ELL News Headlines

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New study links oral narrative structure with reading skills in young children

In a recently published study in the journal npj Science of Learning, researchers have discovered a significant relationship between the way children tell stories and their reading abilities. This research found that children who displayed more complex narrative structures in their oral stories tended to perform better on reading tests several months later. This link appears to be independent of the child’s intelligence and understanding of others’ perspectives.

As temperatures rise, schools without AC struggle to keep students healthy and learning

Studies show that in more places in the United States, there are now more days hotter than 80 degrees during the school year than there were in 1970. Schools that can’t afford air conditioning are struggling with overheated classrooms, which researchers say pose both academic and health risks. John Yang speaks with Washington Post reporter Anna Phillips, who covers climate change, for more.

Commentary: NY is poised to phase out Regents exam requirements. For English learners, especially, it’s past time.

Sunisa Nuonsy is a Lao-American educator and scholar based in Brooklyn. She is a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center and a project researcher for the CUNY Initiative on Immigration and Education. In this opinion piece, she writes, "For marginalized students, especially recent immigrants doing the double duty of learning content and a new language, a standardized approach can be exclusive and an inaccurate assessment."

This Newark educator missed out on support as a new immigrant. Years on, she became the teacher she needed.

For Lina Zapata, becoming a teacher was an early calling that stemmed from her own struggles learning English in New York schools. A Colombian native, Zapata immigrated to the United States with her mom when she was 12. She remembers the challenges they faced in navigating the public school system, often without needed support. But those experiences have shaped Zapata into the kind of teacher she needed when she was young.

Most NYC high schools don’t have a student newspaper. Teachers can help change that.

Teacher John Downes-Angus writes, "I was hired to teach AP English Language to juniors and English to seniors. About a month after I was offered this job, though, my principal asked me if I’d teach a year-long journalism class." It's been huge learning curve for him, but well worth it: "This is not my most organized or efficient class, but figuring out how to teach it for the past two years has been some of the most fun I’ve had in my 10 years working as a teacher here in New York City," he says.

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