The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition is hosting a free webinar on how to teach science to English-language learners. It’s scheduled for June 7, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Paula Hooper, a senior science educator and learning research scientist for the Institute for Inquiry, the Exploratorium, is the guest for the webinar. She’ll be talking about implementing a science, technology, engineering, and math program in a San Francisco school as well as offering ideas for helping ELLs to acquire science knowledge. The institute, according to its website, provides professional development in inquiry-based learning.
Improving how educators teach science to ELLs is also an interest of Rosalinda B. Barrera, the director of the office of English-language acquisition of the U.S. Department of Education. The clearinghouse has a contract with that office to support states in implementing Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act, the part of the law authorizing funds for English-language acquisition programs. Barrera has told me that her office plans to host a forum about STEM and ELLs sometime this summer.
So stay tuned for more information on this important topic.