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2010-2011 Workshop Schedule
October 2010
Introduction to the English Language Proficiency Standards
Thursday, Oct. 14; 3:30 to 5:00
The WIDA English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards are designed to link language learning with state academic content standards in order to address pedagogy, assessment and educational policy. This workshop provides an overview of how the standards are organized and how they can be used to inform language instruction in all content areas.
Presenter: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Limit: 40
Introduction to the ACCESS for ELLs
Monday, Oct. 25; 3:30 to 5:00
ACCESS for ELLs ® is an English language proficiency test given annually in Maine and nationally to all English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten through grade 12. Participants will learn about how the assessment was developed from the English Language Proficiency Standards by examining specific released test items. Using test results to target instruction for students will also be discussed.
Presenter: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Limit: 40
November 2010
Introduction to the ACCESS for ELLs (Repeat presentation)
Thursday, Nov. 4; 3:30 to 5:00
ACCESS for ELLs ® is an English language proficiency test given annually in Maine and nationally to all English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten through grade 12. Participants will learn about how the assessment was developed from the English Language Proficiency Standards by examining specific released test items. Using test results to target instruction for students will also be discussed.
Presenter: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Limit: 40
“Speaking in Tongues”
Monday, Nov. 15; 3:30 to 5:00
Speaking in Tongues is a documentary that explores how bilingualism can be a national resource. Closely following
four very different public-school students through an academic year, the film draws on the subtle nuances of
the children’s stories to illustrate the complex shades and permutations of bilingual schooling. The film also captures
how language is connected to debates on immigration, assimilation, globalization and what it means to be
American in the 21st century. A short discussion will follow the 60 minute film.
(Winner of the Audience Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival 2009)
Moderator: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Limit: 50
December 2010
“Speaking in Tongues”
Thursday, Dec. 9; 3:30 to 5:00
Speaking in Tongues is a documentary that explores how bilingualism can be a national resource. Closely following
four very different public-school students through an academic year, the film draws on the subtle nuances of
the children’s stories to illustrate the complex shades and permutations of bilingual schooling. The film also captures
how language is connected to debates on immigration, assimilation, globalization and what it means to be
American in the 21st century. A short discussion will follow the 60 minute film.
(Winner of the Audience Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival 2009)
Moderator: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Reaching ELLs in Your Classroom
Tuesday, Dec. 14; 3:30 to 5:00
This workshop explores classroom environment, teacher practice, and strategies beneficial for helping English Learners
access content in general education classes. The presenter will be co-teaching EDU 557 “Teaching Writing to
Multilingual Learners” this spring through USM.
Presenter: Ann Murray, ESOL Teacher PHS
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
January 2011
How Do Children See Race
Monday, January 24, 3:30-5:00
Workshop Description: Children start thinking about race at a pretty young age, and, unfortunately, they develop negative attitudes a lot earlier than we think. The presenter will talk about how children think about race and culture, when and how racial preferences and biases develop, how these attitudes affect academic performance during the adolescent years, and discuss some techniques that have been found to reduce prejudice during childhood and adolescence.
Presenter: Professor Krista Scottham received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2003 and accepted her position at Bates College during the same year. Her teaching and research broadly focus on how people come to understand complex social constructs like race and how this understanding influences interpersonal interaction, psychological well-being, and academic achievement. Her current work focuses on the development of effective school-based interventions for the reduction of intergroup prejudice.
Location: Lyman Moore Library
Amplifying Language Instruction in the Classroom K-12
Monday, Jan. 31
Explicit academic language instruction is essential for English Language Learners, but identifying a language focus
for a specific lesson or task can be challenging. Using authentic instructional tasks we will address two questions:
1) How do I identify language structures embedded in a content task? 2) How do I make academic language
accessible to students without simplifying the task? Please bring a component of a lesson (warm-up, reading
passage, experiment, worksheet, article, etc) to use during the workshop.
Presenter: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
February 2011
Improving Writing Fluency
Tuesday, Feb. 1
This hands-on workshop will show you how to unpack writing rubrics, like the ACCESS and SAT, for your
students and how to use the four basic components: Diction (word choice), Syntax (word order), Supporting
Details, and Organization to design activities to support the writing process.
Presenter: James Siegel, ESOL teacher and Scorer for Pearson’s SAT writing.
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Audience: Grade 6-12
Realities for Recent Immigrant/Refugee Children and Youth in Portland
Wednesday, Feb. 9, 3:30-5:30
Description: A panel of local educators and a visiting scholar from India will discuss the challenges and opportunities for students in our schools from recent immigrant and refugee families. Discussion will focus particularly on acculturation issues confronted by children, youth, and adults and how gender influences opportunities to learn. There will be ample time for comments and questions from the educators, students, and community members who attend this session.
Panelists:
Abdullah Ahmed - Science teacher at Deering High School, originally from Somalia.
Otrude N. Moyo - School of Social Work, USM. Her current research interest is with African immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Minh Canfield - Vietnamese Parent Specialist in the PPS Multilingual and Multicultural Center and Math teacher at Portland Adult Education.
