ELL News Headlines

To those who knew her, Alma Zamudio embodied the heart of Chicago just as much as the neighborhood where she died. A passionate community organizer, Zamudio advocated for better wages for migrant workers and lobbied in Springfield for college grants for first-generation students. Her research helped resurrect the No. 31 bus, providing much-needed public transit for Little Village. "She was so young," Maria Zamudio said of her sister. "But I think she touched more lives in those 26 years than some people will in their lifetime."

This poem, set in the first person, explores the water cycle from the perspective of "Agüita" or "Little Water," the preferred nickname of water.

Bilingual people may be better equipped to learn new languages than those who only speak one language, according to a study published in the academic journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. The research points to a distinct language-learning benefit for people who grow up bilingual or learn another language at an early age.

Sesame Workshop is known for teaching preschoolers letters and numbers. But those familiar furry characters are also taking on tougher topics, says Jeanette Betancourt of Sesame Workshop. In the past two years, Sesame in Communities has addressed the incarceration of a parent and bereavement, partnering with local organizations to share directly with families affected. Its latest focus is the impacto of trauma on children. New bilingual materials in English and Spanish, including videos, books and games, will be released today to help parents and caregivers, in turn, help young children cope with traumatic experiences.

A number of communities across the state of Connecticut are holding fundraisers and donation drives for the people of Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Maria, while school districts statewide are preparing for new student arrivals.  Here is a snapshot of what's happening:

• Hispanic Heritage Committee in Stratford Rallies to Help Puerto Rico (Stratford Star)
• New Haven Preps for Puerto Rican Students Displaced by Hurricane (New Haven Register)
• Hartford School Communities Step Up As Puerto Rico Crisis Deepens (Hartford Courant)
• Local Schools in Meriden Prepare for Influx of Students from Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico (My Record Journal)

The author/illustrator Susie Jaramillo is the creator and publisher of the acclaimed "Canticos" books. Here she talks about what inspired her latest bilingual, foldout, lift-the-flap board book, Little Skeletons Countdown to Midnight/Esqueletitos: un libro de contar en El Día de los Muertos (Encantos).

PBS is turning its lens onto viewers this October to celebrate Latino Heritage Month through a new social media campaign, #MiHistoria! The campaign encourages audiences to celebrate Latino stories and culture, and to contribute their personal stories — memories, photos and videos — via their favorite social networks.

Schools across Puerto Rico are still largely closed since the storm hit. But two have opened as school leaders try to bring some normalcy to students' lives.

The University of Virginia's Curry School of Education is adding a new Ph.D. program for scholars interested in the growing field of language education. The "Language Education in Multilingual Contexts" Ph.D., a new concentration within Curry's existing Ph.D. in education program, is designed for students interested in topics related to teaching and learning in kindergarten-through-high school language education. The new Ph.D. students will explore language education through multiple lenses and in various contexts – whether that’s students learning English as a second language, English-speaking students studying world languages, or students learning within dual-language settings in the classroom or at home.

A fellowship program in Washington state, which allows bilingual paraprofessionals to earn bachelor's degrees and K-8 teaching certificates while taking classes on nights and weekends, is one approach to meeting the demand for bilingual teachers, according to analysis of two reports from New America by The 74. In another model, Portland Public Schools is working with Portland State University to line up candidates for its fellowship program in which bilingual educators with bachelor's degrees work as teachers, substitutes or paraprofessionals in the district while earning graduate degrees.