T.ELL.E-gram

This month's highlights

Featured articles

Using Informal Assessments for English Language Learners

This article describes how teachers can use informal assessments (also called authentic or alternative assessments) to track the ongoing progress of their students regularly and often. Ongoing assessments provide continual snapshots of where students are throughout the school year and allow teachers to target students' specific problem areas, adapt instruction, and intervene earlier rather than later.

For the Parents of Your Students: Parent Concerns

Is your child doing well in school? Is he or she having trouble learning, behaving, or studying? Is there a problem with another student, teacher, or administrator? How to Let the School Know about Your Concerns outlines steps parents can take if they have a concern about their child's progress in school. This article is also available in Spanish.

Featured Resources

American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month

November is American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month! We invite you to take a look at some of the resources and recommended books we feature in our American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage resource section to help you highlight this important ethnic heritage celebration in your classroom.

New Webcast!

Colorín Colorado is pleased to present its newest webcast, English Language Learners with Learning Disabilities. Bilingual speech pathologist Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan describes effective assessment and instruction strategies for ELLs with learning disabilities. Related articles and discussion questions follow the webcast.

AdLit.org Launches!

It's here — our new sister site and the leading resource about adolescent literacy is waiting for you! AdLit.org offers reading resources for parents and educators of kids in grades 4-12, including research-based articles, instructional material for the classroom, tips for parents, reading motivation strategies, book recommendations, exclusive interviews with top authors, a teen reading blog, an Ask the Expert forum, and a free, monthly e-newsletter called Word Up! And don't forget to tell your neighbors, family members, colleagues, and friends — help spread the word that adolescent literacy has a new home!

Research and Reports

The number of ELL students in U.S. schools continues to rise, but learning a new language may not be their only challenge. How do schools help ELLs with disabilities?

In order to learn more about the services offered to ELLs with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned a study that would survey schools and districts nationally to identify characteristics of services provided to ELLs. Part of that report, A Descriptive Study of Services to LEP [Limited English Proficient] Students and LEP Students with Disabilities, focuses on the services offered to ELLs with disabilities and their participation in standards and assessment systems.

In the Classroom

Bright Ideas that Work

Special Education Needs in the ELL Classroom

When an ELL student is struggling with language difficulties, it is often difficult to know if the problem is due to a delay in language acquisition, to a learning disability, to other kinds of special education needs, or a combination of these factors. How to address special education needs in the ELL classroom presents an overview of practical guidelines on the steps to follow when considering if a student has special education needs, including academic interventions, factors affecting referral for assessment, and a number of related resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

As a teacher of English language learners, you are constantly striving to make assessment, placement, and evaluation equitable for students with a wide variety of needs. You may want to consider the following:

• We are receiving a large influx of Hispanic families into our community. What can be done to address a fair grading practice as most of our non-English speaking students struggle?
• I heard that learning disabilities affect 15% of the population. Does this number increase when students are immersed in a second language?

Find the answers to these and many other Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching ELLs on Colorín Colorado.

Achieving Success: From the Heart

This month we spoke with Felix A. Herrera, an ESOL teacher at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Mr. Herrera is a native of El Salvador. He holds a master's degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University, and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army Reserves. His commitment to his students, however, keeps him coming back to the classroom. A former ELL student himself, Mr. Herrera offers some of his insights about the problems that ELL students face, as well as the steps that ELL teachers can take to support them.

We Want to Hear from Your Students!

What are your students thankful for? During the months of November and December, Colorín Colorado will publish excerpts of students' written entries submitted to our website by email or postal mail. Send your students' entries by email to info@colorincolorado.org with the subject heading of "Student Entries" or by postal mail to the following address:

Student Entries
Colorín Colorado
Learning Media, WETA
2775 S. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22206

Beyond the Classroom

Book of the Month

By Joy Cowley
In this warm holiday story, a young Puerto Rican boy saves the life of his pet turkey with help from his close-knit New York City family and neighborhood. Beginning Spanish vocabulary is woven into the text. Spanish-language edition available.

You can also find bilingual book lists for children and teens in our Books and Authors section.

Glossary Term

Special Education: This month's glossary term refers to services offered to children who possess one or more of the following disabilities: specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments.

About the Colorín Colorado T·ELL·E-GRAM and ColorinColorado.org

The Colorín Colorado T·ELL·E-GRAM is a free monthly electronic newsletter from ColorinColorado.org, created and sustained thanks to support from the American Federation of Teachers.

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