Author: abrahamk (Page 2 of 2)

Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa Presentation 

We had the pleasure of hosting @Dorina_BELIEVE at our February joint Pro-D day with Coquitlam. She will be joining us again in a virtual follow-up session next Tuesday, April 20th at 315. Please email michelle.van-balkom@burnabyschools.ca for more information!

Professional Development Opportunity

If you are looking for some professional development on supporting your ELLs in the virtual environment, please consider joining Alina Cozma and Ann Stewart Hunter for: Inclusive Strategies in the Virtual Environment Living Room Literacy on Wednesday, April 14^th from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30  p.m.   This session offers ready-to-use interactive activities for the virtual learning environment. This workshop is being hosted by the Learning Assistance Teacher Association of BC (LATA). To register on Eventbrite, click on the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/inclusive-strategies-in-the-virtual-environment-tickets-142038963363

If you are not a member of LATA, you will be required to pay their membership fee ($35.00) to participate, which will give you access to a pool of resources and future events from LATA.

In the Community

BPL Workshop for Teenagers

Sikh Heritage Month

Wanting resources or lesson plans that highlight Sikh history and Sikh-Canadians? Check out https://www.sikhheritagemonthbc.ca/ for resources and links for more information. This is particularly timely as some students may be celebrating Vaisakhi on this week

Ramadan

QSSSA

Looking for creative ways to share ELL-friendly teaching strategies with your colleagues? Check out our colleague in Nanaimo, Loa Richardson, video on QSSSA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ7_6kFYBC4&t=10s

New/Nearly New to ELL Assessment Workshops

Are you new or nearly new to ELL? Is this your first-time doing ELL year-end assessments? Have questions about the assessments? Want to learn how to make an AIP?

Please join us for drop-in training sessions where we will go over the K-7 ELL year-end assessments and answer any questions you may have. You do not need to RSVP, just show up whenever it works for your schedule. Come to one or as many as you like!

Sessions will run:

Wednesday, April 14 – 9:00am – 11:00am https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

Monday, April 19 – 9:00am – 11:00am https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

Tuesday, April 27 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

Friday, May 7 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/9698994253

Thursday, May 13 – 9:00am – 11:00am https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

In The Community

The Burnaby Public Library and Literacy Now Burnaby are hosting an excellent workshop for families on multilingualism. Please check out the information below and share with the families in your school community!

Join Burnaby Public Library and Literacy Now Burnaby as we present the first two workshops in a series on multilingual literacy.

Anti-Racism Resources

Looking for ways to address anti-Asian racism with your students? Check out the following Canadian resources for ideas:

https://www.acenetedu.ca/addressingasianhate https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/Addressing%20Anti-Asian%20Racism%20Resource%20Booklet%20final%20web%20Jan%2024.pdf

New/Nearly New to ELL Assessment Workshops

New/Nearly New to ELL Assessment Workshops

Are you new or nearly new to ELL? Is this your first-time doing ELL year-end assessments? Have questions about the assessments? Want to learn how to make an AIP?

Please join us for drop-in training sessions where we will go over the K-7 ELL year-end assessments and answer any questions you may have. You do not need to RSVP, just show up whenever it works for your schedule. Come to one or as many as you like!

Sessions will run:

Wednesday, April 14 – 9:00am – 11:00am https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

Monday, April 19 – 9:00am – 11:00am https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

Tuesday, April 27 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

Friday, May 7 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/9698994253

Thursday, May 13 – 9:00am – 11:00am https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/6724521999

UBC Pilot Project – Primary Oral Assessment

Burnaby is an active member of the UBC ESL Assessment Consortium. This group created the BERAs that we currently use. We are in the process of creating a new oral language assessment for K-3 and need your help! We need teachers to help us administer the assessment so we can norm the results and ensure that the assessment is valid and reliable.

Requirements:

Let Kiran know of your interest in participating by Friday, April 9th.

Attend a training session on April 15 (1:00pm – 2:30pm) or April 20 (9:00am – 10:30am).

Complete the IPT and new oral language assessment for 12 students.

Send the results back to Kiran in the district mail by Tuesday, May 18^th.

We know you are incredibly busy with year-end assessments and would really appreciate your participation. Let Kiran know if you have any questions!

Year-End Assessments

Elementary teachers – if you haven’t already, please complete the “Form” from Fanny to request your year-end testing materials.

Thank you to all teachers who returned their extra IPTs! Our new order of IPTs has arrived. For those of you still needing IPTs for year-end assessments – they will be arriving soon!

Secondary teachers- all documents have been uploaded to our shared Teams folder. Please get in touch with Kiran if you wish to use the BERA.

Welcome back! We hope you had a restful and rejuvenating spring break!

In The Community

The Burnaby Public Library and Literacy Now Burnaby are running two excellent workshops for families on multilingualism. Please check out the information below and share with the families in your school community!

Join Burnaby Public Library and Literacy Now Burnaby as we present the first two workshops in a series on multilingual literacy.

New Booking System!

Please let your school staff know there is a new booking system for the Welcome Centre. It is online and for new to Burnaby students who know languages other than English. More information can be found at http://www.burnabyschools.ca/ell

Year-End Assessments

Elementary teachers – if you haven’t already, please complete the “Form” from Fanny to request your year-end testing materials.

Secondary teachers- all documents have been uploaded to our shared Teams folder. Please get in touch with Kiran if you wish to use the BERA.

Thank you

A huge thank you to Michelle (and Fanny!) for the amazing work she did as the ELL Program Consultant this past year. I am so grateful for her adaptability and familiarity with technology to help support Burnaby ELL through all of the many Covid changes.

Today is my first day back and I am very much looking forward to virtually connecting with you all and to be working alongside both Fanny and Michelle. Please feel free to reach out anytime: kiran.abraham@burnabyschools.ca

Thanks,

Kiran

Reminders

Secondary SIOP meeting: Thursday, March 11 at 3:15

New Booking System!

Please let your school staff know there is a new booking system for the Welcome Centre. It is online and for new to Burnaby students who know languages other than English. More information can be found at http://www.burnabyschools.ca/ell

The system is currently down as we add in new assessor availability, but we hope to have it back up and running this week.

Year-End Assessments

Elementary teachers – a form will be coming out soon for you to request your year-end testing kits from the Welcome Centre.

Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

Vocabulary Development:

When planning your own lessons or supporting a colleague, consider focusing on only 3-5 Tier 3 vocabulary words at one time. Choose the words that have the most impact on the topic. By focusing on only a few at a time, it allows students to deepen their understanding of the words and makes it more likely that they will retain the words.

Some strategies that can help with this include the use of images or diagrams, providing non-examples and using the word across multiple contexts.