Engaging ELLs and Their Families in the School and Community

Welcome to week 1 of the course! This is an important module, as it sets the foundation for many of the strategies presented in this course. We hope that you find the module very informative. By the end of this module, you will be able to define the culture of ELLs in K-12 classrooms across the U.S., recognize cultural impact on learning and formal education, assess your school’s engagement of ELLs and their families, incorporate culturally sensitive techniques to engage ELLs in the classroom and school and implement strategies for engaging ELLs’ families in the school and larger community. Let's get started!

Welcome to week 2 of the course! We are thrilled to introduce you to a stellar organization, the American Dream Academy, and the many things that they do to engage families. By the end of this module, you will be able to implement strategies for reaching out to ELL parents, apply concepts of parental training to your own teaching and school contexts, develop a plan for success for parental involvement to implement in your own classroom and school context, apply concepts of teaching training to your own school context, and devise solutions for parent involvement in your own classroom and school context. Let's get started!

Welcome to week 3 of the course! In this module, we showcase another exciting case study in hopes that you can adapt many of the ideas presented. By the end of this module, you will be able to integrate culture into classroom practices such as building background knowledge, implement TPR strategies in classroom activities to support ELL engagement, understand the importance of setting clear expectations for learning and classroom behavior, set clear expectations that are sensitive to cultural differences, use bilingual and multicultural strategies to foster a welcoming environment. Let's get started!

Welcome to week 4 of the course! We are so excited for this module and to introduce you to Alhambra High School. We hope that you find this module inspirational and that you are able to adopt and adapt many of the ideas presented. By the end of this module, you will be able to apply strategies for creating a culturally supportive school environment, connect students to the school community through creating clubs and school-wide activities, implement new strategies for bringing diverse cultures to the school, and use sports as additional opportunities for school engagement. Let's get started!