Making Language Learning Accessible With Colorin Colorado

This article highlights the diverse leadership experiences of ELL educators and shares ideas for identifying and honing your own leadership capacity. Do you know a teen reader who loves a scary story? These books highlight the things that can make someone feel welcome in a new place. These stories for middle grades are set in schools across the country. This week, Shanna and Fuzz explore the invaluable resources available on Colorin Colorado, a website dedicated to supporting English learners in the classroom. They highlight the site's wealth of tools designed for teachers, parents, and administrators, making it easier to meet the diverse needs of students learning English.

Listeners will learn about key features such as grade-level support, bilingual resources for families, and a comprehensive resource library filled with books, articles, and videos. Shanna emphasizes the importance of these tools for fostering an inclusive learning environment, especially for new teachers or those welcoming English learners into their classrooms. Tune in for practical insights and tips on effectively utilizing Colorin Colorado to enhance student learning and engagement. Tech Tools for Teachers is part of the Education Podcast Network. https://www.edupodcastnetwork.com/ 01:53 - Exploring Resources for English Learners

05:31 - Exploring Educational Resources for English Learners 07:30 - Exploring Resources for English Learners Hey teachers! Episode 220 of the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast is all about civics—and the awesome resources that make teaching government, citizenship, and community engagement Hey teachers! Episode 219 of the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast is all about measurement — a life skill that spans math, science, shop class, and beyond.

Hey teachers! Episode 218 of the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast is all about poetry. Whether you’re building a unit, looking for new ways to Hey teachers! Episode 217 of the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast spotlights Pixar in a Box, a collaboration between Pixar and Khan Academy that brings real The languages that students speak are one of their most valuable assets.

The following videos, articles, tip sheets and other resources offer ideas for how to support students' languages in school and beyond. These videos explain the value of using cognates with English language learners. See more in our Cognates Strategy. These videos are available in multiple languages. You can see those videos in our Multilingual Video Series section. Serving Multilingual Learners: Laws, Policies, and Regulations is a guide from Colorín Colorado that provides an accessible summary of federal laws governing the education of Multilingual Learners [MLs].

The first edition of this guide provided a comprehensive, user-friendly resource about the latest laws, regulations, research, and evidence-based strategies of effective language education programs for MLs. Since then, several significant developments have occurred, including: This second edition incorporates these changes, supporting school and district leaders, teachers, specialists, and other stakeholders in creating high-quality language assistance programs for the growing population of multilingual learners. It begins with an overview of the nation's MLs and educators, followed by the importance of a strengths-based approach. The guide then reviews federal laws and regulations, with the following goals: While each section of this guide can be a stand-alone resource, we encourage educators and administrators to read the entire guide for a more comprehensive overview.

In addition, regulations and policies are updated over time. This guide is current as of Fall 2025. The first edition is available as a resource for reference and archival purposes, but we strongly encourage educators and administrators to review the updated edition when looking for policy guidance. Colorín Colorado is the premier national website serving educators and families of English language learners (ELLs) in Grades PreK-12. Colorín Colorado has been providing free research-based information, activities, and advice to parents, schools, and communities around the country for more than a decade. What is a language assistance program?

Learn more in this excerpt from Colorín Colorado's updated policy guide, Serving Multilingual Learners: Laws, Policies, and Regulations. What is a language assistance program? It is a sequential program of instruction that is based on sound theory and has proven to be successful in supporting students to become proficient in English. Its purpose is two-fold: (1) to ensure that it is fully supported by experts or recognized as an effective way to help ELs learn English and (2) ensure that ELs fully participate in educational... Department of Education, 1999, p. 14-17).

Further, it states that a "student's English proficiency level, grade level, and educational and language background" (U.S. Department of Education, 2016, p. 17) must be considered to determine the language assistance program that will be the most effective. For example, some school districts have designed programs to meet the unique needs of EL students [referred to in this document as ML students] whose formal education has been interrupted in their country of... The term Language Assistance Program is used interchangeably with Language Assistance Instructional Program, Language Instruction Educational Program [LIEP] and Language Assistance Services to describe the actions that a district must take to (1) properly... In the U.S., there are three main language assistance program models: (1) those promoting bilingualism and biliteracy, (2) those gradually reducing bilingualism with monolingualism in English as the goal, and (3) those using English-only...

In all these models, English language development is a key component. It is important to note that, in longitudinal studies of these models, the most successful language assistance programs are those that promote bilingualism and biliteracy (Collier and Thomas, 2002). In Episode 219, we explore fun and free tools to help students practice and understand measurement. Try RulerGame.netfor ruler and temperature games, Mr. Nussbaum Measurement Games for hands-on math challenges, and Marble Runfor creative problem-solving with shapes and space. Tech Tools for Teachers is part of the Education Podcast Network.https://www.edupodcastnetwork.com/

In Episode 218, we highlight two great poetry resources for teachers. Explore ShelSilverstein.com for videos, activities, and lesson ideas tied to Silverstein’s classic books, and Poetry4Kids.com for funny poems, a rhyming dictionary, writing lessons, and audio recordings. Both sites are fantastic for making poetry engaging and accessible for students. Tech Tools for Teachers is part of the Education Podcast Network.https://www.edupodcastnetwork.com/ In Episode 217, we dive into Pixar in a Box, a free collaboration between Pixar and Khan Academy that blends storytelling, math, computer science, and design. Explore educator guides, standards-aligned lessons, and interactive activities that help students understand how real animation pipelines work—from virtual cameras and rigging to lighting and rendering.

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