Phillip Pallitto, a Teacher and Coach at Jordan Road School of Somers Point School District (NJ), has been named the Open Up Resources EL Education K–8 Language Arts Teacher of the Month for October.
Phillip Pallitto, a Teacher and Coach at Jordan Road School of Somers Point School District (NJ), has been named the Open Up Resources EL Education K–8 Language Arts Teacher of the Month for October.
Pallitto’s work with EL Education K–8 Language Arts makes him one of the most innovative teachers in the country. The EL Education K–8 Language Arts curriculum inspires a new way of teaching language arts by engaging students through compelling, real-world content to build equitable and inclusive learning opportunities.
Pallitto shared that his favorite part of teaching with the curriculum is that “it allows students to consider perspective, support opinions, and make connections to real-world and adult issues – skills that are crucial for 21st Century Learners.”
Recently, a 5th-grade student in Pallitto’s class empathized with the character of Esperanza in Esperanza Rising. “During the lessons related to the book, the student realized that her human rights were being violated as well,” he said. “She asked what she could do to make a change and began brainstorming what she could do to raise a bigger awareness of human rights.”
Pallitto recommends anyone considering the curriculum to dive in! He added, “Although it can seem daunting at first, the student outcomes make it all worth it!”
Open Up Resources is a non-profit on a mission to increase equity in education by making excellent, top-rated curricula freely available to districts. You can learn more at www.openupresources.org. Learn more about and join our communities here.
EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning) is redefining student achievement in diverse communities across the country. Founded over 20 years ago through the collaboration of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound, EL Education operates a national network of more than 150 high-achieving public schools serving over 4,000 teachers and 50,000 students, often in high-need communities.
EL Education creates great public schools where they are needed most. In addition, EL Education leverages its expertise to bring powerful resources to schools nationally: the organization provides curriculum, masterful coaching, and professional development, and publishes a portfolio of award-winning, educator-developed materials.
EL Education’s deep education expertise is simply unparalleled among materials developers. Learn more about EL Education here.
