I
Greetings!
We hope that you have had a chance to enjoy a taste of the beautiful warm weather. ELL teachers have now shared information about transitioning ELL students in grades 5 and 8 with their feeder schools. As noted before, please prioritize completing the AIPs for these students first since their AIPs will all be transferred over to their middle and secondary schools on Monday, June 19 by the IT department. After this happens, current ELL teachers and case managers will no longer have access to these students' AIPs since they will have been transferred over.
The annual assessments of the current ELL students on our caseloads should be close to complete now and case managers are responsible for writing new AIPs for the 2023-2024 school year.
This means using the results of the spring assessments to write new goals and plan supports and adaptations. Sections A to E as well as H (uploaded assessments) should be filled in for all AIPs for the 2023-2024 school year before the end of June. In the fall and before September 30, case managers will complete the remaining sections F and G in the AIPs once their support schedules have been established.
We hope that your last few weeks and year-end wrap up go smoothly. Please reach out to Jen Barber by email or phone if you have any questions.
With gratitude,
Jen Barber, District ELL Teacher Support
David Hovis, District Principal
Annual Assessments & New AIPs
All funding-eligible ELL students for next year require a new AIP for the 2023-2024 school year. Funding eligible means that next year they will have 5 years or less on the 1701. At least one language assessment must be completed (oral, reading or writing) for every student this spring and a new goals set by in the 2023-2024 AIP by the end of this school year. As stated, grade 5 and 8 students' AIPs will transfer to their new schools on June 19. If you are doing an oral language assessment, please use the ones on our shared Google drive entitled ELL/ESD Teacher Resources. The files are housed in the folder called Oral Language Assessments.
Writing Samples - If an unaided student writing sample is taken as part of the assessment then teacher comments and annotations must be evident on the paper. Please refer closely to the ELL Standards when noting strengths and stretches as the AIP goals should be related to what is in your notes on the paper. Unless a student is at the beginning stage, writing topics for middle and secondary school should require the use of persuasion or compare and contrast. Please see the shared Google file for writing prompts.
Students of Indigenous descent who are thought to benefit from English Skills Development (ESD) have to also require oral language support. Please feel free to reach out to Jen Barber at jbarber@sd61.bc.ca for guidance or if you have any questions.
Instructions for spring assessments & AIP development:
AIP and assessment common questions:
ProD Links: SEL and Multilingual Learners
Integrating Diverse Narratives Into The Curriculum (K-12)
Below is Jennifer Gonzales' great article and podcast on considering how to use diverse voices in narratives.
This interactive calendar highlights Syria for the month of May. Click on objects found within a typical living room space in Syria to find out more.
Free ProD Resources
Connect Student Learning To Multiliteracies (Middle and Secondary)
As part of our jobs, ELL teachers in SD61 co-teach and even co-plan with advisory and subject teachers. Middle and secondary teachers may be interested in this interesting site with specific project ideas to help engage multilingual students.
Funding for Extracurricular Activities
-L.I.F.E program (50 free access passes to local recreation centres):
https://planh.ca/success-stories/capital-region-life-flourishes-recreation-facilities
-Kidsport: https://kidsportcanada.ca/british-columbia/provincial-fund/
-Jumstart:https://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/pages/individual-child-grants
-Athletics4kids: https://www.a4k.ca/apply_now
-Viasport: https://www.viasport.ca/grants/other-funding-sources
-Other possible grants: https://britishcolumbia.grantwatch.com/cat/34/sports-and-recreation-grants.html
SWIS Referral Form
New immigrant and refugee students should have a SWIS worker (Settlement Worker In Schools) assigned to them to help support their transition to school. Normally they would be connected to students at the point of registration, but it is good to double check. This is a program offered through the ICA (Inter-cultural Association of Greater Victoria). The referral form has been emailed out as a fillable pdf. It can also be found on the ICA website.https://www.icavictoria.org/immigrant-welcome-centre/settlement-workers-in-schools/
VICCIR (Vancouver Island Councelling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees)
Staff from VICCIR have been leading ProD every week with ELL teachers at different levels of education. Two sessions were for elementary teachers, one will be for middle school teachers next week and, finally, the first Wednesday in March will be for secondary teachers. If you have a student that the school counsellor and ELL teacher feel should be referred to VICCIR for counselling, please speak to the parents about it first, describing it as a way to help them cope and deal with stress.
Multilingual Books Online
Multilingual/ dual language books and where to get them:
1. School House Teaching in Victoria has dual language books.
https://schoolhouseteaching.com/
2. Storybooks Canada is one of our favourite 3 sites for online books in many languages.
3. https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
Unite online library provides free access to more than 400 original picture books, one fourth of them written in Spanish. The digital books provide audio narrations in more than 40 languages, spoken by native speakers in warm, expressive voices. The languages of narration include indigenous and endangered languages along with languages most widely spoken in the US. Our publishing services include the ability for our partners to curate and embed a selection of books on their websites.
4. https://worldstories.org.uk/
5. RAZ Plus also has books in many languages:
Select books in multiple languages (right side near top) - French, Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese https://www.raz-plus.com/books/leveled-books/. If the link doesn’t work, take a look at the screenshot.
BC Government Documents and Resources
BC English Language Learning (ELL) Standards
BC Government Launches Anti-Racism Action Plan for K-12 Schools
Holidays and Observances
- Canadian Jewish Heritage Month
- Asian Heritage Month
- UN Anti-Bullying Day
- Cinco de Mayo
- Mother’s Day
- International Day of Families
- World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
Other good multicultural calendars online:
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/2022
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/2023
Check out the CBC Kids website for excellent visuals and information about celebrations around the world, or how people celebrate spring in different ways.
https://www.un.org/en/sections/observances/international-days/index.html
The UN has an established a list of International Days. Note that March holds a number of days relevant to multilingualism and the elimination of discrimination.
https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/8-new-year-traditions-from-around-the-world
New Year's traditions around the world, with visuals and simplified language.
Important Links
Supporting Students with Refugee Experience
Shared Google Drive
Did you know? There is a shared Google Drive entitled "ELL/ESD Teacher Resources" containing assessments, writing prompts, a video tutorial on AIP development and the Annual September Checklist. Current and past GVSD ELL teachers should have access. Please reach out to Jennifer Barber (jbarber@sd61.bc.ca) if you need help accessing this helpful drive.
BC ELL Standards - just Google this title to see the pdf online.
Strategic Plan
The GVSD Strategic Plan for the next 5 years is on the district website, along with the Operational Plan for the current school year. All of the goals and strategies relate to cultural responsiveness.