves" to guide them in discussion with a peer. Revisit that essential question, or assess a certain reading skill. Also, this will be a way for you to check-in with students to gauge how well they understood the read-aloud.

12. Record your read-aloud to share with students for repeated listening.

I love this strategy! If you can record yourself reading aloud, either beforehand or while reading to the whole class, you can allow your ELs to view this afterward. Students will see, hear, and practice reading the now-familiar words, in a low-stress context. Depending on the format of the recording, they can pause, slow down, or replay certain parts. Huge language-building activity!

13. Follow-up activity that induces productive language, creativity, individual voice/expression.

Quality read-alouds have a way of touching our heartstrings. As we embrace the characters and learn from their experiences, there is often some personal reflection/connection to be made. Free up some time and space for your students to explore their unique response to the text. This could be a follow-up activity that integrates the arts and invites creativity. Students will feel valued as their voices and experiences are amplified.

14. Use same text again in small group or other setting.

Give students repeated exposure to the text by using it in your small group or other learning contexts. Students will come to the group with some familiarity with the characters, the plot, and the vocabulary. You can give them further opportunities to implement new vocabulary or language forms. They may share their thinking with greater confidence. And in the small group, you can more effectively assess their comprehension. So don't be afraid to reuse a great read-aloud text!

Language Reinforcement Through Read-Alouds

As you can see, our ELs will gain so much through your read-alouds if you add some of these scaffolds. When you read aloud to kids who are growing as multilingual learners, you open doors to new content information. You give them exposure to what English sounds like in different contexts. Their vocabulary and background knowledge increase. There are so many benefits!

In conclusion, the next time you get ready to jump into a new read-aloud book, take a moment to consider ways to support your English learners through the lesson. If you need a tool to guide you as you plan, grab your copy of my content and language objectives template below.

For More On Strategies for Read-Alouds, Check Out:

How to Build a Culturally Inclusive Classroom Library to Embrace Student Diversity - The All-Access Classroom

Revisiting Read Alouds: Instructional Strategies that Encourage Students' Engagement with Text - Reading Rockets

Teacher Read-Aloud That Models Reading for Deep Understanding - ReadWriteThink

Have fun reading with your kiddos!

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Read Aloud to Kids Who Are Learning English With These 14 Amazing Strategies The All-Access Classroom

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Planning to read aloud to kids in my class is one of my favorite things to do as a teacher! There's a kind of magic when you read aloud, as students become locked into a good story, or just can't hold in their responses!

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How to Use Total Physical Response (TPR) in the Classroom - TeachHUB

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As an educator, how do you teach vocabulary and language? Do some students struggle? Learn more about how to use Total Physical Response in the classroom.

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Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!

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Reading is an issue of social justice that tops the list of 10 fundamental human rights, according to the International Literacy Association (ILA). The right to read means giving each student the capability to access information that can allow them to reach their fullest potential.

Classroom learning isn't perfect, and it continues to vary widely among communities based on racial, ethnic, and economic factors. But the rapid shift to distance learning instituted in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened many of these disparities and put many students at risk of developing long-term disadvantages.

With the pandemic exacerbating inequities already present in K-8 education, the right to read is under threat for many students from historically disadvantaged communities and low-income backgrounds. Principal leadership sets the tone for how literacy is viewed across disciplines, and leaders must marshal their power to make effective literacy instruction the foundation of efforts to protect children's right to read.

ILA lists 10 tenets under that fundamental human right:

1. Children have the basic human right to read. Principals can champion that right with the school board, asking members to sign a pledge to guarantee that right in your community, as well as display Children's Rights to Read posters in the school, library, and offices.

2. Children have the right to access texts in print and digital formats. Connectivity is key to ensuring equity in access to texts. Without equal access to computer hardware, software applications, and the internet, some children will be at a disadvantage-especially now, with distance learning becoming an indispensable part of the school day.

3. Children have the right to choose what they read. Freedom of choice encourages children to read more by allowing them to follow their interests. When children can unlock information about the things they care about through reading, their curiosity is rewarded with improved fluency.

4. Children have the right to read texts that mirror their experiences and languages, provide windows into the lives of others, and open doors into our diverse world. The printed word is the original equity lens, and when children read about their cultures and those that differ, they can develop an appreciation for all expressions of the human experience. Stock school libraries and media centers with texts that represent the diversity of the school and the world.

5. Children have the right to read for pleasure. While schools have a responsibility to help kids "crack the code" of reading, they should allow children to develop healthy attitudes toward reading by making it more than a chore or testing requirement.

6. Children have the right to supportive reading environments with knowledgeable literacy partners. Ensure that your school hires qualified, knowledgeable literacy professionals, including teachers, literacy specialists and coaches, and librarians who can assist students with texts.

7. Children have the right to extended time set aside for reading. Dedicate time in the school's master schedule for independent reading, and designate dedicated reading-only spaces for students to prioritize their right to read.

8. Children have the right to share what they learn through reading by collaborating with others locally and globally. Distance learning has blurred the boundaries of the school community during the pandemic-and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Create literacy projects that encourage kids to collaborate across town and around the world.

9. Children have the right to read as a springboard for other forms of communication, such as writing, speaking, and visually representing. Literacy is the key to learning and expression. Extend reading instruction across disciplines to create students who can excel in a range of activities and professions.

10. Children have the right to benefit from the financial and material resources of governments, agencies, and organizations that support reading and reading instruction. Tap every resource available to deliver quality reading instruction in your school, and make it a budget priority to bring reading resources to children and professional development opportunities to their instructors.

The Right of Instruction

Another ILA position statement, "Children's Rights to Excellent Literacy Instruction," outlines the ways in which schools must ensure that every child has access to the education and resources needed to learn to read. "Excellent literacy instruction builds a strong foundation for learning and, in turn, equips children to develop their potential, growing into adults who participate fully in their communities and society," it says. To aid in this effort, schools must:

Ensure knowledgeable and qualified literacy educators. Teachers matter more to student achievement than any other school-related factor, but teachers and their students can't be successful without the supports of other knowledgeable and qualified school personnel, such as principals, reading/literacy specialists, literacy coaches, and literacy coordinators.
Action item: Define a leadership structure that coaches, mentors, and supports teachers in the literacy curriculum of choice.
Ensure integrated support systems. Student learning depends on the successful alignment of a complex system of stakeholders working cooperatively to strengthen teaching and learning practices and knowledge-building frameworks.
Action item: Create support systems that include students, classroom teachers, reading/literacy specialists, school staff, school leaders, families and caregivers, volunteers, and community members.
Ensure supportive learning environments and high-quality resources. Accessible learning environments that provide robust, literacy-rich experiences, interactivity, and exploration of thought should be inclusive of teachers, students, families, and communities.
Action item: Educators must not only acknowledge social and cultural identities at local and global levels, but also audit their resources and practice to ensure they are bias-free, culturally responsive, and student-centered.
Ensure policies for equitable literacy instruction. Nonacademic barriers to education, such as those that come in the form of poverty, physical health, mental health, and lack of social-​emotional competencies, impede a child's ability to learn.
Action item: Extra financial and educational supports must be provided to the children and families who need it the most, and it is the responsibility of policymakers to address these needs. Today, examples might include tablets and internet connectivity needed to access instruction remotely.
Excellent literacy instruction builds a strong foundation for learning and, in turn, equips children to develop their potential. It allows them to grow into adults who participate completely in their communities and society, and enjoy the fullness that continuous learning brings to their lives. It is our collective responsibility to advocate for, ensure, and protect these rights for every child, everywhere.

Reading Through Crisis

We have entered a season of challenges to education and those responsible for its leadership. As I write this, districts and state departments of education are making decisions about what K-12 education will look like in the 2020-2021 school year-decisions that will impact your teachers, your staff, and your students, not to mention their families.

As a former teacher, principal, and superintendent, I've seen the impact literacy can have on students, schools, and districts firsthand. It is all too easy to lose sight of that in times like these, but it is our job-our responsibility-to keep that from happening.

As you navigate your way through these uncharted waters, I encourage you to embrace the principles outlined in ILA's 2019 guide, "Advocating for Children's Rights to Read." Seek partners in finding new ways to grant and guarantee these principles. Remember that even in our darkest times, getting the right book into the hands of the right child could change the trajectory of that child's life.

Stephen Peters is 2020-2021 president of the ILA board.

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Step-by-step guidance to promote literacy as a matter of social justice.

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Civil rights doc for ELs with disabilities

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Civil rights doc for ELs with disabilities

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The Leadership Conference Education Fund

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The Civil Rights Principles for Multilingual Learner Education details how decision makers at all levels can ensure an equitable education system that offers meaningful equal opportunity and success for all children, including children whose first language is a language other than English. We are all fortunate that there are so many children in the United States who are learning more than one language between their homes and their schools. This powerful asset enriches their own lives and education, and it sets them up to be builders of our multiracial, multicultural, and multilingual democracy. In order to ensure that children who speak more than one language have access to and are included in comprehensive, diverse, and high-quality education settings, we seek policy that reflects the following principles. The civil rights community calls on decision makers at all levels to create and maintain an equitable education system for children by incorporating these principles into all relevant policies.

Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes ofwebsite accessibility

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Civil Rights Principles for Multilingual Learner Education

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The Civil Rights Principles for Multilingual Learner Education details how decision makers at all levels can ensure an equitable education system that offers meaningful equal opportunity and success for all children, including children whose first language is a language other than English.

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Dear Colleague Letter: Resources for Ensuring Equal Access to Education for Immigrant Students

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Read the January 8, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter from Secretary Miguel Cardona regarding resources for ensuring equal access to education for immigrant students.

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Social justice is about distributing resources fairly and treating all students equitably so that they feel safe and secure-physically and psychologically. Sadly, a look at schools across the nation makes it clear that fair distribution of resources and equitable treatment don't always happen. Students in poorly-funded schools don't have the technology, new books, or art and music programs that create a well-rounded education, while students in affluent areas have the latest academic resources, school counselors, librarians, and more to help them succeed. Bringing social justice into schools shines a spotlight on all sorts of important societal issues-from the myriad reasons that lie beneath the deep disparity between the suspension rates of black and white students to how current U.S. immigration policy separates families and violates student rights. Meet five educators who determined to make a difference in the lives of their students and within their profession by ensuring social justice is a topic that is addressed in their schools.
Audrey Murph-Brown
Springfield, Massachusetts

Audrey Murph-Brown is a member of the Springfield Education Association (SEA) in Massachusetts. She has been a school social worker for 26 years. She describes events that happened during the 2017 - 2018 school year as "a perfect storm at the perfect time."The storm swirled with nepotism, favoritism, and institutional biases that prevented highly qualified educators of color from becoming lead teachers or being offered lateral promotions. "Rarely were those opportunities given to educators of color," says Murph-Brown. The Massachusetts Teachers Association offered training that led to the establishment of ALANA (African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American) Educators and Allies, an arm of SEA. The group focused on building a diverse and culturally proficient environment for educators of color, and when the opportunity arose to speak to school board members during a public meeting, they did.

