Online Courses for Teachers

PDI Course Number: 167T02

UCSD Course Number: EDUC42637

Learn how to receive UCSD graduate-level credit for completing this course.

Course Timeline

Participants have one year to complete the course. Participants must spend a minimum of three weeks in this course.

Course Description

As states and districts across the country embrace the science of reading, do you find yourself wondering if those same principles and best practices can also be used with your multilingual learners? Or does this “special” population need to rely on a completely different approach to literacy so that they can simultaneously master English and content successfully? This online professional development course provides K-12 teachers with a deep dive into the unique challenges faced by multilingual learners as they strive to master content standards while simultaneously learning English. Teachers will explore the various stages of new language acquisition, and they will understand the differences between a student’s social language (BICS) and their academic language (CALP). From there, teachers will thoroughly explore the science of reading, including all five areas of the “Big 5” of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension), along with a variety of strategies to engage multilingual learners in a culturally relevant way. Teachers will learn how to overcome the challenge of trying to align second language acquisition with the science of reading including how to stimulate students’ growth mindsets while embracing several different co-teaching models to further engage their multilingual learners in the learning process. Research-based assessment best practices for multilingual learners are shared, including specific assessments for students’ language ability as well as how to assess and monitor their academic progress across all areas of the “Big 5” using both formative and summative assessments. Teachers will also learn how to use the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors to guide their students to greater understanding while simultaneously providing them with equitable grading practices. By the end of this continuing education course, teachers will feel more confident and successful in their quest to combine science of reading best practices with research-based strategies to help their multilingual learners become more literate readers.

Educational Outcomes

1. Teachers will understand the definition of a multilingual learner, including the path they must take to qualify for school-based English language services.
2. Teachers will understand that multilingual learners are not a homogeneous group by any means, and they will explore the many benefits of multilingualism.
3. Teachers will explore several strategies to promote multilingualism in the classroom, including translanguaging, getting to know students’ strengths and cultures, and home visits (in person or virtual).
4. Teachers will explore the five stages of language acquisition (silent period, early production, speech emergence, beginning-to-intermediate fluency, advanced fluency), and they will learn certain prompts that can be used at each stage to support their students’ journeys.
5. Teachers will learn how BICS and CALP work together to guide students to mastery of the English language.
6. Teachers will explore the factors involved in a multilingual learner’s journey to learning a new language (age, native language, opportunities to participate in class, trauma, anxiety, depression).
7. Teachers will learn what culturally responsive teaching entails, including how students’ cultures are central to its development, as well as the benefits derived from teaching in such a manner.
8. Teachers will explore various strategies for making their classrooms more culturally responsive by getting to know their students, auditing and improving their multicultural classroom libraries, setting up their classrooms in a culturally responsive manner, and intentionally planning lessons.
9. Teachers will explore the history of the reading wars in an effort to understand how the science of reading came about.
10. Teachers will learn about the different models for reading, including the Simple View of Reading (SVR) and Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
11. Teachers will explore some of the scientific advancements in the field of reading including sounding out words, orthographic mapping, and the active view of reading.
12. Teachers will learn about the five foundational skills of effective reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), including how each of them are based on reading science.
13. Teachers will learn about the various teaching models that can be used to help multilingual learners succeed, including stand-alone and push-in models, and bilingual and newcomer programs.
14. Teachers will learn about seven co-teaching models, including how they can be used to engage multilingual learners in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
15. Teachers will learn how best second language acquisition practices are not always aligned with the science of reading, and what teachers can do to overcome that void, including using integrated models, developing students’ oral language skills, and leaning into students’ background knowledge to help multilingual learners succeed.
16. Teachers will learn the history behind standards-based learning objectives, including how these straightforward standards aid in collaboration and promote shared accountability.
17. Teachers will learn how to transform standards-based learning objectives into student-friendly definitions using “I Can” statements.
18. Teachers will be introduced to Cognitive Load Theory as a foundation for understanding how it can affect MLLs’ working memory.
19. Teachers will explore several best practices for English-language development, including the explicit teaching of vocabulary, total participation techniques, and gamifying learning, among others.
20. Teachers will learn about the different types of assessment and why traditional assessments can be a problem for multilingual learners.
21. Teachers will explore some tips and best practices for assessing multilingual learners with an equity lens.
22. Teachers will learn what a growth mindset is and why it is important for multilingual learners.
23. Teachers will learn how to foster a growth mindset in all their students, including their multilingual learners.
24. Teachers will understand the science behind phonemic awareness, and they will explore specific modifications that can be used to help increase their multilingual learners’ phonemic awareness skills.
25. Teachers will explore how the Strive for Five conversation framework can be used to increase multilingual learners’ phonemic awareness skills.
26. Teachers will explore several co-teaching strategies that can be used to help support their multilingual learners’ phonemic awareness skills.
27. Teachers will understand the science behind phonics and decoding, and they will explore several research-based best practices to help their multilingual learners increase their skills in the areas of phonics, decoding, and high-frequency words.
28. Teachers will explore several co-teaching strategies that can be used to help support their multilingual learners in their efforts to crack the code for better decoding.
29. Teachers will better understand the decoding challenges faced by adolescent readers.
30. Teachers will understand what reading fluency entails and why it is important for multilingual learners.
31. Teachers will explore a variety of strategies and evidence-based best practices to further their multilingual learners’ reading skills as it relates to fluency, including emphasizing students’ oral language, tracking progress, and co-teaching strategies, among others.
32. Teachers will understand the various challenges faced by multilingual learners when trying to increase their different types of vocabulary (receptive/productive and oral/written), and what they can do to ease this burden.
33. Teachers will explore a variety of strategies and evidence-based best practices to further their multilingual learners’ reading skills as it relates to vocabulary, including such things as pre-teaching vocabulary words, increasing students’ oral language, and providing opportunities for wide reading, among others.
34. Teachers will explore a variety of strategies and evidence-based best practices to further their multilingual learners’ reading skills as it relates to comprehension, including such things as building background knowledge, using grade-level content, modifying independent reading, and including frequent check-ins as a way to prime their multilingual learners for success.
35. Teachers will understand all the vocabulary associated with the topic of assessment (formal/informal, formative/summative, qualitative/quantitative, validity, reliability).
36. Teachers will explore a variety of assessment tools to record data (graphic organizers, Google Sheets, standards checklists).
37. Teachers will explore ways to regularly assess their multilingual learners, including using portfolios and rubrics, as well as other research-based early screeners like DIBELS and WIDA.
38. Teachers will explore a variety of assessment options to assess their multilingual learners in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
39. Teachers will learn how to use the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors to establish where their multilingual learners are in their learning and determine what the next steps need to be to keep them on the path to success.
40. Teachers will learn how to tie the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors to the grading process.

