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    • Annual Voices Journal Submission Guidelines
  • Annual Voices Journal 2025
    • Journal 2025 Picture Word Indicative Model (PWIM)
    • Journal 2025 Creating ESL Bilingual Units
    • Journal 2025 Creating Lessons for All through Picture Books
    • Journal 2025 Faculty Resources for ML Student Success
    • Journal 2025 Fostering Inclusive Environments
  • 2025 Spring Weekly Voices
    • Teaching Newcomers? Effective Writing Strategies for ELL Newcomers
    • Proposed Changes of HS Requirements for Districts and Students
    • Congratulations to April’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Daryl Perkins
    • Preserving Family Culture and Language: A Parent Workshop in Irvington’s Early Childhood Department
    • Trauma Informed Considerations and Strategies for Multilingual Learners
    • Addressing Student Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression
    • Free Resources to Explore and Use ChatGPT and AI
  • 2025 Winter Weekly Voices
    • Professional Development Opportunities in 2025
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Scholarships and Awards for your students and you!
    • Congratulations to January’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Brittany Fuentes
    • English Learners With Disabilities: The Rules Schools Have to Follow
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • Resources for Educators Pertaining to Immigrant Students, Families, and Preparation for Response
    • How to Identify and Serve English Learners with Disabilities
    • 2024 Raquel Sinai Newcomer Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • How to Connect With English-Language Newcomers: Teachers Share Their Favorite Lessons
    • Congratulations to March’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Juliana Neno
    • 2024 Pedro J. Rodriguez High School Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference Invited Speakers
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Executive Board
    • Membership Information
    • The Hotlist
    • W25 January 21

Contact Us by Email

webmaster@njtesol-njbe.org
njtesol-njbe-voicesnjtesol-njbe-voices
  • Home
    • Annual Voices Journal Submission Guidelines
  • Annual Voices Journal 2025
    • Journal 2025 Picture Word Indicative Model (PWIM)
    • Journal 2025 Creating ESL Bilingual Units
    • Journal 2025 Creating Lessons for All through Picture Books
    • Journal 2025 Faculty Resources for ML Student Success
    • Journal 2025 Fostering Inclusive Environments
  • 2025 Spring Weekly Voices
    • Teaching Newcomers? Effective Writing Strategies for ELL Newcomers
    • Proposed Changes of HS Requirements for Districts and Students
    • Congratulations to April’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Daryl Perkins
    • Preserving Family Culture and Language: A Parent Workshop in Irvington’s Early Childhood Department
    • Trauma Informed Considerations and Strategies for Multilingual Learners
    • Addressing Student Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression
    • Free Resources to Explore and Use ChatGPT and AI
  • 2025 Winter Weekly Voices
    • Professional Development Opportunities in 2025
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Scholarships and Awards for your students and you!
    • Congratulations to January’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Brittany Fuentes
    • English Learners With Disabilities: The Rules Schools Have to Follow
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • Resources for Educators Pertaining to Immigrant Students, Families, and Preparation for Response
    • How to Identify and Serve English Learners with Disabilities
    • 2024 Raquel Sinai Newcomer Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • How to Connect With English-Language Newcomers: Teachers Share Their Favorite Lessons
    • Congratulations to March’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Juliana Neno
    • 2024 Pedro J. Rodriguez High School Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference Invited Speakers
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Executive Board
    • Membership Information
    • The Hotlist
    • W25 January 21

Congratulations to October’s
NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month
Kellie Cuccaro

Kellie on the first day of school

Kellie Cuccaro, an ESL teacher in Hackettstown, has been teaching for more than 25 years. Kellie consistently goes above and beyond for her students and their families. In the classroom, she employs strategies that center, validate and affirm her students’ way of knowing and being. She keeps her students’ families informed of important services and resources, as well as sports and other activities. She is a caring and enthusiastic teacher that fosters both conversational and academic language acquisition in a supportive environment. She regularly participates in workshops and is always exploring ways to support her students.

In her words, Kellie says, “I am truly honored to be October’s member of the month! I have been passionate about language learning and teaching for many years and it feels wonderful to be recognized in this way!” We at NJTESOL/NJBE applaud Kellie – She has a passion for what she does, and it shows!

Nominate the member of the month!
NJTESOL/NJBE has so many amazing teachers throughout our state that it would be fitting to highlight some of them. Nominees could be colleagues who are available to answer questions about ELLs or the Bilingual Education code; educators who support students and their families beyond the classroom with projects, college applications, and extracurricular activities; someone who joins committees in support of ELLS or to implement positive change for the community. The nominee must be a member of NJTESOL/NJBE. Nomination Link

Announcements

CABR (Countering Anti-Black Racism) Committee, Wednesday, October 16, at 7:00. Our Summer Book Study was “Black Immigrant Literacies: Intersections of Race, Language and Culture in the Classroom” authored by Dr. Patriann Smith. This month Dr. Patriann Smith will join us for a Q&A session during our October Meeting. Register on Eventbrite.

