ESL DEPARTMENT

Email: tstaples@mcssk12.org

Website: https://www.mcssk12.org/department/federal-programs/english-learners

Phone: 256-852-2557 ext. 62245

Hello MCSS Family!

It seems as though the days and weeks are flying by and we have somehow passed the midpoint of April already! Spring is in full swing as we work to spend every last second instilling valuable learning into our ESL students. The past couple of weeks we have seen several ESL students enrolling in our district for this current school year. Our goal is to continue to assess, support, teach and progress monitor our ELLs so they continue to grow towards proficiency in the English language and closer to reaching their educational goals.

Please see the newsletter below for celebrations of students and staff members, opportunities you can take advantage of if you want to grow professionally in the area of ESL instruction, and instructional strategies you can try out in your classrooms over these final few weeks.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you need assistance. I am always here to help!

Tanya

Domenic Franco, a junior at Buckhorn High School, is April's ESL Student of the Month! Domenic is making history as the first Buckhorn EL student to enroll in the cybersecurity dual enrollment program at Madison County Career Tech Center—a remarkable achievement that reflects his dedication and technical excellence. Through this program, he is earning 12 hours of college credit, giving him a significant head start on his post-secondary education. His strong technology skills, combined with his exceptional writing abilities, make him a standout learner in every classroom.

What's truly inspiring is Domenic's outstanding growth on the ACCESS test over the past two years. He ranks among the highest-growth EL students at BHS, demonstrating consistent progress and a genuine commitment to English language development. His teachers consistently praise his work ethic and character. Mrs. Hills notes that Domenic completes all assignments with care and determination, brings a positive attitude to class, and actively contributes thoughtful ideas to discussions. Mrs. Lyke adds that he is one of the most intelligent and respectful students she's taught, someone who not only meets expectations but also inspires his peers to do the same.

Beyond academics, Domenic embodies the qualities we most admire in our students: he is responsible, hardworking, and dependable. His thoughtful, insightful approach to problem-solving and his critical thinking skills make him a valuable member of our school community.

Congratulations, Domenic! We're proud of your achievements and excited to see where your talents take you.

Hannah Bibbs, MCSS Special Programs Data Specialist, is this month's ESL Rockstar of the Month! Hannah joined Madison County Schools this year as the IT Data Specialist for Special Programs, bringing valuable insights from her career in the classroom. Her experience as a teacher has given her a deep understanding of how accurate data directly impacts student success. She is dedicated to ensuring that every student in our schools has equitable access to the resources and support needed to thrive.

During her first year here, Hannah has become a true champion for EL students by being a steadfast advocate for our EL Program. She works on the front lines of enrollment, assisting with record requests from previous schools and ensuring our students are enrolled promptly with accurate historical data. She has actively listened to our team's needs and collaborated to develop streamlined processes and procedures that make special programs enrollment in PowerSchool smoother and more efficient for everyone. In addition, Hannah has taken our feedback and ideas to her IT colleagues, resulting in meaningful improvements like additions to the translation bubble feature and enhanced ESL status visibility in PowerSchool. She has also taken it upon herself to deepen her knowledge of Ellevation and ACCESS testing platforms, ensuring we receive complete and accurate information about new students, while seamlessly sharing data when our students transition to other districts. Hannah embodies what it means to be a true team player and passionate educator. Her dedication and support have made a real difference for our EL Program and our students.

Thank you, Hannah, for your outstanding contributions!

This month we are launching a new addition to our newsletter that allows the ESL Specialists at our schools to share instructional strategies that can be used by ALL teachers. After recently attending the AMTESOL Conference in Mississippi, Mrs. Darnell wanted to share an instructional strategy from one of her favorite sessions entitled "Low Effort High Yield Strategies for Tier I Instruction." The strategy she chose to share, "Would You Rather", engages EL 1 students in speaking on a regular basis by having them regularly answer "Would you rather?" questions and then giving two reasons to support their choice. This strategy is a highly engaging foundation for ACAP's opinion writing prompt that asks students to state an opinion and support there reasoning. Here are some free Would You Rather prompts you can use in your classroom!