"They've never had a collective raised voice before and we were bold," recalls Murph-Brown, referring to the school committee. Educators and their allies filled a school board meeting with signs that read, "Fair Hiring for Everyone" and "No More Nepotism." After powerful testimony from Murph-Brown and other educators, the door to communication was cracked open, and efforts have been made to level the playing field. For example, principals must add an applicant's ethnicity to the hiring application as a way to keep track of who's applying for teaching positions. The school committee's human resource department is looking into better practices within its hiring process, too. It's been slow going, "but it's more than what's ever happened before," says Murph-Brown.

Jesse Hagopian
Seattle, Washington

Jesse Hagopian teaches ethnic studies and is the adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School in Seattle. Hagopian established the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award after he sued the City of Seattle for being pepper sprayed in the face by a police officer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2015. Recipients of the award demonstrate exceptional leadership in struggles against racism-especially with an understanding of the intersections between sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, class exploitation, and other forms of oppression-within their school or community. Since 2015, nine Seattle Public Schools students and one youth organization have been honored with the award.

"The bold and courageous work of standing up to racism is hard, and this award gives recognition for those with the courage to do it," says Hagopian. "I wanted to create a space and an awareness that if you step forward for social justice, you will be lifted up in the community and by mentors who will support your work."

Activism is at the heart of this award, Hagopian says, and "the examples are breathtaking."

He points to seven black Seattle high school students who formed "New Generation," a school activist group that led a walkout at Garfield High School to raise awareness about Charleena Lyles, a pregnant 30-year-old black woman who was fatally shot by two white Seattle police officers at home as her three young children looked on. One student organized a city-wide movement to get free bus passes for students from low-income families.

Another student started an Islamophobia global awareness day. One group got the Seattle School Board to endorse "Black Lives Matters at School," which included a week of action. The movement has spread to other cities and districts. Another group of students fought for the addition of an Ethnic Studies program that is transforming Seattle's schools.

"None of this would have been possible without student activism," says Hagopian. "I wanted to find a way to recognize this critical work of young people who see that they are the changemakers-the ones who will have to bring about the changes they want to see."

Angie Powers
Olathe, Kansas

Angie Powers, a high school English teacher in Olathe, Kan., says she defines success according to her ability to make school a place where students feel welcome and receive the tools that will help them navigate the complexities of the world with compassion and empathy. That's why Powers sponsors the Olathe Northwest High School Gender Sexuality Alliance and mentors students in the areas of civic engagement, social justice, and advocacy. The latter draws on her training from the NEA, GLSEN, and the Human Rights Campaign. As co-chair of the Kansas NEA Social Justice Taskforce, and the Olathe NEA Social Justice Cadre, Powers leads her state affiliate's social justice efforts. She has spoken to pre-service teachers in every college in Kansas about the challenges LGBTQ+ students face and how new educators can create welcoming schools for their future students. Powers also serves on THRIVE, an organization in the Kansas City area that creates LGBTQ+-specific policy recommendations for local districts.

Powers is committed to ensuring that every student has equitable access to a quality public school, and says, "Education and equity are inseparable. One cannot exist without the other. When inequity plagues the educational system, [the system] fails to serve the needs of each child. It is our most important work to battle inequity in each classroom across the nation, [and within] our educational institutions as a whole. Our children are worth this fight."

Elizabeth Villanueva
Sacramento, California

"I had never thought of myself as an activist just by doing what I love: serving students, their families, and the community I work with," says Sacramento Spanish teacher Elizabeth Villanueva, who has changed the lives of her students by fostering social justice in her classroom and in the community. "Getting to know my students and their families and building meaningful relationships with them motivated me to become an activist. I was deeply moved to look for resources outside the classroom and to provide a meaningful and excellent education for them."

With that goal in mind, Villanueva began an after-school class for Latina students when she was in her second year as a teacher. The goal of the effort was gang prevention, and most of the students enrolled in the class had some affiliation with gangs. But by the time the second cohort had enrolled, the group changed its name to New Age Latinas-NAL, for short-and focused on leadership skills, college readiness, community service, personal growth, and networking with other Latina college students and professionals.

With today's uncertainty over immigration policy, NAL participants and many students in Villanueva's classes share their fears and anxieties about the increase in ICE raids and deportations in their communities. To create a safe haven for her students, Villanueva reached out to the community, colleagues, and other students and started a group called the Luther Burbank High School DREAMers. The group meets weekly and features guest speakers, such as immigration lawyers, who provide "Know Your Rights" workshops, and college counselors, who share information on how to enroll in college and access financial resources.

"Providing good quality, transformative education to the underserved and underrepresented is an essential component of social justice. Every student is part of our collective society, and part of that which makes us all who we are," says Villanueva. "Each one deserves the dignity, respect, and opportunity that is provided for every other member of our collective society. Education has the power to transform our collective consciousness and improve the well-being of us all."

Erica Viray Santos
San Leandro, California

About a decade ago, educator and activist Erica Viray Santos drew upon her personal experiences-growing up in a poor working class, immigrant household, where her mother worked multiple jobs and her father turned to substance abuse and was in and out of the criminal justice system-to help develop San Leandro High School's Social Justice Academy, a cohort that gives students the opportunity to explore their identities and cultural strengths and use them to transform their communities for a more socially just world.

As a teacher and program director for the academy, Viray Santos serves more than a hundred sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a team of teachers. Student projects and actions range from supporting undocumented students to challenging the rape culture. All of the projects, events, pieces of writing, and the curriculum reflect topics that interest and impact the students.

"I think it is essential that we not only give our students content knowledge and hard skills, but we also instill compassion and a sense of accountability to their local and global communities. As educators, we have the responsibility to help young people realize their value and power. It is our responsibility to teach them how to look at the world critically, challenge systems of oppression and discrimination, understand how they can be agents of transformation, and inspire them to take action."

Last year, students addressed the gun violence in school. Viray Santos explains that they developed a new comprehensive discipline plan based on restorative and transformative justice. The goal was to improve relationships between marginalized students and the wider school community. The plan runs counter to the trend of discipline that punishes and pushes young people out of school. Ultimately, students presented their plan to the San Leandro School Board. "These types of lessons and experiences grant students the ability to navigate a landscape that places underserved youth at a disadvantage within the education system," Viray Santos says.

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Why Social Justice in School Matters | NEA

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Meet five educators who are determined to help young people realize their value and power.

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Understanding literacies in context helps students develop and apply critical thinking skills.

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Ellevation: EL Program Management Tools for K-12

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Addressing limiting beliefs & implicit bias in education | Ellevation

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Implicit bias, a negative attitude of which one is not consciously aware, against a specific social group, shows up in every profession - including education. For English learners, who have experienced a long history of explicit bias in the education system, this is a very real threat to their educational opportunities and achievement.

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Every two months, I reprint this post so that new subscribers learn about these resources.

I have many free resources, including excerpts and student hand-outs, available from all "my" books ("my" is quotation marks because several are ones I have co-authored or edited). Clicking on the covers will lead you to them.

Katie Hull and I have also begun working on the second edition of The ELL Teacher's Toolbox. It probably won't be out until late 2025. And we have plans for another book after that which will be for both ELL and non-ELL educators.

Coming up with an idea for a book and then getting a contract with a publisher for it is great - up until the time one actually has to write it 🙂

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Every two months, I reprint this post so that new subscribers learn about these resources. I have many free resources, including excerpts and student hand-outs, available from all "my&...

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Community outreach for multilingual communities

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Community outreach for multilingual communities

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Effective Strategies for Overcoming Language Barriers in Community Outreach

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Learn how to engage and connect with diverse members by overcoming language barriers in community outreach.

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Translanguaging Strategies with Examples - Latest

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Translanguaging Strategies: Translanguaging is an innovative pedagogical approach that leverages students’ full linguistic repertoires to,,,

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Es cuando estoy leyendo (It's when I'm reading) the book and soñando (dreaming) of other places. Question for our multilingual friends: Have you ever felt that there is a word in one of your languages that just has the right "feel" to what you are trying to express-even if you are communicating in a different language?

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Frontiers | Affirming culture and cultural identity in the bilingual/ESL classrooms

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In Texas and throughout the United States, the increasing linguistic diversity within educational settings necessitates the expansion of bilingual and ESL pr…

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Novel Study Using Google Meet and Audiobooks | WAESOL Educator

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This article highlights the challenges faced in conducting novel studies in a diverse fifth-grade ELA classroom and proposes an effective solution utilizing Google Meet with Breakout rooms and audiobooks. By incorporating high-interest novels and bilingual approaches, educators facilitate language development, comprehension, and engagement. The method fosters individualized learning, boosts student confidence, and maximizes class time efficiency. Despite pandemic disruptions, this strategy proved a valuable tool, promoting language acquisition and a love for reading among students.

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Non-verbal communication in different cultures: A guide to effective interaction - Language Partners

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Explore non-verbal communication across cultures. Learn about body language, facial expressions, and personal space to enhance interactions.

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Shawn Ginwright Ph.D.
From time to time, researchers, policy makers, philanthropy and practitioners all join together in a coordinated response to address the most pressing issues facing America's youth. I've been involved with this process for long enough to have participated in each of these roles. I recall during the early 1990s experts promoted the term "resiliency," which is the capacity to adapt, navigate and bounce back from adverse and challenging life experiences. Researchers and practitioners alike clamored over strategies to build more resilient youth.

In the early 2000's the term "youth development" gained currency and had a significant influence on youth development programs, and probably more importantly how we viewed young people. Youth development offered an important shift in focus from viewing youth as problems to be solved to community assets who simply required supports and opportunities for healthy development. Since that time, a range of approaches have influenced how we think about young people, and consequently our programmatic strategies. I have, for the most part, attempted to nudge and cajole each of these approaches to consider the unique ways in which race, identity and social marginalization influence the development of youth of color.

More recently, practitioners and policy stakeholders have recognized the impact of trauma on learning, and healthy development. In efforts to support young people who experience trauma, the term "trauma-informed care" has gained traction among schools, juvenile justice departments, mental health programs and youth development agencies around the country. Trauma informed care broadly refers to a set of principles that guide and direct how we view the impact of severe harm on young people's mental, physical, and emotional health. Trauma informed care encourages support and treatment to the whole person, rather than focusing on only treating individual symptoms or specific behaviors.

