We Are New York: TV Lessons Co TESOL 2016 Presentation Friday, November 4, 2016 Presenter: Cara Schroeder

Agenda & Objective Goal: To add to educators’ toolbox an authentic and accessible resource for enriching instruction of Adult ELLs We Are New York (WANY) – What Is It?! Episode Overview Educator Website Resources View WANY Episode Applications – Who Can Use This? Activity Suggestions Take Aways

WANY – What Is It?! Emmy-award winning TV series Created in 2009 by NYC Mayor’s Office of Adult Education & CUNY Adult Literacy Program Designed to help1.6 million adult ELLS in NYC without access to classrooms learn English while informing them of the city’s resources www.nyc.gov/weareny

Episode Overview Ten 30-minute episodes Topics: Episodes are: Public School System Financial Empowerment Diabetes Asthma Domestic violence Emergency preparedness Smoking cessation Health insurance & Health Care Services Episodes are: Acted out by English Language Learners Language is simplified, easy to understand, and spoken clearly and slowly Relatable and relevant; promotes community and accessing resources Subtitled Available online, local (NYC) public TV stations, and DVD Most appropriate for Advanced Beginner- Intermediate ELL Available on WANY website and YouTube

Educator Website Resources www.nyc.gov/weareny Full Episodes Study Guides Low Level Readers Multilingual Dictionaries of Key Vocabulary Translated Video Script/Magazine, languages available: English Arabic Bengali Chinese Russian Spanish

Applications – Who Can Use This?! Parent Teacher Coordinators Adult English Language Learners Employers of Adult ELLs Libraries Educators & Volunteers working in: Health Care Adult ESL, ABE, or GED Financial Empowerment Emergency Preparedness Victim Advocacy Refugee Resettlement

View WANY Episode – Love and Money

Suggested Activities Playing word games (i.e. rearranging sentences in the correct order) Students writing their own dialogues (“missing scenes”) Students writing letters to the main characters Reading the scripts out loud Previewing activities to predict the story Comparing and contrasting the characters to the lives of the learners Role Plays Students create a handbook for other parents to use in preparing for parent teacher conferences (using “Welcome Parents” Episode) Students take community field trips based on episodes Students create their own videos (and screen them publically!) Students teach lessons to peers in other classes Source: http://www.nyc.gov/html/weareny/downloads /pdf/teacher_survey_2010.pdf

Take Aways What features do you like about this educational tool? What is one way you could use this in your classroom or work setting? What questions do you still have?

Questions & Contact Info Cara Schroeder CESL Instructor, Community College of Aurora International Student Advisor, Colorado State University caravango@gmail.com Presentation Materials: www.cotesol2016.pbworks.com