Teaching and Learning: Language and Culture

  WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework, 2020 Edition (Link) INTRODUCTION WIDA Guiding Principles of Language Development SECTION 1: BIG IDEAS Equity of Opportunity and Access Integration of Content and Language Collaboration among Stakeholders   Functional Approach to Language Development SECTION 2: UNDERSTANDING THE WIDA ELD STANDARDS FRAMEWORK WIDA ELD Standards Statements Key Language Uses NARRATE highlights language to convey real or imaginary experiences through stories and histories. Narratives serve many purposes, including to instruct, entertain, teach, or support argumentation. INFORM highlights language to provide factual information. As students convey information, they define, describe, compare, contrast, organize, categorize, or classify concepts, ideas, or phenomena. EXPLAIN highlights language to give an account for how things work or why things happen. As students explain, they substantiate the inner workings of natural, man-made, and so...

Part 1: The video responds to the two questions: Why are language objectives important? What are language objectives?

The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research published a recent summary of research titled, " Supporting Social, Emotional, &Academic Development Research Implications for Educators " (October 2018). On the publication, the Consortium defines their mission as, "To build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working." In Chapter 3, "Teachers Shape Students’ Mindsets, Changing Their Learning Experience," the consortium identifies and describes how the teacher has a direct impact in shaping the mindsets of the students. The consortium identifies four learning mindsets essential for students to accept in order to develop in school: "I belong in this learning community. I can succeed at this. My ability and competence grow with my effort (also kno...

As a Language Development Coach (LDC), I have the privilege of learning about all of the new transfer students by reviewing their files, learning about their cultural-linguistic background, and their immigration history. This year, I was amazed by the diversity of our incoming students. I look forward to getting to know each of their unique assets, how they will acculturate and add value to our Woodlawn community. Before I show the numbers revealing the increases in student diversity, please remember our value statement: “Every student, every school, every day.” We need to make sure that EVERY student is successful in our system. Although the current Illinois Report Card on Woodlawn does not include 2018 numbers ( Illinois Report Card, Woodlawn MS, 2017 ), we see as indicated by the yellow bars that the the percentage of white WL students has dropped from 64% to 60% from 2013-2017; black students have remained at 2%; Hispanic students hovering about 10-11%; Asian students i...

On Wednesday, April 25th, 8th grade Spanish Biliteracy students attended We Day to celebrate their local/global service learning projects and be inspired to make a positive impact in our local and global communities. On the We Day website, We Day is described as a, " WE Day is a powerful, life-changing experience with world-renowned speakers and performers, mixed with real inspirational stories of change." The day was inspiring and filled with back-to-back celebrity performances (like Jordan Fisher and Ally Brooke from Fifth Harmony ) and inspirational speeches by world leaders like the former Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, and Margaret Trudeau. ( Complete list of Presenters in WE Day Illinois ). In order to qualify for our local service learning project, 8th grade students researched local food challenges and support organizations before organizing and implementing a canned food drive that collected more than 200 non-perishable food items. Students refle...