The ML Messenger

ML MESSENGER

News from the Multilingual Learners Department
Hamden Public Schools

 June 2024: PARENT Summer Edition

THANK YOU for all your support and involvement throughout the year. Whether it was helping with homework, joining us at our Building Communities Nights, attending parent-teacher meetings, or simply cheering on your child, your enthusiasm has made all the difference!

Now it's time to relax and soak up the summer sun. We can't wait to hear all about your summer adventures when we reunite in the fall. Until then, have a blast and enjoy every moment!

EXIT AWARD CEREMONY

Students who met the criteria of an Overall 4 and a 4 in both Read and Writing on the LAS Links Assessment have been invited to our Exit Award Ceremony that will take place on Thursday, May 30th at 8:00am at the Hamden Public Library (Thornton Wilder Auditorium) . Congratulations!

SUMMER PROGRAM

This year’s EL/ML Summer Program will be held from July 8-11, July 15-18, July 22-25, and July 29-August 1, 2024 (Monday-Thursday) from 9:00AM-12:00PM. This program is by invite only for newcomer students who are currently in grades K-5 (who are entering grades 1-6) or in grades 6-11 with a LAS Links Score of 1 & 2 and who have been enrolled in school for less than 2 years. 

OUR FIRST-EVER FIELD TRIP FOR GRADES 4-6!

On April 24, 2024, Grades 4-6 Multilingual Learners were enchanted by the timeless tale of Cinderella at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport. Everyone enjoyed watching the show! For many students, this was their first time seeing a staged performance!

HIGHLIGHTS

Kindergarten students participated in a STEM lesson in their classroom. Students listened to directions and discussed how to problem solve in order to create electrical circuits.

First grade students used prompts on a beach ball to participate in discussion about characters in a story.  This was a fun way to engage them in listening and speaking. 

Second graders have been learning about how poems look different from other genres of writing.

Third graders using their native language to support learning about wolves.

Fourth graders are currently studying graphic novels. Here they are brainstorming all the different parts of a graphic novel before making their own!

Fifth graders are loving the unit on fantasy reading and writing. They have engaged in many discussions about fantasy characters and stories.

Sixth graders are pretending to be the governor of CT, meeting with the reporters to discuss the problems immigrants face in CT, stating the solutions to those problems, and sharing their plans to resolve those issues.

In Middle School, English 8 is reading the graphic novel, New Kid by Jerry Craft. We are focusing on characters’ perspective, finding evidence such as dialogue, action, and images of text.

At Hamden High School, English Learners (ELs) are actively learning how to construct robust paragraphs using the T-BEAR writing organization. This structured approach helps them organize their ideas effectively and create coherent and well-supported paragraphs.

SUMMER IDEAS

Click here for the Read, Renew, Repeat: Kids Summer Reading Challenge

• Parks and Beaches

• Educational TV Shows like Sesame Street 

• Museums like Peabody Museum and Yale Art Gallery

• The Children’s Building in New Haven ($10 admission fee per person)

• Games that use counting or “word games”

• Projects like cooking, crafting and gardening

• Free programs at the Hamden Public Library

• Riding bikes

• Journal Writing - CLICK HERE FOR JOURNAL PAGES - If your child completed this journal and returns it at the beginning of the school year, he/she will win a special prize!

• Read!

Useful links:

1. Fun Brain

2. PBS Kids

3. ABC Ya

4. International Children’s Digital Library (multiple languages)

Students who HAVE an Imagine Language & Literacy Account will have access until August 16, 2024.

ML MESSENGER

News from the Multilingual Learners Department
Hamden Public Schools

 Spring 2024: Conferences Edition

During the school year, teachers will invite you to come to parent-teacher meetings (also called conferences). This is very common in the United States. 

The conference gives you a chance to talk with your child’s teacher. Your child’s teacher will probably talk about your child’s grades, classwork, homework, and behavior. You will learn more about your child’s classes, and find out if your child is having any problems. Here are some tips for conferences:

Before the conference

• Ask your child how she feels about school.

• Ask your child if there is anything that he wants you to talk about with his teacher.

• Tell your child that you and the teacher are meeting to help her.

• Make a list of topics that you want to talk about with the teacher.

• Prepare a list of questions such as:

1. What are my child's strongest and weakest subjects?

2. Does my child hand homework in on time?

3. Does my child participate in class?

4. Does my child seem happy at school?

5. What can I do at home to help?

During the conference

• Be on time (or early) for the meeting.

• End the meeting on time. Other parents will probably have a conference after yours.

• Relax and be yourself.

• Stay calm during the conference.

• Ask the most important questions first.

• If your child receives special services such as English classes, ask about your child's progress in those classes.

• Ask for explanations of anything you don't understand

• Ask your child's teacher for ways that you can help your child at home.

• Thank the teacher.

MARCH

3/5: HHS Conferences

3/6: HMS Conferences

3/21: ½ Day HMS/HHS/ Prof. Development Day

3/25: Elementary Evening Conferences

3/26: ½ Day Elementary Afternoon Conferences

3/27: ½ Day Elementary Evening Conferences

Holidays & Observations

3/1-3/30: Women’s History Month

3/8: Int’l Women’s Day

3/10-4/9: Ramadan

3/17: St. Patrick’s Day 

3/20: Nowruz

3/24: Purim 

3/25: Holi 

3/31: Easter 

3/31: Cesar Chavez Day

After the conference  

• Talk about the conference with your child.

• Talk about the positive points, and be direct about problems.

