Presented by Debra Hopkins, Director of Instructional Design, Language & Literacy, Imagine Learning

Sponsored by Imagine Learning

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“Academic language is the lifeblood of success in schools,” according to Dr. Jeff Zwiers of Stanford University, and “Academic English is a second language for nearly everyone,” according to Dr. Lily Wong Fillmore, professor emerita at Berkeley University.

The truth is, all students are language learners, and all teachers are language teachers. Even those students whose first language is English must continue to learn the specific registers of language required in academic settings, in science, social studies, and mathematics. In this edWebinar, we will shine a spotlight on research around the important role language plays in all learning and explore high leverage practices that aim to accelerate language development for all students, across all subject areas. Participants will leave this edWebinar with concrete ideas and classroom-tested strategies for accelerating the development of discipline-specific and high-leverage academic language for all students.

This edWebinar will be of interest to kindergarten through middle school teachers and school and district leaders. 

About the Presenter

Debra Hopkins serves as Director of Instructional Design, Language & Literacy at Imagine Learning. She is a mission-driven educator who is devoted to accelerating high levels of language and literacy achievement for all students. Born into a family of educators, Debra completed her M.Ed. in Reading/ESL at Texas Woman’s University and began her career as a third-grade classroom teacher in the Dallas ISD. She dove into the challenges with great enthusiasm and, in her second year as a teacher, Debra was named district-wide ESL “Teacher of the Year”. Before joining Imagine Learning, Debra was deeply engaged with urban school districts nationwide, coordinating projects designed to raise expectations and instructional rigor, improve instructional materials, and launch a professional learning tool designed to build capacity for teaching at higher levels of rigor. She also worked in the EL Office of Metro Nashville Public Schools, where she served as EL Coordinator of Professional Learning and instructional coach.

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Imagine Learning provides personalized and proven digital education for students from pre-K to eighth grade.