ELD Resources for Staff

English language learners are immersed in all of our schools. We work hard to provide professional development, student and classroom support, and family advocacy around issues of language acquisition, cultural adaptation, and academic success. 

ELD Staff provide:

• Training in OCDE Project GLAD ®  (Guided Language Acquisition Design), Imagine Learning®, Academic Language, and Culturally Responsive Practices
• Follow-up, such as collaborative work sessions (OCDE Project GLAD ® Network: Refresh & Refine, Collaborate & Create), Imagine Learning data review and planning sessions
• Consultation and problem-solving to address ELL individual and family needs
• Collaboration with district, building and grade level teams to ensure our work is aligned with district initiatives

Translations and Interpreter Requests

Interpreter Requests: Contact one of the ELD Specialists for assistance.

Propio: This service allows you to access verbal interpretation in more than 170 languages, so
that you can conduct a conference with a Limited English speaker, either by using a
speaker phone, or by conducting a 3-way call.

For translations of common forms, please see the ELD Resources for Parents page. 

Information/Resources from WA State Bilingual Program:

• OSPI-Office of Migrant & Bilingual Education 
• WIDA Standards, Assessments, and Professional Learning

Lesson Ideas, articles, blogs for Teaching CLD Students:

• Teaching Tolerance 
• Cultures Connecting 
• Perspectives for a Diverse America 
• Edutopia 
• Larry Ferlazzo Blog 
• Boggles World ESL 
• Dave’s ESL Cafe 
• Flocabulary 
• Council for Learning Disabilities - The Impact of Language and Socio-Cultural Factors on Learning
• Teaching Channel -  8 Ways to Engage Your ELLs video 

Information on Immigrants and Refugees in WA State:

• UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)   
• International Rescue Committee 
• World Relief Spokane

Sites for Leveled Text:

• NewsELA  (also has some Spanish translations)
• CommonLit  
• Rewordify
• Smithsonian’s Tween Tribune  

BOOKS

• Culturally Responsive book list
• Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond (2015) 
• The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide by Larry Ferlazzo (2012)
• Navigating the Common Core with English Language Learners by Larry Ferlazzo (2016)
• Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning by Pauline Gibbons (2014)

ARTICLES

Immigrant/Refugee Experience:

• Disaster after Disaster in Low-Lying Marshall Islands (Al-Jazeera America)
• Boise Takes in More Syrian Refugees than New York (Spokesman-Review) 

Best Practices for ELLs in the Classroom:

• 8 Strategies for Teaching Academic Language (Edutopia)
• Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters! (Equity Alliance)
• Special Report on Teaching America’s English Language Learners  (Education Week) 
• Letter to Educators from Arne Duncan and John King on anti-discrimination (US Dept. of Education)
• Preparing for Cultural Diversity - Resources for Teachers
• Best Practices for Engaging ELLs and their families
• Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom
• Supporting Gifted ELLS
• Five Principles for Succeeding with Adolescent English Learners (LanguageMagazine)

This professional development activity examines common beliefs that help and hinder work with racially and ethnically diverse students.