Advocacy Committee: Thursday, October 17, at 5:00. Join us for discussions on issues that impact Multilingual Learners and their families in New Jersey. Register on the Google form to get a Zoom link.

NJTESOL/NJBE Professional Development: Teaching Foundational Reading Skills to Multilingual Learners. Tuesday, October 29, at 5:00. This PLC series will explore instructional practices for teaching foundational reading skills to MLs in English, research and current topics in education pertinent to this topic, and an overview of the Science of Reading and what it means for MLs in New Jersey. We have already “sold out”, but the event will be recorded. We now have a waiting list & YouTube notification form for the PLC. Here is the link to the signup form.

T-Shirt Design Contest – All NJTESOL/NJBE members and their students are invited to participate in this first-ever competition. The winning design will be featured on the 2025 Spring Conference t-shirts sold to raise funds for the NJTESOL/NJBE Scholarship Fund. Submissions are due by Nov. 15, 2024. See more information here.

Spring Conference Call For Proposals
Presenters play a key role in our Spring Conference. We invite proposals that will strengthen systems of support for students, their families, educators, support staff, and the communities in which we work and live. Proposals may focus on any educational level, from Pre-Kindergarten to university, as well as on adult school and workplace literacy settings. Proposals can be submitted for an in-person presentation, a pre-recorded presentation for the Video Library, or a combination of both. You can submit your proposal here. The deadline is Nov. 17, 2024.

Every Teacher Is a Language Teacher:
Strategies for Supporting Multilingual Learners of English in the Mainstream Classroom

By Naashia Mohamed

Naashia Mohamed begins this blog by reminding educators that even though Multilingual Learners of English can communicate conversationally, it takes longer for them to acquire the academic vocabulary necessary to understand the subject content. For this, Mohamed maintains that they need instruction and support from all of their teachers: the ESL teacher cannot be solely responsible to meet these demands. She writes that “… every teacher, regardless of their curriculum specialization, has a responsibility to teach language. Every teacher is a language teacher.”

However, this does not require language development expertise, but as experts in the vocabulary for their field, content teachers can explain how these words are used in the context of their subject. Collaboration between the content teachers and the ESL teacher can aid in accomplishing this.

Mohamed offers these guidelines for integrating language and content.

  • Focus on the four Cs in planning lessons:
    • Content: The specific topic for the lesson
    • Communication: The vocabulary used for explanations and discussions
    • Cognition: How will students be describing the topic?
    • Culture: Does culture have a bearing on the topic?
  • Consider the language of the lesson. What vocabulary is essential to the topic, and what words do students already know?
  • Set language and content objectives for each lesson.
  • Determine the input and output. What differentiation is needed and how will students demonstrate comprehension?
  • Incorporate the teaching of the four skills in every lesson: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

 

Mohamed acknowledges that this is not easy. “However, when thoughtfully implemented through collaborative efforts, it can empower students to leverage language as an instrument for active learning and critical thinking.”

You can read more about it here.

Communication is KEY!
and
Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Has Consequences.
What Schools Can Do to Help

ARTICLES:

Meet Our New Executive Board Members

Science of Reading Podcast 3:
Diagnosing Dyslexia in Multilingual Learners
– with Francisco Usero-González
and
Science of Reading Podcast 4:
Practical Strategies for Multilingual Learning
– with Diane August, Ph.D.

Communication is KEY!
and
Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Has Consequences. What Schools Can Do to Help

Congratulations to October’s
NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month Kellie Cuccaro

and
Every Teacher Is a Language Teacher: Strategies for Supporting Multilingual Learners of English in the Mainstream Classroom– Naashia Mohamed

3 Ways to Ensure English Learners Benefit from the Science of Reading
-Leslie Villegas
and
Supporting Multilingual Learners in Developing Reading Fluency across the School Day– Kate Kinsella

Announcing the 2025 Spring Conference Keynote Speakers!

Congratulations to November’s
NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month Mrs. Singh

and
4 Ways to Support Long-Term English Learners – Sarah Said

Word Analyzer Vocabulary Tool
and
Online Dictionaries

Notebook LM
-Jessica Duran
and
5 Ways to Use AI-Generated Images in Your Classroom -Brent Warner

Inspirational Quotations
and
A Chorus of Reasons Why We Teach

Invitation to Write an Article for the Yearly Voices Journal
and
Padres con Poder/Parent Power Parent Expo

5 Ways to Bring Cultural Diversity into Your Classroom -Carol Higho
and
Defying Labels at Tables -Joyce Farr

Season’s Greetings from the NJTESOL/NJBE Executive Board

NJTESOL/NJBE Voices Editorial Board

Executive Director
Kathleen Fernandez

President
LeighAnn Matthews, Bridgewater-Raritan Public Schools

Past-President
Michelle Land, Randolph Township Schools

Layout
Dale Egan, Bergen Community College

Technology
Marilyn Pongracz, Bergen Community College

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