ELL News Headlines

A group of small children sits cross-legged with their teacher, Steve Mejía-Menendez, on a round carpet. He's a pre-K teacher at Lee Montessori Public Charter School's campus in Southeast Washington, D.C., and although I'm here to meet him, I almost don't spot him because he's eye level with his students.

Vivek H. Murthy is the surgeon general of the United States. In this column, he writes, "When I travel around the country talking with parents, the No. 1 question they ask me has to do with social media: “Is it safe for my kids?” Nearly 70 percent of parents say their job is harder now than it was for parents 20 years ago, mainly because of technology and social media."

More than 30 Ukrainian refugee students are wrapping up their first full school year in Topeka USD 501. Pilar Mejia, director of cultural innovation for the district, gave an update to the Topeka Board of Education on Thursday.

Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton have agreed to answer a few questions about their new book, Long Term Success For Experienced Multilinguals.

On a chilly May morning in Leakin Park, preschoolers at the Carrie Murray Nature Center Forest Preschool fanned out across a small section of the woods. Bundled up in colorful rain suits, boots and mismatched gloves, some children used tin buckets to scoop water from a creek while others traipsed off with a teacher to examine a large log a few yards away. There, they discovered something huge, orange and "very sticky."

EdSource talked to two experts from the Center for Safe and Resilient Schools and Workplaces, a nonprofit that specializes in schools and trauma, about the best ways for schools to prepare for natural disasters as well as shootings and other violence. They also describe the repercussions of not preparing.

In this column, Fabiola Mejia writes, "I was hesitant when the school social worker, Mrs. D, contacted me just before the holidays last year, asking to have regular meetings with my daughter. Filled with wrongheaded ideas about what a school social worker does, I worried that I had failed my daughter. The possibility filled me with shame. At the same time, I was relieved to have someone supporting my daughter — and our family."

Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, published in 1984, centers around Esperanza Cordero's coming of age in her Chicago neighborhood. Even though their new house on Mango Street is an improvement on where they used to live, it's not what Esperanza yearns for — a "real" house like the ones on TV. The vignettes follow Esperanza as she makes friends, goes through puberty, and comes into her own. The book also addresses sexual assault, poverty, racism, and the Chicano culture. The below texts and materials can enhance students' engagement with Cisneros's debut.

Indianapolis Public Schools named two Teachers of the Year in surprise announcements on the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week. Below, Brandon Denning and Robin Houdek answer questions about their work and reflect on the joy of hands-on learning, the importance of reflecting on their teaching practices, and what teaching means to them.

The role of knowledge in reading comprehension has been in the news lately. Here's a teacher's "take" on it based on real-life experience in the classroom. Kyair Butts was teacher of the year for the Baltimore public schools in 2019. He supports educators and students in areas of literacy and diversity, equity, and inclusion.