Partnering with Parents of English Learners During Distance Learning

These resources were originally curated for the webinar "Partnering with Parents of English Learners During Distance Learning," presented on 12/8/20.

Webinar

• Partnering with Parents of English Learners During Distance Learning (slides, recording)

Communication Resources

• Communication with Families of English Learners: A Checklist
• Texting with Families
  • Talking Points
  • Remind
  • Class Dojo
• Email/Online Communication
  • Google Translate
  • Gmail's Google Translate Extension
  • Zoom's Translation Services

Supporting Learning in the School Environment

• Video Demonstrations
  • Edit YouTube's Captions
• Honor the Home Language
  • Language at Home and in the Community
• Creating Accessible Packets 
  • Offline Learning at Home: Ideas for English Language Learners
• Providing Consistent Routines
  • Week-at-a-Glance Document
  • Lesson Plan Ideas
  • Slide Deck Ideas

Empowering Parents to Support Students' Learning at Home

• Four Stages of Immigrant Parent Involvement
• Providing Access to Language for Parents
  • Read&Write for Google Extension
  • Spanish Education Tutorials for Students and Families
  • The Parents' Guide to Google Classroom (English and Spanish)
  • Google Classroom YouTube Tutorials for Parents (Spanish)
  • Ways Parents Can Learn English for Free
    • Duolingo
    • USA Learns
• Protecting Children's Privacy Online
  
  • Children's Data Privacy During COVID-19 Closures: 10 Questions to Ask
  • Distance Learning for ELLs: Privacy Considerations
• Student Advocacy
  • Preparing for Parent-Teacher Conferences (English, Spanish)
  • Your Rights as the Parent of a Public School Student (English, Spanish)
• Knowing what to Expect This School Year
  • PTA Guides in English/Spanish
• Ways to Develop Literacy at Home
  • Storytelling
    • In the Classroom
    • Story Dice
    • Make Your Own Story Cubes (and find icons for them)
  • "Reading" Wordless Picture Books
    • Books for ages 3-9, middle and high schoolers, adults
    • instructions in English, Spanish
  • Reading Bilingual Books
    
    • Elementary list
    • Middle school list
  • Through Television
    • Set up Netflix with your home language audio as a preference to boost home language skills; then navigate here to see what is available in your home language
  • Free Books Online
    • YouTube
      
      • many languages; including Closed Captioning in hundreds of languages
    • MagicBlox
      
      • (free with registration): English, French, German, Italian, Mongolian, Portuguese, Spanish for ages 1-13)
    • Storyline Online
      
      • for ages 4-7 in English with Closed Captioning in many languages; includes teacher guides and cross-curricular connections (Spanish to be added soon)
    • Oxford Owl
      
      • for ages 3-11 in English
    • International Children's Library
      
      • for ages 3-13 in over 50 languages
    • Epic!
      
      • for ages 11 and under; free for educators to set up accounts for students. Books in English, Spanish, Chinese, and French
    • Libby
      • Alameda County residents can apply for an e-card or physical card and then access the free books through the Libby app
      • audiobooks, books in other languages (English, Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Swedish)
  • Singing Songs
  • Building Print Awareness
  • Holding Conversations
    • During Reading
      • Ask questions (for older learners too)
      • Guides for Parents of Babies through Grade 3, available in multiple languages
  • Building Your Child's Vocabulary
  • More Family and Caregiver Activities (and Educator's Guide)
  • At Home Bingo
  • Enrichment Activities throughout the Day
  • Help Kids Stay Focused 

Parents' Rights

• English LEP Parent Fact Sheet
• Schools' Civil Rights Obligations to English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents
  • How to Fulfill Interpreation & Translation Requirements: Tools for Guiding Decisions

References

• Engaging ELL Families
• Supporting English Learners During School Closures: Considerations for Designing Distance Learning Experiences
• How COVID-19 Is Impacting ELL and Immigrant Families
• Getting to Know Your ELLs: Six Steps for Success
• Supporting Student Learning
• Communicating wtih ELL Families During COVID-19: 10 Strategies for Schools
• Empowering ELL Parents & Families at Home

Additional Resources

• Best Practices for Supporting English Learners During Distance Learning
• Toolkit for Educators: Reaching out to Hispanic Parents of English Language Learners
• A Guide for Engaging ELL Families: Twenty Strategies for School Leaders
• 15 Strategies for Communicating with ELL Families During the Winter
• How to Expand ELLs’ Access to Technology for Distance Learning
• All In! How Educators Can Advocate for English Language Learners
• Ensuring English Learner Students Can Participate Meaningfully and Equally in Educational Programs
• A Compact for Reading Guide
• Distance Learning With English Language Learners