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About ELL at King
King serves the most diverse population of middle school students in Maine. There are more than 28 languages spoken and 17 countries represented. The program for English Language Learners has two tiers, the Beginner Program and Mainstream Academic Support. Learn More

Current Expeditions

It Takes a Village... Portland Spring 2010

What is a community? How is a community garden a microcosm of our Portland community? This spring beginner ELL students will become sociologists and gardeners during "It Takes A Village". Through collaboration with experts at Cultivating Communities, and Portland City officials, we will plant, maintain and harvest our own community garden on Boyd St., analyze the components of communities around the globe, and culminate with a publishing party of two books for newcomers to the Portland area.

Expeditions from the Past

Students explore life in and along the Casco Bay in The Sea and Me
Intermediate ELL spring expedition

For our spring expedition, we will explore the life of Casco Bay and answer such questions as: Why do scientists study the ocean? Who and what lives in the Casco Bay? And what threatens the health of our bay?

Our class will be exploring water quality, investigating life forms, and studying different food webs related to the Casco Bay. We will be teaming with a class from East End Community School. Some very exciting highlights of our expedition will include going on a whale watch, visiting the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and working with scientists in the field.

Our final product will be student written and published books on their research of the plants and animals of Casco Bay. We will be working with an area illustrator on this project as well as an area author.

We Came, We Saw, We Learned gives new ELLs an introduction to the Expeditionary Learning model while celebrating their own heritage
Beginner ELL spring expedition

The beginner ELL expedition, We Came, We Saw, We Learned, affords beginning English Language Learners the opportunity to celebrate their unique cultural experiences by reflecting on their lives in the past (homeland and family), in the present (learning experiences in their new homeland), and in the future (where their learning will take them 15 years from now). The final product will be a composite picture book of the personal stories of the students in their own words.