A Publication of Dual Language Education of New Mexico
Spring 2012
Soleado
Promising Practices from the Field
Enhancing Literacy Instruction through
Community Connections
by Mari Stebner and Carlos Ruiz, West Salem High School, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
real situations. Themes selected have broad
High school dual language instruction is unique
local and global implications and are based
in that there are many uncharted waters. There
are few national models to consult when planning on the national AP curriculum. Some topics
include education, healthcare, immigration,
our curriculum. In addition, we have the
the environment and literature. Students
challenge of engaging students in Spanish at the
are in charge of narrowing the focus of the
high school, after nine years in our immersion
“big idea,” researching,
program. Our students
comparing and
are a heterogeneous
contrasting, and fully
group, primarily of
understanding the
Mexican and US origins.
topic they have chosen
Most enter the program
before they embark on
in kindergarten. As in
the community action
any class, they arrive with
activity. The action
a wide array of literacy
plan provides tangible
skills and background
rewards as their
knowledge. Some
projects help implement
use Spanish socially
change and they engage
outside of class and
Students in AP Spanish work on their service
in real-life problem
speak it at home.
project—a
Spanish
language
newsletter
and
solving (Auerbach &
Using an approach
website for families in their school community.
Wallerstein, 1987).
that combines the
Freirean method with writer’s workshop, we have
embarked on a literacy approach The constant use of the target language
during the research process provides
that requires students to use
Inside this issue...
multiple opportunities for assessment,
their language skills to connect
La transferencia entre
both formative and summative. Through
with their community.
idiomas en una clase de student dialogue and writing, error patterns
lenguaje dual... el Puente
emerge. Formal language study evolves
Using the Freirean approach,
Independent Learners—
from these patterns. Small groups can then
named after Paulo Freire of
... Engagement, Language
be identified and grammar mini lessons
Brazil, language instruction
Development, Responsibility... at the freshman level in AP
can be tailored to their needs. If an error
pattern seems to exist in the class as a
When Vision Becomes Practice, Spanish is done through
Part II—The Journey Continues inquiry. The Freirean approach
whole, grammar instruction can be done in
a whole group. The important thing is that
is
often
called
the
problemConnecting Spanish and approach (Auerbach and grammar evolves in a meaningful context,
English Literacy Instruction in posing
where students need to use the language to
Wallerstean,
1987). Students
Kindergarten
communicate; it is not taught in isolation.
focus on problems that are
Interactive Sheltering of
present in their immediate
Mathematics ...
This model of language instruction
environment. The goal is to
Coming Events
embedded in inquiry is one that we took
empower the student to use
language with confidence in
—continued on page 12—
;
;
;
;
;
;
La transferencia entre idiomas en una clase
de lenguaje dual en kindergarten: el Puente
Soleado—Spring 2012
Promising practices...
por Marcos Gómez, Maestro de lenguaje dual, Woodstock D200, Illinois
La transferencia entre lenguajes en kindergarten será
el tema que nos ocupe en este artículo, en particular el
Puente: esa fase de la unidad temática donde se enseña
a los estudiantes a transferir lo que han aprendido de
un lenguaje a otro (Beeman & Urow, 2011). El Puente
se refiere a ese proceso por el cual los estudiantes
son “guiados” para conectar un idioma con otro,
tomando como referencia el vocabulario y estructuras
aprendidas en una lengua para transferirlos a la otra y
teniendo en cuenta las similitudes entre ambas. Todos
sabemos que la mayoría de nuestros estudiantes de
lenguaje dual están continuamente comparando los
idiomas: el hecho de estar expuestos
al aprendizaje de dos idiomas requiere
en sí que los niños hagan conexiones
de forma natural, dándose cuenta de
cómo el español se asemeja al inglés y
viceversa. Entonces, si se da de forma
natural… ¿por qué es importante el
Puente en nuestra instrucción?
diferentes áreas no se enseñe dos veces, no se repita en
ambas lenguas, es decir, mientras yo enseño “árboles”
en el salón de español, mi compañera se ocupa de otra
unidad de estudio en el salón de inglés. La planificación
y coordinación entre maestros es vital, que cada
miembro del equipo de trabajo sepa a qué están
expuestos los estudiantes en el otro salón y así guiarles
en nuestra instrucción sabiendo qué vocabulario o
estructuras aprendieron en el otro idioma. Debemos
planificar la transferencia entre lenguajes incorporando
objetivos en nuestros planes y especificando el tiempo
que le vamos a dedicar (Hamayan, 2010).
En mi unidad de Ciencias sobre
“árboles” integro las cuatro
capacidades: escucha, lectura,
habla y escritura para aprender
vocabulario relacionado con el
tema. Uso soporte visual como
tarjetas de vocabulario, fotos o
dibujos, gestos y movimiento que
No todos los estudiantes poseen la
conecten cada palabra con su
destreza para hacer estas conexiones
significado (TPR), lectura guiada
ellos solos. Incorporando el Puente
de libros, lectura compartida de
y planificando la transferencia entre
oraciones para aprender vocabulario
idiomas ayudamos a los estudiantes a
clave, mapas semánticos, escritura
activar los mecanismos mentales para
compartida y oraciones modelo,
que puedan analizar cómo funcionan
estrategias de GLAD, murales
ambas lenguas, comparándolas
como por ejemplo el de “las partes
y aprovechándose de ello en el
del árbol” con dibujo y texto (en
Mural-poster con dibujo, palabras y
aprendizaje del español y el inglés.
la fotografía), escritura a través de
texto trabajados en el salón de español.
La transferencia se puede hacer del
dictado, canción o rima, Language
Los niños de kinder lo llevan al salón
español al inglés o viceversa, y tiene
Experience Approach, etc…. en
de inglés para transferir lo aprendido
lugar al final de la unidad de trabajo, en un idioma al otro a través del Puente definitiva lo que todo maestro usa
(los idiomas se diferencian con un
cuando los alumnos ya han practicado
en su curriculum para integrar
color para cada uno).
y estudiado el vocabulario en uno de
contenido y lenguaje. Terminada
los idiomas.
la unidad, sólo queda transferir lo aprendido en un
idioma al otro: el Puente. Lo podemos dividir en tres
En nuestro caso y experiencia en kindergarten
fases: el antes, el durante y el después.
trabajamos dos maestros, mi compañera y yo, ella
Antes del Puente los estudiantes han estado trabajando
en la parte de inglés y yo en la parte de español; los
sobre árboles en español, provistos del tiempo necesario
estudiantes cambian de salón a media mañana, y así,
todos los días están expuestos a ambos idiomas, medio para practicar con el vocabulario y nuevas palabras
aprendidas. En esta fase ambos maestros incorporan a la
día en español, y medio día en inglés. Imaginemos
planificación de la lección cómo se hará la transferencia
entonces que nos encontramos en octubre, y que la
unidad de estudio que nos ocupa en nuestro programa (un párrafo explicando lo que se hará puede ser un buen
comienzo). Se puede planificar para uno o dos días al
dual de kinder es “Los árboles”, del área de ciencias.
final de la unidad.
