ELL News Headlines

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.

When Khalis Noori and his family opened a new restaurant in Maryland, they named it My Kabul as a tribute to the home they lost when they were forced to flee during the Taliban takeover in 2021. Long before fleeing, Noori had studied the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on the citizens of developing countries while earning his master’s degree in the United Kingdom. So when Noori arrived in the United States, he was quickly hired by the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — one of the largest resettlement agencies — at their regional office in northern Virginia. Despite burning his educational degrees and all evidence of working with foreigners only months prior, Noori shot up the ranks of the LIRS. Those years of experience had made him a resource to countless Afghans resettling in the DC region — many of them struggling with job security and housing.

Angela and her family left their home in Colombia after her husband, a police officer, received multiple death threats amid rising violence in the South American country. Through tips from other newly arrived Colombian mothers, Angela discovered a new city pilot program called Promise NYC, which in January began covering up to $700 a week in child care for low-income, undocumented immigrant families. In late March, Angela's son, just shy of 2 years old, became one of about 600 children who received vouchers to enroll in subsidized day care or after-school programs that are otherwise unavailable to those without legal immigration status. But it could all end on July 1, if the City Council approves Mayor Eric Adams' proposed budget, which slashes the pilot program for next fiscal year. 

New research into child language acquisition has made strong links between cognitive skills and language learning, challenging long-term beliefs that children develop language skills independently of cognitive function relating to abilities such as spatial awareness.

A large study across 18 countries found that adolescents with intense social media use are more likely to experience poor sleep patterns. These findings suggest that social media use by adolescents may be a global concern that should become a priority of international public health efforts. The research has been published in the journal Sleep Health.