Happy new school year and ELL changes

Welcome Back to school  2015-2016.

Open Houses at both Brownell and Meadow Lane were successful last night!!

This year the big change in ELL is that we are now using 10 Standards for reporting progress based on the Common Core for our ELL students instead of our old rubric checklists.

The 10 standards are based on receptive, productive and interactive modalities of ELP  (English Language Proficiency).     The receptive modality includes the domains of listening and reading.  The productive modality includes the domains of speaking and writing and the interactive modality includes all 4 domains.  The standards are consistent K-12, however the expectations will vary at each grade level and each grade level has 5 levels of proficiency.

Standard 1  An ELL can construct meaning for oral presentations and literary and informational text through grade appropriate listening, reading and viewing.

Standard 2  An ELL can participate in grade-appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and questions.

Standard 3 An ELL can speak and write about grade- appropriate complex literary and informational texts and topics.

Standard 4  An ELL can construct grade-appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence.

Standard 5 An ELL can conduct research and evaluate and communicate findings to answer questions or solve problems.

Standard 6  An ELL can analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing.

Standard 7  An ELL can adapt language choices to purpose, task, and audience when speaking and writing.

Standard 8  An ELL can determine the meaning of words and phrases in oral presentations and literary and informational text.

*Standard 9  An ELL can  identify evidence and make judgments.

*This is not a separate graded area on the report card.

Standard 10  An ELL can make accurate use of standard English to communicate in grade-appropriate speech and writing.

 

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NeSA rap for Brownell

My 4th grade ELL students were a little nervous about taking the NeSA writing testing test so I showed them  NeSA rap that I had done several years ago.  By the first 15 seconds their stress level had gone down and they were smiling and happy and relaxed.

Here is my Brownell version of the NeSA rap.

 You will rock the NeSA Brownell Buffaloes, click here to see the rap

Here are the words to the Brownell NeSA rap.  The NeSA Rap-Brownell

I also  have the ELDA rap for my ELL students, they have the honor of double testing since they are also learning English.

So I used parts of the NeSA Rap created by our LPS Reading liaisons and make an ELDA version.  It is not perfect but hopefully it will motivate our ELL students to try their best and let them know that we really do care about them, even though they have to take another test.

Click here to watch the ELDA rap.

Here are the words to the Rap!  The ELDA Rap

I would love any suggestions to make it better:)

Thank you!!

Becky

 

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Alphabet songs

A Kindergarten teacher found  an Alphabet parody of What does the Fox say? for the alphabet and I thought it was too good  not to find and use.  Thank goodness for You tube.  My level 1 students knew the original song so this was a nice hook for them.

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First and Second grade Research Projects

First and Second grade Research Projects

We are beginning to start our Research unit in our 1st and 2nd grade writing unit at Brownell.  We have learned and reviewed the genre of Non Fiction and informational text.  We also talked about different text features.

Next we picked out animals to research.  We read the books and Mrs. Mantonya also read and recorded the books to help us with our fluency.

Here is the Link to hear and see Mrs. Mantonya reading the students research books.

 

 

 

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Change. . .

Dear West Lincoln Staff,

Change is a good thing.  After teaching at West Lincoln for 9 years, it is now time for me to make a change. In August, I will be teaching ELL at Brownell and Meadowlane Elementary schools. Thank you for all the love and support you have given me over the years and most especially these past 15 months as I learned to live the loss of my mom and in the last 4 months the loss of other loved ones in my family and circle of friends.  Caring friends is what life is all about, you are a generous and caring staff,  you care for our students as if they are your own children. Thank you for teaching!  Our children and parents thank you. I love when I hear of stories of when you see families outside of school and they are so happy to see you.

Goodbyes are too permanent and final, so instead I will say Hasta Luego- Until we meet again.  I am still in Lincoln, just an email away. If you are ever curious about what I am up to, just check out my blog or you may see me running the roads or swimming the pools.  Take time for yourself this summer, be active, recharge.  You have the power to change lives for the better.    If anyone decides to wear crazy socks, or funky earrings, you can be sure I am smiling.

Sending virtual hugs,

Becky

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Lee Mun Wah- Multicultural Leadership Institute May 28, 2014

Happy Summer!  It is officially  the 3rd day of summer vacation and many teachers are enjoying their ‘summer off’ by attending workshops to become better teachers. As Dr. Joel, our superintendent, said in his introduction, June is for workshops, July is for conferences and August is for working with students and families again.

This was the 20th year for the Multicultural Institute.  Lee Mun Wah was the presenter of “The Emotions of Cultural Proficiency.”  His presentation and time for conversation was a good beginning step in taking the journey to becoming more culturally competent.  Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, helped me to experience and understand some of the benefits and challenges of growing up in a diverse area.  Teaching on the Navajo Reservation and overseas added to my knowledge base of what it means to be an American and some of the privileges that comes with it.  However, teaching students and learning from their parents from around the world has helped me to continue to grow in the area of cultural proficiency, but it is a never ending journey that includes race, gender, socio economics and so much more.