En nuestro distrito hemos desarrollado un Plan de
Asignación de Idiomas para que el contenido de las
—continúa en la página 3—
2
DLeNM
Durante el Puente nos ocupamos de guiar a nuestros
estudiantes en la comparación y análisis de la estructura
interna de ambos idiomas; aquí, adquieren especial relevancia
los cognados: palabras que en español e inglés tienen la
misma raíz o misma etimología, palabras por lo tanto muy
similares que ayudan en la comprensión de vocabulario
o discurso oral y escrito (trunk-tronco, etc.). En el mural
sobre árboles mencionado antes escribieron conmigo las
partes del árbol en español y luego escribimos un pequeño
texto informativo usando estas palabras y el dibujo. Durante
la unidad, en un periodo de dos o tres semanas, los niños
aprendieron las partes del árbol usando TPR (nuestros brazos
son las ramas, nuestros pies las raíces, etc.) y los mismos
gestos y movimiento para aprender vocabulario serán luego
utilizados en el otro salón por mi compañera, de ahí la
importancia de la coordinación entre ambos. Las mismas
tarjetas de vocabulario para aprender palabras nuevas pueden
ser usadas también en ambos salones. Una vez finalizado el
mural con dibujo y texto, éste es llevado por 2 ó 3 niños al
salón de mi compañera: “ustedes serán maestros y le van a
enseñar español a la maestra de inglés”. ¡Se pueden imaginar
la emoción y el entusiasmo de los niños! Llegados a este punto
muchos pueden interpretar que lo que sigue a continuación
será una mera traducción de las palabras y texto del mural
por la maestra de inglés, pero nada más lejos de la realidad.
En el proceso del Puente los estudiantes son los responsables
de enseñar al otro maestro las palabras o textos a trabajar. En
otras palabras, la maestra de inglés no enseñará el vocabulario
de nuevo, sino que se dejará enseñar por los niños, ellos
son los que se ocuparán de enseñarle español y también de
explicar a la maestra cómo se dicen esas palabras u oraciones
en inglés. La maestra se encargará de guiarles, motivarles y
mostrar interés por aprender un nuevo idioma, de transcribir
—continúa en la página 15—
DLeNM
When a bridging activity comes to my classroom
from the Spanish class, I explain to the students
that they are the teachers. The students share
with me what they have learned, and we give
English labels to the vocabulary. They are excited
and proud to show me what they know. In the
process, I encourage them to use the Spanish
vocabulary with me to engage their learning.
For example, in the tree unit explained in Mr.
Marcos’ article, the students bring the poster
they created in Spanish to my classroom. They
teach me the vocabulary that they learned, such
as las hojas, las ramas, las raíces, el tronco, etc. We
use the same TPR in both of our classrooms—it
is essential to plan with your teaching partner!
We then label the parts of the tree in English.
However, it is the students who come up with
the English vocabulary and make connections
through the use of TPR. They are responsible for
their learning, bridging from Spanish to English
or vice versa.
After the bridge is complete, students engage
in an extension activity involving the new
vocabulary. The focus is on language competence,
not re-teaching content. Students practice
what they have learned in the new language
and reinforce what they went through in the
bridging process. As the examples at left
show, we wrote The Things We Learned
About Worms as a language experience
activity, following the students’ bridging
vocabulary work (los gusanos/the
worms). The bridge also serves as an
assessment of student’s content learning
in Spanish.
I can only say good things about
how the bridge supports students in
my classroom. Now that I am more
confident in the process, I know that it makes a
dual program’s instruction more complete, and I
encourage teachers to implement this great tool.
Soleado—Spring 2012
El Puente: lista de vocabulario sobre
los gusanos trabajado en español. Los
niños de kinder lo llevan al salón de inglés para transferir el
vocabulario académico de un idioma a otro (diferenciamos los
idiomas con marcadores de diferentes colores. Luego, como
extensión al inglés: LEA (Language Experience Approach). Una
vez dominado el lenguaje académico en los dos idiomas los
niños lo practican revisando oralmente lo que han aprendido.
Miss Kim transcribe sus pensamientos.
Bridging is essential for metalinguistic awareness
and cross linguistic learning. This part of the unit
helps to ensure that all students have learned
the content in both languages. I have taught the
English component of a dual language classroom
for the last five years, and the bridge has been a
huge success.
Promising practices...
—continuación de la página 2—
by Kim Hansen, Dual Language Teacher
Woodstock D200, Illinois
3
Soleado—Spring 2012
Promising practices...
Independent Learners—Student Engagement, Language
Development, Responsibility, and Community
4
by Maribel Naranjo-Villalobos, Straub Middle School, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
“Feliz lunes, por favor copien su agenda. Espero que
hayan tenido un feliz fin de semana”—and this is
how our week begins in room 311. I share with my
students our Objectivo de Aprendizaje for the day
before the lesson begins in our science class. Today’s
lesson deals with identifying new vocabulary by
predicting the meaning of each term with drawing
an icon. Every unit begins with the graph of pretest scores and the new
standard, the frontloading of
vocabulary, and setting up
the table of contents in their
interactive science notebook.
the routines, high expectations, language development
strategies, and responsibilities set the scene for a
thriving learning environment. Through this structure,
students feel safe to engage in classroom learning.
Clear expectations and constant feedback contribute to
keeping a consistent flow in the lesson. The feedback
is both teacher and student directed. Throughout this
article, student quotes reveal what motivates them in
our science classroom.
En la clase dual de ciencias
todos somos como una familia,
bromeamos juntos, peleamos juntos,
nos reímos juntos y siempre estoy
emocionada ir a ciencias para ver
qué cosa vamos a hacer ese día.—
Frontloading of vocabulary
Alexis V., DL Science, 8th grade
consists of students
predicting what each term
Relationship building between
could mean. I model the first
students, parents,
one with a think aloud and
and teacher is
possible predictions, then
essential for the
Students start
I draw an icon for the first
the day in
ideal learning
one. Students think about
their groups,
environment. At
writing down
the next term and then share
the beginning
agenda and
ideas with their group. I ask a thereading
the
of the year, I ask
certain student to share out;
“objectivo de
parents to write a
aprendizaje”
then, when questions have
that is
short essay about
been answered, students are
posted on the
their student’s
whiteboard.
released to think, work, and
strengths and
discuss with other classmates.
weaknesses so I can
Once students have seen the vocabulary for
Students work in pairs to complete a
get an idea of how
Frayer Model, reinforcing and deepening
the unit, we work on seeing each term in
to structure my
unit vocabulary study.
multiple texts to make a strong connection
classes. I respond
to the meaning in context. The exposure doesn’t
to their emails and letters so that parents can also
end there, though; at the end of the unit we revisit
see that I am invested. We either have a weekly, unit,
these terms and create Frayer Models to continue
or grading period reflection for which students use
reinforcing the vocabulary in purposeful ways.
sentence frames to help develop their thoughts. At the
Finally, class ends with revisiting the Objectivo de
end, students get a chance to ask me a question and/
Aprendizaje with a small, informal assessment of the
or give me advice on how we can better our class. I
lesson. As they are dismissed by me and not the bell,
incorporate this student feedback into my planning to
I wish them all a wonderful day!
further drive instruction and support these learners.
