Newsletter 1

SLPS TESOL ExcELLence Issue 2 October, 2017

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1

2

3

4

5

6

Happy World Teacher Day/ ELL

Reclassification

ESOL Committees Updates / Language Access

ESOLO Committees Updates/ Happy Birthday,

Dewey! /Federal Program Conference

Parent-Teacher conference tips/ Strategy of

the Month

Additional PD Opportunities

Calendars of Events

October 5th

Happy World Teacher’s Day!

Thank you, teachers, for all your efforts in advancing English

language learners!

“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher”

Japanese proverb

ELL Reclassification Criteria Submitted by Dr. Gonzalez Del Castillo, ESOL Director

Following new DESE guidelines outlined in

Identifying and Reclassifying English Learners:

Guidance on Missouri’s Entry and Exit Criteria, St.

Louis Public Schools ESOL Program modified ESOL

Program Exit Criteria. This change is included in the

updated Parent Notification Letter.

ESOL Program Exit Criteria

The following information is used to decide if an ELL is

ready to be reclassified as proficient:

Beginning this year, ELL Portfolio will be used

to complement students’ ACCESS score when making

reclassification decisions. Every ELL in St. Louis Public

Schools with an overall ACCESS score of 3.5 or higher

needs to have an ELL Portfolio. The data collection

process should start early in the school year.

Recommendations for reclassification based on the

portfolio evidence will be made prior to receiving

ACCESS scores. Once ACCESS scores are received,

final determination regarding reclassification will be

made. More information and specific guidance on ELL

Portfolio will be shared at the district PD day on

October 13, 2017.

•Student's ACCESS for ELLs score is 4.7 to 6.0 AND

•Englsih language proficiency suported by student portfolio

•Student's ACCESS for ELLs score is below 4.7 BUT

•English language proficiency supported by student portfolio

Newsletter 2

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

COMMITTEE Submitted by Mrs. Giraldo, Bilingual Parent Specialist

The ESOL program had its first meeting on

September 28th. There were 81 parents who attended the first parent meeting of the school year.

Parents received information and had chance to reflect on the following topics:

Understanding ESOL program Learning about Standardized testing and scores

in SLPS Helping students prepare for testing.

The next ESOL parent meeting will take place

October 11. Parents will learn more about SLPS report cards and parent complaint process. Parents will also have chance to prepare for the upcoming parent conferences at their children’s schools.

If you have ideas or suggestions, or want to participate in the committee, please feel free to contact Luz Giraldo.

Submitted by Ms. Rhodes, Language Access Team

ESOL Office Language Access Team is

available for your daily communication needs. The

following services are available in multiple languages:

documents translation, interpretation services for

meetings or for personalized phone calls as well as

prerecorded messages for robocalls.

Languages available through SLPS Language Access Team include:

Arabic, Bosnian, French, Maay Maay, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Vietnamese.

Other languages are covered through contracts with outside language agencies. Questions? Please contact Fatima Rhodes at 314-664-1066 ext. 32109 or at fatima.rhodes@slps.org

Please check out the Language Access link for more info: https://www.slps.org/Page/27448

Take a look at the ESOL

program updated website!

www.slps.org/ESOL

New Translation this Month

Connecting Kids to Coverage Letter

https://www.slps.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=35117

Newsletter 3

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

COMMITTEE

Submitted by Mrs. Childress, ESOL Coordinator

The ESOL Community Outreach Committee held

the first of 4 meetings on Thursday, September 14. At

the meeting, the committee addressed three areas. First,

the role of the committee was discussed. Second, the

committee reviewed and updated the list of ESOL

Program community partners. Third, the committee

reviewed the ESOL Program Brochure and started the

process of rewriting the brochure, with the goal of

increasing knowledge and understanding of the program

through the revised brochure. If you have not already

signed up for the Community Outreach Committee but

are interested in attending the meetings, please join us at

the next meeting on Thursday, November 9 from 3:30 to

4:30 PM.

Professional Development

Committee

Submitted by Mrs. Okanovic, ESOL Coordinator

The ESOL PD committee held its first meeting on

September 21st. At the meeting, the committee members

reflected on the Back to School PD ESOL sessions. Mrs.

Baalman and Mrs. Boeving received a special thanks for

leading ECE PD sessions for classroom teachers during

the Back to School PD days. In addition, the committee

members reviewed the current status of the ESOL

program initiatives, PD on demands, and after school

PDs. As of October 1st, the ESOL program was able to

provide 24 PD sessions to 636 participants across the

SLPS. The committee also reviewed current school

year’s district calendar to ensure that ESOL sessions are

offered during the district days. Finally, the committee

members reviewed additional PD opportunities, such as

WIDA, MELL, and TESOL and brainstormed ways to

advertise the opportunities for teachers and

administration via the ESOL newsletter.

Please, join us at the next meeting on Thursday,

December 7th.

Happy 100th Birthday, Dewey

International!

Submitted by Mr. Bailey, ESOL teacher at Dewey International Studies Elementary School

Dewey International Studies Elementary

School is celebrating its 100th year. On Friday,

October 6, Dewey will have activities that incorporate

the 100-year theme and Dewey’s international focus.

Tours will be provided throughout the day in

which Dewey can expect many Dewey Alumni to

attend. During the morning, MICDS students will have

cultural awareness booths, which all grades will funnel

through in interactive activities. To cap off the day’s

festivities, Dewey’s ELLs will be presenting their

creative talents through various performances on

stage. Such performances will include Soccer moves,

a Latino play (La Liebre y la Trotuga), and several

songs in Japanese, Arabic, and Spanish, along with

choreographed Nepali and African dances, including

choreographed dances of some of the big Latino hits,

such as Despacito, Shaky Shaky, and Limbo.

