ELL News Headlines

One of the most widely used K-12 digital-citizenship curriculum in the country is getting an overhaul — further evidence of the growing challenge schools face in dealing with fake news and helping students understand the ethical concerns surrounding big technology and social-media companies.

T'Challa is the prince of Wakanda. He grew up with his father, Black Panther. When things heat up at home, his father sends him to America for safety with his friend M'Baku. The boys attend a Chicago high school, where the class bully, Gemini Jones, becomes possessed by a dark, evil magic. To save the school, T'Challa must don the tech suit and vibranium ring he was given for emergencies. Can he keep his secret identity and save the day? Dion Graham's voices are unique and easy to distinguish. Graham does a great job with pacing and building of the characters. The masterful portrayal of the feelings of drama, angst, adrenaline, and worry will hook listeners from start to finish. The plot is engaging, well written, and draws the listener into the world of the Black Panther.

In two weeks, a loosely organized network of citizens has helped reunite nearly a dozen separated immigrant families, in some cases connecting them with housing, lawyers, transportation, and other services they may need. They call their coalition "Immigrant Families Together."

School Library Journal asked four Native YA authors—Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki), Dawn Quigley (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe), Eric Gansworth (Onondaga), and Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee [Creek])—four questions about Native books for teens and their own roles as storytellers and educators.

California plans to triple the number of students proficient in a language other than English over the next 12 years. Outgoing state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson described his new initiative, Global California 2030, as a "call to action" to increase opportunities for students to learn a second or third language at school and to train more bilingual teachers.

The Buffett Early Childhood Institute recently hosted a national symposium at UNO focused on best practices for helping young English Language Learners succeed in school. Dr. Samuel Meisels, Founding Executive Director of the Buffett Institute, says Nebraska English Language Learners are falling behind their peers in the state and the nation.

Doctors are speaking out against the Trump administration's plans to stop separating immigrant families by instead detaining children with their parents. That approach, top pediatricians warned Wednesday, replaces one inhumane policy with another. "It puts these kids at risk for abnormal development," said Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"A follow-up to Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors, by the same team, this appealing and well-designed picture book has great potential for cross-curricular use. Khan blends geometry terms (arch, hexagon, cone) and vocabulary about Islam in gentle couplets rich with sensory detail. Amini's vividly colored spreads use patterns and architectural elements from classical Islamic art, enlivened with whimsical additions, such as a tabby cat that appears on several pages."

The 5-year-old and his family had traveled thousands of miles to escape. When they finally arrived on American soil, free from the marauders who had burned their house to the ground, the boy was placed in a holding pen with his brother and sisters, while immigration officials decided their fate. From this story, a classic piece of music emerged. The family, fleeing religious persecution in Russia in 1893, was soon reunited and allowed to enter the country. And that little boy, born Israel Beilin, would grow up to become Irving Berlin. Twenty-five years after emigrating, the same year he became an American citizen, he composed "God Bless America."

The U.S. Department of Education is delaying, by two years, implementation of a rule that would require states to take a closer look at how school districts identify and serve minority students with disabilities.