ELD Summer Academy - Session 2

Mr. Kaufhold and sixteen EL students met each day last week at the Casa Blanca Branch Library for our second session of our Summer ELD Academy.

I am very proud of these students for coming everyday to learn with Mr. Kaufhold!

Thanks again to Mr. Kaufhold and all the students who participated in either session. I can tell that you are serious about learning!

Summer ELD Academy

Mr. Kaufhold worked with eleven fifth and sixth grader this week for our first session of Victoria's ELD Academy. Students attended school each morning for a week to brush up on their English skills. They participated in activities to practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing in English. These students also completed the California English Language Development Test (CELDT).

The CELDT is given to newly enrolled students whose primary language is not English and to English learners as an annual assessment. The CELDT has three purposes: (1) to identify students who are limited English proficient; (2) to determine the level of English language proficiency of students who are limited English proficient; and (3) to assess the progress of limited English proficient students in acquiring the skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing in English.

To learn more about the CELDT program, please see the CDE's Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/el/.

Victoria's second session will be held next week at Casa Blanc Library. Sixteen students are registered to attend.

Thank you to Mr. Kaufhold, Mrs. Richards, Mrs. Gonzales, and all the students for participating in our Summer ELD Academy.

ELD Summer Academy in August

Mr. Kaufhold and Mrs. Gonzales met with me to plan our ELD Summer Academy. We have invited 38 EL students in fifth and sixth grades - most of whom are LTELs. Invitations were mailed out on Monday afternoon and offered parents the choice of two sessions for their child to attend.

Session One:

• August 3-7
• 8:30 - 11:00
• Held at Victoria School - Room 14

Session Two:

• August 10 - 14
• 12:30 - 3:00 pm
• Held at the Casa Blanca Library

Parents have been asked to RSVP via mail (in the provided self-addressed, stamped envelope) and/or by calling the school and leaving a message on my voicemail. I recieved three such phone messages today!

We are looking forward to working with these students during our ELD Summer Academy.

Acronyms of the Day: EL, ELD, and LTEL

Nearly 30% of Victoria's students are learning English as a second language (EL). We have almost 200 EL students - with approximately 70 students who are Long-Term English Learners (LTEL). Students are considered LTEL when they have been enrolled in US schools and have received English Language Development (ELD) for four or more years but have not met the criteria to be reclassified as a fluent English speaker. Needless to say, this group of students is one of our top priorities for student interventions.

Today, Mr. Hans Kaufhold (our new Title I Intervention Teacher) and I visited Rivera Elementary School's ELD Academy. Rivera's ELD Academy meets three hours a day for one week during the summer to receive instruction in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Mrs. Adela Flores-Bertrand, ELD coach/teacher at Rivera, worked with the ELD Coach at Hyatt to develop daily lesson plans that focus on language development and reading comprehension.

We loved the idea and are planning with Mrs. Melissa Gonzales, Victoria's ELD/ELA Coach, to see how this program can be adapted for the students at Victoria School.

(Thank you to Mrs. Gebeau and Mrs. Flores-Bertrand for allowing us to visit!)