ERT Resource Team Heroes! (Director's Cut)

This is a silly little thing, intended to advertise what services our team provides to CMS ESL teachers.  I designed the characters and constructed and produced the video, and I'm pretty proud of the results, despite the goofiness.  Or maybe because of it.

It's the Little Words...

This presentation is also part of my online course intended to familiarize non-ESL teachers with WIDA and considering language needs when developing lessons. 

The Importance of Language

This presentation is from the introductory chapter of an online course I developed to help non-ESL teachers better understand the WIDA language development framework and incorporate WIDA-based language objectives into their instruction.

2013 Language Discovery Camp Math Curriculum

Each summer our department hosts an ESL enrichment program for as many students as we can manage.  Lately, the focus has been on secondary students, especially ones of lower proficiency.  The focus of the program is to better prepare students for the classes that ESL does not directly instruct -- i.e. science, social studies and math.  This year I was delighted to have the opportunity to design the math curriculum.

Our LEP students generally do quite well in math, until they hit Algebra I, and then it all goes to pieces.  In fact, failure in Algebra I and Geometry is the primary culprit for our high rate of late graduation and dropouts (well, culprit we can do anything about.  There are cultural and socioeconomic issues at play as well).  I posit that this is because high-school level math involves far more critical thinking, and critical thinking skills are developed through language. 

As a result, this math curriculum, which was executed by decidedly non-mathy ESL teachers, should really be called "The Language of Critical Thinking."  While basic math skills were addressed through use of the excellent HELP Math tutorial program, direct classroom instruction addressed the vocabulary and syntax of word problems, and the navigation of critical thinking concepts such as discerning rules and patterns and problem solving.

Check out the full curriculum here:

ESL Literacy Strategies

This workshop introduced teachers to strategies for improving literacy in adolescents as laid out in When Kids Can't Read, by Kylene Beers. The activities in the workshop centered on the short story "Trial by Combat" by Shirley Jackson.

6+1 Trait ® of Writing Assessment: An Overview

This workshop introduced teachers to the 6+1 Traits ® of Writing assessment system as developed by Education Northwest. All citations are from 6+1 Traits ® of Writing: The Complete Guide, by Ruth Culham.

Workshop: Strategies for Improving Listening and Speaking

This workshop introduces teachers to the concept of prosody, or the music of language, and its importance to ELL student development in speaking, as well the other three domains. All citations in the Power Point refer the article "Teaching Pronounciation Using the Prosody Pyramid" by Judy B. Gilbert.