ELL News Headlines

Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros, winner of the Pura Belpré Author Award, brings us the story of twelve-year-old Efrén, whose world flips when his mother is deported to Mexico, but whose determination to reunite his family never wavers. Ernesto Cisneros’s debut novel adeptly balances hope and heart break in this timely story of undocumented individuals working to build a better life. ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, follows Little Lobo and his pet sidekick Bernabé on a savory adventure, fetching lunch for Toro y sus amigos ahead of the Lucha Libre 5000. Each food truck stop highlights diverse and delectable cuisine, and is flavored with cultural references and a vibrant community of food vendors.

Interns are generally stereotyped as students seeking to explore a new field and build their resumes. But what if they were trained professionals already armed with bona fide experience in the relevant industry who just need a break? Thanks to a new internship program created by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), employers in the metro Atlanta area can fill gaps in their workforce by tapping into adult refugees’ professional talents.

Eight years ago, when Oriel María Siu found out she was pregnant with her first child, she immediately began hunting for children’s books. None of the books addressed the real experiences of children like hers, or the child she had been decades ago when her family was forced to flee Honduras. Or those who’d been separated from their parents.

The biggest day in children's literature has arrived, and while there will be no in-person audience cheering the Youth Media Awards winners today, it doesn't take away from the excitement and achievement during this difficult year. Following is the list of winners announced at this morning's virtual ceremony.  Please check back at SLJ.com throughout the day for more coverage, including and interviews with winning authors and selection committee members.

English language learners’ development of second language literacy skills is often quite unique, says NC State College of Education Assistant Professor Jackie Relyea, Ph.D., because it often takes longer to develop than their day-to-day oral communication skills. Relyea, who researches literacy development of linguistically diverse children as well as reading interventions to improve English learners’ academic vocabulary, reading comprehension and knowledge building, says that non-native speakers tend to develop basic, interpersonal communication skills very quickly, usually in about one to two years. However, when it comes to academic language and literacy skills, including cognitive academic language proficiency, it tends to take English language learners between five and seven years to develop advanced levels of reading and writing skills.

As the coronavirus pandemic exposes and deepens educational inequities, the four finalists for the 2021 National Teacher of the Year were named in part for their work challenging injustices both in their school communities and on a national level. The Council of Chief State Schools Officers announced on Wednesday the finalists for the national award, which recognizes teachers for their work inside and outside the classroom. The teacher who receives the national honor will be granted a yearlong sabbatical to represent the profession and advocate for an issue of choice.

Here are the four finalists:

• John Arthur, a 6th grade teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah;
• Alejandro Diasgranados, a 4th and 5th grade teacher in Washington, D.C.;
• Maureen Stover, a 9th and 10th grade science teacher in Fayetteville, N.C.; and
• Juliana Urtubey, an elementary special education teacher in Las Vegas.

For many Americans, this week's attack were shocking. But for the millions of Americans born in countries with a history of political instability, the event has carried a different resonance.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Meda Nix of Oklahoma, one of the Cherokee speakers who was an early recipient of a vaccine. The vaccinations are being given to people keeping the language alive.

News that the novel coronavirus had arrived in Michigan first reached the Ismael family's working-class suburb north of Detroit in early March. The Ismael children, aged 13, 18, and 20, didn't worry about it because they seldom worried about anything. That's how their mom and dad wanted it. The family had come to the United States eight years earlier after escaping Iraq, a country that had grown increasingly dangerous for Chaldean Catholics like them. By mid May, their parents had both died of COVID-19, leaving the teens to cope on their own.