New POW: Universal Design for Learning: Making Learning Accessible for ELL Students

Our world is increasingly diverse and globalized. Teachers are dealing with multilingualism and bilingualism in the classroom more regularly.

According to the National Council of Teachers of English:

• ELL represents that fastest growing segment of the student population, with the highest growths in grades 7-12.
• English Language Learners now represent more than 10 percent of the nation’s K-12 enrollment.
• Non-native English speakers ages 14-18 are less likely to complete high school than native English speakers.

Diversity in languages provides an opportunity for these students; there are strengths and assets of being able to speak more than more language.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that provides ALL students equal opportunities to learn. It encourages teachers to design flexible curricula that meet the needs of all learners. The goal of implementing UDL principles is that it makes the teaching and learning in the classroom engaging and accessible. One of the benefits of UDL is that students have a range of needs, skills, interests, and experiences. UDL hopes to maximize these differences by building curriculum that responds to the needs of the students.
According to the National Center on Universal Design for Learning, “The UDL framework enables educators to plan their instruction with all kinds of learners in mind. ELLs, while limited in their English proficiency, come to school with tremendous variability in their home language skills, from full oral and literate proficiency, to very limited skill sets. Rich English-language instruction that provides students with oral and written access to their native languages has at its core the UDL principle of multiple means of representation.”

Pepper has released a new workshop focused on Universal Design for English Language Learners as part of it’s Pepper Online Workshop (POW!) content. This workshop will explore short videos specific to incorporating UDL strategies for ELL students and examining the principles of UDL design as related to English Language Learners.
You can check all of our new POW content by visiting the Courses and Workshops section on your dashboard.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Thank you Teachers for all that you do - in and out of the classroom - to impact our students. 

We appreciate you today and everyday!

Adolescent Literacy: Teaching Reading Comprehension in Middle and High School

Reading is a high focus area in elementary school, but reading comprehension instruction tends to drop off once students reach upper elementary and middle school grades. Content educators would agree, however, that many students fail to have the reading skills to successfully understand their math, social studies, and other content area textbooks as they progress in higher grades and more challenging courses. Reading ability is a key predictor of achievement in mathematics and science, and the global information economy requires today’s American youth to have far more advanced literacy skills than those required of any previous generation.

The National Center for Education Science, Institute of Education Science (IES), created a report titled Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices. This study highlights findings from research-based strategies to improve adolescent literacy. There are four recommended practices:

• Provide explicit vocabulary instruction and strategies to help students become independent vocabulary learners.

• Provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy instruction.
• Provide opportunities for extended text discussion and student engagement.
• Provide intensive intervention for struggling readers and monitor all students' reading progress.

To acquire the skills they need, students must work hard to refine and build upon their initial reading skills. Students in upper elementary grades and in middle and high school classes need help to acquire more advanced skills, especially those related to content area learning

Pepper has recently released a new Pepper Online Workshop (POW) based on the IES report described above. In this workshop, we focus on the fourth recommended practice of providing intensive intervention for struggling readers and monitoring all students’ reading progress. The POW, titled “Interventions for Struggling Readers”, focuses on exploring what adolescent literacy looks like and how content teachers can build comprehension instruction into their existing teaching. The workshop also explores how teachers determine students’ skill levels so they can help pinpoint students that need additional assistance. While schoolwide teacher collaboration across content areas is essential for improving outcomes for struggling readers, in many situations adolescents that struggle with reading need qualified specialists to provide intensive and individualized interventions. If you are interested in learning more about reaching the needs of struggling adolescent readers, be sure to check out our new POW, Interventions for Struggling Readers.

Pepper provides a wide range of courses for teachers that allow for growth and learning opportunities. You also have access to Pepper's online learning community where you can meet others who are teaching and learning about adolescent literacy.