NWP English Language Learners Network Resources

A major role of the NWP ELL Network is to provide resources to sites looking for ways to support their English Language learners.

The resources below are just highlights:

Know ELLs
An online community for writing project TCs providing access to collaborative help in teaching English Language Learners.

Supporting Teachers of English Language Learners in Kansas City
April 2010
Katie McKay
To help local teachers address the needs of a growing population of English language learners the Greater Kansas City Writing Project strategically calls on NWP resources, related events, and local experience.

Building Culturally Responsive Units of Study: From Texas to Mexico and Back
December 2009
Katie McKay
By crafting units of study that cast immigration as part of the American historical process, a teacher-consultant at the Heart of Texas Writing Project creates opportunities for her bilingual students to explore immigration in a trusting and productive classroom environment.

ELLs at the Center: Rethinking High Stakes Testing
English Journal, July 2010
Wilma Ortiz, Karen Sumaryono
The authors propose ways to ameliorate the tensions of high stakes testing of ELL students by fostering high expectations for all students while honoring the home languages of English learner.

ELL Library American Indian Reference/Resource “Must-Haves”
June 2009
Michael Thompson, Laurie Smith
With the goals of providing materials that alter teachers' understanding of Native American cultures and building local communities of inquiry devoted to Native American Studies, the compiler provides an annotated bibliography of "must-read" texts on the subject.

Literacy, ELL, and Digital Storytelling: 21st Century Learning in Action
January 2009
Produced by the Pearson Foundation, this short video documents a semester-long digital writing project led by two Bay Area Writing Project teacher-consultants. The video follows students through the creation of digital stories about their family members' immigration experiences.

Book Review: Immigrant Students and Literacy: Reading, Writing, and Remembering
June 2010
Stephanie Paterson
Stephanie Paterson, co-director of the Great Valley Writing Project, which is in the same Central California region where Gerald Campano taught and did his research, finds his book an inspiration in the ways it links inquiry, pedagogy, and social justice issues.

Book Review: English Learners, Academic Literacy, and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone
June 2010
Debra Schneider
Debra Schneider, a teacher-consultant with the Great Valley Writing Project, says this book gives teachers the resources needed to develop a "high-challenge, high-support" classroom for English language learners.


Book Review: The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, by Kao Kalia Yang
June 2009
Lynn Jacobs
Lynn Jacobs, a teacher-consultant with the Northern California Writing Project, finds this account of Hmong history and culture to be special because of the vivid and personal picture it presents of the Hmong people to outsiders. She recommends ways to use the book in the classroom