WestEd's Aida Walqui Creates Innovative English Learner Common Core Curriculum Based on Famous Speeches
Stanford Education Experts Help Launch a New Rigorous Curriculum for English Language LearnersStanford Report — December 18, 2012
WestEd's Aída Walqui led the development of an innovative curriculum unit for English language learners. The unit aims to help this group of students meet Common Core State Standards requirements.
The five-week unit challenges seventh-grade intermediate-level English language learners to work in-depth with famous persuasive texts such as Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream, and Robert Kennedy's On the Assassination of Martin Luther King. Students are also required to create their own persuasive speeches.
This curriculum will be tested in Denver, Chicago, and Charlotte, NC, as part of the Understanding Language initiative at Stanford University's School of Education.
Walqui is the Director of the Teacher Professional Development Program at WestEd.