Our dual language program at Straub Middle School
serves sixth, seventh, and eight grade students; there
are 124 students and only 38 are native Spanish
speakers. Therefore, “hablando español” is an
expectation from the start until the end of class—and
all our interactions outside of room 311. In addition
to the reinforcement of “Por favor hablen en español,”
Adolescents want to be independent, and it is our job
to give them the resources to do so. I call my class
“controlled chaos;” although it might seem like students
are released too soon to large tasks, they are well aware
of the classroom expectations. I model, guide, allow for
think-pair-share time, and then set students free. My
DLeNM
—continued on page 5—
are dismissed to work on the
task. In their interactive science
notebook, students have the
steps to the scientific inquiry
process with sentence frames to
continue the process of becoming
independent learners of content
and language. It’s difficult at
times, because students will come
to me for the answer; but I either
With teacher guidance, students choose redirect their question to another
their independent science fair topics,
student or ask “What tools do
taking ownership and responsibility
you have to help you answer
for their learning.
that?” With that, they become the
independent learners I know they can be.
Within the activities, student grouping varies.
Sometimes I choose the groups. At other times,
Algo que me motiva en la clase de ciencias es que
todos los días todos tenemos mucha energía y
students can choose, but they must justify their
estamos listos para aprender porque a todos nos
choices. Once they have their justification, most
gusta la maestra y lo que hacemos en la clase.
groups succeed in completing their work at high
—Kendall R. 8th grade DL Science
levels of thinking. If not, they take ownership of
At the end of the day, I reflect on the flow of
their inability to function as a group. The latter
situation sets the stage to work through differences,
the lessons and student engagement to adjust
as this is a real-world application. Despite the diverse
instruction that continues to develop this
personalities in my classroom, my vision for all of
community of independent dual language learners.
them is the same: to become independent learners.
Within this independence, there is intentional
lesson planning, execution of the gradual release of
responsibility model, and high student expectations.
role is that of facilitator; I monitor
progress and redirect conversations,
but learning remains studentcentered, not teacher-centered.
During a lesson, I make it a point to
talk no more than 10 minutes. Even
then, I post written directions and
sometimes use icons (drawings) for
support. Students have the resources
they need in their interactive
science notebooks, and our routines
allow for predictability within an
unpredictable learning environment.
Promising practices...
—continued from page 4—
Algo que me da motiva en ciencias es cuando hacemos
actividades y experimentos para “encontrar” y “descubrir”.
—Hendrick M., DL Science, 8th grade
Cuando hacemos labs, no puedo esperar hasta la siguiente
mañana.—Reed S., DL Science, 8th grade
Me gusta que la Sra. Villalobos hace ciencias divertido pero
también aprendo mucho.—Emma N., DL Science, 8th grade
DLeNM
For more information, please contact your New Mexico representative:
Sylvia Velasco-Saiz • Grades K-5 • 505-999-0248 • [email protected]
Eddie Marshall • Grades 6-12 • 505-660-2172 • [email protected]
Soleado—Spring 2012
Learning through purposeful and rigorous hands-on
activities is the key to inquiry in science. The activities
must have a clear, structured, and rigorous goal with
support for both content and language. After students
have had some experience, I tier the labs to give
students a choice of where to begin their investigation.
I usually entice them to choose the most difficult
level by saying that it is the “estrella rockero/a” level.
For any lab, students brainstorm their background
knowledge, which allows them to apply what they
know to what they will be discovering in their
inquiry and data analysis. Students see labs/activities
modeled in a think aloud, and then they are guided
with an example. I clarify any misunderstandings, they
share the information in their group, and then they
5
Soleado—Spring 2012
Promising practices...
When Vision Becomes Practice, Part II—The Journey Continues
6
by Wilma Valero, ELL Director; Patricia Makishima, DL Coordinator;
and ELL Department Staff—District U-46, Elgin, Illinois
“Caminante no hay camino se hace
camino al andar…” Antonio Machado
Nada más cierto que el caminar concretiza todo aquello
que en la mente o en el papel trazamos en búsqueda
de proveer a nuestros estudiantes con un programa
instruccional de aprendizajes y aciertos. August 24,
2011 had arrived! Students and teachers were now
in their classrooms. Our U-46 80:20 Dual Language
Program implementation was no longer a plan; it had
become our daily instructional practice—a moral and
professional responsibility to the students and parents
that we proudly serve. We were ready for them! All this
was made possible with the leadership and vision of
our Board of Education; Superintendent, Dr. José M.
Torres; the support and commitment of colleagues in
our community; and the dedicated work of both of our
dual language committees.
Development Action Plan which is in compliance
with federal and state regulations. It was created with
both an identified target audience—ELL teachers and
administrators—and our ultimate goals in mind. These
goals were related to the results of a comprehensive needs
assessment that provided information about the essential
knowledge and skills needed in our learning community
to empower students through our daily practices.
Through the needs assessment, we identified the areas in
which we could provide additional support to our dual
language practitioners: DL classroom environment and
DL instruction—more specifically sheltering language
and content, as well as Spanish literacy. It has been part
of our journey to remind ourselves to put more emphasis
on sheltering instruction in Spanish and English to ensure
the rigor of both languages, which will lead to a strong
academic language foundation.
As a department, we had been planning for this year
(see Soleado, Summer 2011). With the guidance of our
Dual Language Project Charter, a strategically designed
scaffold was in place to support all stakeholders
in the implementation. We had determined the
number of two-way (TW) kindergarten and first
grade dual language (DL) classrooms, which in most
cases would be offered as a TW strand in schools
with one-way (OW) dual language programs. All
our preschool through second grade teachers had
received professional development in the areas of dual
language program design and language and delivery
of instruction. The U-46 Dual Language Curriculum
Alignment Plan (CAP) and sample DL schedules for
each of the grade levels (PreK-2nd), including multigrade classrooms, were finalized. Teachers had actively
participated and were able to give their voices to these
documents, which are also a reflection of the district
curriculum framework and high expectations for all
students. We ended part one of this article with the
challenge—and the goal—which guides us this year:
To ensure a successful implementation of the DL Program
at all our elementary buildings through on-going support
to our teachers and administrators.
We’re all DL practitioners, and we all have students
in our classrooms who help us to be better teachers!
Professionally, we’re building a community of DL teachers
rather than thinking of ourselves as OW or TW DL
teachers. We need to acknowledge the fact that we may
have heritage Spanish speakers in our OW programs
who will benefit from sheltering in their native language
as well as in their second language; this is also true for
English-dominant students. We all have common goals
and strategies, and we’re all here in support of all students.
And in U-46, all means ALL. We are also aware that oral
language development is critical for a strong foundation
in our students’ first and second languages—necessary
for the rigor and high expectations we hold for students’
development of academic language skills.
Professional development is key to quality, to a
consistent implementation, and it is the opportunity
we have as educators to come together as a learning
community. Before the end of the last school year,
the ELL department developed the ELL Professional
As a department, we have started visiting schools with
dual language programs and looking for ways to better
support them. Through these visits we are developing a
continuum of support and understanding of common
language around dual language and best practices that
reflects our goals and the district culture. An example of
this common language is linked to our Teacher Appraisal
Plan, which is linked to Charlotte Danielson’s work,
in Domain 2 - Classroom Environment and Domain
3 - Instruction from our Framework for Teaching. In
a positive, proactive way, this helps to identify what’s
working and where we can offer additional support. It’s
not about one teacher working in isolation—it’s about
reflection, collaboration, and processing together: “Is our
—continued on page 7—
DLeNM
DL instruction and language allocation a reflection of
the DL CAP?” “What are the expectations for Spanish
literacy, oral language development, and word walls?” “Is
instruction being sheltered in both languages?” We can
now say with confidence, “Here’s what we observed in the
first round of visits... This is what we know is working...
