Te comparto ideas, actividades y descargas gratis para comenzar a utilizar El Puente: Haciendo conexiones entre dos idiomas.
Six powerful professional development books books that every bilingual teacher should read to enhance their pedagogy engage students effectively, and cultivate a thriving bilingual classroom.
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Are you a new Dual language teacher? Welcome! I hope you'll find this tips helpful! This post may contain affiliate links. It might seem obvious, duh I'm a teacher of course I have to be patient! It is so different when you have a room full of kiddos who are learning a language. You will give directions and some students will give you a blank stare because they have no idea what just happened. Let me tell you, when teaching language learners, you will have to find the patience you didn't know you had. Speaking to a group of kids who are learning a language will not be easy. You will become more and more creative to get your point across. When you feel like you're about to lose it, take a deep breath and remember you can do this! Wether you're a one or two-teacher model, work with your colleagues whenever it's possible. It will make your life easier! It will lessen your work load and you might find a good teacher friend to go out with on Fridays! Plan together, help each other and share ideas. Dual language works better when all teachers are working as a team!! If you're lucky enough to have your district give you a scope and sequence or a pacing guide you've hit the jackpot! Read it! Learn it! Use it! If your district does not provide one, look at your standards and try mapping out one or two weeks. This is also when #2 comes into place, work with your team. Divide up the load and collaborate. I know this might seem dumb but my first year teaching I bought a planner that I didn't really use because I didn't like it. I refused to buy a new one because I didn't want to spend again but I wish I had. Planners are not just about having pretty paper to write with. Your planner will become your bible. Take it to all faculty and grade level meetings. This is my favorite planner. I have been using it for two years now and I love how flexible it is to my needs. I can add pages, folders, and don't even get me started on the cute stickers and washi tape! I know you probably already heard in all your college classes that it takes YEARS to acquire a new language. Your students will not become 100% fluent in a year. The Dual Language program takes time. However, if you stay true to the program, follow the guidelines and don't give up when you're working on a target language you WILL see results and progress. Use visuals, gestures, peer discussions, sentence stems, etc. It will be difficult at the beginning but your students WILL learn the language. Do not be afraid to ask for help. You will need to reach out to someone MANY times during the school year. Veteran teachers still ask for help. No one will think less of you because you are asking for help. I'm also here to help!! If you need help finding a resource, setting up centers or need classroom advice, contact me and I'll be happy to help! If you feel the urge to prepare over the summer (also completely ok if you're not), begin by making a list of the must-have resources you will need in your classroom (word walls, schedule, rules,objectives, etc..)That will give you time to THEN move on to the cutesy wants. Some BONUS tips from fellow dual language teachers: "Lots and lots of patience. They're will be a lot of changes your 2nd year and every year after." - Veronica "Get your hands on the curriculum and study it well. Make sure you have a print rich environment in BOTH languages!" - Janie "Love your students as much as you can! It encourages and comforts them in what can be a very stressful process." - Adriana Good luck! Remember we are here to help <3 SaveSave
"How do I teach writing in a dual language classroom?" A big part of my job now is mentoring other teachers, and one of the most common questions I get from
Inside: A peek into dozens of Spanish classrooms, of all kinds, shapes, and sizes! A well-designed room won’t make or break your teaching. Oh, but it can make a difference in how you and your students feel. Some of you have very limited options, and very tight budgets. There’s some serious classroom eye-candy here, but the
Dual language education provides a unique and powerful opportunity to strengthen children's highest cognitive brain potentials.