Trauma-informed care has become an important approach in schools and agencies that serve young people who have been exposed to trauma, and here's why. Some school leaders believe that the best way to address disruptive classroom behavior is through harsh discipline. These schools believe that discipline alone is sufficient to modify undesired classroom behavior, but research shows that school suspensions may further harm students who have been exposed to a traumatic event or experience (Bottiani et al., 2017). Rather than using discipline, a school that uses a trauma informed approach might offer therapy, or counseling to support the restoration of that student's well-being. The assumption is that the disruptive behavior is the symptom of a deeper harm, rather than willful defiance, or disrespect.

While trauma-informed care offers an important lens to support young people who have been harmed and emotionally injured, it also has its limitations. I first became aware of the limitations of the term "trauma-informed care" during a healing circle I was leading with a group of African American young men. All of them had experienced some form of trauma ranging from sexual abuse, violence, homelessness, abandonment or all of the above. During one of our sessions, I explained the impact of stress and trauma on brain development and how trauma can influence emotional health. As I was explaining, one of the young men in the group named Marcus abruptly stopped me and said, "I am more than what happened to me, I'm not just my trauma". I was puzzled at first, but it didn't take me long to really contemplate what he was saying.

The term "trauma informed care" didn't encompass the totality of his experience and focused only on his harm, injury and trauma. For Marcus, the term "trauma informed care" was akin to saying, you are the worst thing that ever happened to you. For me, I realized the term slipped into the murky water of deficit based, rather than asset driven strategies to support young people who have been harmed. Without careful consideration of the terms we use, we can create blind spots in our efforts to support young people.

While the term trauma informed care is important, it is incomplete. First, trauma informed care correctly highlights the specific needs for individual young people who have exposure to trauma. However, current formulations of trauma informed care presumes that the trauma is an individual experience, rather than a collective one. To illustrate this point, researchers have shown that children in high violence neighborhoods all display behavioral and psychological elements of trauma (Sinha & Rosenberg 2013). Similarly, populations that disproportionately suffer from disasters like Hurricane Katrina share a common experience that if viewed individually simply fails to capture how collective harm requires a different approach than an individual one.

Second, trauma-informed care requires that we treat trauma in people but provides very little insight into how we might address the root causes of trauma in neighborhoods, families, and schools. If trauma is collectively experienced, this means that we also have to consider the environmental context that caused the harm in the first place. By only treating the individual we only address part of the equation leaving the toxic systems, policies and practices neatly intact.

Third, the term trauma-informed care runs the risk of focusing on the treatment of pathology (trauma), rather than fostering the possibility (well-being). This is not an indictment on well-meaning therapists and social workers many of whom may have been trained in theories and techniques designed to simply reduce negative emotions and behavior (Seligman 2011). However, just like the absence of disease doesn't constitute health, nor the absence of violence constitute peace, the reduction pathology (anxiety, anger, fear, sadness, distrust, triggers) doesn't constitute well-being (hope, happiness, imagination, aspirations, trust). Everyone wants to be happy, not just have less misery. The emerging field of positive psychology offers insight into the limits of only "treating" symptoms and focuses on enhancing the conditions that contribute to well-being. Without more careful consideration, trauma informed approaches sometimes slip into rigid medical models of care that are steeped in treating the symptoms, rather than strengthening the roots of well-being.

What is needed is an approach that allows practitioners to approach trauma with a fresh lens that promotes a holistic view of healing from traumatic experiences and environments. One approach is called healing-centered, as opposed to trauma-informed. A healing centered approach is holistic involving culture, spirituality, civic action and collective healing. A healing-centered approach views trauma not simply as an individual isolated experience, but rather highlights the ways in which trauma and healing are experienced collectively. The term healing-centered engagement expands how we think about responses to trauma and offers more holistic approach to fostering well-being.

A shift from trauma informed care to healing centered engagement (HCE) is more than a semantic play with words, but rather a tectonic shift in how we view trauma, its causes and its intervention. HCE is strength based, advances a collective view of healing, and re-centers culture as a central feature in well-being. Researchers have pointed out the ways in which patients have redefined the terms used to describe their illnesses in ways that affirmed, humanized and dignified their condition. For example, in the early 1990s AIDS activists challenged the term "gay-related immune deficiency" because the term stigmatized gay men and failed to adequately capture the medical accuracy of the condition. In a similar way, the young men I worked with offered me a way to reframe trauma with language that humanized them, and holistically captured their life experiences.

A healing centered approach to addressing trauma requires a different question that moves beyond "what happened to you" to "what's right with you" and views those exposed to trauma as agents in the creation of their own well-being rather than victims of traumatic events. Healing centered engagement is akin to the South African term "Ubuntu" meaning that humanness is found through our interdependence, collective engagement and service to others. Additionally, healing centered engagement offers an asset driven approach aimed at the holistic restoration of young peoples' well-being. The healing centered approach comes from the idea that people are not harmed in a vacuum, and well-being comes from participating in transforming the root causes of the harm within institutions. Healing centered engagement also advances the move to "strengths-based' care and away from the deficit based mental health models that drives therapeutic interventions. There are four key elements of healing centered engagement that may at times overlap with current trauma informed practices but offers several key distinctions.

Communities, and individuals who experience trauma are agents in restoring their own well-being. This subtle shift suggests that healing from trauma is found in an awareness and actions that address the conditions that created the trauma in the first place. Researchers have found that well-being is a function of the control and power young people have in their schools and communities (Morsillo & Prilleltensky 2007; Prilleltensky & Prilleltensky 2006). These studies focus on concepts such as such as liberation, emancipation, oppression, and social justice among activist groups and suggests that building an awareness of justice and inequality, combined with social action such as protests, community organizing, and/or school walk-outs contribute to overall wellbeing, hopefulness, and optimism (Potts 2003; Prilleltensky 2003, 2008). This means that healing centered engagement views trauma and well-being as function of the environments where people live, work and play. When people advocate for policies and opportunities that address causes of trauma, such as lack of access to mental health, these activities contribute to a sense of purpose, power and control over life situations. All of these are ingredients necessary to restore well-being and healing.

The pathway to restoring well-being among young people who experience trauma can be found in culture and identity. Healing centered engagement uses culture as a way to ground young people in a solid sense of meaning, self-perception, and purpose. This process highlights the intersectional nature of identity and highlights the ways in which culture offers a shared experience, community and sense of belonging. Healing is experienced collectively, and is shaped by shared identity such as race, gender, or sexual orientation. Healing centered engagement is the result of building a healthy identity, and a sense of belonging. For youth of color, these forms of healing can be rooted in culture and serves as an anchor to connect young people to a shared racial and ethnic identity that is both historical grounded and contemporarily relevant. Healing centered engagement embraces a holistic view of well-being that includes spiritual domains of health. This goes beyond viewing healing only from the lens of mental health, and incorporates culturally grounded rituals, and activities to restore well-being (Martinez 2001). Some examples of healing centered engagement can be found in healing circles rooted in indigenous culture where young people share their stories about healing and learn about their connection to their ancestors and traditions, or drumming circles rooted in African cultural principles.

Healing centered engagement offers an important departure from solely viewing young people through the lens of harm and focuses on asset driven strategies that highlight possibilities for well-being. An asset driven strategy acknowledges that young people are much more than the worst thing that happened to them, and builds upon their experiences, knowledge, skills and curiosity as positive traits to be enhanced. While it is important to acknowledge trauma and its influence on young people's mental health, healing centered strategies move one step beyond by focusing on what we want to achieve, rather than merely treating emotional and behavioral symptoms of trauma. This is a salutogenic approach focusing on how to foster and sustain well-being. Based in positive psychology, healing centered engagement is based in collective strengths and possibility which offers a departure from conventional psychopathology which focuses on clinical treatment of illness.

Adult providers need healing too! Healing centered engagement requires that we consider how to support adult providers in sustaining their own healing and well-being. We cannot presume that adulthood is a final, "trauma-free" destination. Much of our training and practice is directed at young peoples' healing but rarely focuses on the healing that is required of adults to be an effective youth practitioner. Healing is an ongoing process that we all need, not just young people who experience trauma. The well-being of the adult youth worker is also a critical factor in supporting young peoples' well-being. While we are learning more about the causes and effects of secondary on adults, we know very little about the systems of support required to restore and sustain well-being for adults. Healing centered engagement has an explicit focus on restoring, and sustaining the adults who attempt to heal youth- a healing the healers approach. Policy stakeholders should consider how to build a systems that support adult youth worker's well-being. I have supported organizations in creating structures like sabbaticals for employees or creating incentives like continuing education units for deeper learning about well-being and healing.

Marcus's comments during our healing circle "I am more than what happened to me" led me to question our approach to trauma. What blind spots do we have in our approaches to supporting young people who experience trauma? How might the concepts which are enshrined in our language limit rather than create opportunities for healing? What approaches might offer "disruptive" techniques that saturate young people with opportunities for healing and well-being?

The fields of positive psychology and community psychology offers important insight into how policy makers, and youth development stakeholders can consider a range of healing centered options for young people. Shifting from trauma informed care or treatment to healing centered engagement requires youth development stakeholders to expand from a treatment-based model, which views trauma and harm as an isolated experience, to an engagement model which supports collective well-being. Here are a few notes to consider in building healing centered engagement.

Healing centered engagement begins by building empathy with young people who experience trauma. This process takes time, is an ongoing process and sometimes may feel like taking two steps forward, and three steps back. However, building empathy is critical to healing centered engagement. To create this empathy, I encourage adult staff to share their story first, and take an emotional risk by being more vulnerable, honest, and open to young people. This process creates an empathy exchange between the adult, and the young people which is the foundation for healing centered engagement (Payne 2013). This process also strengthens emotional literacy which allows youth to discuss the complexity of their feelings. Fostering empathy allows for young people to feel safe sharing their experiences and emotions. The process ultimately restores their sense of well-being because they have the power name and respond to their emotional states.

An important ingredient in healing centered engagement is the ability to acknowledge the harm and injury, but not be defined by it. Perhaps one of the greatest tools available to us is the ability to see beyond the condition, event or situation that caused the trauma in the first place. Research shows that the ability to dream and imagine is an important factor in fostering hopefulness, and optimism which both of which contributes to overall well-being (Snyder et al. 2003). Daily survival and ongoing crisis management in young people's lives can make it difficult for them to see beyond the present.

The greatest casualty of trauma is not only depression and emotional scares, but also the loss of the ability to dream and imagine another way of living. Howard Thurman pointed this out in his eloquent persistence that dreams matter. He commented, "As long as a man [woman] has a dream, he [she] cannot lose the significance of living" (p. 304). By creating activities and opportunities for young people to play, reimagine, design and envision their lives this process strengthens their future goal orientation (Snyder et al. 2003). These are practices of possibility that encourage young people to envision what they want to become, and who they want to be.