Michael Hale - Director of College, Career & Citizenship at Casco Bay High School and a former English and Special Education teacher.
Dr. Janaki Rajan - a Professor in Education at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi and Desmond Lee International Visiting Professor at Webster University in St. Louis. She has been a school teacher at both primary and secondary levels, the director of a women’s studies center, the head of a college of education for Muslim minorities, and the director of a state council for educational research and training. She holds a master’s degree in English Literature, Psychology and Education and her doctorate focused on the cognitive development of primary school children using a Piagetian framework. Her research, teaching and activist interests lie in the areas of gender, inclusive education, curriculum and cultural studies, women and children’s human rights.
This workshop is in collaboration with USM School of Education and Human Development.
Target Audience: All staff
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School Library
Limit 50 participants
Writing for K-2 Students
Thursday, Feb. 10
Are you unsure how to support English Language Learners with writing? This workshop will look at the needs
of students who are learning English and ways to differentiate instruction. We will analyze student writing and
how to assess writing using the WIDA rubric. Suggestions will be offered for writing in different genres,
especially content writing.
Presenter: Brenda Gushee, ESOL Specialist
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Audience: Elementary
Writing for 3-5 Students
Thursday, Feb. 17
Are you unsure how to support English Language Learners with writing? This workshop will look at the needs
of students who are learning English and ways to differentiate instruction based on ACCESS and writing samples.
We will discuss writing in the different genres and ways to help English Language Learners communicate in
writing using the language of the content area.
Presenter: Brenda Gushee, ESOL Specialist
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Audience: Elementary
March 2011
Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences with Multilingual Families
Monday March 7, 3:30 -5:00 p.m. (1.5 SCH)
How can you hold an effective parent-teacher conference with the parents of English language learners if they can't communicate comfortably in English? This workshop will provide suggestions to help you bridge the language gap, understand cultural expectations about education, and use interpreters effectively, so you can give parents with the information they need about their children's progress in school.
Presenters: Multilingual and Multicultural Center Parent-Community Specialists
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
Improving Writing Fluency
Monday, March 14, 3:30-5:00 p.m. (1.5 SCH)
Target Audience: Grade 6-12
This hands-on workshop will show you how to unpack writing rubrics, like the ACCESS and SAT, for your students and how to use the four basic components: Diction (word choice), Syntax (word order), Supporting Details, and Organization to design activities to support the writing process.
Presenter: James Siegel, ESOL teacher and Scorer for Pearson’s SAT writing.
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
How Racial and Ethnic Identities Influence Life Outcomes During Adolescence
Monday, March 21, 3:30-5:00 p.m. (1.5 SCH)
Children map the world and its social categories, including racial and ethnic groupings. Teens build on this by placing themselves within groups and developing a sense of what it means to them to be group members. They think about important questions like, "what does it mean to me to be Caucasian, African American, Hispanic or Somali?", and "how do I feel about being a member of my group?". How they resolve these questions shape their racial and ethnic identities and may influence important life outcomes. Building on her last workshop, "How children see race", Professor Scottham will discuss race during adolescence, with an emphasis on racial and ethnic identity, including their connection to self-esteem and academic performance during the teen years.
Presenter: Krista Scottham, Ph. D.
Professor Scottham received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2003 and accepted her position at Bates College during the same year. Her teaching and research broadly focus on how people come to understand complex social constructs like race and how this understanding influences interpersonal interaction, psychological well-being, and academic achievement. Her current work focuses on the development of effective school-based interventions for the reduction of intergroup prejudice.
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School Library
Amplifying Language Instruction in the Classroom K-12
Monday, March 28 (repeat of Jan. 31 presentation)
Explicit academic language instruction is essential for English Language Learners, but identifying a language focus
for a specific lesson or task can be challenging. Using authentic instructional tasks we will address two questions:
1) How do I identify language structures embedded in a content task? 2) How do I make academic language
accessible to students without simplifying the task? Please bring a component of a lesson (warm-up, reading
passage, experiment, worksheet, article, etc) to use during the workshop.
Presenter: Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center
Location: Lyman Moore Middle School
May 2011
Using ACCESS Data to Inform Instruction
Tuesday, May 17, 3:30-5:00 p.m. (1.5 SCH)
This interactive workshop will show you how to interpret ACCESS for ELLs scores and use the various reports as starting point to identify appropriate language instruction and targets for students. There will be opportunities for in-depth discussions and sharing of how to use ACCESS data in conjunction with the English Language Proficiency Standards and rubrics.
Facilitator: Margot Downs
Location: Lyman Moore Library
"Who are your Latino students and how do they perceive themselves?"
Tuesday, May 24, 3:30-5:00 p.m.(1.5 SCH)
This workshop will provide a look at the Latino Community in Portland and the cultural, family, linguistic and political factors that influence their learning and behavior in the classroom. This workshop will widen understanding not only for educators, but social workers and guidance counselors as well.
Presenter: Louise Rocha-McCarthy, Latino Parent Community Specialist/Interpreter/Translator since 1999
Location: Lyman Moore Library