Lee Mun Wah is a dynamic speaker and writer that really articulated some of the Most Important Points of what many people are afraid to ask and acknowledge in the realm of Multicultural teaching and Diversity.   His question of  “Will I be honest?” is very true of what people  will or will not reveal about their life.  If a person feels safe or trusted or valued, generally they will be honest, if they do not, they will say what they think needs to be said and an opportunity is lost for honest communication.  We will be become a culturally proficient society when we can be honest at home and at work.

Below is an article Lee Wuh Mah, wrote and is on his website, that offers some important points to ponder and reflect upon to help our own journeys of cultural understanding. 21_Ways_to_stop_a_Diversity_Conversation

Here is TED talk that Lee Mun Wah In November 2013 that touched upon many on of the topics that he discussed today in Lincoln

Published on Nov 20, 2013 by You Tube

Lee Mun Wah is an internationally renowned Chinese American documentary filmmaker, author, poet, Asian folk teller, educator, community therapist and master diversity trainer. He is the Founder and Executive Director of StirFry Seminars & Consulting, a diversity training company that provides educational tools and workshops on cross-cultural communication and awareness, mindful facilitation, and conflict mediation techniques. His most famous film about racism, The Color of Fear, won the Gold Medal for Best Social Studies Documentary and in 1995, Oprah Winfrey did a one-hour special on the film and Lee Mun Wah’s life. In 2013, he will be releasing his latest film, If These Halls Could Talk, which focuses on college students speaking their truth about racism and other diversity issues in higher education and beyond. Lee Mun Wah talks about the power of cultural perspective and the need to reach beyond the superficial in making cross-cultural connections.

 

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Knee Socks for the NeSA

Since I have spent most of the last 3 weeks testing the 5th graders, my Kindergarten students have heard the NeSA talked about on a daily basis.

One day at Kindergarten recess, a young student asked me why do you keep talking about knee socks? What do socks have to do with tests? I had to think for a minute and realized that every time she had heard NeSA, she heard knee socks. I wondered how many other students thought that same thing, she is very verbal and it took her a while to clarify this question in her head.

So in the spirit of keeping the atmosphere relaxed and my students calm, Happy Knee Socks Testing Day! The added bonus is seeing the 5th graders trying to hide their smiles and giggles when I tell them the story and having Kindergarten students come up and say I hope I can take the knee socks test with you when I am older.

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West Lincoln and The BackPack Walk

On Monday April 14, West Lincoln Staff and students held a THANK YOU for the Food Bank’s Backpack Walk.  We receive 125 food filled backpacks for our students to take home to help their families have food over the weekends.

Click here for the video of the walk.

Thank you!!!!

 

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Equity Meeting- Educare of Lincoln

April 10, 2014 was our last Equity meeting for the 2013-2014 school year.  For tonight’s meeting we went to the Educare of Lincoln site adjacent to Belmont Elementary School.

Here is a link to the Educare of Lincoln blog  http://wp.lps.org/educarelincoln/

The Director the program, Julia Dadds, gave us a overview of the program and gave us a tour of the facility.

There are 10 core features of the Educare Program.

  • Provide full- day, full year services.  This is very hard and needs to be done with more than just Head Start funding.
  • Implement reflective supervision and practice
  • Provide continuity of care
  • Implement an interdiscplinary approach
  • Provide enhanced focus on language and literacy
  • Use research- based strategies
  • Maintain small class size and high/staff child ratios
  • Offer on- family support
  • Maintain high staff qualifications
  • Provide strong emphasis on social- emotional development

Educare of Lincoln has 4 Partners, this is a true collaboration, but it also has 4 different expectations and requirements. The partners are Lincoln Public Schools, Buffet Early Childhood Fund,  University of Nebraska:Foundation and CEHS/CYAS and Community Action Partnership.

Here are some Specifics on Educare

  • Licensed for 191 children
  • Currently can fund services for 158 children
  • 49 staff
  • ALL low- income families
  • 16% speak Arabic
  • 18% speak Spanish
  • 16 classrooms with 6 specially suited for infants
  • 2 large observation rooms
  • on site kitchen
  • all highly qualified staff, BA’s MA’s.
  • 3 Family Engagement Specialists with Education or Social Work degrees

 

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With a Heavy Heart

With a heavy heart I learned that one of our bilingual liasions, Dech Machar,  recently passed away, there was a great article reflection on his life by a local reporter.  As an  ELL teacher I am continually in contact with inspiring people  from all around the world who are working to make this world a better place to live.

Below is the link

http://journalstar.com/news/local/cindy-lange-kubick-the-man-from-sudan-who-made-peace/article_add36289-0a7e-5cd2-923e-fcc03c1d93b5.html

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