Teaching math in a dual language classroom can be a unique and rewarding experience. With emergent bilingual students who speak both Spanish and English, it's
Do you know what cognates are? Do you use them in your classroom? If you have ELLs in your classroom (even if you're not a bilingual teacher) you should be using them!! Or maybe you are a Dual Language teacher and have students learning Spanish? Use cognates!! For some strange reason my students adore that little word and we talk about it EVERY SINGLE DAY in our classroom. If you were to come into my classroom and ask one of my students what cognates are, they would simply say: words that sound about the same in English or Spanish and share a similar meaning. That's it! Pretty easy to understand...right? Let's see some examples from the Cognates Wall in my classroom: Some cognates are spelled the same in English and Spanish, some others aren't and that's ok. Like I tell my kids: as long as they sound close to another word and they remind you of a word in Spanish. Why should I use cognates in my classroom? Cognates are a super powerful strategy to use with ELLs. They are able to make a connection between the two languages and build their comprehension. Every time we are getting ready to read a new text, I immediately ask my students to look for cognates and underline them. Other times, while my students and I are talking, a cognate will come up. I usually say very quickly and excited: THAT'S A COGNATE!! Eventually, the kids start telling me when they find one and it becomes an exciting little game! WATCH OUT FOR FALSE COGNATES!! Unfortunately there are some words that appear to be cognates but they aren't. Remember that cognates have a similar sound and definition. Some words sound the same in English and Spanish but they DO NOT share the same definition. For example: the word embarrassed is usually misused by bilingual students because it sounds similar to "embarazada" in Spanish which means pregnant! We certainly don't want our kids misusing that word lol! The word carpet in English is similar to "carpeta" in Spanish. However, "carpeta" means folder. If you are going to teach cognates to your kids, you gotta watch out for these tricky words. Remember, when in doubt, just Google it! If you tell your students about false cognates they will be aware and understand not all words are cognates! And let me tell you... they will LOVE to find those false cognates. Here is a link to my favorite list of cognates. (By the way Colorin Colorado is an amazing website with very helpful articles on teaching ELLs). I use this list every day! Remember to talk to your students about false cognates, they will learn to recognize them faster than you think!
This is a list of the ordinal numbers in Spanish and English from 1-20, created for use in the dual language or Spanish language classroom.
Learn about the benefits of a dual language education and how you can use this approach at home to support your child’s biliteracy.
That’s why in this blog post, we will explore five essential bilingual classroom must haves that every dual language teacher needs to feel set up for success
Are you ready to conquer the challenge of teaching dual language reading comprehension in a bilingual or Spanish immersion class? Let's dive in and unpack six
Bilingual reading activities boost language skills in dual-language and ELL students with quick on-task activities and hands-on experiences.
One of the best things about teaching literacy in Spanish is its lovely decodable-ness. Okay, so maybe that's not a word but it is nice to work with a language that doesn't cause constant confusion with all of its exceptions. While we don't have to worry about SIGHT WORDS in Spanish, we can help young learners become fluent readers more quickly by teaching high-frequency words in Spanish. Here is my list of 100 high frequency words in Spanish based on several research-based lists. You can download it for free here. Last week, I was in a Kindergarten classroom in Stephenville and saw this teacher's great way of keeping track of the high frequency words that students are learning. Each week, the teacher gives the students a card with the new word(s) of the week and those are kept on a ring. Students can practice reading their words and refer to them during writing. I snapped the picture below in a first grade classroom in Mesquite. The teacher had made his own version of this game and was using it as one of his center activities. The students would walk around the room to the other students and ask them to read the word they were wearing. They were so quiet and loved it! Here is another fun and simple activity to practice with students in small groups so they can later play on their own in pairs. Flashcards Activity-My Pile, Your Pile in Spanish from Mesquite ISD on Vimeo. While it is important for students to be able to read the words in isolation, the real purpose of studying these words is to be able to read them in context. Even students that don't know all of their letters and sounds can begin to read simple, repetitive texts. Hubbard's Cupboard has quite a few printable books in Spanish with high frequency words (scroll down and look for "Black and White Student Booklets" in Spanish). The Rigby Colección PM Básicos readers are perfect for practicing words in context. What are your favorite ways for helping your students practice high frequency Spanish words in isolation and in context? I love hearing your ideas!
Today we are talking about dual language programs: what they are, what they aren’t, challenges to overcome, and the necessary features to make them successful. Jonathan Kosovski is currently a dual language principal in a 50:50 dual language program, that serves a diverse micro urban community in central Illinois.
