COURSE
Newcomer 102: Making Content Accessible
This 10-hour, self-paced course equips educators with practical strategies to make academic content accessible to newcomer English learners. Designed for content area teachers and ESL specialists alike, Newcomer 102 builds upon foundational newcomer knowledge, offering tools to support language development and engagement directly within content classrooms.
Whether used independently or as a continuation of Newcomer 101: Nurturing a Welcoming Environment, this course deepens understanding of the newcomer experience and empowers educators to scaffold instruction without lowering academic expectations.
TYPE
District Purchase
What Educators will Learn
Objectives
Recognize the phases of the newcomer experience and their instructional implications.
Distinguish between essential content and essential language in lesson planning.
Apply scaffolding techniques to support both input (listening/reading) and output (speaking/writing).
Leverage translanguaging and student assets to promote content access and language development.
Key Outcomes
Feel confident identifying the academic and language needs of newcomers at various adjustment phases.
Develop lessons that prioritize essential standards while adjusting language demands appropriately.
Implement classroom strategies that balance native language use, visual supports, and interactive grouping to scaffold comprehension.
Create structured opportunities for newcomers to express learning through speaking and writing tasks.
Reflect on and adapt their instructional practice to better include and support multilingual learners.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Dana Gastich French
I have spent the past two decades in education, learning and serving as an ESL and bilingual teacher, instructional coach and district-level administrator. I am truly in my joy when working with educators to hone their craft! I believe that multilingualism is the gold standard for education. Multilingual learners are not students in need of fixing but rather they are a group of learners who are positioned to contribute greatly to society if our pedagogy, curricula and practices reflect a multilingual norm. By updating our practices to reflect a global society, we leverage the assets of MLLs, deepen learning and engagement for students and educators, and contribute to a greater humanity.
Request Info
Send us a message indicating your interest in the course, and we’ll be in touch!