Blog | Teaching For Biliteracy

Is there evidence demonstrating that the time spent on developing background knowledge and oracy positively impacts student learning? Research has long indicated that building background knowledge and developing oracy is beneficial for children. Strategies such as the KWL chart have been used in classrooms nationwide in attempts to activate and build students’ background knowledge and oracy skills, and to peak their interest before reading a text. However, when strategies such as these are used with language learners and students with limited language Read More...

12 Feb

Learning about Biliteracy: A fresh look at our practices

By Michael Wisnowski

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Book Study for Biliteracy

It was summer of 2015 in Framingham, Massachusetts. Our dual immersion program was about to enter our 25th year! Meanwhile, our transitional bilingual programs across the district were overflowing with newcomer students. Fortunately, we have had strong leadership guiding our programs for many years. Program design had always been based on research and followed principles of effective practices for bilinguals. However, it was time for us to revisit our approach and to better understand the challenges of developing bilinguals. Our Read More...

03 Feb

Voices from the field: Reflections on a Coaching Cycle

By Emily Zoeller

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Coach’s Corner, El tercer maestro: Classroom environments and materials in dual language/bilingual program

In this post, I interview a colleague who participated in a coaching cycle with me. Read below to learn about her experience. Emily Zoeller, Instructional Coach Valerie Klessig-Palm, Kindergarten DLI teacher Can you explain the format and focus of the coaching cycle you participated in? The format of our coaching cycle included choosing a goal for students and then the coach and teacher working toward that goal through weekly planning and in-class collaboration. (See blog post: un ciclo de coaching) In Read More...

01 Feb

To Plan Together or Not to Plan Together: Why is That a Question?

By Susan Pryor

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Beginning with Biliteracy: A Kindergarten Story

Teaching for biliteracy is different than teaching for monoliteracy…but in a typical school they may coexist under one roof or across one grade level. There are valuable benefits to collaborating with same-grade partner teachers, but it is also crucial to maintain a multilingual perspective and honor the differences inherent in literacy instruction for each context. So how do educators who teach for biliteracy collaborate with their peers who teach for monoliteracy? It is possible! The key to this collaboration is starting Read More...

06 Jan

Un ciclo de coaching

By Emily Zoeller

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Coach’s Corner

El enseñar la lectoescritura en dos idiomas requiere del estudio de la teoría, el modelo de las prácticas, y el apoyo en la planificación. El coach tiene una oportunidad única de proveer la colaboración y la reflexión necesaria para asegurar los buenos resultados de los alumnos. En esta publicación, explicaré la plantilla de “un ciclo de coaching”, y las características que lo hace exitoso. ¿Qué es un ciclo de coaching? Un ciclo de coaching es un período de 4-6 semanas en Read More...

02 Dec

Orchestrating Academic Conversations

By Emily Zoeller

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Coach’s Corner

This week, we hosted relatives for a holiday meal, and I got thinking about the idea of orchestrating. To me, orchestrating means attending to various tasks simultaneously, with a big picture in mind. The cheesy potatoes might be a crowd pleaser, but managing the preparation of multiple dishes, serving courses, and entertaining a variety of guests are fundamental to the success of the affair. Teachers orchestrate on a daily basis! This year, Nuestro Mundo Community School is working with students on Read More...

12 Nov

Bilingual Bicultural Holidays

By Deirdre Garcia

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Bilingual Parenting

Hello Everyone! As we entertain this season, language is likely to come up. El día de acción de gracias, la novena, la navidad etc. invites many well meaning family member's opinions on our language choices and relationship with our children. So, how do you respond resiliently, to set up your child's lifelong skill of self advocacy? Sorry, no answer, I can just share my experiences and hope for the strength to strive forward. Two years ago I got an invite to Thanksgiving, Read More...

05 Nov

The norms of conversation

By Emily Zoeller

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Coach’s Corner

We can all envision the ideal state of conversation in our classrooms: Kids are in pairs or small groups discussing a topic. Members represent diverse language proficiencies, yet everyone is participating. They care about what they’re discussing and the teacher can tell by the students’ postures and comments. The students know how to take turns talking, how to actively listen, and how to respond to one another. They self-regulate. Each comment deepens the group’s understanding of the topic. Each Read More...

25 Oct

Raising the Bilingual Child-What is your kid? Labeling.

By Deirdre Garcia

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Bilingual Parenting

After a long break, too long actually, I am back to share with you my reflections on raising the bilingual child. The topic I would like to discuss today has to do with the selection of an educational program for your bilingual child. I am all too aware that Spanish is a minority language in a majority culture, and the likelihood that my child become an at risk bilingual (as in at risk of not becoming bilingual is high) Read More...

10 Oct

The Beginning of my Bilingualism

By cheryl

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Adventures in Biliteracy

The Beginning of my Bilingualism I am a first generation Chilean American. My parents first visited the USA in the seventies and it peaked their interest. They didn’t hesitate to move to the states in the eighties when the opportunity arose with a promising job opportunity for my father. My parents saw the move to the United States as the optimal chance for their children to be successful in life. Success to them included the idea that their children would Read More...