Multi-Lingual Learner Instruction

Relational Thinking: Text to Text, Self, and World Connections in MATH!

Nov 8, 2022 | Fall 2022, Mathematics Teaching and Learning

It is common in ELA classrooms for students to leverage relational thinking around text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections. What does this kind of relational thinking look like in math class and how can it benefit students? This article, the second in the series, uses classroom scenarios to look at how these connections provide opportunities for students to become stronger mathematicians and for teachers to implement more equitable teaching practice.

Revisiting the Importance of Planning for High-Level Instruction

May 24, 2022 | English Language Arts Teaching and Learning, Spring 2022

Check out four of our top ELA articles from the archives! They offer insights into why we advocate to make space for collaboarative instructional planning.

“Esto Si lo Puedo Hacer!”: Creating Opportuinities for Success when Teaching Academic Vocabulary in Mathematics

Mar 1, 2022 | Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Spring 2022

Too often we hear the suggestion to pre-teach math terms to multilingual students, an action that prefences memorization over meaning making. Though well intended, this approach limits opportunities for students to engage in sense making of the mathematical concepts and relationships they are studying. There is a better and more equitable way! This article shares four pedalogical choices that foster student success in the math classroom while positioning multilingual learners as leaders.

Are You “Wishing” Math Content Knowledge Into Your Students? 6 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Out

Jan 4, 2022 | Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Winter 2021

What does it mean to “wish mathematical knowledge” into your students? If reading the title of this article makes you pause, you might be doing it. Take the quiz to find out!

Increasing Representation by Globalizing School-Based Multicultural Libraries

Nov 30, 2021 | English Language Arts Teaching and Learning, Fall 2021, Instructional Leadership, Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Students are more engaged when they see themselves in the books they read. IFL partner, Syracuse City Schools, has worked to better represent all their students by expanding their multicultural libraries on a global scale.

Planning for High-Level Comprehension

Oct 5, 2021 | English Language Arts Teaching and Learning, Fall 2021

Comprehension work is critical work when we engage students with a text. Understanding and enacting the steps for planning a high-level comprehension task will help teachers provide students instructional opportunities that set every student up for success.

4 Effective Communication Strategies in Multilingual Math Classrooms

Apr 27, 2021 | Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Spring 2021

“If you cannot read the word problem, you cannot do the math.” This statement is false on many levels! Students who are receiving math instruction in a language other than their native language are doers of mathematics! And as teachers, it is our job to utilize specific strategies that allow every student in each of our classrooms to engage in thinking deeply about the mathematics. In this article we share four strategies for math teachers to use when working with multilingual students who are working on their English skills while also learning math.

Six Strategies That Can Lead to More Equitable Online Mathematics Instruction

Jan 5, 2021 | Spring 2021

As the need for virtual instruction continues, educators continue to look for ways to make mathematics instruction more equitable and honor students’ abilities and backgrounds. In this article, we examine three teaching practices that work in virtual spaces and offer six strategies for keeping every student invested and advancing in their conceptual understanding.

Using 4 Learner-Centered Routines to Build Positive Math Identity in Equitable Classrooms

Dec 1, 2020 | Winter 2020

Every person is a “math person” and using learner-centered routines can support students in seeing themselves as doers of mathematics. This article, the second of a two-part series, shares how’s and why’s of four learner-centered routines that provide opportunities for students to build positive math identity by creating space for voice, agency, and actually doing mathematics.

Every Student Needs High Cognitive Demand Instruction

Jun 1, 2020 | Spring 2020

Disrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, creating inclusive and sustainable school environments for students, and finding and cultivating the assets and interest that every student brings to school are part of what is needed for all students to develop to their full potential in and out of school.

Engaging in Meaningful Accountable Talk ® Discussions with Emergent Multilingual Students

Apr 25, 2019 | Spring 2019

English learners (ELs)—or emergent bilinguals (EBs) as educators now refer to these students to remove the deficit stigma from their identity (Garcia et al., 2008)—must engage in academic conversations every day to gain access to the world of knowledge. Their educational mission is the simultaneous acquisition of knowledge and English.