Five years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention.

You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2017 – So Far. and The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2017 – Part Two. Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learners.

In addition, look for our next book on teaching ELLs, which will be published in the Spring of 2018.

Here are this week’s choices:

Interactive Word Walls Enliven Vocab Learning is by Valentina Gonzalez at Middleweb. I’m adding it to The Best Ideas About How To Use Classroom Walls – Please Recommend More Resources.

Teaching English Language Learners: A Complex Endeavor is from Edutopia.

Immigrants Students Are ‘Being Rocked in Really Profound Ways’ is from Ed Week.

The Teaching Channel has a nice video on Scaffolding Text Structure for ELLs, though it’s useful for everybody. I’m adding it to The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students.

Ed Source has a summary of the recent agreement the state of California made with the U.S. Department of Education about its plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act. However, I don’t really understand what it says about its implications for ELLs. Here’s a paragraph from the article – I hope someone more knowledgeable than me can leave a comment explaining what it means for us on the ground:

The biggest change in the state plan will be to the new federal requirement that states highlight English learners’ progress toward language proficiency. At the recommendation of English learner advocates and researchers, the state board created an indicator that counted the number of English learners who were reclassified as English proficient and separately distinguished the progress of long-term English learners — those students who have struggled the most achieving proficiency. But, using a strict interpretation of the law, federal officials said the indicator should consider only the yearly progress of all English learners, as measured by the state’s language proficiency test.

I had thought reclassification was a huge point in ESSA? Does this mean that the pressure is off? I hope so (see my reasons at The Best Resources For Learning About The Ins & Outs Of Reclassifying ELLs).

Here’s something we did today in class: