News: Persuasive lessons planned for English Language Learners

In a recent blog post, Lesli Maxwell writes about middle school students with a moderate understanding of the English language that soon will be taught persuasive writing as part of a test unit that uses complex works, such as the Gettysburg Address. 

Developed over several months in 2012 by Stanford University's Understanding Language team, the unit is expected to determine the resources, teacher knowledge and instructional supports required to teach a rigorous, Common Core State Standards-based curriculum to English learners. The unit will be tested by nearly 10 teachers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Chicago, and Denver school districts.

According to Gabriela Uro, a member of the Understanding Language team and the director of ELL policy and research for the Council of the Great City Schools, the pilot unit will reveal "what it really takes" in terms of resources, teacher knowledge, and instructional support to implement such a rigorous unit. You can read more about this development via the blog post linked below:

Common Core & ELLs: Reading/Writing Persuasion

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