The Best Websites For Developing Academic English Skills & Vocabulary Use magic to teach and learn academic language in my new NY Times post that includes a student interactive and teaching ideas. Enriching Academic Vocabulary: Strategies for Teaching Tier Two Words to E.L.L. Students is the headline of another one of my posts for The New York Times. It’s a pretty lengthy one – filled with ideas, downloadable hand-outs and links to additional resources. This is latest in my “The Best….” series of lists. One way this list is different from the others is that I don’t rank them in terms of which ones I like the best. You might also be interested in The Best Sites Where ELL’s Can Learn Vocabulary. Here are, in my opinion, The Best Websites For Developing Academic English Skills & Vocabulary: An Academic Writing Module: Paragraphs is designed for student self-access, and has many interactive exercises. Using English For Academic Purposes has a lot of good online activities. One New Activity I’m Doing To Help ELLs Learn Academic Vocabulary – & Practice Speaking It
Alternatives to Interactive Whiteboards SmartBoards, Promethean Boards and many other kinds of Interactive Whiteboards are a good tool, but not every room has them and, personally, I don’t think they are worth the money. Today I’m going to share some cost effective alternatives to the IWB, but keep in mind that all of these alternatives will require a digital video projector. One of the biggest challenges of integrating technology into learning is teaching students how to use said technology. An IWB shines here because it allows you to demo the computer program or Internet navigation using your fingers and a giant touchscreen. Of course, an Interactive Whiteboard is far more just a giant touchscreen, it also allows you to write on your computer screen and save it. The app that allows you to write and record a lesson is called ShowMe. Finally, The evidence that IWBs improve learning is shaky and we need to remember that all technology is nothing more than a tool, like textbooks, markers or overhead projectors.
Smarter Balanced Assessment System - Testing Latest information about new generation of English-language arts and mathematics assessments. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is a multistate consortium working collaboratively to develop a student assessment system aligned with a common core of academic content standards for English language arts/literacy and mathematics. As a Smarter Balanced governing state, California is a decision-making member. Smarter Balanced assessments are designed to measure student progress toward college and career readiness. Assembly Bill 484 Questions and Answers (Updated 31-Jan-2014) Questions and answers regarding Assembly Bill (AB) 484, which establishes California’s new statewide student assessment system. Program Updates Bimonthly program updates issued by the California Department of Education (CDE). Smarter Balanced Updates Current update and archived updates sent to the CDE Smarter Balanced e-mail list. Spring 2014 Field Test California Technical Assistance Center (CalTAC) Website Resources
Moving the Common Core State Standards from Adoption to Implementation to Sustainability This blog post is cross-posted on The Hunt Institute’s blog, The Intersection. If you’re an educator in one of the 46 states that has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), you’ve not only been learning about the standards and what they mean for you and your students, but you’ve most likely begun implementing them as well. As you’ve been busy moving forward, you probably still have a great deal of questions. You’re not alone. So what are your colleagues saying about the standards? We’ve compiled the findings and our own recommendations in a free report, “Fulfilling the Promise of the Common Core State Standards: Moving from Adoption to Implementation to Sustainability.” You’ll find the full report on our EduCore™ site. Once you’ve read the report, we hope you’ll continue the conversation about Common Core with us on social media.
Higher Education Opportunity Act - 2008 The Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315) (HEOA) was enacted on August 14, 2008, and reauthorizes the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). This page provides information on the Department's implementation of the HEOA. Some parts of the law will be implemented through new or revised regulations. The negotiated rulemaking process will be used for some regulations, as explained below. Other areas will be regulated either through the usual notice and comment process or, where regulations will merely reflect the changes to the HEA and not expand upon those changes, as technical changes. As we move through the implementation process, we will be updating this page, so check back often. Higher Education Opportunity Act (P.L. 110-315) Text | PDF Dear Colleague Letter The Department has published a Dear Colleague Letter which provides a summary of each provision of the HEOA. Negotiated Rulemaking Negotiated Rulemaking Spring 2009 Web Site Reports and Studies U.S. Top
Teaching With Math Tasks "Math Tasks 101" with David Smith, mathematics specialist for the Utah Office of Education November 6, 2012 View the Recording on PD 360 Learn how to create a classroom culture of math engagement and real-world problem solving through math tasks. David A. Additional resources discussed in the webinar: Teaching with Math Tasks: 4th Grade Classroom with Kalina Potts Tuesday, November 13, 2012 View the recording on PD 360 Teaching with Math Tasks: 8th Grade Classroom with Travis Lemon Tuesday, November 27, 2012 View the recording on PD 360 Additional resources shared by Travis Lemon: www.mathematicsvisionproject.org (for Math Tasks ideas) Lemonmath.weebly.com (Travis Lemon's website) Book: "Five Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions" by Margaret S.
