Newcomer Programming Tools
NEWCOMER RESOURCES:
This free, online resource allows newcomers to learn and practice new vocabulary through a variety of activities such as matching, dictation, and fill-in-the-blank exercises.
Minneapolis Public Schools has put together this useful collection of resources including assessment and instructional strategies to get your newcomers started.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ED. NEWCOMER TOOL KIT
This is a good resource for educators who are new to working with newcomer populations.
Special ELL Populations: Resources and Recommendations
These resource sections from Colorín Colorado offer specific guidance for working with refugees, migrants, students with interrupted education, newcomer immigrants, unaccompanied children, and internationally adopted students.
This initiative and website from the Office of Refugee Resettlement includes multimedia resources, including archived webinars, videos, and social network communities.
Indiana Department of Education: Office of English Language Learning & Migrant Education
This report discusses effective strategies for teaching ELLs who have not had the benefit of formal education or who have had interrupted formal education. The article includes an overview of recent research in this area, as well as recommended resources.
Teacher's Guide: Home of the Brave
Home of the Brave, a novel written in free verse by Katherine Applegate, tells the story of Kek, an eleven-year-old boy from the Sudan who arrives as a refugee to Minnesota in the middle of winter. The Teacher's Guide for includes discussion questions, activities on idioms and language, and web resources about the war in Sudan. Highly recommended for ELL educators and students. Appropriate for grades 4-12.
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
The Association of Farmworker Opportunity Program's (AFOP) mission is to improve the quality of life for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families by providing advocacy for the member organizations that serve them. AFOP's Children in the Fields campaign also advocates for enhanced educational opportunities and protective child labor laws for children.
The Vancouver Sun: A Tough Beginning
This articles tells the story of student Johnny Romah, and discusses efforts in Canada to educate SIFE students.
Immigrant Students and Secondary School Reform: A Compendium of Best Practices
A comprehensive resource guide published by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) that highlights best practices for a variety of ELL student needs and offers descriptions of instructional programs designed around best practices.
Innovative Policies and Practices for Developing Teachers to Work with ELLs
A PowerPoint presentation from Margarita Calderón that describes characteristics of SIFEs, their academic needs, and a professional development model designed to meet their unique educational requirements.
Secondary Newcomer Programs: Helping Recent Immigrants Prepare for School Success
This article by researcher Dr. Deborah Short provides an overview of newcomer programs and how they address students linguistic, academic, and acculturation needs.
Center for Applied Linguistics: The SIOP Model of Sheltered Instruction
The SIOP Model is a research-based and validated model of sheltered instruction. Professional development in the SIOP Model focuses on helping teachers plan and deliver lessons that allow English learners to acquire academic knowledge as they develop English language proficiency. Learn more from about SIOP from the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL).
Students with Interrupted Formal Education: A Challenge for the New York City Public Schools
This report offers recommendations on how to improve New York City's capacity to serve SIFEs.
Keys to Success for Bilingual Students with Limited Formal Schooling
This article describes how one teacher successfully worked with elementary-level SIFE bilingual students. Freeman, Yvonne. Bilingual Research Journal. National Association for Bilingual Education, 2001.
Teaching Adolescent English Learners Using Non-fiction Text
This article from the Journal of Education and Human Development highlights an instructional practice designed to give ELL students more access to content by using specific strategies with non-fiction text.
Education World: Meeting the Educational Needs of Migrant Students
These resources include articles, state-wide models and programs, and curriculum ideas for educators working with migrant students.
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services (BRYCS)
Provides technical assistance to service providers working with refugee children and their families in the U.S.
BRYCS: Welcoming and Orienting Newcomer Students to U.S. Schools
Resources targeted towards helping newcomer students adjust to their U.S. school environment.
UNICEF Information by country about universal education.
Enabling Academic Success for Secondary Students with Limited Formal Schooling*
A research report from Brown University addressing concerns about SIFE education. The report documents a successful literacy program in a Boston public school: the Haitian Literacy Program at Hyde Park High School.
Welcoming America is a national network of nonprofits and local governments offering support in developing plans, programs, and policies that create welcoming communities for immigrants.
In this documentary, five resilient immigrant teenagers come together over a year at the International High School at Lafayette (Brooklyn) and struggle to learn their new land.
The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens
Journalist Brooke Hauser spends a year at Brooklyn high school serving newcomer immigrant students, following students from their very first traumatic days of school all the way to their graduation ceremony.
Internationals Network for Public Schools: Resources
This national network serving newcomer offers a variety of resources for educators and school staff on its website.