ELL News Headlines

Some of these (books) might already be on your radar as overtly friendship stories, while some of these books are less obvious with their friendship themes — but still worth picking up! They cover everything from the painful process of making new friends, navigating complicated friend groups and dynamics, being lonely and discovering a new friend, friendship break ups, and friendships that evolve into something more!

When a Colombian girl named Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) discovers that her family’s magic is starting to fail in Encanto, she must figure out how to save the Family Madrigal and bring magic back to their casa. Here are some books for readers who are enjoying the movie and music.

Anton Treuer's original Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask was published in 2012. The new version for young people is getting good critical attention, including a Kirkus starred review.

Recent research has found a significant rise in obesity rates among children and teens over the course of the pandemic, accelerating an already troubling upward trend. Schools, a key source of proper nutrition and physical education, are positioned to help head off this trend. But efforts to tackle the problem face stiff competition for educators’ attention alongside the ongoing pandemic, staff shortages, and the need to make up for lost academic ground.

The Newark Board of Education approved a resolution that outlined the district's obligations to meet the needs of students who are learning English. The district also promised to implement "steps to find and engage" English learners "who lost contact with district schools during the pandemic," especially its youngest students, those who lacked internet access, and older students who are at risk of dropping out, the resolution states.

As students, teachers and parents across the U.S. seek to find some sense of normalcy or stability two years into a global pandemic, the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs investigates how they are doing so in "Our New Normal: How Teens Are Redefining School Life."

Katie Miller is an English language teacher and department chair at Tuscarora High School in Frederick County and past president of Maryland TESOL (Teachers of English as a Second Language). She writes about her experience with ELLs in this blog post.

New Mexico’s culturally and linguistically diverse population drew Magdalena Pando from Texas in August 2017, and New Mexico State University’s postdoctoral research opportunities for its students has helped her remain a vital asset to NMSU’s College of Health, Education and Social Transformation.

One of the scariest things I’ve done was to leave my role as a language specialist and accept a secondary social studies position. It was scary to leave the shelter of the familiar to explore the wilds of the unknown.

A once-in-a-lifetime manuscript. That was Jason Chin’s first thought when he read author Andrea Wang’s Watercress. Chin's work earned the 2022 Caldecott Medal winner for Watercress, which was also named a Newbery Honor title.