PRESENTER: Nancy Cloud, Ed.D. / Professor Emerita / Rhode Island College

AUDIENCE

ENL and Bilingual/Dual Language Teachers, Mainstream Classroom Teachers, Special Education Teachers of ELLs, Literacy Specialists, Reading Coaches, District and School Administrators, and Librarians who work with ELLs

*All sessions focus on grades K-3 with the exception of the final session which focuses on preliterate ELLs in grades 2-5

SATURDAY / OCTOBER 21, 2023 / 9AM – 12PM 
FOUNDATIONS

A. Monolingual Literacy vs. Biliteracy

B. Important Research Findings on ELLs and Reading in English

1. Reading in English and The Importance of Oral Language
2. The Effect of Orthographic Depth on Foundational Literacy Skill Development (Phonological vs Lexical Process)
3. Cross-Linguistic Effects on Reading Subskills
4. The Role of Phonological and Syntactic Expectations on Reading Performance
5. What We Know About the Five Essential Elements of Reading Instruction and ELLs

C. Cross-Linguistic Transfer

1. What Sounds Are New (Chinese, Haitian Creole/French, Russian, Spanish);  L1 Approximations, Substitutions During Acquisition
2. Breakout Rooms by Language:  Understanding and Accounting for Transfer (Sounds, Syntax)—Phonics Demons and Writing Miscues

D. Accounting for the Culturally-Determined; Experientially-Determined Background Knowledge of Our Learners When Teaching Reading

1. Noticing the Texts in Our Series and How Well They Represent/Connect with Our Learners
2. Choosing Books that Tap into Our Learner’s Background Knowledge (Assets-Based Instruction); Working with Others to Find Funding for Culturally Responsive Books to Augment Our ELA/Reading Curricula
3. Frontloading/Preparing Students for Books Outside Their Experience (Previewing)
4. Activity:  Familiar/Unfamiliar?

E. Revisiting the Science of Reading and Scarborough’s Rope Model for ELLs:  What’s the Same, What’s Different (Activity)

F. Issues with Current Widely-Used ELA/Reading Curricula for ELLs

1. Sequential Foundational Skills Instruction Occurs Across Grades K-2 ,Yet ELLs Can Be a Mobile or Late Arriving Population 
2. L1 Literacy Effects/L1 Transfer Largely Ignored (Except Cognates)
3. Insufficient Focus on Oral Language Development (Much More than Vocabulary; Parts of Speech) 
4. Guidance for ELLs, Especially for Stage of Proficiency Across L, S, R, W Often Superficial
5. Exercises that Make Sense for Native Speakers, but Not Second Language Learners
6. Problematic Texts, Especially Decodable Books
7. Insufficient Culturally Responsive Texts 

G. Key Take Aways & Resources on the Padlet for this Session

SATURDAY / NOVEMBER 4, 2023 / 9AM - 12PM  
Applications 1:  Applying Your ELA/Reading Curriculum to ELLs 

A. Connected Reading for ELLs:  Foundational Skills Plus—A Model for Teachers of ELLs

1. Types of Texts to Use in Our ELA/Reading Curricula and Their Purposes
2. Maintaining an Appropriate Focus Always with ELLs
3. Scarborough’s Rope Model Related to Our Model of Connected Reading+ for ELLs 

B. How to Identify Phonics Needs and Work on Foundational Skills When ELLs Are Arriving All the Time

1. Tools/Surveys to Identify Student Abilities and Needs
2. Activity:  Would You Use this Tool?  Why? / Why Not?

C. Applying Your ELA/Reading Curriculum to ELLs 

1. Strong Features of Widely-Used ELA/Reading Curricula for ELLs

2. How To Use Existing Activities from Your Curriculum with ELLs (What Can Be Used As Is, What to Modify/Adapt; What to Replace; What to Discard to Make Space For Other Language Development Activities) 
   Phonemic Awareness

   1. Sound Boxes (Hearing # of sounds in English words; Possible Interlanguage Influences)
   2. Completing Rhymes; Rhyming Activities

   Phonics: Teaching Sound-Symbol Correspondence

   1. Naming Letters
   2. Key Words for Sounds
   3. Use of Phonetic Pseudowords/Non-words (in Assessment/Teaching)
   4. Blending Lines (Blend and Read Charts); Avoiding Low Frequency Words/Too Many Words; Productive Minimal Word Contrasts
   5. Picture Cue Activities (Identifying Pictures, Writing Missing Letters for Pictures)
   6. Word Building/Encoding Activities (Word Ladders/Chains, Dictation)
   7. Decodable Texts:  Evaluating; Using or Replacing 
      1. Reading Experts’ Criteria for Selecting Decodable Texts
      2. What Makes a Good Decodable for ELLs?
      3. Activity:  Rating Decodable Books-Good/Not Good for ELLs? 
      4. Building Collections of Well-Crafted Decodable Texts and Linking to Your Phonics Scope and Sequence

