Hi, everyone!
Dr. Kate Kinsella
They say good things happen in threes; this seems to be the case with webinars focusing on the connection between the CCSS and ELLs. Within the past week there will have been three high-profile webinars on CCSS for ELLs that I am aware of.
Understanding Language's five-lesson middle school unit, called Persuasion Across Time and Space: Analyzing and Producing Persuasive Texts, was designed for ELLs at the intermediate level of English language development.
Now that school districts are implementing the CCSS to various degrees, a question that is being asked more frequently is how teacher evaluation systems will be aligned to the new demands of the CCSS.
Earlier in December, Education Week published an article about the connections between arts education and the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) written by reporter Erik Robelen.
Since top ten lists are popular during this time of year, I thought I’d compile my own with the focus on CCSS resources for ELLs.
The Common Core State Standards mean greater rigor, higher expectations and considerably greater language demands. NCELA's webinar will bring together three experts who will share an outline of what needs to be done for this population.
The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has recently released newly created draft language progressions for ELLs that it has developed via its Bilingual Common Core Initiative.
Lesli Maxwell at Education Week has posted an article that outlines how the unit will be piloted in Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; and Denver, CO. In this larger pilot, the Understanding Language team will provide professional development to teachers in these three districts and will also monitor the unit's implementation and collect feedback that will inform the revision of the unit's lessons.