ELL News Headlines
Throughout the week, Colorín Colorado gathers news headlines related to English language learners from around the country. The ELL Headlines are posted Monday through Friday and are available for free!
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Los Angeles Public Library Exhibits the World’s Largest Pop-Up Book
Pop-up books provide fun and surprises at each turn of the page. Imagine if the book opened to an 11-foot-high pop-up creation. As part of the celebration of the Los Angeles Central Library’s centennial celebration, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles in partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) at Central Library commissioned Luceros y Penumbras: The World’s Largest Pop-up Book.
Connecting the First Day of School to the Last
Think about the last day of classes last year—the last regular day before exams. We often struggle with how to fill these awkward days that are too late for lessons but too early for summative assessments. The students are tired of exam reviews in all of their academic classes. Other culminating activities like watching movies or having free time are becoming repetitive. What to do? I’ve developed a fun and reflective tradition that really works, a surprise change of pace that marks the end of school by bringing students back to their younger selves—as they were 10 months ago on the first day of school. And it takes almost no prep.
Listening to Learn: How to Teach English Learners This Overlooked Skill
Listening is one of the four essential domains (the others are reading, writing, and speaking) for English learners—and for all students. It’s also a skill that often gets less attention in the classroom.
Here are some instructional strategies educators use to help English learners—and other students—master that critical skill.
Vermont Librarian Uses Read-Alouds To Connect with Immigrant Students
For Matt Gile, a preK–12 librarian for Winooski (VT) School District, read-alouds are one of the ways he tries to make all students feel comfortable in this community with a large refugee population. With the help of the home school liaisons, who often act as translators for students and families, he presents read-alouds in different languages.
Beloved author Benjamin Alire Sáenz, first Latino PEN/Faulkner winner, dies at 71
Benjamin Alire Sáenz, an award-winning fiction writer and poet who drew upon his sexuality and his life on the Southern border, has died at age 71. He was the first Latino to win the PEN/Faulkner prize.
LAUSD first-day attendance falls slightly amid immigration, environmental concerns
Los Angeles Unified School District students returned to school Wednesday amid lingering concerns about immigration enforcement and environmental safety, with district officials reassuring families that campuses were safe and ready for the new school year.
Trump Administration Moves to Deregulate Head Start, Opening Door for Sweeping Change
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed significant changes to Head Start, the nation’s early education program for children from low-income families. The move would diminish the program’s federal standards and give states and parents more control.
On AI Policy, Students Have Plenty to Say
Adults from seemingly every corner of society are weighing in on artificial intelligence policies in the classroom. But what do students have to say about it? A recent event offered some clues, as student leaders from around the nation proposed a set of national guidelines for the use of AI in schools at the America’s Youth AI Festival in Boston. The three-day event brought together student leaders, educators, and school system leaders from across the country to discuss acceptable AI use in schools.
How Schools Are Navigating the English-Learner Teacher Shortage
Recruiting enough teachers certified to teach English-language development has historically been a challenge for schools across the country.
Federal English-Learner Grant Returns This Fall Under New Oversight
A federal grant program for professional development focused on working with English learners will continue this fall with a new cohort of projects, and new priorities, including letters of endorsement from governors and state education officials.


