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January 2025

Dear Subscribers, 

We have lots of timely resources in this newsletter, including a new tip sheet on partnering with immigrant families and an updated ELL policy guide. Please share these with colleagues and leaders in your setting!

You can also bookmark this newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/colorincolorado/tellegram-january-2025

In addition, we have ideas on how you can help those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. Our hearts are with families, communities, educators, and schools impacted by the tragedy.

To see new resources as soon as they come out, check out our social media channels:

Sincerely, 

Lydia Breiseth
Director, Colorín Colorado 



In this issue:

In the News

 

Los Angeles Wildfires: Resources for Schools and How to Help

This page features support resources for educators and families, as well as ideas for how to help those affected by the wildfires. This page is part of our guide, Natural Disaster Resources for Schools: Partnering with Multilingual Families.

 

Immigrant Students’ Rights: A Guide for School Front-Office Staff (Education Week)

In this Education Week article, Ileana Najarro writes, "Front-desk staff at schools, including security officers, are often the first point of contact for immigrant families seeking to enroll their children. This interaction can make or break a family’s experience with a school system. As such, these staff members need a basic understanding of immigrant students’ rights and schools’ responsibilities toward such students."

This Month's Highlights


15 Things Teachers Can Do to Support ELL Success in the New Year


Here are some specific and measurable actions you can take to support your English language learners' success in the coming year!

 

New on Colorín Colorado

 

Serving Multilingual Learners: Laws, Policies, and Regulations

Serving Multilingual Learners: Laws, Policies, and Regulations is a guide from Colorín Colorado that provides an accessible summary of federal laws governing multilingual learners' education. In addition, the guide describes ten common compliance issues related to the education of multilingual learners, as presented in the 2015 Dear Colleague Letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.

 

How Schools Can Partner with Immigrant Families: Tip Sheet

Learn more about four key steps that schools can take to partner with immigrant families. You are welcome to print and share this tip sheet, which also links to our updated guide, How to Support Immigrant Students and Families: Strategies for Schools and Early Childhood Programs.

 

How School Leaders Can Support Immigrant Students and Families


School leaders have a unique role to play when it comes to supporting and partnering with immigrant families. This kind of leadership is especially important when families are facing uncertainty and staff are looking for guidance on what kinds of support they can offer. This blog post is a collaboration from the National Association of Secondary School Principals and Colorín Colorado.

 

In the Classroom

 

Sentence Frames: ELL Strategy & PD Slides

Sentence frames and sentence starters are "fill in the blank" phrases and sentences that provide the structures or patterns that students need to express themselves. See hands-on professional learning materials in this strategy, including a free slide deck with videos and activities.

This strategy is part of Colorín Colorado's ELL Strategy Library and can be used to support academic language development for all students.

Best of 2024: New Resources from Colorín Colorado

Take a look at the rich collection of ELL resources Colorín Colorado published during the past year. Please bookmark and share!

 

Family Resources and Outreach

Communicating with ELL Families: 10 Strategies for Schools

Learn how to stay in contact with ELLs and their families and how administrators can support that outreach. This article also includes multiple tools, resources, and tips for collaboration. You can find additional resources in Engaging ELL Families: 20 Strategies for School Leaders.


Share Spanish-language resources with your families!

We have compiled several of our Spanish-language videos and tip sheets on our free web app, Colorín on the Go, so that you can share them easily with families! You can also share the following QR code. More languages to come soon!

Books and Authors

Book of the Month

Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back

By Ruth Chan

Ruth Chan loves her hometown in Toronto, where she can hang out with her friends and snack on ketchup-flavored potato chips. What Ruth doesn’t love is having to move to Hong Kong after her dad gets a new job. In Hong Kong, her Cantonese isn’t good enough, and Ruth feels lonely. But as Ruth’s dad tells stories about how her family has survived the most difficult times, Ruth realizes that she too can be strong and that home will always be where her heart is.

This autobiographical graphic memoir is featured in our new Colorín Colorado Book Finder.

 

Booklists About Immigration


Our curated booklists feature diverse titles representing a wide range of historic and contemporary immigrant stories for both kids and teens. Highlights include the following:

Books for Young Children
Books for Kids
Books for Middle Grades and Young Adults

Read Across America: Reading Diverse Books All Year Long!


NEA’s 2024-25 Read Across America digital calendar highlights a monthly theme and a related picture book, middle grade book, and YA book. All titles include activity suggestions, questions for discussion or reflective writing, related resources, and more titles to try.

January's theme is Find Your Way.

 
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About the Colorín Colorado T·ELL·E-GRAM and ColorinColorado.org

The Colorín Colorado T·ELL·E-GRAM is a free monthly electronic newsletter from ColorinColorado.org, created and sustained thanks to support from our major founding partner, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association.

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