Teaching and Learning: Language and Culture

  Good morning - I am an English Learner Program Coordinator in District 26 Cary. I have worked for over 15 years serving multilingual and multicultural communities in Lake, Cook, and McHenry counties. In alignment with administrators across the state, I want to advocate for the cancelling of ALL required state testing this year. For students and families, this year has been challenging as we transition back-and-forth in between hybrid and remote instruction. Just now, based on current COVID-19 metrics, are we able to safely offer hybrid instruction. Hybrid instruction means that students will attend two days per week, two days with asynchronous activities, and one day of remote instruction. Families and communities have advocated strongly for in-person instruction to improve instruction, support the social-emotional development of students, and help students overcome the isolation of the last year. Please cancel mandatory state testing this year. Planning in advance, administratio...

  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...