Thanks to Mr. Thomas Johnston for providing

many International flags to help dress up this great

Dewey event with a spectacular international focus.

Federal Program Conference 2017 Submitted by Ms. Kadic, ESOL Program Counselor

During September 17-19, 2017, some of our

ESOL Office Staff had the opportunity to present at the Federal Programs Conference in Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach. A total of four different presentations where held, including: Supporting Integration into the School for Newcomer EL Students and Parents, Developing Ongoing ESOL Program Evaluation, Embracing Learner Diversity Through Professional Growth, and Supporting EL Parents in the St. Louis Public Schools.

It was an honor to meet and share our knowledge and experiences with other professionals in the state. The feedback received from attendees was very positive, and we are very proud to share the wonderful developments and components of our ESOL Program.

Newsletter 4

Parent Teachers Conferences:

Using Parent-teacher

conferences to build school –

home relationships.

Did you know that schools that support

meaningful parent involvement have shown higher rates of

student achievements, attendance, graduation, and post-

secondary enrollment rates? Additionally, students tend to

have more positive attitudes toward such schools. For

these reasons, it is clear that meaningful parent

involvement should be developed and incorporated not

only in the classroom, but also at the school, district, and

state levels.

For many parts of the U.S., the start of fall means

that parent-teacher conferences are just around the

corner. As such, now is a great time to start planning and

developing meaningful activities to better involve students

and their families in the classroom and school.

For more resources you can use or adapt for your

next parent-teacher conferences. Understood

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-

with-childs-school/working-with-childs-teacher/parent-

teacher-conference-boot-camp-getting-ready-for-your-

next-

meeting?utm_campaign=partner&utm_source=rrockets&u

tm_medium=twitter&utm_content=September has a great

set of articles with tips and conversation starters, and

Colorin Colorado

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/tips-successful-

parent-teacher-conferences-bilingual-families

has some additional tips and tools for planning successful

parent-teacher conferences with bilingual families.

This year ESOL program will continue to support

our families during the parent-meeting conferences in

centers and non-centers via the telephonic interpretation.

More information is forthcoming.

Strategy of the Month:

4 Keys and a Summary What: A strategy for exploring a complex text reading Why: Graphic organizers support structured thinking. Subsequent sharing with others provides an opportunity to clarify thinking, as well as a chance to expand perspectives. How: 1. Select a text reading. Divide it into 4 segments (or more, if preferred). 2. Construct a worksheet as shown below. The worksheet should include one "Key Word" space for each segment of the reading. The one below, for instance, was created for a 4-segment read.

3. Provide one worksheet for each individual.

4. Students/participants read the first segment, and in the first box, they write one word that captures the key focus of that portion of the reading. It might be a word in the text itself, or it could be another word of their choosing.

5. Reading continues, repeating the process with the other segments in the reading.

6. When all segments are completed, individuals write a summary statement that captures the essence of the full text.

7. Students/participants form small groups to share thinking, identifying similarities and differences in their notes, and their rationale for the choices made. Note: Instead of printing out the worksheet, students/participants might do a quick sketch of the worksheet on a large sticky note or piece of paper.

_______________________________________

Newsletter 5

Additional PD Information:

SIFE – Begins 10/5/17 http://www.cvent.com/events/sife-students-with-interrupted-formal-education-

cultural-connections-and-instructional-strategies-10/event-summary-

752faac38914476dbd6a24ae0c3b37bb.aspx

ELL SPED Cohort and Book Study – Begins 10/4/17 http://www.cvent.com/events/ell-sped-cohort-

and-book-study/event-summary-03710d29506e4eedbe695c311f8db1ca.aspx

Formative Language Assessment- October 11-12, 2017. http://www.cvent.com/events/formative-

language-assessment-10-11-17-10-12-17/event-summary-462be77b2adf48299936bcc9909e60cf.aspx

Need an assistance funding your next ESOL PD opportunity?

Parsons Blewett PD grants are available on an ongoing basis for individuals seeking funding for conferences, seminars and workshops. Several weeks prior to the PD event (local-4 weeks/out of town-6 weeks) follow the directions below. The first step in applying is to go to parsonsblewett.org to verify eligibility to apply for a PD/professional development grant. Next--go to the top right and click on Programs, from the pull down menu click on Professional Development, and complete the online form required to verify your eligibility. Within one week—Katie Lamb will email an application with instruction to those who are eligible. Parsons Blewett will notify those not eligible. Eligible applicants may request reimbursement funding for the following items: -- registration (@ member rate when applicable) -- transportation to out of town events (airfare, Amtrak, bus) There is no reimbursement for mileage, parking, taxi/shuttle. -- hotel up to $125/day plus applicable taxes (can request up to $175 for high cost cities) -- $30 per diem for meals -- materials/resources to support implementation of learning

Newsletter 6

C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S

Date Event Time Location

October 5 ESOL Leadership

Committee

3:30 PM-4:30 PM ESOL Office

October 7 SIOP, Session 2 8:30 AM- 3:00 PM 801 N. 11th Street, 63101

October 11, 25 Co-teaching PD Session 1 8:00 AM-3:30 PM 450 Des Peres Ave, 63112

October 11 ESOL Parent Meeting 5:30 PM-7:00 PM ESOL Office

October 13 District PD 8:00 AM-11:00 AM Clyde Miller HS

All ESOL teachers will attend

ESOL PD session that will be

held from 8:00-11:00AM at Clyde

C. Miller high school. The

session is posted in MLP for

your registration. Techers will

return to their respected school

sites for the afternoon session.

October 31 Building Academic

Language PD , Session 2

4:30 PM-6:30 PM ESOL Office

Please, share ESOL updates from your site with Elena Okanovic by October 30, 2017 to be included in our next issue of the SLPS TESOL ExcELLence newsletter.

Community Events