• Tell your child about any plans you and the teacher created.

• Keep in touch with the teacher during the school year.

More tips for parent-teacher conferences can be found here.

LanguageLine Solutions

Hamden Public Schools offers LanguageLine Solutions to assist communicating with families who speak a language other than English. This service is available for in-person conferences (your phone can be placed on speaker mode). If you need a translator for conferences, please contact your student’s teacher and EL/ML Teacher.  

TalkingPoints

We encourage you to use TalkingPoints in order to communicate with your EL/ML teacher in your home languages and build strong partnerships all year long. This is a FREE program. Learn more at https://talkingpts.org/families. 

HIGHLIGHTS

2nd graders are learning about animal life cycles. Here they are comparing and
contrasting the life cycle of a chicken and the life cycle of a frog by using a venn digram.

Ms. Lapman visited 1st graders at Bear Path School for Read Across America Day. She read “Maybe Something Beautiful” by Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, and she gave students a “care” package to take home. 

Fourth graders are researching a severe
weather of their choice. Soon they will make a pamphlet complete with photos to present to their class.

6th graders listened the story 'Mama's  Nightingale'. Here they are sharing the problems that immigrant family in the story faced in the U.S.A.

In Grade 5, students are examining different perspectives of an argument. Students are
also learning how to support an argument
with facts and reasons.

First grade students have returned to reading fictional text and identifying elements of a story. Here, students have personal word banks and are accessing the anchor chart for vocabulary and sentence frame support.  

Third graders are reading fairy tales and analyzing the villain.

Grade 7 is preparing for an assessment on theme. Students watched a short film and worked together to come up with themes and evidence to support the theme. 

Students at the high school are enhancing their reading comprehension skills by summarizing short stories or informational texts using graphic organizers.

TIPS FOR FAMILIES

Parent Bill of Rights available online here: https://portal.ct.gov/sde/english-learners/english-learner-multilingual-learner/parent-bill-of-rights

Visit our Cultural Corner at https://www.hamden.org/departments/multilingual/cultural-corner to learn about holidays and observations. 

ML MESSENGER

News from the
Multilingual Learners Department
Hamden Public Schools

WINTER 2024

Building Communities Night

In December, families gathered at the Thornton Wilder Auditorium at the Hamden Public Library for an enjoyable evening of bingo and pizza! Our next Building Communities Night will be held on April 4, 2024 at the Hamden Public Library. More information to come!

LAS Links Annual Assessment

Our students have completed the annual LAS Links Assessment. Scores will be sent home in Mid-May. In order to achieve “exit” status as a Multilingual Learner, a student must obtain the following on the LAS Links Assessment:

• an overall Level 4 or 5 on the LAS Links

• a Reading score of 4 or higher

• a Writing score of 4 or higher
   

Field Trip for Grades 4, 5 and 6

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, we will be taking the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Multilingual Learner students to see “Cinderella” at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport. Details and permission slips will be sent home the first week in March.

Parent Bill of Rights

The state Board of Education unanimously voted to adopt a “bill of rights” for non-English speaking parents. This will ensure families understand they are entitled to enroll their child in public education, regardless of immigration status, and receive translation services and important documents in their native language. A copy of the the Parent Bill of Rights will be available this Spring in multiple languages.

FEBRUARY

2/1: Black History Month 

2/2: Groundhog Day

2/5: Rosa Parks’ Day

2/10: Lunar New Year

2/15: Early Dismissal (Teachers have Professional Development)

2/16-19: Winter Recess (No School)

2/19: Presidents’ Day (No School) 

WELCOME MS. G!

In January, we welcomed Ms. Gonzalez as our new EL Teacher at Church Street School!

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS

Students in primary grades are working on vocabulary development. 

First grade students (picture on right) are learning about the world around them. We began the unit with a visual of our topic.  Students discussed the visual and together we completed a web of connected words. With support of the visual, web, and sentence frame, students were able to tell about the topic orally and in writing. 

Second graders (pictured on left) are learning about fables. This week they were looking for vocabulary words in “The Fox and the Grapes.” 

Third graders (pictured on right) are learning about mysteries. Students read “The Ghost Town Mystery” on Epic and identified clues throughout the story. Picture are third grades

Some of our fourth graders were learning about synonyms. Students were given the word synonym in their native languages (Spanish, French & Pashto). Then students were given English translation with photos to match.

Fifth graders are learning about idioms. Idioms are phrases that have a different meaning from their literal meaning.

We have also been looking for the theme in stories we read. Students have been asked, ‘What message can we learn from this story?’

PARENT TIPS

• Check that your child’s homework is completed.
• Ask your child to tell you about the school day. Asking your child about their day opens up a world of stories, giggles, and precious insights!
• Find a way to keep in regular contact with the teacher or school staff member usually email or in person is best.
  • Stay in touch with your child’s EL Teacher by downloading TalkingPoints at https://talkingpts.org/families
• Make sure your child gets enough rest and comes to school each day.
• Develop a homework routine.
• Read together 20-30 minutes each night.
• Go to www.colorincolorado.org for some great articles on how to help your child.                     

RESOURCES

• Family Toolkit from the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition - https://ncela.ed.gov/educator-support/toolkits/family-toolkit
• Hamden Library Branches - www.hamdenlibrary.org 
  • Miller Library: 2901 Dixwell Ave.
  • Whitneyville Branch: 125 Carleton St.
  • Brundage: Community Branch: 91 Circular Ave.