Healing and well-being are fundamentally political not clinical. This means that we have to consider the ways in which the policies and practice and political decisions harm young people. Healing in this context also means that young people develop an analysis of these practices and policies that facilitated the trauma in the first place. Without an analysis of these issues, young people often internalize, and blame themselves for lack of confidence. Critical reflection provides a lens by which to filter, examine, and consider analytical and spiritual responses to trauma. By spiritual, I mean the ability to draw upon the power of culture, rituals and faith in order to consistently act from a place of humility, and love. These are not cognitive processes, but rather ethical, moral and emotional aspects of healing centered engagement.

The other key component, is taking loving action, by collectively responding to political decisions and practices that can exacerbate trauma. By taking action, (e.g. school walkouts, organizing peace march, or promoting access to healthy foods) it builds a sense of power and control over their lives. Research has demonstrated that building this sense of power and control among traumatized groups is perhaps one of the most significant features in restoring holistic well-being.

I ran into Marcus at a street fair in Oakland not long ago. He was excited to see me and wanted to share with me that he was in a new relationship so he introduced me to his girlfriend. "This is my friend Michelle"! He introduced her with a sense of pride, and accomplishment. He also shared with me that he had enrolled in a program that was training him to become a medic. As we chatted for a while in the warm sun, dodging children, and fast walking parents, he leaned toward me and whispered, "yeah Dr. G, I'm not entirely healed, but I'm hopeful". I smiled, gave him a "brotha hug" and we departed ways.

I suppose, that if we had more time to chat he would have explained that healing is a process that we navigate for a lifetime. He might have shared with me that the future of his healing journey had just begun. Seeing him again, holding hands, sipping a soda with his new girlfriend was a powerful reminder, that he was so much more than the trauma he had experienced. As practitioners, researchers and policy stakeholders we need to listen and learn from young people who have insights that can advance how we think about trauma and healing. Shifting to healing centered engagement offered new questions, and strategies about how to support young people who experience trauma. Healing centered engagement is just a step toward a more holistic, and humanistic framework to support young people who have been harmed. Such an approach encourages us to think and act more boldly about how to restore young people and create places where they can truly flourish.

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The Future of Healing: Shifting From Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement

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From time to time, researchers, policy makers, philanthropy and practitioners all join together in a coordinated response to address the most pressing issues facing America's youth. I've been...

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When people think of phonics, they often picture young children learning to sound out words. But what happens when older students haven't mastered these essential skills?

Teaching phonics to older students is critical for struggling readers, newcomer students, and English learners (ELs). This blog will explore why phonics for older students remains important, effective strategies for building reading skills, and resources to make instruction meaningful and age-appropriate.

Why Phonics Matters for Older Students

Research has shown that explicit instruction focusing on decoding, spelling, and understanding multisyllabic words is crucial for learners. Without such support, students may continue to face reading challenges that impede their academic progress.

While early phonics instruction lays the groundwork for reading, some students reach the upper grades without mastering these essential skills due to interrupted education, limited exposure to English, or a lack of explicit instruction.

When teaching phonics to middle school and beyond, it's essential to use materials that respect students' maturity and learning needs.

Many traditional phonics methods are designed for young children and may feel too immature for older students. To be effective, instruction should be structured in a way that is aligned with their cognitive development.

Phonics instruction is equally vital for middle and high school newcomers. These students may require additional support to grasp the complexities of alphabetic principles in English, which can differ significantly from their native languages.

Tailored phonics programs can bridge this gap, enabling ELLs to improve their reading skills and access grade-level content more easily.

6 Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonics to Older Students

Implementing phonics instruction for older learners requires approaches that respect their maturity while addressing their specific learning needs. The following strategies and resources can help you develop your older students' foundational phonics skills.

1. Assess Individual Needs

Begin by evaluating each student's abilities to identify specific areas of need. Many students have varying degrees of phonics knowledge. Using assessments such as decoding inventories can help you create targeted phonics lessons for older students.

2. Use Age-Appropriate Materials

Older students who struggle with reading often feel self-conscious about using materials designed for younger children. To address this, select resources that are both engaging and developmentally appropriate.

High-interest, low-reading-level (hi-lo) books are designed to engage older readers while accommodating lower reading levels. While they are not strictly phonics-based, hi-lo books can support phonics instruction by providing accessible text that reinforces decoding practice in a meaningful context.

Pairing hi-lo books with targeted phonics instruction can help students apply their skills in age-appropriate reading materials. Here are some recommended hi-lo resources:

By incorporating hi-lo books, you can provide older students with reading materials that are engaging and appropriate for their developmental levels.

3. Implement Multisensory Instruction

Multisensory instructional techniques can enhance phonics instruction. This approach has been shown to improve word reading accuracy and boost confidence among older struggling readers.

Some examples of multisensory phonics strategies include:

Elkonin Boxes: Use tokens or manipulatives to break words into phonemes.

Tapping Out Sounds: Physically tap fingers on the table or arm to segment sounds.

Colored Overlays: Use tinted reading strips to help focus on decoding without visual distractions.

Sand or Textured Writing: Write words in sand, salt trays, or on textured surfaces to add a tactile element to spelling practice.

Magnetic Letters and Word Building: Use magnetic letters to manipulate and build words, reinforcing spelling and phoneme-grapheme connections.

Chanting and Rhythmic Reading: Use rhythmic repetition, songs, or chants to reinforce phonics skills.

Highlighter Strategy: Have students highlight specific phonics patterns, prefixes, or suffixes in printed text to build pattern recognition.

Interactive Foldables: Create flipbooks or interactive notebooks to break down syllables, morphemes, or phonics rules.

By embedding multisensory activities into instruction, you can design lessons that reinforce key phonics skills for middle school and high school students.

4. Focus on Morphological Awareness

Morphology instruction supports older students in recognizing patterns within words, which can make reading multisyllabic words more manageable. While not a replacement for phonics, teaching prefixes, suffixes, and root words can complement phonics instruction by helping students break down unfamiliar words and understand their meanings.

Morphological awareness enhances decoding and comprehension, providing learners with additional tools to navigate complex texts.

5. Incorporate Phonics into Content-Area Instruction

To effectively support middle and high school students, phonics instruction must go beyond basic drills and isolated word lists.

Phonics for older students should be integrated into meaningful lessons that show them the real-world value of decoding skills. When phonics instruction is woven into academic content, students not only strengthen their reading abilities but also gain access to higher-level concepts.

This approach also helps build academic language, which is crucial for all learners but especially for ELs. Academic language includes subject-specific vocabulary and the ability to comprehend and produce language that goes beyond everyday conversation.

Incorporating phonics into all content areas allows students to apply their decoding skills in varied contexts. While phonics instruction helps students break down words by sound, understanding word structure through morphology can further support their ability to decode and comprehend complex vocabulary.

Below are some examples of how to include phonics and morphology in various curricular areas:

Science: Breaking down terms like photosynthesis into photo (light) and synthesis (combining) helps students recognize familiar word parts and grasp scientific concepts more easily.

History: Teaching the meanings of Greek and Latin roots, such as democracy (demos meaning people, -cracy meaning government), supports comprehension.

Math: Decoding mathematical terms like quadrilateral by identifying quad (four) and lateral (side) aids in understanding geometric concepts.

By embedding phonics into other areas, you can create opportunities for students to strengthen their decoding skills while engaging with rigorous, grade-level content. This ensures that phonics instruction helps students develop the vocabulary needed for academic success.

6. Digital Tools for Fun Phonics Practice

Consistent practice with reading and spelling activities tailored to each student's needs reinforces phonics skills. For older students, it's critical to provide practice opportunities that are age-appropriate and connected to real-world literacy tasks.

Websites like Education.com and Smart Boarding School offer interactive phonics games designed for learners up to grade 4. These platforms provide skill-building activities that help reinforce phonics concepts in a way that feels relevant and enjoyable.

Utilizing interactive activities, technology, and phonics games for middle school and beyond can boost practice sessions.

Tips for Supporting Newcomer Students

Newcomer ESL (English as a second language) students face the dual challenge of acquiring a new language while adapting to a different educational system. Phonics instruction plays a pivotal role in their literacy development.

We've compiled a list of top strategies to develop phonics for older ESL students:

Create a Welcoming Environment

Establish a classroom atmosphere that celebrates cultural diversity and encourages risk-taking in language learning. A supportive environment fosters confidence and lowers students' affective filters which promotes better learning. Some ways to create a welcoming classroom include displaying bilingual signage, allowing students to share their backgrounds, and incorporating multicultural literature.

Scaffold Instruction

Supporting newcomer students as they develop literacy skills requires intentional scaffolding that bridges language barriers, builds confidence, and provides access to grade-level content. Utilizing newcomer resources, such as picture dictionaries and bilingual glossaries, can further support language acquisition and comprehension.

Gradually reducing support over time as students gain proficiency ensures they become independent learners. Scaffolding techniques include:

Sentence Frames: Offering structured sentence starters.

Graphic Organizers: Using Venn diagrams, flowcharts, and mind maps.

Anchor Charts: Displaying phonics rules and patterns on classroom walls.

Explore these Continental resources to support scaffolding:

Embrace Students' Native Language

Whenever possible, draw connections between English phonics and students' native languages. Many languages share common phonetic principles, and pointing out similarities can help learners grasp English phonics more easily.

Teaching phonics to older students, including newcomer and secondary ESL learners, is a critical component of literacy education. By implementing age-appropriate, research-based strategies, you can equip students with the decoding skills necessary for reading fluency and academic success.

Whether through structured phonics intervention programs, engaging activities, or meaningful connections to content-area learning, phonics instruction is a powerful tool for supporting older struggling readers on their journey to literacy.

Looking for more teaching tips? Get ideas delivered straight to your inbox when you subscribe to our Continental newsletter for Pre-K-12.

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6 Strategies for Teaching Phonics to Older Students | Continental Educational Publisher

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Teaching phonics to older students is critical for struggling readers, newcomer students, and English learners (ELs).

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THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD): Wong, Harry K, Wong, Rosemary T: 9780976423386: Amazon.com: Books

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THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD) [Wong, Harry K, Wong, Rosemary T] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD)

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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Support every student by breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.

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Need a more structured version of Think, Pair, Share for your students? Our multilingual learners need culturally-responsive, low-stakes op…

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

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To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation―until now.

In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain compatible culturally responsive instruction.

