ESL MiniConference
Top Ten Picks at TESOL
Topic: Secondary Education
#1257: Impact of ESEA on secondary ESL programs
Discussion Group
Wednesday,
Come and discuss with other secondary professionals the impact that the new No Child Left Behind legislation has on your program. Find out how other districts
are dealing with the changes, receive valuable suggestions, or just vent your frustration!
Keith Buchanan
#3793: Advocating for LD testing of refugee children
Paper; Assessment/testing
Wednesday,
This presentation shares a case study of the challenges one family, researcher, and an ESL program faced in requesting learning disability testing for one ESOL
refugee boy and the rationale for requesting the testing from the school. The discussion includes recommendations for advocacy in similar situations.
Suzanne Panferov
#3331: Using language experience in high school ESL
Workshop; Reading/literacy
Wednesday,
The language experience approach (LEA)is an effective strategy to create text for building the reading and writing skills of older beginning-level high school
students. The presenters model several examples of effective LEA lessons using materials for literature and content classes.
Trudy Todd; Sharon Carser-Brown
#2555: Strategies to identify and help LD learners
Workshop; Reading/literacy
Thursday,
The presenters look at learning styles and strategies and discuss which are most relevant to learning disabled (LD) learners. The largest segment of the workshop is
devoted to concrete strategies to help LD learners cope more effectively, including using various types of graphic organizers. The goal is to give teachers ways to
identify, understand, and help students.
Mary Yardley; Kieran Hilu
#4500: Content-based teaching and assessment
Workshop; Content-based instruction
Thursday,
This workshop demonstrates a CBI lesson. Participants have the opportunity to use a task characteristics framework and rubric to evaluate the authenticity of a
number of example assessment tasks based upon the sample CBI lesson.
Mary Ann Christison; Adrian Palmer
#3258: Hearing
at-risk and incarcerated youths' voices
Paper; Content-based instruction; TSR
Thursday,
Among the at-risk youth population are English as an additional language students who may be expelled, incarcerated, in therapy or on house arrest. These youth
are often lost in the system. This presentation provides an overview of an ESOL program serving youth at 24 sites.
Sheila Acevedo; Linda Larson
#1259: Increasing
parental involvement in the schools
Discussion Group
Friday,
This discussion focuses on suggestions for and barriers that prevent increased parental involvement. Participants share ideas for helping families feel more at home in
the school community. Suggestions are elicited for how parents can better assist their children to find academic success.
Penny Alatis
#3488: Dropout
prevention for at-risk students
Demonstration; Integrated Skills
Friday,
The presenters describe a program designed to improve attendance, increase academic performance, and expose career options for at-risk LEP high school
students. Components include counseling, sheltered classes, field trips, home contacts, technology training, work-study and incentives. Discussion focuses on the
successes and challenges of the 3-year project.
Kathleen Karczewski; Sarah Lewis
#1265: Program alternatives for middle school students
Discussion Group
Friday,
Planning a major program change at your middle school? Wish you knew where to start and what options were available? This discussion reviews the pros and
cons of various program alternatives for middle school ESL students. Participants share information about their own programs and discuss their effectiveness.
Barbara Gottschalk
#3701: Sustained silent reading in the ESL classroom
Paper; Reading/literacy
Saturday,
The presenter discusses a study that used sustained silent reading as a method of increasing reading skills, building vocabulary, and changing students' attitudes
toward reading in the ESL classroom. The presenter also gives a short literature review of research.
Walli Weitz