ELL News Headlines

In this commentary, Teacher Wendi Pillars writes, "As a teacher of English Language Learners (ELLs), my experience living abroad resonates with the ELL experience here in North Carolina. They serve as global ambassadors, and the increasing diversity in our schools is an opportunity to listen first, to understand what is being said, and to open ourselves to new values."

Whether they are nostalgic reveries of those who came long ago to this nation of immigrants, or the brutal nightmares of worldwide millions fleeing war, violence and persecution today, memories of migration matter. Telling these stories seems more important than ever — even, and some might say especially, to children. A wave of picture books has arrived to help with this difficult task.

Often, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, is framed as an exclusively Latino issue—that’s far from the truth. Bambadjan Bamba was born in Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa, but he grew up in New York City. He's undocumented and a DACA recipient. He's also a working actor with credits on dozens of movies and TV shows, including a small role in the blockbuster film, "Black Panther." In this segment of "How I Made It," Bamba shares his immigration story.

A group of researchers from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University followed students using a project-based social studies curriculum in 20 high-poverty schools in Michigan. After a year, the researchers found that the kids whose teachers were randomly assigned to instruct through projects posted higher scores on a social studies test created by the researchers than schoolmates who were instructed as usual. (The researchers controlled for academic differences among the kids at the start of the school year.) The project-based kids also had slightly higher reading scores but their writing scores were no different. "Project-based learning can be great and it can be pretty awful," said Nell Duke, one of the lead authors of the study and a professor of education at the University of Michigan. "This study shows that a well-designed project-based curriculum might be more effective than traditional instruction."

Your favorite time of year is almost here again, book lovers. Around 150 of the country's most celebrated authors, poets and illustrators will attend the 18th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 1. The Book Festival fills Washington's vast convention center with a jam-packed schedule, so it’s time to get planning. That's why we created a suggested itinerary to help you navigate the beautiful chaos and catch a wide swath of the offerings.

Nearly a year after Hurricane Maria caused great physical damage and emotional turmoil across the island, the high school in Maunabo, some 90 minutes south of San Juan, has reopened for the new school year. Yet fundamental challenges remain to keeping students enrolled and their minds in a good place to learn.

Dorina Sackman, a middle school teacher in Orlando, Fla., uses a writing "recipe" and manipulatives to teach her 8th grade English-language learners how to structure a five-paragraph essay. Students practice crafting a thesis statement and organizing three supporting arguments.

Kathi Littlejohn can get lost in the Cherokee stories of her heritage. At home in Western North Carolina, Littlejohn and her fellow tribal members in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are surrounded not only by stories but by the mountains, rivers and seasons that inspired them centuries ago. Too often, though, Cherokee people drive by these places of cultural importance without ever knowing what happened there. That’s a problem Littlejohn is hoping to fix through her latest project, a series of short videos "Cherokee History & Stories: What Happened Here."

Three dozen Schenectady High School students joined the ranks of the Class of 2018 Thursday morning. After they walked the stage of the high school auditorium in their red and blue gowns, earning the cheers and smiles of family and friends present for the annual summer commencement ceremony, the new graduates described the hurdles they overcame on their way to a diploma. Nawaf Hassan and his family moved to Schenectady from Yemen four years ago; when he arrived as a new student, he spoke hardly any English, he said.

When San Benito, Texas, school leaders learned of an influx of children to a migrant shelter in their small town near the U.S.-Mexico border, they felt obliged to help. While a government contractor bears responsibility for educating children at the highly guarded center, local officials say they stepped up partly because of a law that calls on school systems to educate any child, anywhere within their district.