September 2020

Don't Miss…

Thank you to the AFT and NEA!

We want to express our deepest gratitude to our founding partner, the American Federation of Teachers, as well as to the National Education Association for their ongoing support of Colorín Colorado during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking About Racism and Violence: Resources for Educators and Families

These resources can help promote deeper understanding around the issues of racism and violence. They also can contribute to discussion of these topics with colleagues and students during this difficult time, even at a distance.

This Month's Highlights

Hispanic Heritage: Books for All Ages

This collection of more than 50 booklists for children and teens feature titles about Hispanic Heritage organized by topic that can be used all year long! Many books on our recommended lists are bilingual or are available in Spanish.

Congratulations to Juliana Urtubey, Nevada Teacher of the Year!

Booker Innovative Elementary School learning strategist Juliana Urtubey was named Wednesday as the 2021 Nevada Teacher of the Year. Juliana, originally from Colombia, is a bilingual special education teacher — and a contributor to Colorín Colorado!

"My students and their families have always been my inspiration and each day they light the path we walk together," she said in the news release. "It is an honor to receive this recognition and I’m so deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve my students and their families. Serving them is among the greatest joys in my life."

New on Colorín Colorado

8 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs in Any Learning Environment

Learn how educators can build authentic relationships with ELLs this year in virtual and hybrid settings, as well as how they can connect students' experiences to meaningful instruction. Strategies include getting students’ names right, getting to know students’ interests, and tying learning to students’ experiences.

How to Expand ELLs' Access to Technology for Distance Learning

Learn what schools and districts can do to ensure that ELLs and their families have access to the technology, internet connections, tech support, and information they need to succeed in distance learning. Highlights from the article are available in this Twitter thread.

Supporting ELLs Through COVID-19: Resource Section

• How COVID-19 Is Impacting ELL and Immigrant Families


• Partnering with Immigrant Families During COVID-19: Lessons Learned from a Community School


• Coronavirus: Multilingual Resources for Schools

 Social-emotional support for ELL & immigrant students during COVID-19

Nathaniel Provencio, Associate Superintendent of Prince William County Schools in Northern Virginia, talks about the impact of COVID-19 on his district's immigrant families, as well as the importance of social-emotional support for students during this time.

Ideas for Instruction

Guide: Distance Learning for ELLs

• What You Need to Know


• Needs Assessment: Distance Learning


• Planning Online Instruction


• Making Family Partnerships Work


• Challenges and Opportunities

For related information, see the following:

• Recommended Resources


• Privacy Considerations for ELLs/Immigrant Students

Offline Learning at Home: Ideas for ELLs

ELL experts Beth Skelton and Mia Allen offer a wide range of ideas to support learning at home for ELLs without access to devices or internet. These recommendations build upon families' cultures, languages, and strengths.

Related podcast: You can hear more from Beth and Mia about the article in this related podcast episode hosted by Tan Huynh.

Parent Resources and Outreach

Communicating with ELL Families During COVID-19: 10 Strategies for Schools

Learn how to stay in contact with English learners and their families during this school year and how administrators can support that outreach. This article also includes multiple tools, resources, and tips for collaboration.

Reading Tip Sheets for Parents in 13 Languages!

Our one-page Reading Tip Sheets are available in thirteen languages and offer ideas for families to help encourage literacy at home.

Recommended Resources

Share My Lesson Webinars

Distance Learning & ELLs Part I: What have we learned so far?

Join Diane Staehr Fenner from SupportEd. teacher and author, Larry Ferlazzo, and Lydia Breiseth with Colorín Colorado for a webinar on the challenges of distance learning during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Distance Learning & ELLs Part II: What's working, what's not, and what to be ready for in the fall

Join Kristina Robertson of the Roseville School District, Glenda Gúzman Macal, Fort Bend AFT, TX, and Katherine Kurjakovic from the United Federation of Teachers in NY for the continued discussion on the challenges of distance learning during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Podcast: Empowering ELLs

This excellent podcast from teacher Tan Huynh features a wide range of voices from the ELL field. Many of the discussions address questions related to teaching ELLs during COVID-19. Tan says that his goals for the podcast are to:

• Share insights from researchers in the ELL field


• Highlight experiences from inspiring teachers


• Provide an alternative form of professional learning

Council of Great City Schools: ELL Resources

The Council of Great City Schools has published the following resources related to ELLs:

Supporting ELLs During the COVID-19 Crisis

This guide addresses the issues facing families of English learners and includes some of the lessons that districts have learned while working to support their English learner and immigrant communities during school closures. The guide also provides a list of resources from districts and other sources that we used for examples in the document.

Assessing Language Proficiency During Extended School Closures

The guide addresses the issues facing school districts to support English learners, their families, and immigrant communities during school closures. Drawing from the experience for Council-member districts, which enroll roughly one-quarter of all ELs in the nation’s public K-12 schools, the report provides suggestions, examples, and resources on a range of areas, including screening and placement, instructional practices and technology, English language development, staffing, professional development, assessment, and family engagement.

Books and Authors

Your Name Is a Song

By: Teresa Robeson

Illustrated by: Luisa Uribe

Age Level: 6-9

Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl's mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city. Empowered by this newfound understanding, the young girl is ready to return the next day to share her knowledge with her class.

Recommended Booklists: My Name

Names matter. These stories for readers of all ages explore names that are given, taken away, changed, or mispronounced, and the questions that children might have about their name.

• My Name: Books for Kids


• My Name: Books for Young Adults