Assisting, Collaborating, and Training ESL Content Teachers (ACT-ESL)

Assisting, Collaborating, and Training ESL

Content Teachers (ACT-ESL)

Hosted by VCU School of Education and funded by the U.S. Department of Education

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What is the ACT-ESL Partnership?

The ACT-ESL Project at VCU is designed to train Chesterfield content-area teachers in instructional methods which promote ELLs’ academic engagement and success.

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ACT-ESL Teacher Participants

•2008-2009: 56 teachers•2009-2010: 55 teachers•2010-2011: 63 teachers•2011-2012: 60 + α

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The ACT-ESL Training

II.) 3 classroom observations by your coach during the school year

III.) Teaching Demonstration Fair and Post-Seminar(4 hrs. February 23

and April 18)

I.) Summer Institute in June 2011

30 hrs. (6 hrs. x 5 days)

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Whole group sessions

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Guest speakers

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VCU partnership

Summer Institute Topics• Sheltered Instruction (SIOP)

• Academic language for students

• Cultural understanding

• Variables that impact ELLs’ academic success

• Content area reading and word study

• Assessment

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Spring Event: Teaching Demonstration Fair, February 23, 2011

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The Teaching Demonstration Fair is divided by content disciplines.

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Teachers sharing hands-on math activities

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Activities that are helpful to all students, but crucial to ELLs

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Using realia to understand the phases of the moon in science

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Teachers sharing lessons that work in English.

Teacher Benefits:• Instructional strategies and resources to help ALL

of your students, but crucial for ELLs.

• Professional development points (34 for training).

• Training stipend. ($24 x 34 hrs.= $816)

• Professional development opportunities such as presentations at local, state, and national levels. (Travel expenses + honorarium)

• Scholarships for action research ($300 each)16

Are you eligible for the ACT-ESL project?

• You are an endorsed teacher in math, science, English/language arts or social studies.

• You will be teaching a credit-bearing course in your endorsed area with (an) ELL student (s) where you have responsibility for developing content-area lesson plans.

• You are available for the summer institute, follow-up classroom applications, and a post-seminar.

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Comments from past participants: Most valuable topics for me…

• “cultural factors influencing learning – how to adapt lessons for ESL students”

• “better use of academic language in the classrooms”

• “methods and reasons to adapt instruction, activities, and the like in my classrooms”

• “to incorporate (deliberately) language instruction into content instruction”

• “SIOP lesson planning”

• “I learned how to teach more effectively, not just to ELLs but to all students.”

Are you available for these Summer Institute dates?

June 20-24, 2011at Manchester MS

(9:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.)

Lunch will be provided to the participants of summer institute.19

The goal of ACT-ESL is to help and support you as you advance your students!

Supporting teachers, helping students…because all learners matter!

Please contact us at [email protected]

http://www.actesl.vcu.edu 20