The book includes:

Information on how one's culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships

Ten "key moves" to build students' learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners

Prompts for action and valuable self reflection

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students [Hammond, Zaretta L.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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The Mentoree - A Mentorship Community for Educators

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Welcome to The Mentoree community. We support educators at any and every stage of their careers through various forms of mentorship.

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Decades of research (Wright, 2016), and the experience of millions of educators, make one thing abundantly clear about the modern classroom: students need to talk about their learning. Engaging students in small-group, academic conversations is one of the most effective ways to:

enhance comprehension

reduce misbehavior

build academic language proficiency

support literacy

develop socioemotional skills

promote question-asking and deep thinking, and

create a sense of community within the classroom

So why don't all lessons have all students talking about their learning, all the time? Unfortunately, asking students to "turn and talk" to their partners has proven frustrating for many educators, who see students not talking, or students talking about non-academic subjects, or gregarious students dominating conversations while shier students are voiceless.

As a teacher, I had all of these frustrations, too. I gave my students the opportunity to talk about their learning, but I wouldn't see them doing it-at least not the majority of my students. When I asked them why they weren't talking, I heard a variety of responses, which I dismissed as excuses at the time:

"I don't want to go first."

"I don't know what the question is asking, sir."

"I didn't learn this."

"I don't even know what we're supposed to be doing."

I knew that students engaging in new activities tend to thrive with more structure, but I wasn't sure what structure I could add to these conversations.

And then I came across QSSSA.

The Question, Signal, Stem, Share, Assess routine was first introduced in 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroomby Seidlitz and Perryman in 2011, and has since taken modern classrooms across the nation by storm (as evidence, try an image search of QSSSA). Research has shown that regularly using QSSSA results in enhanced participation and enthusiasm from students (Seidlitz et al., 2024). QSSSA is so effective because it provides exactly that structure I was looking for in my classroom. Students feel safe and confident in the QSSSA process and are intuitively engaged in participation. In all content areas and at all grade levels, it is one of the most versatile, effective tools in the teacher toolkit, and can be used any time you want to have students participate in structured conversations using academic language.
A Routine for Academic Language Development
Each step of the QSSSA routine was deliberately designed to help students develop academic language, first by reducing the affective filter, and second by providing supports that encourage students to use academic language. Here is how to implement each step of the routine.

For a deeper dive, QSSSA: The Essential Method for Structuring Conversations in All Classrooms is now available from Seidlitz Education!

1. Question. First, pose an open-ended question. Rather than a closed-ended, recall-based question that can probably be answered in one word, plan out a question that can be answered correctly in multiple ways and requires some elaboration. Some examples:

What do you think was the most important technological innovation of the Tang dynasty?

How are quadrilaterals different from other polygons?

How is condensation related to precipitation?

How did the author convey the theme of betrayal?

How do converging lines create perspective in paintings?

2. Signal. Ask students to make some kind of gesture-raise their hands, put their fists on their chins, stand up, or put their hands flat on the desk, for example-and instruct them to show that they are ready to answer the question by undoing the gesture (sitting down, or lowering their hands, e.g.). This gives students exactly as much think time as they need (especially when cueing students to a resource), and the kinesthetic nature of the gesture activates their thinking. The signal is, in my opinion, the most important part of the process, because it ensures total participation and communicates to students that everyone's voice matters.

3. Stem. Provide a sentence stem that is appropriate for students' levels of target language proficiency. This might mean a rewording of the question for learners who are fluent or nearly fluent in the target language ("Condensation is related to precipitation because...") or a simplification of the required language for beginner-level emergent bilingual students ("I notice that converging lines...").

4. Share. Have students share their answers to the question using the sentence stem, with partners or in small groups. Importantly, specify clearly with whom they'll be sharing their response: their elbow partner, their table group, or maybe another designated "away" partner in the room. Equally important: specify which student will share first, using a random indicator. Some examples of which student in each group might share first:

The student with the brightest shirt

The student with the darkest shirt

The student closest to the door

The student closest to the window

The student whose name comes first alphabetically

The student whose name comes last alphabetically

The oldest student in the group

The youngest student in the group

5. Assess. Lastly, ask students to share in the whole group. Having a randomization system (such as drawing from popsicle sticks or index cards with students' names or a digital wheel of names) is the most effective way to do this, especially when used regularly, because students are more attuned to their conversations as a way to prepare to be called on. Alternatively, teachers can equitably assess students by calling on one student from each group, or by having all students write down a response. Assessment strategies such as these help ensure student engagement throughout the entire activity, since students know they will be held accountable for their learning by the end of the activity. Assessing equitably and holding students accountable for their learning are so important because they communicate to the class that every student's voice matters, and we are all equally invested in our learning.

A Structure for Equity and Inclusion
QSSSA was designed to develop students' academic language and to engage all students in learning by addressing students' academic, linguistic, and affective needs. In doing this, it has an even more profound effect on the classroom. When all students feel confident and included in instruction, the classroom becomes a community in which they feel safe, valued, and seen.

Ready to Bring QSSSA to Your Classroom or Campus?

Our much anticipated book, QSSSA: The Essential Method for Structuring Conversations in All Classrooms is now available! Join us for one of our upcoming workshops in three cities across Texas! (Every attendee will receive one copy of the book.)

Can't make any of the launch events? Purchase your copies on Amazon or directly from Seidlitz Education.

Seidlitz, J., Rogers, M., & Lara, M. (2024). QSSSA: The essential method for structuring conversations in all classrooms. Seidlitz Education.

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QSSSA: The Secret Ingredient to Language-Rich, Interactive Classrooms

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by Stephen Fleenor, PhD Decades of research (Wright, 2016), and the experience of millions of educators, make one thing abundantly clear about the modern classroom: students need to talk about their learning. Engaging students in small-group, academic conversations is one of the most effective ways to: enhance comprehension reduce misbehavior build academic language proficiency support...

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IEP Accommodations vs. Modifications: What’s the Difference?

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If you’re a general education teacher, the IEP accommodations and modifications page is for you!

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Denise Furlong, Ed.D. (drdenisemfurlong@gmail.com)
Assistant professor and teacher educator
Educator of 25+ years ranging grades K-12
Author, coach, consultant, mentor
International speaker, keynote

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Whether you're an administrator, supervisor, or teacher, you've heard of formative assessments and summative assessments. They're both essential parts of any curriculum map. But what do these terms actually mean?

In a nutshell, formative assessments are quizzes and tests that evaluate how someone is learning material throughout a course.

Summative assessments are quizzes and tests that evaluate how much someone has learned throughout a course.

In the classroom, that means formative assessments take place during a course, while summative assessments are the final evaluations at the course's end.

That's the simple answer, but there's actually a lot more that makes formative and summative assessments different. To fully understand formative vs. summative assessments, you'll need to understand the details of these two important forms of assessment.

In this article, we'll take a closer look at formative and summative quizzing and assessing. When you've finished reading, you'll understand how to better test student knowledge in your classroom.

Video: Formative vs. Summative Assessments

What Are Formative Assessments?
Formative assessments are evaluations of someone's learning progress in a classroom.
Common formative assessments include:

Quizzes

Games

Projects

Presentations

Group activities

Formative assessments work great when they're used on a regular basis. That regularity could be based on a calendar (every Monday, every Thursday, etc.) or your lesson plans (every unit).

They're also more flexible than summative assessments. You don't always have to use pencil and paper to get a feel for your students' progress. Instead, you can use in-class games, group presentations, and hands-on activities to evaluate student progress.

Ultimately, the formative assessments you use are up to you. After all, no one knows your classes better than you. So if you'd prefer to get an overview of how well your students are learning, you can use a group-style assessment like a game. If you want to know where each student struggles, you can use an individual assessment like a quiz.

This flexibility is perfect for keeping students engaged in your class. It lets you stick to a syllabus while mixing up the exact task each student has to perform. That way, you don't fall into a predictable routine of teach-test-teach-test. Instead, you have a varied routine of teach-game-quiz-teach-presentation-project or another interesting format.

By the time your course ends, you'll have a full understanding of how students are learning as you teach a subject. Then, you can keep all of your grades to look for patterns among different class sections.

Is there an area where students seem to do worse than others? Could you adjust a lesson and shoot for better results?

Naturally, you'll never get a class that's straight A's from top to bottom. But you can still design your classroom assessments to work for as many students as possible!

Top 3 Formative Assessment Examples

Formative assessments are excellent opportunities to let your students flex their creative muscles.

Even if a student isn't much of a writer or artist, they can still have a little fun with these assessments.

1. Make an ad

Have your students create an advertisement for a concept they just learned. Use visuals and text to really sell an idea.

This makes students apply what they've learned into a creative exercise, which helps with long-term retention.

2. Idea comparisons

Instruct students to lay out the main ideas of a new concept they learned. Then, have them compare that concept to another to see where they agree and disagree.

In addition to helping students remember these concepts, this exercise makes them apply previous knowledge to a new format so they can remember it better in the future.

3. Misconceptions

After you introduce a concept to students, introduce a popular misconception about it. Have students discuss why the misconception is false and where it may have started.

This exercise makes students think critically about what they've just learned while showing them how to debunk misinformation.

How Do You Track Formative Assessments?

You can track formative assessments in one of three ways.

First, you can track them by grade. This gives you a specific, concentrated view of how a student (or group of students) learns. However, graded assessments are sources of stress for many students. So if you want to make a unit fun or loose, graded assessments may not work well for you.

Second, you can track them by feel. This is more based on your teacher instinct, allowing you to pick which students need additional support based on your observation. On the downside, you can't "show" this information to your administrators. If you have certain standards to meet throughout a marking period, you won't be able to prove you've fulfilled those standards without grades.

Finally, you can track formative assessments with student data. This is non-graded information that may reflect how your students are learning, such as questions they've frequently answered incorrectly or subject areas where they've had trouble. After all, not everything has to be a grade!

With all of that said and done, let's jump into summative assessments.

What Are Summative Assessments?
Summative assessments are evaluations of what someone has learned throughout a course.
Common summative assessments include:

Tests

Final exams

Reports

Papers

End-of-class projects

Summative assessments almost always take place at the end of a course unless a teacher decides to break a course into more manageable chunks. They're often cumulative, and they're used to evaluate a student's long-term information retention.

In summative assessments like final exams, you can include questions from the first week or two of a course to ensure students retained introductory information. In other assessments like papers, your students can pull from a full marking period of learning to apply to a topic.

Either way, your students have to do some serious reflecting and critical thinking to bring together the information from an entire course.

This is a great way to ensure students retain essential information from one course to another. So if you teach introductory courses, summative assessments are perfect to set students up for success in their next classes.

That's important because a student's success in your classroom is just one step for them. When you prepare them for the next step, you make it easier for them to succeed in the future as well.

