Reminders

File Reviews: Please check your emails to confirm the date and time of your file review. If you haven’t signed up, please email Michelle.

November 2 at 3:15pm (TEAMS)- Picture Book Inquiry Group-Bring your ideas on how to start with your two selections to share.

November 4 at 9am (Welcome Centre) BAA Social Studies Work Group

November 9th at 3:15pm (TEAMS) SIOP Leads Meeting

Reading Recommendation

A recent article in the online magazine “The Conversation” discussed the benefits of using mixed languages. These are languages that are a combination of a language and English that have become more prevalent in the modern world. An interesting, quick read if you are looking for evidence to support multi-lingualism in the classroom:

Why Mixing Languages Can Improve Academic Performance

ELL Ideas

Did you see the Google Doodle last week about Kanō Jigorō’s 161st Birthday. You may ask who that is and the answer is the founder of judo. Google provided a manga style storyboard that would work well for a variety of activities. One idea is to use PWIM model to build vocabulary or assign groups a picture and have a group work together to tell the story using transitional phrases. Some extensions could be to research other historical founders and create their storyboards.   The link for the Doodle is here: https://g.co/doodle/b5fqpfy

A Taste of SIOP

Consider sharing this poster with your school at the next staff meeting.  Often, when we talk about academic language, people assume we are describing Tier 3 words, but Tier 2 language are words students need for ALL subjects. Encourage everyone to focus on teaching the Tier 2 vocabulary students will need to be successful at the current unit.  A list of examples of academic words by grade level can be found on the blog here: http://blogs.sd41.bc.ca/ell/files/2017/12/Tier-2-vocab-K-12.pdf

Provincial Pro-D Day on October 22, 2021

We are super excited for Friday. We will  attending the BCTESOL conference with keynotes Sydney Snyder and Diane Staehr Fenner, authors of Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity. We can’t wait to hear from the authors of this year’s bookclub book. Want to do a deeper dive? Remember to email Michelle to join Equity for ELLs which will use this book to guide our inquiry into equity issues in our district.

Reminders

October-December: File Reviews (Email Michelle to set appointment times)

October 28th 3pm: Equity for ELLs

November 2nd 3pm: Picture Book Inquiry Group

November 4th 8:45 am: Secondary BAA course development work group

Congratulations Kiran!!!

Fanny and I want to send a big thank you and congratulations to Kiran  as she prepares for Zahra’s little sister’s arrival. We never would have survived September start up without her leadership, organization, and humour. Thank you for everything you do! 

Equity for ELLs

 This professional development opportunity is to focus on advocacy issues in Burnaby regarding our multi-lingual learners and explore steps we can take to address them while using the book Cultural Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity by Sydney Snyder and Diane Staehr Fenner. Both authors are the keynote speakers for October 22, BCTESOL Provincial Specialist Pro-D day. This group is open to K-12 teachers. It will take place online in 8 sessions (Monthly October-May)  after school in a time to be determined by the group. A copy of the book will be given to each participant. To sign up, please email Michelle.Van-Balkom@burnabyschools.ca

Picture Book Inquiry Project

Picture Books can be a way to access difficult to tackle conversations. This group will meet four times this school year to explore several books around inclusivity and positive self-image. Participants (K-12 teachers)  will explore six picture books and share ideas on how to use them in both an elementary and secondary setting. Members will receive a copy of each book for their schools. To sign up, please email Michelle.Van-Balkom@burnabyschools.ca

Books:

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho/ Illustrated by Dung Ho

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow/ Illustrated by Luisa Uribe

The Little Girl by H.P. Fraser/ Illustrated by Akemi

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry/ Illustrated by Vashti Harrison

You Are Enough by Margaret O’Hair/ Illustrated by Sofia Cardoso

ELL Elementary Meeting

Tuesday, October 12, 2021-1pm on Teams: Join us for our first Elementary ELL meeting of the year. The link for this virtual get-together will be posted on the ELL teams and by email. Please share with your ELL colleagues. 

SIOP Leads Meeting

Tuesday, October 12, 2021-3:15pm on Teams. The link will be shared on the SIOP team and by email. 

BCTESOL PSA Day

Registration is still ongoing for October 22, 2021 PSA day. As mentioned above, the keynote speakers are the authors of our Equity for ELL book. Register here: https://bctesol.ca/conferences/

Reminders

Group Chat is a program for newcomer youth who want to meet other youth and practice speaking English. with the Burnaby Public Library. We will play games, connect, and discuss an interesting topic in a fun and friendly online group setting. Please email teenservices@bpl.bc.ca for the zoom link.  Next meeting: Saturday February 20^th at 3:00pm-4:00pm

Elementary ELL meeting: February 24, 2021 We will be discussing 2021 Spring Assessments. This meeting will be on zoom.

District Pro-D Day: February 26, 2021 In conjunction with Coquitlam, Burnaby has many choices for District Pro-D day. We are especially excited to have Dorina Sackman Ebuwa join us virtually from the Florida-Georgia Line with her Emotional InELLigence workshops. She is a dynamic educator passionate about transformative emotional intelligence from an ELL lens.

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

Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

Co-teaching with Co-Assessment

Several Burnaby teachers were fortunate to attend the second session with Tan on February 16th, 2021. As always, Tan’s enthusiasm and positivity were inspiring. He shared his newest blog post about co-assessment with content and language teachers. Check it out: https://www.empoweringells.com/co-assessment/

Thank you

In March, Kiran will be return from her mat leave. I know we are all going to welcome her back. I wanted to say thank you all for helping me as I stepped into her big shoes this past year (and what a year!). Everyone has been wonderfully supportive.