This is what is currently in place... This is what we need
to improve... This is how we can support students,
teachers, and administrators in order to better serve our
community of learners.”
diversifying the venues of communication, and
visiting schools. We also plan to continue and expand
support for parents so they feel more comfortable
in their active role as DL parents, welcoming and
promoting the development of two languages and
cultures in their homes. The expected outcome is that
their children become not only successful bilingual,
biliterate students, but also citizens of the world—true
ambassadors of unity—respecting, enriching, and
appreciating our cultural diversity.
We are now halfway through this first year, and we
are proud of our students, parents, teachers, and
administrators who have had such a positive attitude
toward the implementation of the DL Program! We
celebrate the fact that since the first day of professional
development, we have observed that groups of teachers
have started their own learning communities, claiming
ownership of the program. They have taken it upon
themselves to meet in each others’ classrooms to learn
from each other and to share their ideas. This effort and
energy results in a spirit of collegiality that allows us to
grow as a professional learning community. Teachers
need time to reflect and process, and the PD sessions and
learning communities allow them to do exactly that.
As a department, these experiences have challenged
us to explore different venues in order to offer this
enrichment program to our culturally diverse student
population, especially the African-American students.
Why? Besides the research support for it (Thomas
& Collier 2009), it is our moral responsibility to
empower all students to become citizens in a global
society. And so we continue.
As part of our journey, we plan to continue providing
professional development based on needs assessment,
DLeNM
“Así que…
te llames Juan o Pedro o Rosalía
o Mordejau, Alí del Campo o María,
¡te marchas a ver el mundo!
¡Hoy es tu día!
¡Tu montaña te espera y te desafía!
¡sal ya… en este mismo segundo! (Dr. Seuss)
Presents
A NEW Dual Language
(English and Spanish)
S a
Program
An Early Learning Program
m
featuring 30 Thematic Books,
oks,
ging,
that will have children singing,
ng!
and LEARNING all year long!
Learn with...
Literacy, Math and Science
For More Information,
Please Contact Danay Rodríguez
Rourke Classroom Resources
Toll Free: 1-888-530-2469
[email protected]
1200 Anastasia Ave. Suite 340
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Soleado—Spring 2012
In addition to these two avenues of support, there is
ongoing development of resources for teachers in dual
language classrooms. The district’s established curriculum
and the U-46 Balanced Literacy Framework were already
aligned with the Illinois English Language Proficiency
Standards and the Spanish Language Arts Standards and
are reflected in our Dual Language CAP. We also mapped
and aligned a thematic comprehensive document that
supports ESL instructional practices within the DL
program. This is a result of three years of professional
development in which grade level teachers worked in
collaboration to identify English and Spanish resources,
common themes, standards, goals and assessments
specific to our student population. All these resources
are available in a single location within the district’s
internal information system. Our DL webpage contains
several sections with a comprehensive set of resources
such as: DL sample schedules; ESL Rationale; DL CAP;
DL-specific instructional articles; DL PD handouts and
videos; ELL Curriculum Alignment; thematic units; and
immediate access to the adopted and supplementary
instructional resources in L1 and L2. We know this is just
the beginning.
Promising practices...
—continued from page 6—
7
Soleado—Spring 2012
Promising practices...
Connecting Spanish and English
Literacy Instruction in Kindergarten
by Lucinda Soltero-González and Sandra Butvilofsky—University of Colorado, Boulder
Bilingual and biliteracy development can be greatly
enhanced through well-coordinated literacy
instruction in Spanish and English (Dworin, 2006;
Gort, 2006; Kenner et al., 2004). Far from being
confused by literacy instruction in two languages,
young children benefit greatly when the two literacy
environments are connected. However, careful
consideration must be given to what aspects of
language and literacy are addressed and how they
are taught in both languages. The Literacy Squared®
research project (Escamilla & Hopewell, 2009) has
developed a “Comprehensive Biliteracy Model”
that approaches literacy instruction in Spanish
and English in a coordinated manner in which
both literacies and languages are developed in
reciprocal and mutually supportive ways. The main
goal of this model is to support emerging bilingual
learners’ Spanish language literacy acquisition while
simultaneously accelerating their English language
literacy acquisition starting in kindergarten.
The literacy environments in Literacy Squared
classrooms are connected in various ways to maximize
children’s linguistic and experiential knowledge. For
instance, they are connected by literacy objectives,
through the use of bilingual books, or through genre.
This does not mean duplicating instruction across
language settings. English literacy instruction should
build on what children know and can do in Spanish,
so those skills and knowledge do not need to be retaught. Instead, the focus should be on developing the
language needed to interact with or to produce English
texts. The idea is to extend students’ knowledge from
one language to the other.
The Comprehensive Biliteracy
Model is made up of four
elements: oracy, metalinguistic
awareness, reading, and
writing. Considering all of these
ensures that equal attention
is given to the development
of receptive (understanding, listening, and reading)
and productive (speaking and writing) language and
literacy skills in both Spanish and English.
Oracy instruction is the teaching of oral language
skills (listening and speaking), including language
structures, vocabulary, and different kinds of talk
that children need to interact with text and with
others. These skills are taught in context in whole
group as well as small group instruction.
Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to talk
about and reflect on language. In Literacy Squared
classrooms, metalinguistic awareness is built in
Spanish, in English, and across languages. Children
are explicitly taught how to make cross-language
connections such as grammatical, morphological,
and orthographic awareness; use of punctuation;
rhetorical structures, etc.
Reading and writing instruction in Literacy Squared
classrooms occurs through direct/explicit and
interactive methods in both languages. Research with
emerging bilingual children has found that process
approaches, when implemented alone, are not as
effective for students (Genesee & Riches, 2006; Reyes,
1992). Instead, direct and explicit instruction through
modeling, then through shared and collaborative
approaches, are not only more culturally relevant, but
provide appropriate scaffolds for children’s success.
A Kindergarten Biliteracy Unit
In what follows, we describe a biliteracy unit that we
developed and co-taught with a kindergarten teacher
in one of the Literacy Squared schools in Colorado.
Our own language in this article will follow the
language of instruction in the unit.
Planning the Unit
Connecting literacy and language objectives across
literacy environments. In this literacy unit, the two
language environments were connected via a Spanish
and English version of the folk take, The Three Little
Pigs. Given our students’ strengths, the rule of thumb
was that the “heavy lifting” should happen during
Spanish literacy instruction (e.g., retelling the story,
making predictions and inferences, and character
analysis). In English literacy instruction, the use of a
familiar but carefully simplified text would allow the
focus of instruction to be on the language students need
to successfully engage with the text, retell the story in
English, and talk about the similarities and differences
between the two versions of the same folk tale.
—continued on page 9—
8
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Time. The unit was designed as a five-day lesson plan
in Spanish literacy and English literacy. However,
the English literacy lessons began after the Spanish.
The lessons were staggered, as we expected to build
students’ cognitive knowledge around the text in
Spanish before moving into the English version. Each
session lasted 20-30 minutes as part of a two-and-ahalf hour literacy block.
Book selection. For Spanish literacy we used a
bilingual book, Los tres cerdos: Tito, Nacho y Miguel,
by Bobbi Salinas. Cultural and personal relevance
were considered, as was the appropriateness of the
language. For example, the repetitive nature of certain
sentences exposed children to literary language which
they needed to understand and talk about the story.
