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Fall 2023
- Office of Early Learning Director Welcome
- Back to School Resources
- Classroom Spotlight
- Multilingual Learner Supports
- Helpful Resources/Professional Development
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Welcome Back to a New School Year | |
Dear Superintendents and Early Learning Leaders,
Welcome to a new school year! A new year always holds promise and possibility and reminds us of our shared work together to ensure that each student has the best possible year. This past summer, we held our P-3 Summer Institute and were thrilled to learn together about how to best support students. We heard inspiring keynotes from Dr. Ron Ferguson and Dr. Nonie Lesaux; both keynotes were recorded and are available on the Early Learning website.
For the upcoming year, the Office of Early Learning is committed to supporting the needs of educators, students, and families. We are currently working on providing literacy guidance for early childhood and elementary grades and are developing inquiry-based science guidance. To support the arts and ensure students have access to museums and cultural experiences, we are partnering with our colleagues in the Office of Cultural Education to create a P-3 cultural education toolkit. And to continue our guidance to educators, we will hold an early learning webinar series, which will include a range of topics that span early childhood to Grade 3.
For UPK, we stand ready to assist with any questions as districts complete their annual applications and final reports. Our annual monitoring visits will begin this fall. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or suggestions about how the Office of Early Learning can best support the educators in our state.
Have a wonderful school year!
Erik Sweet
Executive Director, Office of Early Learning
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2023 P-3 Summer Institute
On Thursday, August 17th, the New York State Education Department hosted the 2023 P-3 Summer Institute for teachers and administrators in partnership with the Council on Children and Families. Session topics focused on literacy, P-3 instructional tools, cultural education resources, and supporting English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities. The Department and New York State Board of Regents are committed to providing the necessary resources and professional development so all New Yorkers have access to a high-quality education that has a focus on literacy and numeracy at its core.
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Back to School Literacy Resources | Back to school time can be a challenging transition for everyone. Reading Rockets has helpful tips, articles, and other resources for families and teachers — plus some recommended picture books to ease back-to-school jitters. | |
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Picture Book Bonanza:
Highlighting New and Notable Primary Children's Literature at Lansingburgh CSD
Who doesn’t love a good picture book? As early childhood educators, picture books are often used as the vehicle to teach a wide variety of academic, social/emotional, and “just for fun” content. It’s easy to go back to our tried-and-true favorite picture book titles, but in doing so, we miss out on new picture books that are being released daily! That’s how Book Bonanza was born at Turnpike Elementary in Lansingburgh CSD by kindergarten teacher Maggie Higgins - as a way to showcase the variety of children’s literature being published each year.
This course is taught twice annually in an effort to highlight as many of the year’s “best” new picture books as possible. A special focus is placed on multicultural/DEI titles. These texts feature diversity in race, culture, family structure, identity, disability experience, and even social issues and events. As teachers, we always want our students to feel understood and represented in the classroom setting. Reading diverse books is one way to do this - while also providing young students with background knowledge about the many differences we share. Diverse texts are an excellent tool to not only educate, but build empathy and compassion for others. Our student bodies are growing more diverse each year, which is why it is important to include new texts that offer representation for all.
Other texts featured in this course may be those created by a familiar author or illustrator, the newest book in a series, or ones that feature topics frequently taught in early childhood education (e.g., community helpers, SEL, habitats, etc.). Up to 50 new titles are highlighted in each course, and those who attend have an opportunity to preview each title individually (thanks in large part to our local library system!). Educators who attend also receive a complete book list of texts from the course, so that they may borrow or purchase these books to add to units of study and classroom libraries. Book Bonanza has become a tradition at Turnpike, and one that has introduced teachers to so many amazing new texts that they may not have discovered themselves. Sharing new and notable literature as a school has brought great joy to teachers and students alike, and reinforces a love of reading for all!
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Want to be featured in the Classroom Spotlight?
The Office of Early Learning is looking for best practices from districts or classrooms to spotlight throughout the year. If you are interested in sharing a success story in any of the following areas, please submit your story via email to the Office of Early Learning at oel@nysed.gov.
- Building classroom community
- Differentiated instruction
- P-3 curriculum continuum
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the early elementary classroom
- Anything you are excited to share as a district!
You will need to include the following information in your submission:
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Subject: Classroom Spotlight Submission
- District Name
- Teacher Name/Grade Level
- Photo of the best practice in action
- 1-2 paragraphs discussing the best practice
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Supporting Multilingual Learners
¡Colorín colorado! is a national multimedia project that offers a wealth of bilingual, research-based information, activities, and advice for educators and families of English language learners (ELLs).
An important first step in helping English language learners succeed is building their confidence and comfort level by making them feel welcome in the classroom and building positive relationships with students. ¡Colorín colorado! offers many resources for setting up a welcoming classroom, including:
Additional resources from ¡Colorín colorado! include:
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Colorín on the Go!
Colorín on the Go is a new web app from Colorín Colorado for teachers of English language learners (ELLs)! It offers more than 100 practical, shareable strategies featuring our most popular content across topics such as:
- Ideas for New Teachers of ELLs
- ELL Instruction
- Family Engagement
- Social and Emotional Support
Visit Colorín on the Go or use the QR code.
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PBS Kids Back to School Collection
Get ready for the start of school with some of our favorite back-to-school resources! This collection features activities and video resources to help students get to know each other and their new school routines, and lesson plans to help you get your new class off to a great start.
Click here to access back to school resources from PBS Kids!
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Reading Rockets
Book Finder
Use this Book Finder tool from Reading Rockets to create your own customized list of fiction and nonfiction books. Search through more than 5,000 books on Reading Rockets — by author, illustrator, age, genre, format, and topic. Book Finder also makes it easy to discover diverse titles.
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Culturally Responsive Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework
The CR-S framework helps educators create student-centered learning environments that affirm racial, linguistic and cultural identities; prepare students for rigor and independent learning, develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; and empower students as agents of social change.
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News and Updates
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Coming Soon in 2023-2024! A new P-3 webinar series on promising practices from the Office of Early Learning. Stay tuned to the OEL Webinar Webpage for more information.
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Questions?
The Office of Early Learning provides technical assistance to districts regarding Prekindergarten - Grade 3 instruction and best practices. Our office also answers questions regarding UPK funding and program implementation. You can contact us at OEL@nysed.gov or (518) 474-5807.
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Erik Sweet
Executive Director, Office of Early Learning
Lori Smart, Director
Tanya Amodio-Kovacs, Supervisor
James Bordis, Samantha Chobot, Lauren Cosamano,
Paulette Coppin, Carly Feldman,
Noelle Lake, Eric Feml-Nelsen,
Jason Gish, Christine Lyons, Terry Onofrio,
Brandon Orszulak, Christina Ryan,
Tina Rose-Turriglio, Rachel Schlude,
Michelle Sidoti, Zachary Snyder, Vicky Woods
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