SDU46

Resources for Parents

• Part 1: My Child is an English Learner. What does that Mean?
  

• Part 2: My Child is an English Learner. How is my child's language development supported at school?
  
  
• Part 3: My Child is an English Learner. How do I know if my child is making progress?

• Parte 1: Mi hijo/a es un estudiante de inglés. ¿Qué significa eso?
  
  
• Parte 2: Mi hijo/a es un estudiante de inglés. ¿Cómo apoya la escuela el desarrollo de lenguaje de mi hijo/a?
  
  
• Parte 3: Mi hijo/a es un estudiante de inglés. ¿Cómo puedo saber si mi hijo/a está progresando? 

• Escort - Migrant Education. Escort is a national resource center dedicated to improving the educational opportunities for migrant students. Each elementary school has a copy of Help! They Don’t Speak English. Each middle and high school has a copy of The Help! Kit. These should be housed in the professional library. However, you can order your OWN copy free of charge by either emailing or calling (800) 451-8058. Although your students may not be migrants, they are English language learners. This is a fabulous resource and has some great alternate assessments. 
• Instituto Cervantes. Learn Spanish, or participate in one of the many cultural activities available in Chicago.
• ISBE: Families and Students.
• US Department of Education. Resources for Parents
• 10 Tips for Building resilience in children and teens

RESEARCH

• 10 Things You Should Know about Current Dual Language Research
• How Children Learn a Second Language
• Impact of Two-Way Immersion on Students' Attitudes about School and College
  
• Let's Make Dual Language the Norm
• Examining the Impact of Parental Involvement in a Dual Language Program: Implications for Children and Schools
• The Bilingual Advantage
• The Bilingual Brain
• The Multiple Benefits of Dual Language

MME PRE-SCHOOL RESOURCES

• Challenging Common Myths About Young English Language Learners
• Dual Language Learners in the Early Years: Getting Ready to Succeed in School 
• Good intentions, bad advice for bilingual families
• If Your Child Learns in Two Languages
• Key Demographics & Practices Recommendations for Your English Language Learner
• Tip sheets: Helping Your Child Learn in Two Languages - Illinois Early Learners Project

• Elgin Community College. ESL, Adult Basic Education, GED
• YWCA Family Literacy was founded by Even Start and United Way
• INEA: Educación para Adultos. Learn about how to complete elementary and secondary education.

• ABCteach.com. This website has a membership, but also many free links. There are many thematic units with reproducible. There are also reproducible flashcards for numbers, letters, etc. Suitable for elementary and middle school.
• Colorín Colorado. This website is a service of the Reading Rockets project and is designed to help kids learn to read …and succeed. It is English and Spanish. It is targeted at parents, but teachers can get tips as well. There is a link to Reading Rockets that is especially good for K-2 teachers and first-year teachers. You can also access Colorin Colorado en español. 
• Frankfurt International School: A Guide to Learning English. This website contains vocabulary & grammar materials, resources, as well as a parent component. 

• Helpforschools.com is a great site for understanding the laws pertaining to English language learners. Teachers can also find descriptors for English language learners and Mexico/USA school comparisons. Great suggestions for parent involvement and NCLB documents in Spanish. 
• LanguageGuide.org is a tutorial language acquisition website that includes about twenty different languages. You click on your native language and then the target language and off you go! The audio is fantastic and as the cursor goes over the new language information, the native language translation pops up. Great components such as letters, introductions, numbers, colors, and days of the week. Too many topics to list, but very specific topics like subject pronouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. All skills are used in context and a “must” for middle/high school newcomers and any teacher wanting to get a taste of learning a foreign language.
• Mrs. Perkins' Dolch Words could keep an elementary classroom teacher's content for a long time.   
• Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab. Another great website for newcomers. This site is especially good for vocabulary.
• Printable Flashcards: 75+ Printable Flashcards
• Spanish Playground: Videos in Spanish to help learn the language
• Spanish Verb Chart: Spanish verbs support chart.