The presenters will describe the itinerant ESOL program which has evolved in their district to meet the varied needs of students in grades Kindergarten to high school. The presenters will describe programs that have successfully engaged families who were previously reluctant to participate in their children's multicultural elementary school. Examples will show teachers and other professionals who work with family programs how to transform home-school relationships by using diversity as an intellectual resource. The presenter describes service learning projects she uses to extend the ESL curriculum, talking time, and experiences of ESL students. Participants receive handouts, including the questionnaire used and suggestions for projects and activities.
Audience participation is encouraged.
The presenters share stories, literature, and activities demonstrating how themed content teaching for English language learners has been implemented successfully in elementary classrooms. In addition, presenters discuss how content teaching and themes support English language learning. This session helps elementary ESL teachers help their students develop language skills through the study of science. Teachers learn the appropriate scientific vocabulary and principles for each experiment. This presentation demonstrates that early multiliteracy development is not impossible or unattainable, but, on the contrary, can be readily achieved, depending on the context of its development and the functional need to be literate in more than one language.