   Fluency:  When to Expect It; How to Practice It

   Vocabulary Teaching:  Measuring What Your Series Does Against Best Practices for ELLs

   1. Vocabulary Selections (Power Words, etc.) in Relation to Research-Based Guidelines from Vocabulary Experts
   2. Getting Enough Opportunities to Use the Target Vocabulary

   Text Comprehension

   1. Text Selection Criticisms (Reminder)
   2. Asking Questions about Hard to Follow Texts; Any Stories Called “Silly”; Many Decodable Books
   3. Challenging Poetry (Topics, Sentence Structure, Rare Vocabulary; Often Culturally Unfamiliar Topics)
   4. Listening Comprehension (Rate of Speech on Audio/Video Files)

   Writing Activities (Familiarity; Proficiency Level Demands; Supports Offered)

3. Poll Activity: Use as is, Modify, Replace?
4. Wrap Up

SATURDAY / NOVEMBER 18, 2023 / 9AM - 12PM 
Applications 2:  Using a Culturally-Responsive, Sustaining (CRS) Text to Teach/Practice Foundational Skills While Building Oral Language  

1. Criticisms of Current, Commonly-Used ELA/Reading Curricula with Respect to Representing Our Learners
2. What Makes for a High-Quality CRS Text?:  Application to a Text We Will Use in this Series
3. Using a Connected Reading Approach with ELLs (Council of the Great City Schools, 2023); Creating a Text Set to Ensure Connected Reading for ELLs:  Foundational Skills+ (A Model for Teachers of ELLs)
4. Conducting a Linguistic Analysis to Identify Foundational Skills Targets 
   1. Phonemic Awareness Possibilities 
   2. Phonics to Teach/Practice 
   3. Choosing Vocabulary to Teach (in Semantic Networks)
   4. Working on Fluency (Sentence/Text Level)
   5. Comprehension Strategies to Teach/Practice
   6. Taking Reading into Writing (Handwriting, Spelling, Sentence Writing, Passage Writing (by Genre)
5. Finding Oral Language Objectives for a CRS Text:  Teaching Something About How English Works
6. Planning for Cross-Linguistic Connections
7. Making Cross-Cultural Connections
8. SEL Objectives Specific to English Learners
   1. Common Social-Emotional Needs of New Arrivals; English Learners
   2. Building in SEL Objectives to a CRS Text:  Identifying SEL Objectives and Planning Activities
9. Activity/Breakout Rooms:  Let’s Practice with a Text from Another CRS Text Set 
10. Resources for Teachers Publishers with High Quality CRS Books

SATURDAY / DECEMBER 2, 2023 / 9AM – 12PM 
Applications 3:  Foundational Literacy for Entering and Emerging ELLs with Interrupted Schooling (Grades 2-5) 

1. Designing Foundational Literacy Units for Preliterate Entering/Emerging ELLs with Interrupted Schooling
   1. Characteristics of Preliterate New Arrival/Newcomer Students
   2. Needs of Preliterate Students (Literacy, Academic, Social-Emotional)
2. Combining Language Development with Foundational Literacy Development in Thematic Units Tied to ELA, Science, or Social Studies Curricula
3. Selecting Books for Emergent ELL Readers  
   1. Text Characteristics to Look For
   2. Publishers with Useful Materials 
4. Creating Your Own Foundational Units for Entering/Emerging Students 
   1. Steps (Start with a Motivating Topic (Tie to Grade Level Standards), Identify Oral Language Development Objectives; Background Knowledge Needs, Identify Literacy Development Objectives for Your Students, Cross-Cultural and SEL Needs)
   2. Language and Literacy Components of Each Unit (Oral Language Development; Foundational Skills Development; Reading Comprehension Strategies, Fluency Practice; Early Writing Development)
   3. Planning Sufficient Language and Literacy Practice
   4. Making Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Cultural Connections
   5. Addressing SEL Needs
5. Breakout Room Activity:  Developing Literacy Activities Around a Text from a Well-Selected Theme
6. New Arrival/Newcomer Resources for Teachers
7. Open Forum:  Questions/Comments About Designing Emergent Literacy Units

The NYS Statewide Language RBERN is an approved Sponsor of CTLE pursuant to Section 80-6 of the Regulations of the NYS Commissioner of Education. All participants must fully attend all required parts of the professional development and be actively engaged in the learning process (as demonstrated in the breakout rooms and/or chat discussions) in order to be awarded CTLE credit.