In that way, summative assessments serve two purposes:

First, they evaluate what someone learned while they've been in your class.

Second, they evaluate how prepared someone is to go to the next academic level.

Combined with the rest of a student's performance in class, summative quizzing and assessments are excellent ways to gauge progress while ensuring long-term information retention.

Top 3 Summative Assessment Examples

Summative assessments are traditionally more structured and standardized than formative assessments.

Still, you have a few options to shake things up that go beyond a pen-and-paper test.

1. In-depth reports

Instruct students to choose a topic that resonated with them in class and report in-depth on it. This is a great opportunity for students to take an idea and run with it under your supervision.

These reports often showcase a student's interest, and you'll be able to evaluate a student's engagement level in the class by how they approach the report.

The goal is a passionate, intelligent, and comprehensive examination of a concept that matters to a student.

2. Cumulative, individual projects

Have your students pick a project to complete. This project should somehow reflect what they've learned throughout the course.

Projects are great for any practical application class from health science to physics. Creating a cross-section of the human heart, designing a diet, or creating a protective egg-drop vessel are all fun ways students can show off their knowledge of a topic.

3. Personal evaluation papers

Require students to apply principles from your class to their personal lives. These papers are excellent fits for psychology, nutrition, finance, business, and other theory-based classes.

In a nutshell, personal evaluations let students look at themselves through a different lens while exploring the nuances of the principles they learned in class. Plus, it lets students do something everyone loves - talk about themselves!

Now that you have a few ideas on summative assessments, how can you track their success?

How Do You Track Summative Assessments?

While everyone has their own ideas on this topic, grades are the best way to evaluate someone's success with a summative assessment.

How you grade is ultimately up to you. Presentations are great ways to grade someone based on a number of factors, including soft skills like public speaking. Written exams or project-based assessments are ideal to see a student's full-scope understand of your class after a marking period.

Whatever you choose, stick to a consistent grading scale so you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses in the classroom as students complete your course.

What's More Important: Formative or Summative Assessments?

Many new teachers have this question - are formative or summative assessments more important?

In a perfect world, they're equally important. Formative assessments let students show that they're learning, and summative assessments let them show what they've learned.

But American public education values summative assessments over formative assessments. Standardized tests - like the SATs - are great examples of high-value summative assessments.

It's rare to find the same emphasis on formative quizzing and assessments. That's because formative assessments act like milestones while summative assessments show the bottom line.

We encourage teachers to look at these assessments as two sides of the same coin. Formative and summative assessments work together flawlessly when implemented properly.

With all of that in mind, you only have one question left to answer. How are you going to add these assessments to your curriculum?

Use Formative and Summative Assessments and Meet Your Challenges

As a teacher, you'll likely need to employ both summative and formative assessments in your curriculum. An effective balance of these assessments will help you understand your students' needs while meeting your standards.

However, CTE teachers face challenges in the classroom each day that sometimes get in the way of connecting with students and preparing them for these assessments.

If you want to feel less overwhelmed and spend more time helping your students succeed, download your free guide. You'll learn about five of the most significant challenges teachers face and how you can overcome them.

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Formative vs. Summative Assessments: What's the Difference?

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Looking to evaluate your students' progress in the classroom? Learn how formative and summative assessments and quizzing work together to help students succeed.

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A rubric is a scoring tool that explicitly describes the instructor's performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work. A rubric identifies:

criteria: the aspects of performance (e.g., argument, evidence, clarity) that will be assessed

descriptors: the characteristics associated with each dimension (e.g., argument is demonstrable and original, evidence is diverse and compelling)

performance levels: a rating scale that identifies students' level of mastery within each criterion

Rubrics can be used to provide feedback to students on diverse types of assignments, from papers, projects, and oral presentations to artistic performances and group projects.

Benefitting from Rubrics

A carefully designed rubric can offer a number of benefits to instructors. Rubrics help instructors to:

reduce the time spent grading by allowing instructors to refer to a substantive description without writing long comments

help instructors more clearly identify strengths and weaknesses across an entire class and adjust their instruction appropriately

help to ensure consistency across time and across graders

reduce the uncertainty which can accompany grading

discourage complaints about grades

An effective rubric can also offer several important benefits to students. Rubrics help students to:

understand instructors' expectations and standards

use instructor feedback to improve their performance

monitor and assess their progress as they work towards clearly indicated goals

recognize their strengths and weaknesses and direct their efforts accordingly

Examples of Rubrics

Here we are providing a sample set of rubrics designed by faculty at Carnegie Mellon and other institutions. Although your particular field of study or type of assessment may not be represented, viewing a rubric that is designed for a similar assessment may give you ideas for the kinds of criteria, descriptions, and performance levels you use on your own rubric.

Paper

Projects

Example 1: Capstone Project in Design This rubric describes the components and standards of performance from the research phase to the final presentation for a senior capstone project in design (Carnegie Mellon).

Example 2: Engineering Design Project This rubric describes performance standards for three aspects of a team project: research and design, communication, and team work.

Oral Presentations

Example 1: Oral Exam This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing performance on an oral exam in an upper-division course in history (Carnegie Mellon).

Example 2: Oral Communication This rubric is adapted from Huba and Freed, 2000.

Example 3: Group Presentations This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing group presentations in history (Carnegie Mellon).

Class Participation/Contributions

Example 1: Discussion Class This rubric assesses the quality of student contributions to class discussions. This is appropriate for an undergraduate-level course (Carnegie Mellon).

Example 2: Advanced Seminar This rubric is designed for assessing discussion performance in an advanced undergraduate or graduate seminar.

See also " Examples and Tools" section of this site for more rubrics.

CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!

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Creating and Using Rubrics - Eberly Center - Carnegie Mellon University

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A rubric is a scoring tool that explicitly describes the instructor's performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work.

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It's that time of year again, and I will be alternating between publishing thematic collections of past posts and sharing interviews with authors of recent books I consider important and useful to us educators. New questions will begin in September.

I'm kicking off this summer series with an interview with Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain.

Zaretta Hammond, a former writing teacher, is an education consultant who supports schools around the country in creating more culturally responsive instruction. She blogs at www.ready4rigor.com and offers a 2-day workshop based on her book. More information at www.CulturallyResponsiveTeachingandtheBrain.com.
LF: I suspect that many educators are not familiar with "Culturally Responsive Teaching." Unfortunately, as you indicate in your book, even some who have heard of it think it might be more like a "bag of tricks." Could you briefly describe CRT, perhaps including some examples of what it is and what it is not? Zaretta Hammond: I've been doing equity-focused professional development and school support for over 18 years and I wrote the book in order to get dispel the urban myths and misconceptions about what culturally responsive teaching. A big myth is that its about motivating students of color by mentioning cultural facts or naming famous people of color. Culturally responsive teaching is not just about motivating disengaged students. It's about rebuilding trust with them through a learning partnership, using that rapport and trust to get permission from students to push them into their zone of proximal development. When students are in their ZPD, the brain responds by growing more neurons and dendrites - brainpower. With more brain power and cognitive routines they are able to do more rigorous work and build their background knowledge and deepen understanding. In a nutshell, culturally responsive teaching is about helping culturally and linguistically diverse students who have been marginalized in schools build their skill and capacity to do rigorous work. The focus isn't on motivation but on improving their brainpower and information processing skills. Motivation is only a small part of it. For example, teachers rapping their content isn't culturally responsive. That's just a reason for kids to break out their cellphones and giggle. Doing call and response at the beginning of a lesson to get kids excited isn't culturally responsive teaching. Culturally responsive teaching is when the teacher grounds the lesson in community issues that is relevant and meaningful to students' daily life as a vehicle for teaching content. Or when, the teacher uses students' natural cultural learning tools like talk and word play to help them process new content. Now, the reality is that most teachers don't know what those cultural learning tools are. My goal is to help them learn what they are and how to use them. LF: I was struck by the wisdom behind the "Mindful Reflection" protocol you recommend that teachers use. Can you give a brief description and explain its purpose? Zaretta Hammond: A key part of being culturally responsive as a teacher is recognizing that you are a critical linchpin in helping students navigate both the content and the classroom community. Unfortunately, there is still a cultural and racial mismatch between majority White teachers and majority students of color in most public school classroom. Too often, implicit bias leads teachers to not see the cultural and linguistic assets and skills diverse students use to navigate the content. Too often teachers see culturally diverse students' behaviors as problematic (even if a White student engages in the same behavior without any consequences). This is implicit bias in action. The remedy is to help teachers expand their ability to recognize different ways of making meaning and engaging socially. A lot of school leaders and instructional coaches are trying to figure out how to help teachers interrupt implicit bias, but they usually don't have a process to help teachers see how their negative interpretation of a student's behavior contributes to watering down the curriculum for that student or disproportionately disciplining students of color. The Mindful Reflection Protocol is process that can help a teacher see their implicit bias in action. I have to give credit where credit is due. This protocol was developed teacher educators, Barbara J. Dray and Debora Basler Wisneski. The protocol is simple. It asks teachers to look at an incident through three lens: description, interpretation, and evaluation. Teachers are asked to just describe what is going on literally with no judgment. Then, they are asked to focus on interpreting the action. What does it mean to you when the child does that? Still with no judgment. Once you've interpreted, then try to reflect on how you judge the action or behavior - what value to you give to your interpretation. I'd also ask teachers to notice how the interpret the same behavior from two students from different racial backgrounds. This process allows teachers to create some distance from thinking and actions that are some times on autopilot because things are happening so fast in the classroom.

LF: Your comments on culturally responsive feedback also stood out to me. Could you briefly describe what it might look like and why it's important? Zaretta Hammond: One of the biggest challenges in closing the achievement gap is that because of implicit bias and not preparing students for rigor work, they lose confidence in themselves as learners. Research is very clear: feedback is critical in helping students become self-directed learners. John Hattie says it is as close as we can come to a silver bullet. Couple this with what neuroscience tells us: the brain operates on the "progress principle." It craves information on its progress toward a learning target so that it can change its learning moves if necessary. Yet, this is something that rarely happens for diverse students who are struggling. We just say "good job" or "needs improvement." Instead, we need to give what Claude Steele calls, "wise feedback." It has four distinct parts:

State your confidence in the student's ability to master this concept, process or skills ("I know you are a very capable student.")

Point out explicitly what the student got right and where he went wrong. (Here is where things got off track...")

Name specific actions he needs to take (i.e., review the steps, learn the procedure , etc.) ( "How would you fix that? Here's where I'd like you to go back and review," or "When you get to this part, rethink this move here...")

Re-affirm your belief in the student's capacity and effort to reach the target (i.e., "You got this...")

