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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"What Is a Teacher to Do?": Returning to the Classroom After a Tragedy

Simona Goldin is a research associate professor in the University of North Carolina's department of public policy and at the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina (EPIC). Her research focuses on trauma-informed practice and how to transform the preparation of beginning teachers to teach in more racially just and equitable ways. She shares three lessons on recovering after an active shooter shook her campus.

Scholastic backtracks, saying it will stop separating diverse books for fairs in 2024

Scholastic is reversing course, saying it will no longer separate diverse stories for school book fairs after weeks of mounting backlash from educators and authors. The educational company, which both publishes and distributes books, waded into hot water last month after it confirmed that it was changing its policy for its middle school book fair offerings. It said it was putting most of the titles dealing with race, gender and sexuality into their own collection, and allowing schools to decide whether to order it, as they would with any display.

Solid Stories: Why Board Books Are Key Developmental Tools

Board books are a solid hit with tots and sturdy sellers in the publishing industry. They're also a powerful tool for neurodevelopment in young children. The science behind board book learning supports the market boom around their popularity. "The number one most important thing about board books is the pages' thickness, because babies and toddlers don't have the fine motor skills to turn paper pages," says Caitlin Gallingane, clinical assistant professor in the University of Florida's College of Education. That enables the development of "concepts of print" — how to hold a book, how to turn pages. Babies learn these basics not just by seeing, but by getting their hands on books and mimicking their grown-ups.

Schools have struggled to add learning time after COVID. Here's how one district did it.

Here in Cicero School District 99, students are getting an extra 30 minutes of reading or math instruction every day, which adds up to around three additional weeks of school. School leaders hope that will be enough time to teach students key skills they missed and boost test scores. The district is about a month into the extra academic lessons, and staff say they're still working out the kinks. The initiative has added new instructional challenges for Cicero teachers, who were already busy putting a new reading curriculum in place and helping students cope with the ongoing fallout of the pandemic. Still, Cicero stands out for making a longer school day a reality. While many schools used COVID relief funding to beef up summer school or add optional after-school tutoring, far fewer added extra time to the school day or year.

Little kids need outdoor play — but not when it’s 110 degrees

Dora Ramos is a family child care provider in Stamford, Connecticut, where the temperature climbed above 90 degrees for a few days in July. She takes care of children in her home, which has a large backyard, and was able to adapt, still getting the children outside, even on the hottest days.

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