For English literacy we used The Three Little Pigs, by
Scott Foresman. Because one of the literacy objectives
in this lesson was to build oracy and fluency in
English, it was critical to pay attention to the text’s
linguistic complexity. Thus, the English version of
this folk tale was modified in two ways—linguistic
simplification and shortening of the text—to better
match the children’s English language and literacy.
The Lesson
Lectura interactiva en voz alta. A través de este
método la maestra modela el proceso de lectura
enfatizando la comprensión y al mismo tiempo le da
a los niños la oportunidad de disfrutar la historia. La
enseñanza de la oralidad es una parte central de este
método ya que permite la adquisición y expansión de
vocabulario y estructuras de lenguaje a través de un
diálogo guiado. La enseñanza de la oralidad en esta
Lectura compartida. Este método requiere una
mayor participación de los alumnos en el proceso
de la lectura y al mismo tiempo promueve el
desarrollo de lenguaje literario gracias a la lectura
repetida del texto. En la lectura compartida la
maestra enseña directamente conceptos acerca del
texto impreso así como ciertas destrezas de lectura
emergente, que en el caso de esta unidad incluyó la
elaboración de predicciones. La actividad de lectura
compartida en esta unidad se llevó a cabo como un
‘readers’ theater’ en el cual la maestra tomó el papel
del narrador y los niños participaron repitiendo
los diálogos que aparecen en el cuento. Esta
actividad duró un par de días hasta que los niños
desarrollaron la fluidez necesaria.
Escritura compartida. La escritura compartida
invita la construcción conjunta de un texto a través
de un proceso guiado por la maestra. La escritura
es utilizada como herramienta de comunicación y
al mismo tiempo se practican las convenciones del
lenguaje escrito, por ejemplo, el uso de mayúsculas,
signos de puntuación, separación de palabras, y
correspondencia fonema-grafema, entre otras. El
propósito de la actividad de escritura compartida en
el bloque de español fue demostrar cómo escribir
una descripción de un personaje. La maestra,
tomando en cuenta las ideas de los niños, escribió
en el pizarrón una oración describiendo a uno de
los personajes. Al ir escribiendo invitó a algunos
niños a pasar al pizarrón y escribir parte de la
oración, reforzando a su vez ciertas convenciones
del lenguaje. Después de esta actividad conjunta,
los niños trabajaron individualmente. La actividad
concluyó con la exposición ante el grupo de los
trabajos realizados individualmente, nuevamente
reafirmando el desarrollo de la oralidad.
Dibujo y dramatización. El uso de otros sistemas
simbólicos en el aula, como lo son el dibujo y
la dramatización, promueve la construcción de
significado y una participación activa del niño en
su propio aprendizaje (Genishi, Stires, & YungChan, 2001; Short, Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000). En
esta unidad, después de varias lecturas del cuento y
conversaciones guiadas sobre las características de
los personajes, los niños representaron con dibujos y
DLeNM
Soleado—Spring 2012
Bloque de lecto-escritura. Los objetivos de lectoescritura en esta unidad se desarrollaron a partir
de los estándares de lecto-escritura requeridos
por el distrito escolar. Estos objetivos incluyen el
desarrollo de comprensión lectora, estrategias de
lectura—específicamente el hacer predicciones
e inferencias sobre el texto, y el análisis de los
personajes de un cuento. Los objetivos de oralidad
corresponden a los objetivos de lecto-escritura: el
desarrollo de vocabulario y estructuras de lenguaje
para comprender y discutir un cuento, elaborar
predicciones sobre la trama de la historia, y el
desarrollo de lenguaje y vocabulario descriptivo. A
continuación describimos los métodos de enseñanza
utilizados durante el bloque de lecto-escritura.
unidad se enfocó en la elaboración de predicciones
e inferencias sobre la historia y posteriormente en el
análisis de los personajes, promoviendo así el uso de
lenguaje y vocabulario descriptivo.
Promising practices...
—continued from page 8—
—continúa en la página 14—
9
Interactive Sheltering of Mathematics
with the “Fuente Informativa”
Soleado—Spring 2012
Promising practices...
by Lisa Valdez—Cien Aguas International School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
As a teacher and student of how children learn
mathematics, I became very interested in the
compendium, one component of the Achievement
Inspired Mathematics for Scaffolding Student
Success model, first presented at La Cosecha 2010.
The compendium is a chart that creates a body of
knowledge that students use as a reference to access
and build on key concepts throughout a unit of
study, helping to connect new information to prior
knowledge. It includes three
elements: the inquiry process,
student-friendly standards,
and a concept frame. I was
intrigued by the way the
compendium served as a
visual reference, a linguistic
and conceptual scaffold for my
dual language students, and a
“container” for keeping all our
thinking and exploring for a
unit together in one place.
The pedagogical intent behind the Investigations
mathematical curriculum is that students learn that
they can be mathematical thinkers. Teachers foster
and guide students to emphasize reasoning about their
mathematical ideas and those of other students. As with
all mathematics curricula, students need to learn new
concepts as they rethink past experiences and ideas, then
connect new information to the previous information.
This is done by asking questions, exploring new models
and concepts, assessing what is
known and how this goes with
new learning. As a teacher, I need
to continually assess how children
are learning. Students must
constantly question themselves,
question their learning, reflect on
their experiences, listen to new
strategies, and develop the ability
to integrate new information.
To this end, the Fuente
Informativa is a tool that I use to
provide students with a visual
I have spent many years as
Students use the Fuente as a visual reference to
reference, rich with mathematical
a K-8 mathematics educator
clarify, question, and problem solve.
vocabulary, that they have
working from a constructivist
developed using the state standards as their benchmarks
paradigm and implementing the Investigations
in order to problem-solve, inquire, test ideas, draw
elementary mathematics program in dual language
settings. I believe that children need to construct their conclusions and inferences, and convey their knowledge
in a collaborative learning environment. Students
own mathematical understanding within a structure
are active participants in their own learning process,
carefully designed and facilitated by me, the teacher.
learning how to articulate ideas about their mathematical
From this compendium, I began my own study of
strategies in order to collaborate and exchange ideas
what I call the Fuente Informativa. My idea was to
and thoughts. I have found that the Fuente Informativa
have a documented “fountain” flowing with smaller
chunks of information and learning developed by the is a valuable tool that guides children in their learning.
It reflects the continual change in student thinking and
students and visually represented as they go on their
journeys based on Investigations. There is an emphasis learning—it’s alive!
on interaction to develop a deeper understanding of
How Do I Get Started?
concepts. Learning is
At the front of every teacher’s guide, Investigations
guided by the teacher,
provides the teacher all the standards and benchmarks
yet developed by the
that will be developed in each particular unit. I use these
students. The Fuente
as the subtitles of each section of the Fuente Informativa.
guides students to
For example, in a recent third grade multiplication and
focus on anchor
division unit, there are five key mathematical emphasis
concepts to help them
points for me to focus on. I make a section on the
with their learning
Fuente for each piece: multiplication is combining equal
and strengthen key
groups; factors and multiples; using arrays to model
mathematical ideas.
multiplication; strategies for computational fluency; and
Students share ownership
of the Fuente.
10
—continued on page 11—
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fact that students do not always use this information/
vocabulary in their daily lives. I notice that more
students check in often with the
Fuente during these types of lessons.