To make this work, teachers have to make time for conferencing with students so they can give meaningful and timely corrective feedback on a regular basis. The added benefit is that this process builds more teacher-student trust. LF: You talk about the "learned helplessness" affecting some students of color that educators can teach and reinforce. Can you elaborate on that concept, and share some actions teachers can take to change? Zaretta Hammond: In my experience, out the goodness of their heart , teachers often over-scaffold instruction for struggling students. For students of color who have gotten negative messages about their capacity and who have internalized these messages, this can be crippling. In the long run, over-scaffolding is counter-productive. Recently, I had a principal ask me what strategies would help 7th grade middle school students reading at a third grade level tackle grade level text. He wanted more scaffolding techniques. I told him the best strategy is to teach students to read well. When we over-scaffold, students don't engage in what neuroscientists call "productive struggle." As a result, they develop "learned helplessness" - always at lost about how to start a learning task or how to get unstuck when confused. It's the struggle that grows the brain's gray matter, literally. Two most powerful things teachers can do to help students move out of learned helplessness are:

1. Reframe failure or mistakes as information. Live this principle in the classroom everyday.

2. Help struggling students create a "counter-narrative' about their capacity as a learners and get them to use "refuting" self-talk when feelings of helplessness come up.

LF: Many teachers are certainly aware of race, but feel it's too "scary" to talk about. They might mask that fear by claiming they are "colorblind." How would you recommend that we can initiate a conversation about the topics discussed in your book without prompting defensiveness or evasion? And if we get that type of reaction, how can we break through it? Zaretta Hammond: This is one of the more challenging parts of culturally responsive teaching. Too often teachers think culturally responsive instructional strategies have to mention race. But that's not where race fits in. More specifically, it's about recognizing the social-emotional impact of living in a racialized society where some people have unearned privilege and others have unearned disadvantage. Some times this is hard for teachers to address in a meaningful way that doesn't make them or students feel awkward. But it has to be acknowledged. Unacknowledged Implicit bias and racial stress have a negative impact on culturally and linguistically diverse students. It erodes their trust in us as the adults charged with cultivating our learning potential and helping them navigate school culture. We have to first give teachers the tools to engage in conversations about racialization, which is different from racism. I find they don't have adequate vocabulary. They also don't have the social-emotional stamina to manage their fight or flight response when looking at social inequities. This leads to those "scary" feelings when talking about race. Robin DiAngelo calls this white fragility. The antidote is building what Dr. Howard Stevenson at University of Penn calls, racial literacy. As teachers of culturally diverse students, we need to educate ourselves about the realities of structural racialization in society and recognizing how colorblindness is just another a form of implicit bias.

LF: Is there anything I haven't asked about that you'd like to share? Zaretta Hammond: It's important to point out that culturally responsive teaching is not about using a few strategies. It's about your stance as an educator. It takes time to master but teachers can put core practices into place now. It's really important to not begin this journey alone; do it in community, with other teachers. That is one of my major goals - to build communities of practice around culturally responsive teaching so that we can point to classrooms that help culturally and linguistically diverse students leverage their cultural learning tools and accelerate their own learning. LF: Thanks, Zaretta!

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'Culturally Responsive Teaching': An Interview With Zaretta Hammond (Opinion)

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I interview Zaretta Hammond, author of "Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain."

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Difference between accommodation and modification

Lynn explains the important distinction between accommodations and modifications for assessments. See the complete interview in our Meet the Experts section.

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Jump to navigation Jump to Content Difference between accommodation and modification Lynn explains the important distinction between accommodations and modifications for assessments. See the complete interview in our Meet the Experts section.

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Listen to my interview with Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton (transcript):

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The population of English learners in our schools continues to grow every year; if you're a teacher reading this, you have probably taught at least a few students whose first language is not English. In many school systems, students who are newcomers are given lots of support through separate programs or classes with teachers who specialize in building language proficiency, but eventually they move out of these programs and attend regular classes with everyone else. At that point, they are assumed to have enough of a grasp on the English language to perform as well as peers who have spoken English since birth.

But in many cases, that assumption is incorrect. While these students - a group we're calling experienced multilinguals - are probably quite comfortable and fluent with speaking English socially, they may still be unfamiliar with the academic language used in science, social studies, math, and other content areas. There are specific strategies that can make a huge difference in how well these students perform.

Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton, two educators who have had decades of experience working with English learners, have written a new book called Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals ( Amazon | Bookshop.org). The book focuses squarely on this particular population, English learners who are well beyond newcomer status, but who still need some scaffolding to reach their true academic potential. On the podcast, they shared some of the strategies from the book - things you can start to do right away to help these learners thrive. You can listen to our full conversation or read the transcript linked above. Here's a summary of the strategies they shared.

These kids speak English now, so what's the problem?

An experienced multilingual student may present a conundrum to their teachers. In many ways, they appear to have developed all the necessary skills, including fluency in English, to do well in school.

"These students have been in this system for at least five years, so they have experience," Skelton explains. "We don't have to teach them how to open their locker or how to get to the cafeteria. They have friends. They are in the community. They have experience being a student."

Despite this ease in navigating school and their social lives, these students can hit a wall when it comes to certain academic tasks.

Huynh has personal experience with this. Having moved to the U.S. as a refugee at the age of 5, his only school experiences were in the U.S. "I went to the ESL program, and I exited in fifth grade," he says. And that's when his language support ended. "When you listen to me talk, you're like, okay, he's really fluent. We don't need to help him. And this is what happened all the way through middle school and high school."

When it came time to take the SAT, he was confident. "I was like, oh, this is going to be fine. My teachers are great. They really took care of me. I've had mostly A's and B's on most of my exams. I had almost a 4.0 by that time. I had every single award, distinguished, honor, this and that, dean's list, whatever, I got it. I'm going to be fine. And then I got my score back: 910. I was like, wait, you get a 600 just for putting your name on. How did I get a 910 and I have an almost 4.0 GPA?"

For other multilingual students, things like test scores aren't quite as surprising, because their school performance isn't as strong as Huynh's was. "They often aren't the award winners and the honor students," Skelton explains, "and so teachers start to see them as, well, they've been in our system since kindergarten or first grade. They've been learning English that long, and now you're in seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade, and you're still classified as an English learner. There must be something wrong with you. They're still classified as English learners for all kinds of reasons. States require them to have a certain level on an English language proficiency test in order to exit as an English learner. And so when teachers see that, then often that deficit label comes with them."

With this deficit label, many students are subjected to more and more pull-out coursework to improve their English, which means missing out on electives, extracurriculars, and advanced courses.

"Imagine if a kid comes to school and all they love is just design," Huynh says. "All they love is just art. They come to school to be in drama. And they say, No no, because of your English scores, you're out. You're pulled out. " For a student who may have been born in the U.S. and isn't even fluent in their heritage language, this can be heartbreaking.

So what is the problem? If extra English classes aren't helping, what will?

Skelton and Huynh believe the answer lies in academic language. To succeed in all subjects, students need additional scaffolding to understand the unique vocabulary, phrasing, and conventions of those disciplines. When teachers intentionally design instruction and assessments with academic language supports in place, they unlock those worlds for students and give them the tools they need to thrive.

Planning Lessons for Multilingual Learners

If you teach science, math, history, health, technology, even literature - anything other than a class designed to teach a language - your course is built on content-specific standards. You already base your instructional objectives on these standards; Skelton and Huynh recommend adding academic language objectives to those content objectives. This ensures that all students not only get the content, but also the language used to describe and synthesize it.

Here is the process they describe in the book for integrating academic language into what you already teach.

Step 1: Create the Assessment, then Add Scaffolds

Following the backward design approach, start by creating summative assessment that will measure what students should know and be able to do by the end of a unit. Once the assessment is made, add scaffolding in places where the academic language might prevent students from understanding what's being asked of them.

Here's an example: If a test question asks students to hypothesize what would happen if the concentration of oxygen that was consumed inside the glass cylinder increased, they might have a good understanding of the science involved, but some of the terms in the question might throw them off.

"When students encounter a sentence like that," Huynh says, "it becomes not a science test, it becomes a reading test. If a kid doesn't understand the word hypothesize, that's a problem. If they don't know the word concentration and they Google that, that's going to be like, oh, focus? What does that mean? And the word consumed and glass cylinder and increase, all these words now add up to a reading test."

To give students the support they need to do their best on assessments, teachers can "engineer" them by adding these scaffolds:

synonyms: Near the terms that may be unfamiliar, add synonyms that will help define them. If the teacher has already explicitly taught the term, this may not be necessary. So for the example question, it might look like: "Hypothesize (make an educated guess) what would happen if the concentration (amount) of oxygen that was consumed (used) inside the glass cylinder (container) increased (got higher)."

sentence starters: Provide students with the academic language needed to construct quality responses in that discipline.

chunking: Rather than squeeze multiple steps into an essay-type question, break multi-part questions into separate, individual chunks with their own spaces to respond.

images: Add relevant images to questions to aid comprehension.

word banks: Provide banks of key vocabulary terms for the unit that students can access when writing responses.

sequencing: For assessments that require longer responses, provide visual frameworks to show students the sequence in which their response should be written.

While some teachers may feel this is too much hand-holding - for example, they may feel strongly about wanting students to practice reading all parts of a complex question - Huynh and Skelton emphasize that in content-area classes, the focus is on whether students are learning that content; giving multilingual students help with the reading and writing part doesn't take away from that.

"We haven't changed the rigor," Skelton says. "I haven't changed the expectation. I've simply chunked the question. When (teachers) see the difference in response patterns and that kids are able to show more about what they know, most teachers say, You know what? I'm going to do that for everybody. That's not just for my experienced multilinguals. This is a strategy that's probably going to be better for everyone in the class. "

Step 2: Write Daily Integrated Objectives

With a good, scaffolded end-of-unit assessment in place, teachers can then work backward to design the lessons that will lead to success at the end. As in any class, this requires daily learning objectives that can be assessed with a simple exit ticket. For multilingual learners, we can add a specific language piece to that objective.

Skelton describes a physics class she observed where students from many language backgrounds were doing a hands-on activity with focal points and convex lenses. At the end of class, the teacher prompted students with this: "Explain what you learned about finding the focal length."

When one student replied with "It gets bigger when it gets closer," the teacher was thrilled. He knew what the student meant and felt it adequately showed that he understood.

But when Skelton asked the teacher, "Does that sound like what you would want for a scientific response?" he realized that a real scientist would have used the terms focal point and convex lens. She then had the teacher write out his own response, something that would represent a good response to that question, and this gave him a much better idea of what he was looking for.

