FEATURE

STEM and Language Learning: It’s E-L-ementary!

STEM and Language Learning: It’s E-L-L-ementary!

What do Albert Einstein, I.M Pei, and Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google) all have in common? Not only has each of these leaders made invaluable contributions to STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math)—and to greater society—they also learned English as a second language.

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Language Teaching, For One and For All

by Jennifer Kobrin August 18, 2010
Thumbnail image for Language Teaching, For One and For All

Most of the people that teach English Language Learners—whether in formal learning environments like classrooms, or more informal learning environments like afterschool programs—have little formal training on ELL methods and approaches. “I teach Science, not ESL,” I heard an elementary school teacher say recently.

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Reading for Life: Literacy and Extended Learning

by Rhonda H. Lauer July 21, 2010
Rhonda H Lauer

Our kids can’t read. Across the country teachers, parents, employers, and policy makers agree that our kids are drastically unequipped with the literacy skills they need to succeed in higher education and the workplace. The school day is not long enough to develop many key literacy skills – including forging a deep connection to and love of the written word – our kids need. Nor is the day long enough to help struggling readers catch-up to their peers. Extending the traditional school day is not the answer. By the time the bell rings at 3:30, kids need something that looks very different from the school day.

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Summer Reading: Inside and Outside the Library

by Jennifer Kobrin July 15, 2010

With summer in full swing, parents, teachers, and experts across the nation worry about the famous ‘summer learning slide,’ that happens when kids are away from classrooms. When it comes to grade level reading (something we think about a lot here at Foundations), research shows that young children who live in poverty are especially prone to lose reading skills during summer, which they are forced to make up during the following school year—at the same time as they are responsible for learning new content.

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The World Cup in Many Languages

by Jennifer Kobrin July 7, 2010
The World Cup in Many Languages

As the world (and even a few Americans) turns its gaze to South Africa for World Cup 2010, we should be seizing this opportunity to infuse multilingual and globally-conscious themes into schools and summer programs everywhere.

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Lost in Translation

by Claiborne Taylor June 30, 2010

“Tengo una pregunta más.”
“She has one more question,” said Marta.

I wondered what it could be. Marta had great grades, and did everything I asked her. She was probably my best student. I could only guess why her mother looked so troubled. As the Spanish rolled off her tongue, I regretted not having gone to the extra dialogue sessions my Spanish professor in college had offered.

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Reading for Life: Investing in Adolescent Literacy

by Rhonda H. Lauer June 23, 2010

Why is early literacy so important? (1) Half of the children in this country do not read on grade level, even though we know that 95% of them can, given proper instruction and support. (2) 73% of children who enter fourth grade with first- or second-grade reading skills never catch up.

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IES Focuses on Reading Comprehension

by Foundations Inc. June 18, 2010

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) announced plans yesterday to award $100 million in grant funding to a new Reading for Understanding Research Initiative. Over the next five years, IES will support six teams as they take on the thorny issue of reading comprehension for students in all grades. Comprehension is a critical issue for students in areas like Math, Science, and Social Studies, where engaging with complex ideas in written text is key to academic success. From third grade on, students should be able to use reading as a tool for learning in all subjects.

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So To Speak, Part 3: Teaching Vowel Sounds

by Laura Sicola June 15, 2010
So to Speak - Part 3

Teaching vowel sounds to ELs can be tricky, since nuances are subtle. In order to help students improve their accuracy, we need a variety of multi-sensory strategies beyond “listen and repeat.” Today’s tips are sure to get everyone smiling!

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Tongue Tied: English Only in America

by Jennifer Kobrin June 9, 2010
Global Learning

You may have heard that a person who speaks three languages is trilingual, a person who speaks two languages is bilingual, and a person who speaks one language is American. In a recent address to the Council on Foreign Relations, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan confronted this mindset.

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So to Speak, Part 2: Teaching Consonant Sounds

by Laura Sicola June 1, 2010
So to Speak - Part 2

When teaching individual consonant and vowel sounds (otherwise known as “phonemes” or “segments,”) the most commonly heard instruction from teachers is, “No, listen…” But therein lies the problem: many students cannot clearly hear the difference between sounds which seem as different as night and day to us. This means we have to go beyond listen-and-repeat drills if we expect to have any success.

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