ACT Compass® | English as a Second Language (ESL) Placement Test The ACT Compass® ESL tests allow you to test non-native English speakers' abilities in four areas—Listening, Reading, Grammar/Usage, and Essay—and place them in appropriate ESL courses. ESL Listening This test assesses a student's ability to understand Standard American English. Listening tasks increase in difficulty across multiple proficiency levels with the rate of speech, vocabulary, diction, and use of idiomatic and metaphorical language all increasing at higher levels. As listening stimuli increase in length at the highest levels, students are allowed to take notes as they would in a lecture setting. The intent of the test is to measure listening skills rather than short-term memory. Research shows that native speakers often modify their speech when they are speaking to nonproficient second-language listeners. ESL Reading This English placement test assesses a student's ability to recognize and manipulate Standard American English in two major categories: ESL Grammar/Usage
A Close Look at Close Reading As teachers and schools continue to wrestle with implementing the Common Core Standards, I hear more and more talk—and more and more questions—about the term ‘close reading’. Interestingly enough, the term doesn’t appear in the actual Standards, though it crops up repeatedly in many Standards-related material, including the now famous—or infamous—videos of Standards author David Coleman dissecting Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” And Text Complexity co-author Douglas Fisher has said that close reading is “the only way we know how students can . . . really learn to provide evidence and justification,” as the Common Core requires. So what exactly do we mean by ‘close reading’? According to Timothy Shanahan, who’s become something of a spokesman for the Standards, close reading is “an intensive analysis of a text in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it and what it means.” 1. Questions before AnswersHunch before ClaimUnderstanding before Analysis
California English Language Development Test (CELDT) - Testing Students in kindergarten through grade twelve whose home language is not English are required by law to take an English skills test. In California, the test is called the CELDT. This test helps schools identify students who need to improve their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Schools also give the test each year to students who are still learning English. For more information about the CELDT, contact your local school district.The CELDT - CalEdFacts page provides a more detailed overview of the test. North/South Information Meetings 2013 Program updates and presentations for the Fall 2013 Assessment and Accountability Information Meetings. Program Updates and Notes Updates and Notes for the CELDT program and the Assessment and Accountability Division. Administrative Forms and Documents Regulations, standards, and apportionment forms for the CELDT. CELDT Pre-ID Description of statewide assessments Pre-Identification services through the test vendor.
Perspectives and Resources This Module illustrates different research-based reading strategies that may be used with the response-to-intervention model to improve reading skills. This Module was developed in collaboration with the Tennessee State Improvement Grant and the Tennessee Department of Education. Work through the sections of this Module in the order presented in the STAR graphic above. View Module Outline If you want to learn more about how to navigate an IRIS Module, please view our Navigating an IRIS STAR Legacy Module video. Copyright 2015 Vanderbilt University.
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) | ESEA No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is the current incarnation of President Lyndon Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), whose purpose was to raise achievement and close achievement gaps. NEA strongly supports these goals and is working to give all children great public schools. But educators know that NCLB as currently written can’t get us there. In June 2013, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved Chairman Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) ESEA reauthorization bill, the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013 (S. 1094), on a 12-10 party-line vote. In July 2013, the House of Representatives passed its version of ESEA reauthorization, the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), by a vote of 221-207. NEA’s message to Congress is to provide more flexibility, empower educators, and focus on ESEA’s original promise of equity and fairness for students. Take action: Tell your Senators to get ESEA reauthorization right.