TARGET AUDIENCE: ALL CLASSROOM TEACHERS AND ELL LEADERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND
Share and learn about practices for engaging students, support staff and educational professionals with a local expert in the field. Dr Douglas Sewell, Associate Dean, International Foundations Program, University of Calgary, will take the lead in our ELL Collaborative Community content this year. Join us and work collaboratively with Calgary and area educators to investigate instructional and social/emotional school supports for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Explore potential universal, targeted, and individualized supports for English Language Learners who present with academic and social/emotional differences.
This Collaborative Community is for classroom teachers as well as ELL Leaders in search of ways to support and engage their staff.
November 23rd 2017
Session #1: How to Support ELL Benchmarks
Presented by: Dr. Douglas Sewell
This session will begin by outlining the many aspects of ELL benchmarks and how they relate to language development. Following this, participants will delve into specific benchmarks and connect them to their own Program of Studies. The final phase will highlight the paths teachers could take, following identification of a student’s level of ability, to assist the student to improve his or her subject matter understanding as well as overall English communicative competence. The fundamental goal of this session is to strengthen the connection between students, their benchmark assessments and subject area instruction techniques.
December 14th 2017
Collaborative Community Meeting #1
Conversation Focus: Student – Assessment – Instruction Cycle:
Opportunities to share your implementation experience, both positive and frustrating aspects.
Two Levels: Grades K-6 (Moderator: CRC’s Kim Tackaberry) & Grades 7-12 (Moderator: Lorrie Morales)
January 18th 2018
Session #2: Differentiating Instruction for English Language Learners
Presented by: Dr. Douglas Sewell
As teachers we often find learners from different first language backgrounds benefit from different instructional approaches or techniques within their subject area classes. Some of these differences may relate to differing expectations on how learning is best done while others may relate to limits inherent in students' developing English ability. This workshop will first focus on understanding the needs and expectations of ELLs from different backgrounds before moving on to investigate we as teachers can help ELLs from different backgrounds and / or at different levels become more successful in their subject area classes.
February 8th 2018
Collaborative Community Meeting #2
Conversation Focus: Introductory discussion of shifts in thinking related to differentiation between ELL & non-ELL students. Followed by participants’ experience with implementing one of Dr. Sewell’s instruction methods to support ELL from different backgrounds or levels.
Two Levels: Grades K-6 (Moderator: CRC’s Kim Tackaberry) & Grades 7-12 (Moderator: Lorrie Morales)
March 8th 2018
Session #3: Supporting ELL Junior High and High School Students with Vocabulary in Content Specific Subjects
Presented by: Dr. Douglas Sewell
Are you in search of how to deal with the shear volume of vocabulary that needs to be learnt in each specific subject area? The session will begin with a brief activity to develop an understanding of what it actually means to know a word. Next we will work on how to identify critical vocabulary within specific subject areas and then how to develop within students the ability to 'know' what those words actually mean. Central to this workshop will be strategies that can help English language learners increase their lexical comprehension and retention.
*Note: Not a part of this Collaborative Community? This workshop is open to all Junior High / High School teachers. Register as an individual session by following this link:
Session #3
This learning opportunity is being offered through curriculum implementation funding from Alberta Education
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