Instructional Media

• Online Discussions
• Online Engagement
• Online Collaboration
• Instructor Feedback
• Instructor Interaction
• Online Resources and Websites
• Supplemental Instructional Materials
• Printable Classroom Resources

Evaluation

• Online Discussions
• Online Engagement
• Test #1 (5% of final grade)
• Test #2 (5% of final grade)
• Test #3 (5% of final grade)
• Test #4 (5% of final grade)
• Test #5 (5% of final grade)
• Autobiography and Goals for the Course (10% of final grade)
• Article/Video Reflection (15% of final grade)
• Course Collaboration/Share Ideas with the Class (10% of final grade)
• Cumulative Assignment/Project: Respond to Three Classroom Scenarios (20% of final grade)
• Culminating Practicum (20% of final grade)

Topical Outline

Unit One

• Who Are Our Multilingual Learners?
• The Multilingual Learner’s Journey into Learning a New Language
• Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Multilingual Classroom
• Assignment #1

  Write an autobiography including information about yourself, your grade level, and what you specifically hope to learn about helping students with their executive functions so that they can succeed in an inclusive K-12 classroom. Your autobiography should be a minimum of three paragraphs.

• Test #1

Unit Two

• The Science of Reading and the “Big 5”
• The Four Main Skills of Learning a New Language
• Combining the Science of Second Language Acquisition with the Science of Reading
• Assignment #2

  As an educator, it is important to be aware of the research, studies, and professional work done in the field. In the course, you will find an article and video that are relevant to the specific course content. Read the article and then write an essay with your thoughts.

• Test #2

Unit Three

• Standards-Based Learning Objectives
• Best Practices for English-Language Development
• Assessment with an Equity Lens
• Assignment #3

  Online Discussion Board Participation/Engagement: Please post a tip, strategy, or idea that specifically relates to helping students with their executive function deficits so that they can succeed in an inclusive K-12 classroom. The tip, strategy, or idea that you share needs to make a difference to other teachers in their own classrooms. Your assignment should be a minimum of three paragraphs and detailed enough for another teacher to follow easily. This is a great opportunity to share and collaborate with other teachers at your grade level around the country. Take time to review and respond to other postings that are relevant to your classroom population in order to gain effective ideas to use immediately in your classroom.

• Test #3

Unit Four

• Fostering a Growth Mindset
• Building MLLs’ Phonemic Awareness Skills with the Science of Reading
• Building MLLs’ Phonics and Decoding Skills with the Science of Reading
• Test #4

Unit Five

• Building MLLs’ Fluency Skills with the Science of Reading
• Building MLLs’ Vocabulary Skills with the Science of Reading
• Building MLLs’ Comprehension Skills with the Science of Reading
• Test #5

Unit Six

• Best Research-Based Assessment Practices for MLLs
• Assessing MLLs with the Science of Reading
• Using Formative Assessment Data to Drive Learning Forward for MLLs
• Assignment #4

  Review the classroom literacy scenarios and respond to three of them. Applying what you have learned from this course, what can be done in each of these scenarios to scaffold one’s teaching practices to better support the individual needs of each fictitious student? Each response should consist of a minimum of two paragraphs with the first paragraph clearly stating where the difficulty lies (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and/or comprehension) and it should explore at least one specific strategy or intervention that can be used to address the fictitious student’s literacy deficit. The second paragraph should discuss how the chosen strategy/intervention is expected to benefit the learning outcome for the given learner. The strategies and interventions you choose must be different from one another, meaning that you cannot use a particular literacy strategy more than once within each of your three responses. When you are finished with this assignment, you will have written a total of six paragraphs.

• Assignment #5

  The culminating practicum is a three-step process. (1) In the first assignment, you were asked what goals you had and what you hoped to learn from the course. Think back to your original goals for this course. Write a minimum two-paragraph reflection specifically describing how what you learned can be used to help you reach those goal(s). (2) Next, write a minimum three-paragraph plan that specifically describes the ways in which you intend to implement a particular strategy you learned in this course into your own teaching situation. (3) Last, write a minimum two-paragraph reflection describing a student you have or have had in the past. Then, discuss how the strategies you learned in this course will specifically benefit that student as you put your plan into action.

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