On August 16th and 17th, Wood Dale 7 held an orientation for new teachers. New teachers learned about district curriculum, professional development, and materials and resources. We are excited to welcome these individuals as they begin their careers with us.
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Students entering kindergarten in the Fall of 2017, will have the opportunity to enroll in a Spanish/English dual language program. Any child who turns 5 before September 1, 2017 will be eligible to take part in this exciting new program. Dual language students will become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in Spanish and English. The philosophy of the dual language program is to provide cross cultural experiences for students and to prepare them for a global society. To find out more click here. Sign up your child now by completing the consent form below and mail it to, or drop it off at, the Wood Dale 7 District Office at 543 N. Wood Dale Road, Wood Dale, IL 60191. If more families show interest than enrollment allows, then a waiting list will be established.
Consent form in English Consent form in Polish Consent form in Spanish Families attending the Dual Language Community Event on May 12th listened to a short presentation about the benefits of children being bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in today's global world. The presentation was given by Dr. Kudrna, Curriculum Director, and Ms. Villalobos, ELL Coordinator. A panel of parents, and students enrolled in dual language programs in other school districts, were present to address questions from the audience. Several District 7 parents already signed consent forms, enrolling their child in the program.
Presentation in English Presentation in Spanish Wood Dale District 7 will begin a voluntary Spanish / English dual language program at Oakbrook Elementary School with students entering kindergarten in the fall of 2017-2018. Any child in District 7 who turns 5 before September 1, 2017 will be eligible to participate in the new program. If you have a child who is eligible to take part in this program, please contact Dr. Kudrna for information on how to sign up. Dr. Merri Beth Kudrna [email protected] 630-595-9510 More information can be found here. Sign your child up now by completing the consent form below. Mail or drop it off at the Wood Dale 7 District Office at 543 N. Wood Dale Road, Wood Dale, IL 60191 Consent form in English Consent form in Polish Consent form in Spanish Join us on May 12th at 6:30 P.M. at the Early Childhood Education Center to learn about how you can enroll your child in the WD7 Dual Language Program. This program will begin in kindgergarten in 2017-18.
Wood Dale School District 7 will be implementing a dual language Spanish program in the 2017-18 school year. One of our dual language program goals is for students to become biliterate. What does that mean? Click here to read an FAQ from the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy.
Do you want your child to be bilingual?
Dual Language Information Meeting Spanish Dual Language Program beginning with the 2017-18 Kindergarten Class Please come to listen, learn, and find out how to enroll your child When: May 12, 2016 Time: 6:30 PM-7:30 PM Where: ECEC 543 N. Wood Dale Road Child care will be provided For more information please call 630-595-9510
At the October 29th Community Curriculum Advisory Council meeting, Dr. Kudrna presented information about the upcoming dual language program. Below is the presentation.
The Dual Language Committee is eliciting feedback from parents and community members regarding the type of program model that they would like to see implemented in District 7 (90/10, 80/20, or 50/50). The CCAC committee recommended the 80/20 program model.. This model would support 80% Spanish and 20% English instruction in kindergarten and first grade. As the students progress through the grades, Spanish would be the dominant language of instruction until upper elementary when Spanish and English would be 50/50. Research has shown that all models (90/10, 80/20, or 50/50) have been found to effectively achieve the goals of bilingualism and biliteracy; however, the 90/10 or 80/20 model has shown to create higher levels of bilingualism. For specific research studies, visit the Center of Applied Linguistics. "English speaking students in early dual language programs often do not score on par with other English-speaking students on standardized tests of reading and writing in English. This affect mostly occurs during the first two or three grades of a dual language program, when all or most instruction, in particular, literacy instruction is in the non-English language. To that point, extensive research consistently shows that English speaking students in dual language programs in the upper grades achieve the same or higher levels of proficiency in English as students in English only programs." (Dual Language Instruction from A to Z: Practical Guidance for Teachers and Administrators; Hamayan, Genesee, and Cloud) 38 Wood Dale 7 teachers and administrators are receiving sheltered instruction professional development from Dr. Amy Heineke, Associate Professor of Education, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, Loyola University Chicago. District 7 was awarded a grant from the Illinois State Board of Education to make this professional development opportunity possible. Approximately, 20% of Wood Dale students qualify to receive second language services so it is important that our classroom teachers know and understand how to differentiate instruction for these students. Linguistically responsive practice embraces a holistic approach to improving the education of English Language Learners (ELLs). At the classroom level, teachers use foundational knowledge of language to recognize the background and needs of students, analyze language demands associated with academic tasks, and scaffold learning for academic development. As part of curriculum development for all WD7 students, every grade level developed integrated units aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Dr. Heineke will show teachers how to seamlessly integrate ESL/sheltered strategies into all stages of the Understanding by Design curriculum process used by District 7 teachers. In addition, she will provide teachers opportunity to collaborate and discuss about the successes and challenges of educating ELLs. The anticipated outcome is that our teachers will be more confident in providing sheltered instruction to their students and making instructional decisions based on the students’ language proficiency levels. In turn, our students academic achievement will increase across all content areas. Teachers with their bilingual and/or ESL endorsement, PreK-8, will work with Dr. Heineke for 3 consecutive sessions. Specific needs of teachers will be targeted by organizing teachers into 3 groups: PreK/K, 1st/2nd, and 3rd-8th grade. Wood Dale School District 7 is a diverse PreK-8 school district that went 1:1 with technology devices several years ago and has not looked back. Administrators, instructional coaches and a technology trainer will share celebrations and mistakes. We will engage participants by having small group targeted conversations around key topics of becoming a 1:1 school district. Participants will be able to choose 2 topics of interest: (1) development of curriculum, choosing a device, and funding (2) coaching/professional development model, and (3) learning in a global and digital world. During some small group discussions, participants will be able to explore various instructional tools used by District 7 students and teachers. In the afternoon, participants can visit schools or meet with our technology staff about infrastructure and device management.
Scheduled Dates: Thursday, January 14, 2016 Thursday, May 5, 2016 Please sign up on our district webpage. Space is limited. Agenda |
AuthorWelcome to my blog! I'm Merri Beth Kudrna , a Curriculum Director in a PreK-8 school district. My past experiences as an educator include classroom teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. I love watching kids learn & grow through authentic learning experiences. My passion is integrating technology into the curriculum and using social media to connect students & staff to the world. Archives
January 2019
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