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 Special Needs or Learning Disability? General Education or Special Education? The Ongoing Challenge
Separating the language needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) from a disability
is a challenging task. There are multiple variables that need to be taken into account in order to understand the interrelationship
of language, culture, and school factors that impact the learning and behavior of the ELL students. This session will draw
upon research and literature and present some necessary steps to begin to untangle this challenging issue, and to make the
Student Study Team culturally responsive. Maria Luisa Wilson-Portuondo, until 2007, was the assistant
director of the New England Equity Assistance Center. With more than 30 years of experience in education, she specialized
in equity pedagogy, the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education,
and professional development for teachers. A native of Puerto Rico and bilingual in Spanish and English, Ms. Wilson-Portuondo
received her undergraduate degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and her master's degree in Education from Boston
College. She started working with language minority children in 1973 at the Framingham, Massachusetts Public Schools, where
she implemented a bilingual resource room for their Transitional Bilingual program. Ms. Wilson-Portuondo has held positions
as cultural advisor, English as a Second Language Project, WGBH, Boston; adjunct professor at Emmanuel College, Boston; assistant
director, Bilingual Multicultural Special Education Project for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and elementary school teacher
at the American School, Mexico City. She has made numerous presentations at the school district level, as well as at
regional and national conferences. Thanks to all of our publishers who kept us abreat of the latest resources available on the market!
The
Interrelationship of Language, Culture, and Disability
Maria Wilson-Portuondo, New England Equity Assistance
Center, Brown University
Through a series of activities, participants will have an
opportunity to explore and discuss difficulties experienced by ELLs that may erroneously be used to justify a referral to
determine eligibility for special education services.
Vocabulary/Reading
for the Main Idea in Adult ESL
Christine Powers, Manchester Adult Learning Center
Adult ESL students often become dependant on their dictionaries. In this workshop participants will work on activities
that will increase the confidence of new readers to read through a story or article without looking up words as they read.
Tips on choosing important vocabulary will also be included.
Memoir
through an author mentor: How Patricia Polacco can teach your students to write!
Beth Evans, Winooski School
District
Write about what you know. That's what the experts say. So we ask our students
to do this, but they just don't know where to start. That's where author mentors come in. Come learn to use an author study
that teaches students how to use their own experiences to write.
Author as Mentor presentation
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Insights from the Struggles of Refugee ELLs
Don Bouchard, Portland Public Schools
Completing its third decade as a refugee resettlement community, Portland Maine Public
Schools now has over 50 language groups making up close to 30% of the student population. Our work with refugees has given
us accumulating experience concerning the academic struggles facing many of these learners. This presentation will share insights
on three ongoing and challenging areas: cultural identity, cultural disparity, and literacy. Participants will have an opportunity
to contribute their experiences and insights along with the presenter's suggestions for intervention and instructional delivery.
The Teacher’s Approach to Writing a Business Plan
Eva
Ververidis, Englica Group Publishing
The teacher’s approach to writing a business plan
illustrates a fun and clear way to writing a business plan for ESL students. The step-by-step approach serves as a useful
writing tool for intermediate to advanced students and can be adapted to student level, needs, and goals.
Teaching Language & Culture
with American Films
Patty MacKinnon, Lewiston High School, Maine
Based on research and classroom experience using the Lexical Approach and Strategies Based Instruction, the presenter will
demonstrate how American films can be used as a stimulating and interactive medium that can simultaneously awaken enthusiasm,
lower affective barriers to learning, and facilitate acquisition of language and culture in the classroom.
Aristotle and the Companion Workbooks
Klia Ververidis
and Eva Ververidis, Englica Group Publishing
The presenter uses PowerPoint to illustrate
highlights from the Aristotle Law School Preparatory Program. Seven comprehensible readings on U.S. law, e.g., Constitutional
Law, Tort Law, Contract Law, etc., with their companion workbooks form a bridge for instructors and students in pre-professional,
EAP, ESP, or other content-based ESL programs.
Augusta, Our City
by the River; A Fourth Grade Literacy Project
Nancy Kelly and Margy Burns, Augusta Public
Schools, Maine
This was a collaborative district writing project developed by a Maine
ESL teacher, a Maine author, a Maine artist, and a district talented & gifted teacher. Using Title III funds from the
Augusta, Maine ESL program, city-wide fourth graders, and fourth- through sixth-grade ESL students worked with author Margy
Burns Knight and artist Annie Sibley O’Brien to create a book about the city where they live. Using the text “Africa
Is Not A Country” as a model and prompt, students from our four elementary schools wrote and illustrated individual
stories about their hometown. Parents and community volunteers helped to teach the steps of publication. Photographs detailed
the process. The book was published in color and a book signing ceremony held at the Governor’s Mansion in May of the
year with many parents attending.
Hands-On Language Learning Through
the Arts
Marina Forbes, New England Language Center
This interactive
Total Physical Response (TPR) program uses a ‘hands-on’ art workshop to demonstrate the effective use of the arts
in language learning. The presentation shows how the traditional art of Matryoshka painting can be used to build vocabulary
and teach cultural issues. Storytelling, music and dance elements are included.
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