It is Friday in Advent so what better time to explore Christmas songs from around the world? Below are just a few to consider. They come to us from Colombian, Chinese, Cherokee, Lebanese, and African singers. When possible, subtitles in English are included. Some reflect on the solemnity of season, while others extol the joy … Continue reading Fun Friday: Multicultural Christmas Songs
TWIN-CS School highlight: Celebrating the Season at All Souls World Language Catholic School
The faculty, staff, and students of TWIN-CS member school All Souls World Language Catholic School in Alhambra, California have launched a friendly competition for the Advent season! Many doors within the school–classroom doors, common room doors, storage room doors–have been decorated in a variety of ways to celebrate Advent, Christmas, winter, and light. Messages have … Continue reading TWIN-CS School highlight: Celebrating the Season at All Souls World Language Catholic School
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Bringing in Children’s Literature
I still distinctly remember Sister Pat asking me to bring her the colorful book about the Lady of Guadalupe from the shelf one afternoon in December. We were going to listen to Sister Pat read to us that afternoon as a part of our religion class. Published only a few years before, The Lady of … Continue reading The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Bringing in Children’s Literature
Future Bilingual Students: Changing Perspectives
A recent Chalkbeat publication, written by Reema Amin, discusses recent changes to New York City education staff. Formerly the Division of English Language Learners and Student Support, the Division of Multilingual Learners is now headed by veteran teacher Mirza G. Sánchez-Medina, the founding principal of Manhattan Bridges High School. Sánchez-Medina, as the founding principal of … Continue reading Future Bilingual Students: Changing Perspectives
Welcoming and Supporting All Neighbors: Lessons from Buffalo, New York
According to Jay Rey, writer for The Buffalo News, Buffalo public schools are struggling to keep up with the growing population of non-native English speakers. In 2008, “the district enrolled 2,700 students whose primary language was not English. That number has reached almost 6,200, according to district figures from October.” As recently as this year, … Continue reading Welcoming and Supporting All Neighbors: Lessons from Buffalo, New York
Celebrating Advent: Las Posadas
Many of the TWIN-CS member schools are celebrating the Christmas and Advent Season by participating in Las Posadas in their schools. The children and their teachers always do a wonderful job sharing the story of the Lord’s arrival. This music video of Las Posadas offers another way for the children to work on their … Continue reading Celebrating Advent: Las Posadas
Celebrating Ourselves: St. Frances Cree Bilingual Program, Saskatoon
In an article written for CBC news, reporter Ntawnis Piapot discusses how one school is using hip-hop as a means to encourage and support Indigenous cultural identity in the classroom. Zoey Roy, a spoken word poet and community educator, visits the middle school students at Saskatoon’s St. Frances Cree Bilingual School and shows them how … Continue reading Celebrating Ourselves: St. Frances Cree Bilingual Program, Saskatoon
Nine Ways to Welcome All Students: Lessons From Canada
Education Week’s Equity and Diversity gallery includes many short videos created to help teachers of English Language Learners. In this brief video, we explore Islington Junior Middle School in Toronto, Canada. According to the video, a third of the schoolchildren in Canada “are immigrants or have a parent who was born abroad,” and a portion … Continue reading Nine Ways to Welcome All Students: Lessons From Canada
Free Webinar from TESOL
TESOL International Association, a professional organization dedicated to “advancing the quality of English language teaching through professional development, research, standards, and advocacy,” will be hosting a webinar on December 5, 2018 about the unique learning needs and experiences of English Language Learners in early education. “ELs in the Early Years: Focus on High-Quality Teaching … Continue reading Free Webinar from TESOL
Two Boston-Area Schools Advance Dual Language Teaching
A recent article published by the Christian Science Monitor examines the impact of dual language education in Boston, Massachusetts. Written by Noble Ingram, a staff writer, this article considers a kindergarten Haitian Creole-English dual language immersion school recently opened in 2017 – it’s the only one in the United States. The Toussaint L’Ouverture Academy finds … Continue reading Two Boston-Area Schools Advance Dual Language Teaching