As I reflect, I see both the Fuente
Informativa and unit differently
with each one that I do. Despite a
consistent structure or framework,
each one evolves differently with
each group of students; but one
idea is constant. It is an important
A Fuente early in a unit of study.
part of my teaching and an
Ownership
Because the students record their strategies and thoughts important part of my students’ understanding of their
thinking and learning. It guides each and every one
on the Fuente, they have an ownership of each one. We
of us to test our mathematical theories and then to
use the Fuente as a reference to check our thinking, use
ultimately draw conclusions about our mathematical
expected mathematical vocabulary, build on a strategy
ideas. My goal is that my students and I continue to
introduced one day, and then the next day we might
question and to apply our natural curiosities of our
expand or evaluate the strategy. Students use it as they
world through mathematics.
work independently or in groups to prove a point,
monitor their thinking, or follow a pattern.
I use this Fuente as I plan my daily lessons. I know what
I need to get on the Fuente and I use it as a focal point
for my teaching. This reminds me daily of my standards
and benchmarks. As a teacher, I have always “known” my
standards, recorded them in my lesson plan book, had
them up on the classroom wall, but now... I can review
and discuss them with the students regularly. They know
what they need to be learning and monitor their learning
daily. As a class, we can check and question, with the
Fuente as our tool, “Are we learning what we need to be
learning in this unit?” This makes me certain that I am
doing my job or reminds me that I better focus more on
a specific concept as it does not seem to be developing as
I thought it would!
Not all of my students react in the same way to a Fuente.
Depending on each and every learner, some units need
more thought and seem more meaningful than others.
This has been seen in Geometry units, possibly due to the
DLeNM
If you would like more information about the author’s work, she
welcomes comments and questions at [email protected].
For more information about Achievement Inspired Mathematics
for Scaffolding Student Success, see Soleado, Winter 2011
(soleado.dlenm.org) or contact Lisa Meyer-Jacks at [email protected]
or Erin Mayer at [email protected].
Soleado—Spring 2012
The Fuente offers a unique check-in for my ELL (or SLL)
students. They have the visual scaffolds of models and
drawings for reference and self-monitoring. They can also
use the Fuente to help discuss their thinking. They have
the vocabulary visible to practice and restate their ideas.
Our learning is recorded and documented; it’s never lost
by erasing a board or tossing out a paper. The Fuente
also includes sentence stems for academic mathematical
language, depending on the target language. It offers a
concrete scaffold for all language learners in my class.
Promising practices...
—continued from page 10—
strategies for division using the inverse relationship.
I try to keep the wording mathematical and challenging,
yet simple so that when students
see the Fuente on the first day of the
unit, they can apply their existing
knowledge, draw on their real
world experiences, and begin to
hypothesize. This Fuente helps us to
test our theories daily, have a visual,
and start to develop conclusions as
we go through our daily lessons.
11
Promising practices...
—continued from page 1—
directly from our experience in the Oregon Writing
Project, a part of the National Writing Project.
Intense immersion in a writer’s workshop provided
our high school dual language teachers with
necessary tools to create an environment of choice in
our classrooms. Content is studied under the big idea
umbrella, but students interact with authentic text
models and produce language that has an authentic
audience. We were able to address the need of how
to continue to improve student grammar, while
keeping them engaged in a language they have been
immersed in for their entire schooling experience.
Soleado—Spring 2012
In AP class, units of content are presented and the
choices begin. Students learn about the Spanishspeaking world while comparing and contrasting
it with their own, using one of the nine essential
strategies defined by Robert J Marzano (2001). For
example, students studied health care in the United
States and selected another Spanish speaking country
to research. Model texts and video clips served as the
foundation of the unit. Literacy skills grew during
the research process. Common grammatical errors
and research skills were addressed in context.
12
Students became much more aware of the challenges
of health care and were able to see strengths and
weaknesses in programs. This helped develop
compassion for those who do not have access
to acceptable health care and deepened their
understanding of health care in our society. During
this unit students learned about conditions in our
migrant community from a guest speaker. Students
last year researched and presented on organ
donation, based on the awakening they had during
this unit. They were able to present to Hispanic
families at our school and had more than thirty
people sign up to be donors.
Another area of study is environmental issues. We
want students to use their skills to become global
citizens and change the world. AP students chose
an environmental topic that they were passionate
about and prepared a lesson for local elementary
and middle school dual language students. Their
lesson needed to include a video or PowerPoint
presentation, an activity for the class, and an
action plan. Student groups presented in Spanish
to our feeder dual language schools. It was highly
successful. One group, presenting to a middle
school dual science class, brought in garbage from
the cafeteria to provide a visual of how we are all
responsible for wasting food. They taught the students
about the environmental impact of such waste. Many
students said in their evaluation that that image
will stick with them, and they will change their own
consumption behavior as a result. This is empowering!
The final project of the year for AP Spanish students
is to create a service project to do in our community.
After ten years in the dual language program, students
should be aware of our community’s needs. This final
project empowers them to better our microcosm with
their unique abilities. The abovementioned units of
study are the seeds of the action plan that students
generate. Projects ranged from using cafeteria leftovers
to feed the hungry, to creating a tutoring center, a
music program for Spanish speakers with no access
to band class, to the organ donor project. One group
created a website and newspaper to reach families
with limited or no English proficiency. The studentsubmitted article that follows on page 13, El Diario
Local, is an example of a project that was birthed from
the final project of the year.
Throughout the year, students’ writing and speaking
skills grew tremendously from the inquiry method
of learning. Results on the AP Spanish exam directly
correlated with students’ engagement in this process.
86% of students passed the national exam, 80% passed
with a 4 or 5. Pre-tests indicated that 60% of the class
began the year at a 3 or below. The students who didn’t
pass were an even balance of native and non-native
Spanish speakers. Their common thread was in work
completion and attendance issues, both of which were
significantly lower than the rest of the class.
While no class of AP Freshman will look the same,
neither will the paths they choose on their inquiry
journey. What we hope will be a common thread
for years to come is that students will know that the
language skills they have acquired in our dual language
program will make this world a better place.
Auerbach, E. R., & Wallerstein, N. (1987). ESL for action:
Problem-posing at work. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom
instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing
student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
DLeNM
Como proyecto final para la clase de español AP, nosotros,
los estudiantes del noveno grado tuvimos que trabajar en
grupo y pensar en una idea de cómo podíamos usar nuestro
español en la comunidad. Las reglas para el proyecto no eran
complicadas; cualquier idea, mientras fuera aprobada por
nuestra maestra, funcionaría. Podría ser algo tan común
como colectar comida en lata o tan abstracto como encontrar
ayuda médica para familias hispanohablantes. Los únicos
requisitos eran que el proyecto usara el español y que apoyara
alguna necesidad. Teniendo ya una idea en mente, nuestra
tarea era investigar la razón por la cual existía esta necesidad,
y formar y ejecutar un plan.
En los siguientes días tuvimos dificultades para escoger una
idea. Queríamos algo que no se había hecho ya varias veces,
pero todavía necesitábamos encontrar algo que apoyara
una necesidad. Encontramos un sitio web, Truehero.org,
que tenía la idea de una revista publicada por estudiantes.
Nosotros pensamos, ¿por qué no hacemos eso, pero en
español? A todos nos encantó la idea.
