NNETESOL Spring 2007 Conference
Saturday, May 5, 2007
York County Community College
Wells, Maine
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Maria Wilson-Portuondo
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.
Maria_Wilson-Portuondo@brown.edu
We are seeking Maria's permission to post her PowerPoint on this site...
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.
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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