Students from Dr. Kendra Harper's ESL classes at Hazel Green High School recently had the opportunity to take a field trip to Calhoun Community College to explore opportunities for their future. While on campus, students toured the Advanced Technology Center, the Health Sciences Building, and the Center for Applied Technology. Several of the students are interested in a career in the health sciences and were impressed with the nursing and dental hygiene programs that Calhoun has to offer. The Center for Applied Technology has a wonderful welding program that appealed to some of the students as well. After the campus tour, Dr. Harper helped several students complete their college applications to Calhoun. Students had a great day exploring the opportunities for their futures right here close to home! Thank you to Dr. Harper for organizing this field trip and for Calhoun Community College for hosting our students from HGHS!

Several of our MCSS ESL Specialists had the opportunity to attend the AMTESOL (Alabama-Mississippi Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Conference in Flowood, Mississippi in January and the TESOL International Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah at the end of March. During their time there, they were able to connect with ESL professionals from around the country and world, listen to inspiring keynote speakers, and attend multiple sessions which allowed them to learn and grow in the area of ESL instruction. Some of the ESL instructional strategies and concepts they learned about will be shared with all teachers during the MCSS beginning of the year teacher professional development in July. We hope you will join our sessions!

Project DIAL at UAH is excited to announce that their grant has been renewed, and they are still accepting applications for Cohort #4 of the DIAL Scholarship!

As in previous years, UAH is offering a fully online master’s program.

• M.Ed. in Differentiated Instruction (ESOL) – DIAL Scholarship DI ESOL.pdf
  
  

The DIAL Scholarship covers 6 of the 11 required courses in each program. In addition, the College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences is offering an extra 25% tuition discount on top of the DIAL Scholarship—making this an incredible opportunity for educators to earn their degree at a significantly reduced cost.

Interested applicants should apply here! Space is limited, so don’t wait! Apply today!

If you have questions or would like to learn more, you can schedule a time to chat with UAH's Clinical Assistant Professor of ESOL, Dr. Amanda Giles, by emailing her at: akg0025@uah.edu.

Project DIAL at UAH is now accepting applications for the DIAL Scholarship for National Board Certification (NBCT) for secondary content teachers: DIAL Scholarship NBCT.pdf

The DIAL Scholarship supports secondary teachers in earning National Board Certification in their current teaching field (e.g., English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, or English as a New Language), not limited to ESL certification.

The scholarship covers all four NBCT components (a $1,900 value) for teachers who serve a high number of English Learners. Applicants are responsible for the initial NBCT application fee. This is an incredible opportunity to pursue advanced certification while receiving financial support throughout the process.

Participants are expected to complete all four components by May 2027.

Interested applicants should apply here. UAH currently has limited openings available.

If you have questions or would like to learn more, you can schedule a time to chat with Dr. Amanda Giles here or view the flyer for additional details.

This month's featured strategy helps to foster student interactions with academic conversations. Guided practice with content-related discussions will help familiarize students with important conversational moves so they can engage in more authentic academic interactions. Click HERE for directions and materials or login to Ellevation, click on Strategies and Browse Catalog, and search for the strategy in the Search box.

Whether it’s creating an equation from a word problem in math or reading about ecosystems in a biology textbook, reading plays a role in content areas. However, the way we expect students to use reading in each content area can look very different, and those differences matter.

To support multilingual learners with content-area reading, here are four tips for educators to build reading comprehension into everyday content instruction.

1. Explore the Broader Purpose and Organization of a Text

2. Build on Student's Existing Literacy Skills

3. Engage Students in Text-Based Discussions

4. Promote Strategic Reading

Click HERE for activities and tools tied directly to these four tips!

Are you looking for a translated document for your parents or students? Click on the picture below to access multiple documents that have been translated into several different languages in our shared MCSS Translated Documents folder. If you don't see what you need, please reach out to Tanya Staples at tstaples@mcssk12.org with your request.