Como parte del proyecto tuvimos que encontrar una
necesidad legítima que se manifestaba en la comunidad a
nuestro alrededor. Inmediatamente nosotros entendimos
la conexión entre el periódico y la falta de comunicaciones
en español. Nos dimos cuenta de este problema aun más
cuando pensamos en la comunicación disponible entre
diversos lenguajes. En nuestro programa tenemos una gran
mayoría de estudiantes hispanohablantes quienes tienen
padres que sólo hablan un idioma. A consecuencia de esto,
mucha información está “perdida en la traducción”. Esto
causa complicaciones para los estudiantes, como el no saber
de los detalles de un evento o de una tarea importante y la
fecha de entrega.
a poner nuestro plan en acción. Nos dimos cuenta
que podíamos aumentar asistencia de los padres en
eventos, proveer información a las familias acerca de
oportunidades y responsabilidades en la escuela, y ayudar
a unir las dos culturas. Usamos lo que aprendimos de
nuestra investigación para crear nuestro propio sitio web:
eldiariolocal.org. Nuestra maestra, la Sra. Stebner, aplicó
para una donación de dinero y recibimos $500 para
ejecutar el sitio web e imprimir el periódico.
Promising practices...
El Diario Local—Proyecto Final de AP Spanish
por Christian Linares, Josiah Glaser, Cameron Johnson—West Salem High School
En el oeste de Salem hay un periódico local que se llama
“the West Side”, pero no hay nada en español. Nuestra
misión es cambiar esto, produciendo un periódico en
español para los hispanohablantes. Queremos unificar
nuestra comunidad para dar información en inglés y
español. ¿Qué tal si hay una celebración en el parque que
se anuncia en el “West Side” pero no incluyen información
en español? Nuestras familias hispanohablantes podrían
ser excluidas de una oportunidad para la familia. En
nuestro periódico el Diario Local nuestro objetivo es
proveer información en inglés y en español para que nadie
sea excluido en nuestra escuela y comunidad debido a
una falta de comunicación. Planeamos usar nuestros
conocimientos de idiomas y cultura para que esto suceda.
Esto nos llevó a pensar en una manera para reconstruir
y mejorar esa conexión por medio de varias formas de
comunicación. Decidimos formar un sitio web y escribir un
periódico bilingüe, que, cada mes, ofrece información acerca
de noticias comunitarias y eventos escolares. Podríamos
también usar este método para dar información de eventos
tradicionales, como los bailes de Prom y otros eventos
públicos y explicar el significado cultural de tal evento.
Una vez que habíamos investigado la necesidad y
entrevistado a unos maestros y voluntarios, empezamos
DLeNM
Did you know…
WIDA is creating Spanish
Language Development
Standards.
If you are interested in being part of the review
team for the Standards draft, please contact
Lorena Mancilla at [email protected]
Enhancing opportunities for language learners
Soleado—Spring 2012
En nuestras clases de lenguaje dual, los papeles que tenemos
que pasar a nuestros padres ya están traducidos al español. No
hay problema de comunicación. Pero en las clases de inglés
los maestros son monolingües. Los estudiantes tienen que
traducir la información para sus padres. Entonces, los padres
de familia no reciben la información necesaria causando una
falta de comunicación entre los padres y los maestros.
www.wida.us
13
Promising practices...
—continuación de la página 9—
palabras su percepción
de uno de los personajes
del cuento (Figura 1).
Por otro lado, el
propósito de introducir
dramatización
fue reforzar la
comprensión lectora
a través del recuento
y representación de
la historia. Los niños
Figura 1
construyeron sus
propios títeres y éstos fueron puestos a su disposición
en uno de los centros de aprendizaje, el cual incluyó
un teatro guiñol. Esta actividad le permitió a los niños
desarrollar no solamente destrezas narrativas sino
también adquirir y practicar lenguaje literario en una
forma divertida y atractiva.
Soleado—Spring 2012
English Literacy Block. The literacy and oracy
objectives in English literacy built upon children’s
knowledge of the Spanish interpretation of Los tres
cerdos: Tito, Nacho y Miguel, in order for children
to retell and identify
similarities and
differences with the more
traditional version of the
Three Little Pigs that was
read in English. Oracy
instruction focused on
teaching children specific
Figure 3
book language related to
the text, language structures to compare and contrast,
and descriptive vocabulary related to the different
characters’ demeanor. Shared and interactive methods
as well as direct instruction supported children’s
English literacy and language learning.
14
Shared reading. This method was used as a means to
engage children’s participation in reading and to assist
in their appropriation of English literary language.
Various scaffolds were used to ensure children’s success.
Children were only held accountable for reading the
repetitive parts of the text and the characters’ dialogue.
Other scaffolds included the rehearsal of the repetitive
text structures; echo reading of dialogue; and the use
of icons within the text to cue students’ attention to
text they were expected to read.
Strategic use of Spanish as a scaffold to English
oracy instruction. When engaging the children in
a dialogue to compare and contrast the different
versions of the folktale, both Spanish and English were
used to ensure children’s receptive and productive
understanding. Illustrations were used to record
students’
contributions
(Figure 2).
Because the
majority of
the children
could make
the appropriate
cognitive
connections
in Spanish,
Figure 2
we wanted to
ensure that those were communicated before adding
the English language load. Then, explicit instruction
was provided in English for the language structures
needed to compare and contrast (Figure 3). Additionally,
children were provided with multiple opportunities
to meaningfully use the target language in structured
dialogue. At first children compared the stories, and
subsequently they compared and contrasted characters.
Shared writing. In English literacy,
shared writing reinforced the literacy
and language objectives and helped
to explicitly teach cross-language
connections and metalanguage. A
cloze structure (Figure 4) was used
to retell the traditional version of
the Three Little Pigs, and specific
metalanguage was used to draw children’s attention to
similarities and differences between Spanish and English
rhetorical structures, orthography, and punctuation. This
jointly constructed text was used as a shared reading
to promote fluency. Once children became familiar
with the text of the written retell, they copied it in their
writing notebooks (Figure 5).
Conclusion
Young children’s
bilingualism and
biliteracy can be
enhanced when
careful consideration
is given to connecting
Spanish and English
language and literacy
instruction. The
Figure 4
children demonstrated
great success in this
—continued on page 15—
DLeNM
Figure 5
References
Dr. Lucinda Soltero-González is an assistant professor in the
School of Education, Division of Educational Equity and
Cultural Diversity at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Sandra Butvilofsky is a professional research associate
at the BUENO Center, University of Colorado, Boulder.
University of Colorado, Boulder and the BUENO Center
are offering the Literacy Squared 2012 Summer Institute,
June 27-29, in Estes Park, Colorado. For more information,
please visit http://literacysquared.org.
lo que los niños dicen y lo que ellos aprendieron en el
otro salón. Es por lo tanto un proceso de colaboración,
de conexión metalingüística a la vez que conexión de las
diferentes realidades idiomáticas y culturales en
nuestros salones.
En la última fase, después del Puente los estudiantes
tendrán una actividad de extensión para poder usar las
palabras sobre árboles aprendidas esta vez en el salón
de inglés. Se trata de facilitar un contexto en el cual
utilizar el lenguaje adquirido en inglés para practicarlo e
interiorizarlo (Beeman & Urow, 2011), por ejemplo cortar
y pegar los nombres de las partes del árbol en un dibujo,
clasificar o secuenciar el ciclo de la vida de un árbol usando
el vocabulario que hemos trabajado durante el Puente, etc.
