***Brought back by popular demand! Our MOST downloaded episode ever! :)

Hawai‘i is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse states in the country. As a result, English learners (ELs) make up a significant portion of Hawaii’s student population: up to 18% of students are, or have been, classified as English learners and represent up to 70 different languages! Their academic outcomes, however, vary. In this episode, we want to explore how we might be able to better support our multilingual students and learn about successful approaches going on in the state with one of our most dynamic EL teachers, Jeremiah Brown, from Waipahu High School.

Disciplinary literacies have always been a hot topic for secondary schools since much of the literacy learning in these grades occurs across the content areas. Even the Hawaii Common Core State Standards established DL goals for grades 6-12. But does that mean that elementary teachers don’t have an important role to play in teaching specialized ways of reading, writing, and thinking in a particular discipline (i.e., science, social studies, art, etc)?

In this episode, we will be chatting with Dr. Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer and Stephanie Beulow from the University of Hawaii on 1) Define what is disciplinary literacy?; 2) Why it is important for elementary students?; 3) What can Elementary teachers and families be doing to help promote it?

How can we build this bridge from school to home in a way that can be relevant to the world that families live in today? Family Resource Centers (FRC) are one way to promote family engagement that promotes a “shared partnership” that can enhance students’ language and literacy learning.

In today's episode, we get to learn from Mrs. Fuli Soa, the facilitator of the FRC of Waimanalo, which has become an example of what truly is possible for FRCs in our schools. Mrs. Soa has proven that FRCs can be flexible, family-focused, culturally sensitive hubs of support and resources that families actually WANT to tap into!