ELL News Headlines

Can play help refugee children heal from trauma? That's the belief behind a new partnership formed by the Lego Foundation, Sesame Workshop and organizations working with Syrian and Rohingya refugees. In its first major humanitarian project, announced on Wednesday, the foundation will provide $100 million over five years to the makers of "Sesame Street" to deepen their work with the International Rescue Committee in the countries around Syria, and also to partner with the Bangladeshi relief organization BRAC.

Vanessa Goodthunder plans to open an immersion school this June in Minnesota, where only five Dakota first-language speakers remain. Funding and staffing challenges often face such schools, but Ms. Goodthunder is determined to 'help heal historical trauma.'

Sylvia Acevedo grew up on a dirt road in New Mexico. Her family was poor, living "paycheck to paycheck." After a meningitis outbreak in her Las Cruces neighborhood nearly killed her younger sister, her mother moved the family to a different neighborhood. At her new school, young Acevedo knew no one. Until a classmate convinced her to become a Brownie Girl Scout. And from that moment, she says, her life took on a new path.

Kerri Withrow Valentine's science classroom at Central Fall High School seems pretty typical. Yet most of the 14 members of this beginning language-level learner class are Spanish-speakers from Central and Northern South America; three are from Cabo Verde and speak Portuguese. It's in part because of her work with English as a second language (ESL) students that she has been designated "Teacher of the Year for Excellence in Environmental Education" by the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA).

Nearly twice as many Denver students are on track to graduate with a "seal of biliteracy" this year as last year. The seal signifies they are fluent in English and at least one other language.

Author-illustrator Yuyi Morales and editor Neal Porter have worked together on six books, but Morales’s newest, Dreamers, is her most personal work to date. It recounts, in poetic form, the story of her emigration in 1994 from Mexico to the United States, with her two-month-old son. Scheduled for publication on September 4, the book has received considerable advance acclaim. Morales, who lived for many years in the Bay Area, now resides in her hometown of Xalapa, Mexico. Publishers Weekly asked Morales and Porter to discuss their newest collaboration.

When Abu Bakr al-Rabeeah and his family arrived from Syria to the Canadian city of Edmonton, his to-do list was dauntingly long: English lessons, learning how to cope with the long, bitterly cold winters and how to best get around his strange new home. But the teenager had a secret dream, which he confided to a teacher. One day he would tell his story, challenging those who saw his family only as refugees, defined by the war they had survived. Eight months later, he became a published author. His book, Homes: A Refugee Story, is set to be officially released on Saturday 12 May by a Calgary book publisher, after being self-published last year.

For decades, two factors drove the demand for dual-language education: a desire to preserve native languages and recognition that dual-language learning can boost overall achievement for English-language learners. Now, a growing number of states also see bilingualism as key to accessing the global economy, as evidenced by the surging popularity of the "seal of biliteracy" — a special recognition for graduates who demonstrate fluency in two or more languages. The popularity of the seal is spurring even more demand for dual-language-education programs.

In this essay about her National Honor Society Scholarship, college freshman Jenny Rodriguez writes, "Throughout my schooling, I always worked hard and aimed high — traits I see in many immigrant families. I found ways of helping others in my community, volunteering with church, and playing the role of tutor, translator and advocate for students who had experiences similar to mine. I knew I could help them in ways that my parents would have wanted to help me. The day I won the National Honor Society Scholarship changed everything for my family."

Here are 18 ways that you can help support them in their journey. Not every English Learner will need all of these scaffolds. Some will need more than others. And once they no longer need the scaffold, remember to release it and let them soar!