United National International Mother Language Day

February 21st is the UN’s International Mother Language Day. Consider how you can discuss, share and promote mother/home languages with your students. According to the UN, approximately 43% of the world’s 6000 languages
are endangered. The UN also notes that “languages are the most  powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage.” We hope this leads to interesting and meaningful conversations with your
students.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/mother-language-day

Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

Sentence Frames

Having sentence frames for both oral and written answers is one way to provide content to all levels of language learners. They provide explicit modelling of academic language and can be leveled to provide access for all.

First, use sentences that have a language function such as sequencing, comparing and contrasting, or describing. Then write the sentences for various abilities on the board with the target vocabulary.

Example of contrasting sentence frames

Beginning: “Plants are living. Rocks are non-living.”  ______________ are living. _____________ are non-living. (simple sentences)

Expanding: “Plants are living, yet rock are non-living” _______________ are living, (but, yet, although) _____________ are non-living.” (compound sentence)

Bridging: “The main difference between plants and rocks is that plants are living organisms while rocks and nonliving substances.” The main difference between _____________________ and _______________ is that ____________________________ while _____________________________________________________.

Image from: Valentina Gonzalez https://elementaryenglishlanguagelearners.weebly.com/blog/sentence-stems-or-sentence-frames

Reminders

Teen Group Chat is a program for newcomer youth who want to meet other youth and practice speaking English. We will play games, connect, and discuss an interesting topic in a fun and friendly online group setting.  All English language learners are welcome. The next meeting is: January 23 at 3:00pm. Email teenservices@bpl.bc.ca for the video meeting (Zoom) link.

Elementary ELL Meeting-January 27th, 1:00pm Zoom– We will be discussing reporting and file reviews. Please send agenda suggestions to Michelle.

Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

Groupings in a Pandemic

Grouping students together in a variety of ways is a powerful tool in most teachers’ toolboxes. For ELL students, it increases their language opportunities tenfold.  However, it has become much more complicated since March 2020. How do you put students together when you need to keep them physically distant?

Pairs grouping are probably the easiest way to go. Students can still sit 6 feet apart and hear each other. However, having students use outside spaces for group work can also be possible, although more complicated with our wet winters.

While physical groupings are not always feasible, digital ones have become more readily available. Breakout rooms in Zoom or Teams offer virtual spaces for students to work together. Furthermore, Office 365 means that students can collaborate on multiple documents with groupings from in their class, school, or even district like never before.

Putting students together often allows for them to learn from each other and shifts the focus from teacher-centric conversations. This allows students to push each other for more more meaningful learning.

Reminders

January 11th, 3:30-5:00 ELL Book Club

January 18th, 3:30-5:00pm-Impactful Differentiation: We encourage teams of teachers from schools to work together to attend the sessions  (ELL support, LSS support and classroom teachers in both English and French Immersion) to develop strategies to diverse classrooms.

Schedule your file review meetings with Fanny and Michelle when you receive them back from the Welcome Centre.

Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

Instructional Conversations

Instructional Conversations is a technique to use student-centered conversations to provide more language opportunities for all students.

The teacher first introduces a topic or theme like space, for example, related to a reading. They relate it to students’ background knowledge. For instance, they could ask a question about what objects exist in space.

Then, the teacher will link it to students background knowledge. Using the previous example,  one could ask about movies they’ve seen set in space and what was real or not in the film.

Next, the teacher can preview the text and ask prediction questions. As the class moves into reading, the text can be chunked to create opportunities for maximum discussion by relating back to theme and the students’ background knowledge. The teacher also reinforces students supporting their comments with evidence from the text.

Combined with other scaffolds such as sentence stems and word walls, this approach can significantly increase students’ academic discourse.

There is no Monday Mash-up today. Just wanted to say

Reminders:

For the month of December Burnaby Public Library will be hosting their Group Chat program on two different days, Saturday and Tuesday, during the winter break!

Group Chat is a program for newcomer youth who want to meet other youth and practice speaking English. We will play games, connect, and discuss an interesting topic in a fun and friendly online group setting. Please email teenservices@bpl.bc.ca for Zoom links.

Saturday, December 19, 3 – 4:00pm
Tuesday, December 22, 3 – 4:00pm

Monday, January 11th, 2021-ELL Bookclub -Zoom

Friday, December 18th, 3:00pm: Winter Break (in case anyone forgot) Agenda: rest, respite, and recover.

Reminders:

For the month of December Burnaby Public Library will be hosting their Group Chat program on two different days, Saturday and Tuesday, during the winter break!

Group Chat is a program for newcomer youth who want to meet other youth and practice speaking English. We will play games, connect, and discuss an interesting topic in a fun and friendly online group setting. Please email teenservices@bpl.bc.ca for Zoom links.

Saturday, December 19, 3 – 4:00pm
Tuesday, December 22, 3 – 4:00pm

Every Teacher is A Language Teacher

Higher Order Thinking Skills

Teachers can improve student engagement by providing learning opportunities that promote higher order thinking skills at all language levels.

When creating questions/tasks with Bloom’s taxonomy, create sentence stems that can indicate task and appropriate academic language.

Move beyond just recall, by having students show the concept/skill, develop a plan or argument, and extend their thinking (design, synthesize, apply etc)

Higher Order Thinking Strategies

1. Digital story telling: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYtxV-SNUxZA7W_EjT3NDoU4TQJ88lr5h
2. SQP2RS: https://carla.umn.edu/cobaltt/modules/strategies/SQP2RS.pdf
3. GIST: https://www.s2temsc.org/uploads/1/8/8/7/18873120/gist_summaries_strategy.pdf