The revised prompt, integrating language objectives, looked like this: Explain what you learned about finding the focal length using precise vocabulary from the word bank. By adding this to the objectives, the teacher could then plan instruction that would give students practice in using that language throughout the lesson.

Here are a few more examples:

Before: Compare the social inequality in nineteenth-century France to the reality of the twenty-first century Western society.
After: Compare the social inequality in nineteenth-century France to the reality of the twenty-first century Western society using comparative language (both, just like, another similarity, etc.)

Before: Describe how the graph has been transformed.
After: Describe how the graph has been transformed using precise terms and the phrase by a factor of or by ___ units.

Before: Predict what will happen to the main character in the next chapter.
After: Predict what will happen to the main character in the next chapter using conditional language such as might or could.

Step 3: Teach for Comprehensible Input and Academic Output

When it comes time to teach the lessons themselves, use the daily objective as a guide to ensure that students understand the language that is being used to teach them - in other words, that the input is comprehensible to them - and that the students' output is framed in the language of the field being taught.

Huynh gives an example from a 9th grade science lesson on solubility. "Imagine a graph, XY graph, and then there's a line all the way through up. (The teacher) said, 'Above the line, we call that super saturated. It cannot melt anymore. Below this line, we can keep melting things. We call that unsaturated. That line is saturated. Anything on that line means everything can melt, but it can't melt anymore.' So the teacher just drew that, labeled it for kids. She color coded it and made it so comprehensible."

Next, she posed a few questions to make sure students understood how the graph worked. "She said, 'Okay. Let's look at 60 degrees. At what point would we go up, will 60 degrees hit that line of saturation? Let's look over to the left, oh. It's 120. That is the solubility.'"

Up to this point, her focus was on comprehensible input, making sure students understood the terms she was using to describe the graph. Next she shifted to the output, giving students practice using the terms themselves. "She said, 'Now I'm going to give you a question. I'm going to model for you the kind of language I want you to write. Don't just write the answer. Saturated, unsaturated, that's not enough. So this is what I want you to do. Always start your sentence with the word at, then give me the amount of grams. So At 110 grams of potassium nitrate... then give me the degrees, at 40 degrees, the solution is... then add is it saturated or unsaturated? And then say, because it is ... is it above the line of saturation, below the line of saturation, or on the line of saturation? That's it.'"

This kind of explicit modeling gives students guided practice in using this unfamiliar language correctly, integrating the content they are learning and the language needed to demonstrate that learning.

No More Doors Closed

By making these small shifts to help students build proficiency in discipline-specific language, we're helping them reach higher levels of learning. "Instead of lowering the expectations for these students," Huynh says, "we're saying, we're going to keep expectations high, but we're going to give you different paths to get to that mountaintop."

And when we do this, we eliminate the need for extra English classes. We put to rest the question of why students who seem to know English perfectly well still struggle in some classes. And we free up space for these students to pursue extracurriculars, electives, advanced coursework, and beyond.

For Huynh, seeing that shift would have personal significance, helping today's multilingual students reach that mountaintop without the setbacks he had to experience.

"No more doors closed," he says with resolve. "No more paths blocked."

Tan Huynh can be found online on his website at tankhuynh.com or on Twitter at @TanKHuynh. Beth Skelton can be found on her website at bethskelton.com or on Twitter at @easkelton.

To purchase Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals directly from Corwin's website, click here and use the code SAVE20 at checkout for 20 percent off.

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Supporting Intermediate English Learners in Every Subject

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Students who have learned enough English to thrive socially may still need scaffolding to thrive academically. These strategies can help.

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Listen to the interview with Shane Safir, Marlo Bagsik,
Crystal Watson, and Sawsan Jaber (transcript):
Sponsored by Listenwise and Solution Tree

In our efforts to improve school, especially in the United States, student voice has really gotten lost. We focus on test scores, top-down curriculum, and measures of success that never quite get to the humanity of our students. Not only have these efforts not succeeded in raising test scores ( Schwartz, 2025), they haven't given us much satisfaction in other ways, either: In a recent survey, nearly half of educators reported that student behavior was worse than before the pandemic, and that number had grown since teachers were surveyed just two years earlier ( Stephens, 2025).

Although there are most certainly individual schools where great things are happening, too many schools are still missing the mark. Too many schools keep trying to address these problems without hearing from the very people who are impacted most: the students.

But there is another way. Four years ago, I started talking a lot about a new book I'd read called Street Data. The book offered an approach to school improvement that was different from anything I'd seen before. It focused on having slow, thoughtful listening sessions with students at the margins, those whose voices were rarely heard and whose needs weren't being consistently met at school. From those sessions, new solutions could be developed, piloted, and then iterated and improved on, followed by more listening sessions to guide further change.

Unlike so many other programs and approaches I'd seen for making schools better - many of which are quite expensive to implement - the model outlined by this single book seemed like it could actually work. I really wanted teachers and school leaders to try it.

So I started by having the authors, Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan, on episode 178 of the podcast. Not long after, I offered to produce a mini-documentary of Shane and Jamila guiding two schools through the Street Data process, so that teachers could get an up-close look at how the approach worked. A year later, I published an eight-episode video series and had a few of the participants join me on the podcast to talk about the project; you can hear that conversation on episode 203.

As the Street Data methodology made its way into more schools, one question that came up often was What does it look like when teachers center student voice and student agency in their pedagogy? If a school is invested in the Street Data process and in shifting their practices, what kinds of practices might they actually use in the classroom?

To answer that question, Shane Safir teamed up with three educators: Marlo Bagsik, Sawsan Jaber, and Crystal Watson. Together, they wrote the new book Pedagogies of Voice: Street Data and the Path to Student Agency.

Rather than prescribing a single rigid approach, the book functions as a "seed store" of practices, a rich collection of small, replicable moves that educators can use to center student voice, nurture agency, and create space for meaningful learning.

This book is especially important now, in a time when marginalized voices, which had just begun to gain long-overdue recognition, are being aggressively pushed back into the margins. Across the country, books are being banned, teachers are being censored, and democracy is being threatened daily. For educators wondering where to put their energy in these frustrating and scary times, Pedagogies of Voice offers a powerful answer: Teach in a way that amplifies student voice. Create spaces where students can reflect, speak, and act, and where democratic practices like listening, challenging different opinions, and collaborating can thrive. Help them grow into the kind of people who will reshape the world for the better.

On the podcast, I talk with the book's four authors. Each one shares one or two of their favorite classroom practices from the book - specific, actionable strategies you can try right away. You can listen to the interview in the player above, read the full transcript here, or check out the overview of the practices below.

The Four Domains: Identity, Belonging, Inquiry, and Efficacy

The book organizes classroom practices into an Agency framework made up of four domains: identity, belonging, inquiry, and efficacy. Our sampling of practices comes from each of these.

Practices that Awaken Identity

The practices in this domain help us create learning spaces in which every learner can say, "My ways of being, knowing, and learning are valued here." The two strategies shared by Sawsan Jaber are both ways of practicing storientation, which uses stories as a springboard for learning and identity development.

Identity Mandalas
These circular representations of a student's ancestry and unique life experiences offer students an opportunity to express their identity in a deep and thoughtful way. "For teachers that are looking for below the iceberg, get-to-know-you activities with students," Jaber says, "this is definitely one that combines both art and words and deep interrogation."

Math Autobiographies
These projects ask students to explore and share their experiences of mathematics (both positive and challenging) in whatever format works for them - writing, art, video - as a way to humanize a subject that is often treated like it's strictly made up of facts and figures. "I always struggled as a student with math," Jaber says. "And I think that if this strategy was used by my math teachers, my experience would have looked very, very different."

Practices that Awaken Belonging

This domain focuses on practices that make each student feel seen and loved in the classroom. For her share, Crystal Watson focused on a single practice, circling up, which is just what it sounds like: placing classroom seats in a circle for a variety of activities. Although it's simple, it has a big impact on students' sense of belonging.

"I just love the fact that when you circle up, you're all equidistant from the center," Watson explains. "At any given time, an identity, an idea, a person can be centered. We're not centering one or or two identities or thoughts or ideals. We can center them all at any given time in our time together."

Because much of her work focuses on math education, she has found circling up to be especially powerful in this subject area because it invites conversation. When she asks people who profess to hate math to explain why, they say, " You just sit there and do problems. That's the problem. It should be more conversational. Argumentation should be a part of the math classroom."

Practices that Awaken Inquiry

The practices in this domain empower students to ask questions and build knowledge in increasingly complex ways. "Inquiry has been stripped from the learning environments, so many places," Safir says. "The ability for young people to wrestle with big questions about the world, to be curious, to stay curious, to develop not just literacy, but critical literacy about text, about media, about the world."

Wonder Wall
In this activity, students generate questions: "What are they genuinely wondering about the world or the communities they inhabit?" Safir explains. "And they don't just say it on a post-it or to a partner; they create a visual wall of their questions." From there, the questions can be drawn upon as prompts for discussions or journal entries.

The Sort
With this activity, students are given lots of little strips of paper that have an array of "answers" on them. "At an elementary school classroom," Safir explains, "it might be like 10, 15, or 20. In high school, it might be 75 to 80. And then kids sort the responses to activate their critical inquiry around what they think. So for example, at an elementary school classroom, it might be, what is good for kids? And you give them examples like allowance, not having a uniform, doing chores, a stay-at-home parent, music lessons, and they're debating, discussing, and sorting. At the high school level, a more sophisticated one, who are the 10 most and 10 least important figures in US history? Through that pedagogy, students are driving the learning, they're carrying the cognitive load, they're thinking about what's important, and they're having to learn to articulate and defend their responses."

Practices that Awaken Efficacy

In this domain, the focus is on creating learning spaces in which every learner believes they can make a difference around issues that matter to them. Marlo Bagsik shared two practices in this domain that work together to bookend a week:

Intention Mondays
Bagsik likes to begin each week by having students set intentions for the week with a 5-7-minute prompt like this: "In three sentences, think about the week ahead of us - in classes, at home, at school, and any other spaces that matter to you. What actions, tasks, and/or things do you want to see happen that you have control over?" This activity not only gives students an opportunity to consider their areas of influence, but it also provides Bagsik with important information about what's going on in students' lives.

Reflection Fridays
At the end of the week, students are asked to reflect on what they've learned from their experiences in class the previous week, using a prompt like: "In three sentences, reflect on the DO NOWs, assignments, readings, notes, discussions, and conversations we have had in class this past week. What moments do you remember and why? Share one significant moment that stayed with you and what it meant to you."

Come back for more.
Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined-come on in.

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7 Teaching Practices that Nurture Student Voice

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What does it look like when teachers center student voice and student agency in their classrooms?

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NJTESOL/NJBE CABR Committee Q&A with John McWhorter.