ELL News Headlines

An Education Week reporter and photojournalist went to Puerto Rico this month to see firsthand the devastation on the island after Hurricane Maria. They learned that the island's education secretary hasn't even heard from 20 percent of Puerto Rico's nearly 1,200 schools, and many people are still struggling to access basic supplies, including food and water. When Education Week shared these stories on social media, readers wanted to know: How can we help? People asked about sending supplies. Teachers even asked if they could travel to the island to teach while schools and communities rebuilt. Here are some ways educators can help.

Celia C. Pérez and Jennifer Mathieu, authors of the recently published The First Rule of Punk (Viking, Aug. 2017; Gr 4-7) and Moxie (Roaring Brook, Sept. 2017; Gr 8 Up), respectively offer middle grade and young adult readers complex protagonists who express themselves and their incipient feminism and activism through zines.

Latino students have been making progress in college and earning degrees at a faster rate than in the past, but not at nearly the same rates as their peers, a new report shows. Even as Latinos move up the educational ladder, whites and blacks are outpacing them, which will leave them at a disadvantage as the economy increasingly demands degrees in exchange for decent jobs.

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.