El Puente es una oportunidad para enfatizar lo que los
dos idiomas tienen en común y de dar a los estudiantes
protagonismo y responsabilidad en su aprendizaje,
elevando el estatus del idioma minorizado. Es también un
instrumento excelente de evaluación, pues nos permite
observar qué estudiantes están aprendiendo no sólo en un
idioma, sino en los dos, construyendo el “rompecabezas”
por medio de las conexiones metalingüísticas espontáneas
del estudiante o con la instrucción explícita de la maestra
(el hecho de que ambos maestros sean bilingües o tengan
cierta competencia en ambos idiomas ayuda en el proceso,
pero no es indispensable, sí lo es la coordinación y ganas
de implementarlo).
Conclusión
A nosotros, después de la formación profesional por parte
del Illinois Resource Center con Beeman and Urow, y
después de aplicar el Puente en nuestros salones durante ya
más de dos años, no nos cabe duda de la importancia del
mismo en el aprendizaje de idiomas en el programa dual.
Seguimos aprendiendo a medida que ponemos en práctica
diferentes ideas que nos surgen para implementar el Puente
en cada unidad de manera eficaz. Creemos que el Puente
entre idiomas es crucial para una instrucción efectiva. Sólo
queda una cosa, compartir nuestra experiencia tan positiva,
para que el Puente se extienda, para que se implemente
en cada unidad, cada escuela o distrito, con consistencia
y en todos los programas de dual donde se aprende más
de un idioma. Sólo así, con una mayoría de maestros
convencidos de los beneficios del Puente, adquirirá sentido
y perfeccionará lo ya existente, por el bien de una educación
dual donde no sólo se aprendan idiomas, sino donde además
se aprendan primando el buen hacer y la excelencia.
Referencias
Beeman, K. & Urow, C. (Fall 2011). El Puente: creando conexiones
metalingüísticas. Soleado, 4 (1), 2-3, 13.
Hamayan, E. (Winter 2010). Separado o Together? Reflecting on
the separation of languages of instruction. Soleado, 3 (2), 1, 8-9.
DLeNM
Soleado—Spring 2012
Dworin, J. (2006). The family stories project: Using funds of
knowledge for writing. The Reading Teacher, 59, 510-520.
Escamilla, K. (2009). Transitions to biliteracy: Creating positive
academic trajectories for emerging bilinguals in the United
States. In J. Petrovic (Ed.), International perspectives on bilingual
education: Policy, practice and controversy (pp. 65-90).
Genesee, F., & Riches, C. (2006). Literacy: Instructional
issues. In F. Genesee, K.. Lindholm-Leary, W. Saunders, and
D. Chrisitan (Eds.). Educating English language learners:
A synthesis of research evidence (pp. 109-175). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Genishi, C., Stires, S.E., & Yung-Chan, D. (2001). Writing in
an integrated curriculum: prekindergarten English language
learners as symbol makers. The Elementary School Journal
101(4), 399-416.
Gort, M. (2006). Strategic codeswitching, interliteracy, and
other phenomena of emergent bilingual writing: Lessons from
first grade dual language classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood
Literacy, 6(3), 323-354.
Kenner, C., Kress, G., Al-Khatib, H., Kam, R., & Tsai, K. (2004).
Finding the keys to biliteracy: How young children interpret
different writing systems. Language and Education, 18, 124-144.
Reyes, M. (1992). Challenging venerable assumptions: Literacy
instruction for linguistically diverse students. Harvard
Educational Review, 62, 459-466.
Salinas, B. (1998). The three pigs, los tres cerdos: Nacho, Tito y
Miguel. Oakland, CA: Piñata Publications.
Scott Foresman. (1971). The three little pigs. England: Scott,
Foresman & Company.
Short, K., Kauffman, G, & Kahn, L. (2000). “I just need to
draw”: Responding to literature across multiple sign systems.
The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 160-171.
—continuación de la página 3—
Promising practices...
—continued from page 14—
unit of study because of the use of direct and
interactive instructional methods, a gradual release
of responsibility,
personally and
culturally relevant
materials, and
opportunities to
learn and utilize
both languages
for meaningful,
purposeful reasons.
15
Soleado—Promising Practices From the Field—Spring 2012—Vol. 4, Issue 3
Dual Language
Education of
New Mexico
2501 Yale Blvd. SE, # 303
Albuquerque, NM 87106
www.dlenm.org
505.243.0648
Executive Director:
David Rogers
Board of Directors:
Co-chairpersons—
Evelyn Chávez
Diana Pinkston
Board Members—
Dr. Rubén Córdova
Dr. Suzanne Jácquez-Gorman
Susana Ibarra Johnson
Mishelle Jurado
Gilberto Lobo
María Rodríguez-Burns
Adrian Sandoval
Jesse Winter
... la educación que merecen
todos nuestros hijos.
Editor: Dee McMann
[email protected]
© DLeNM 2012
All rights reserved.
Soleado is a quarterly publication
of Dual Language Education of
New Mexico, distributed to DLeNM’s
professional subscribers. It is
protected by U.S. copyright laws.
Please direct inquiries or permission
requests to [email protected].
;
Achievement Inspired Mathematics for Scaffolding Student
Success (AIM4S3)—DLeNM: Watch DLeNM’s website for summer offerings!
Three-day trainings include a model overview, theory and research, supporting data,
classroom demonstrations, and collaborative planning time. Contact Lisa Meyer-Jacks,
[email protected] or 505.243.0648, for more information.
; 2012 State Spanish Spelling
Bee—New Mexico Association for
Bilingual Education: April 14, 2012,
in Albuquerque at the National Hispanic
Cultural Center. For more information, call
David Briseño at 505.238.6812 or email
[email protected]. The Santillana 2012
National Spanish Spelling Bee will be held
in Albuquerque on July 21, 2012.
;
Literacy Squared 2012 summer
insititute—University of Colorado,
Boulder and the BUENO Center for
Multicultural Education:
June 27-29, 2012, in Estes Park, CO. Literacy
Squared is a comprehensive biliteracy model
designed to accelerate students’ Spanish and
English language literacy acquisition and
capitalize on their linguistic resources. The
three-day professional development will
include the research and assessment base,
Un Pueblo Unido: Creciendo
Juntos—Alliance for Multilingual lesson demonstrations, and guidelines for
implementation.With every four registrations
Multicultural Education and
purchased, teams will receive a fifth at no
NM Association for Bilingual
charge. For more information and online
Education: April 25-28, 2012, in
registration, visit http://literacysquared.org.
Albuquerque at the Embassy Suites Hotel.
Visit www.nmabe.net for more information;
to register, go to www.acteva.com/go/nmabe.
La Cosecha 2012, 17th Annual
;
;
; The Common Core and More!
2012 Summer Institute—Illinois
Resource Center and WIDA
Consortium: June 11-15, 2012, in Santa
Fe. This institute will help teachers and
administrators enrich the use of standards
in their work with language learners. For
more information, visit http://www.
thecenterweb.org/irc/ or contact Karen
Beeman at [email protected].
Dual Language Conference­—
November 7-10, 2012, Santa Fe Convention
Center and La Posada Hotel, Santa Fe, New
Mexico. Early registration is now available!
For more information, to register for La
Cosecha, or to see the Call for Proposals,
please visit http://dlenm.org/lacosecha/.
Soleado is printed by Starline Printing in
Albuquerque. Thanks to Danny Trujillo and the
Starline staff for their expertise and support!