English Learner Students

Date: December 12, 2019

This webinar series, presented by REL West and the Leading with Learning program at WestEd, shares practical strategies for teachers to promote literacy and language development for English learners and dual language learners in the early grades. They are grounded in evidence-based practices through the Teaching and Learning Cycle framework.

The teaching and learning cycle (TLC) is a framework for scaffolding oral language development and emergent academic reading and writing by weaving together content, language, and literacy. This approach uses interactive reading, text-based discussions, and language awareness building to engage all students, including dual language learners (DLLs)/English learners (ELs), and is intended to provide equitable opportunities to learn and thrive.

WEBINAR 1

Scaffolding Emergent Reading, Oral Language, and Writing for Dual Language Learners/English Learners in PreK–1st Grade

Date: May 15, 2019

This webinar provided practical, evidence-based resources for teachers to promote language and literacy learning for young DLLs/ELs in the early years of schooling.

Using the TLC, presenters discussed how to provide abundant opportunities for children to think, talk, and write to develop content knowledge.

Participants:

• Learned about the TLC framework and considered its uses for promoting language and literacy development
• Heard about examples of interactive reading and text-based discussions aligned with the TLC framework
• Discussed how the TLC framework is a shift from traditional approaches to teaching ELs

The presentation drew on several evidence-based practices from What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides and the National Academies’ Promising Futures Report, including:

• Use culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and materials
• Provide interactive book reading experience that support higher order thinking and oral language development
• Guide students through focused, high-quality discussion on the meaning of complex texts

WEBINAR 2

Language & Literacy Development in PreK–1st Grade: Words and More

Dates: December 9 & 12, 2019

In this webinar, presenters addressed how teachers can build language and vocabulary-rich classroom environments to support the language development of young students, with an emphasis on supporting DLLs. Using the TLC framework, presenters shared practical strategies for explicit vocabulary instruction.

Participants:

• Learned about how to boost young children’s academic language use, with a special focus on vocabulary and language-rich environments
• Experienced an example of interactive academic vocabulary instruction
• Discussed ways to incorporate daily academic language learning in fun and engaging ways

This webinar shared several evidence-based strategies for improving vocabulary from What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides and the National Academies’ Promising Futures Report, including:

• Provide interactive book reading experiences that support higher order thinking and oral language development
• Teach academic vocabulary words intensively and over time using a variety of approaches
• Provide regular, structure opportunities to develop written language skills and daily time for students to write

Presenters

Pamela Spycher is the Project Director for Leading with Learning, a U.S. Department of Education grant focused on the implementation of the California English Language Arts (ELA)/English Language Development (ELD) Framework and ELD Standards. She has led several initiatives in California to implement best practices for teaching English learners in California, including as lead writer for the state’s ELD standards for math and science. Pamela received a PhD in education with an emphasis in language, literacy, and culture and a designated emphasis in second language acquisition from the University of California, Davis.

Thea Fabian is a Teacher on Special Assignment for Fresno Unified School District in Fresno, California. She works with colleagues to improve the success of English learners/emergent bilingual students by promoting high-quality instruction using the teaching and learning cycle. She’s also currently working to expand students’ access to biliteracy, including native language literacy.

Audience

This webinar series was designed for teachers, instructional coaches, teacher educators, administrators, and applied researchers.

Resources

Webinar 1

• Agenda
• Slides
• List of relevant links and resources, including recommended books to use in multilingual classrooms
• Webinar transcript

Webinar 2

• Agenda
• Slides
• Webinar transcript