March was a busy month for bilingualism! The Barbieri Elementary School, in Framingham Massachusetts, hosted the annual Southern New England Regional Dual Language Conference. This year’s theme, “Making Connections: Celebrating Dual Language” resonated with our school staff. On March 17 and 18, we had the opportunity to open our doors to visitors from across the region for two days of hosted classroom visits. Educators visited our school from  Massachusetts and New England and even from as far away as Ohio!

During the visits, we ask observers to take notes about the levels of language they hear students using in the classroom. The observation notes are copied for the classroom teachers. This feedback is a gift back to them in exchange for sharing their lessons and students. Many of the visitors were excited about the Bridge charts they saw posted in the k-5 classrooms, and wanted more information about the Teaching for Biliteracy approach.

Vocabulario de expresiones numéricos

Fortunately, on March 19, at the day-long conference, there was an entire strand devoted to the Bridge. One presentation, “Bringing Bridging to Life in a Dual Language Program,” was presented by Barbieri teachers, Jill Davan, Susan Rosser, Margaret Fawley, and Elissa Washburn. Teachers shared how they have implemented a school-wide book study using the text Teaching for Biliteracy, and how they have used the elements of biliteracy in in various contexts, including  a grade 2 ELD classroom, grade 3 writer’s workshop, and grade 5 mathematics.

Students practicing reading decimals in English after having studied the unit in Spanish.

Educators affiliated with the Center for Teaching Biliteracy presented “Beyond TPR: Building Oral Language and Background Knowledge for Language, Content, and Literacy Development.” Melody Wharton, Susan Pryor, and Olga Karwoski modeled two strategies that support the development of oracy, Adapted Reader’s Theater and Concept Attainment. They followed up with a second presentation, “Making Connections between Languages: The Bridge.” This presentation focused on strategies to develop students’ metalinguistic awareness “so they can make connections between their languages and therefore have a deeper understanding of both of their linguistic systems.” Participants in this workshop brainstormed ideas for implementing a Bridge in their own contexts and grade levels.

A third group of teachers from Cambridge, Massachusetts presented “Applying the Bridge to Talk Moves.” Oracy is an important area for developing bilinguals, and focusing on oracy instruction and practice supports biliteracy. In this presentation, Luisa Raposo and Jonathan Horowitz applied talk moves to pair-share and to circle discussions.

This summer, the Massachusetts Association for Bilingual Education (MABE) will sponsor a three-day training in Taunton, MA. “Teaching for Biliteracy, Strengthening Bridges Between Languages,” will be offered by Cheryl Urow during August 9-11. We are proud that there are many strong bilingual programs in our region. Educators have support from administration as we build and grow new dual language programs in districts across the state and throughout New England.