Biliteracy Unit Framework (BUF)
This section of the website is dedicated to supporting teachers and districts in designing, organizing, and implementing biliteracy units. A BUF (see image above) is a bilingual unit that includes three linguistic spaces : Spanish, the Bridge, and English.
The BUF can be used in bilingual programs (transitional bilingual, developmental bilingual) as well as in one way dual language programs, (one group of students made up of English Language Learners) and two way dual language programs (English Language Learners and Spanish Language Learners together). Anchored in standards and essential understandings, also known as big ideas, BUFs can be written to focus exclusively on language arts, or they can be written as integrated language arts and science units or language arts and social studies units. Math units can also follow the BUF framework, though with less emphasis on the development of literacy skills and more on the development of math concepts and skills.
The BUF illustration above depicts a unit that is taught in Spanish. Once the students have learned the essential understandings of the unit and the summative assessment has occurred, the Bridge takes place. The Bridge is student-generated, and it is the moment in which content and language are transferred to the other language, and students engage in a contrastive analysis by comparing and contrasting how Spanish and English are similar and different. Once the Bridge and the contrastive analysis conclude, students extend their learning by applying the unit’s concepts and academic language to English through a variety of activities that include listening, speaking, reading and writing. The program’s language and content allocation plan should guide the writing of BUFs. While some BUFs are taught in Spanish and then Bridge to English, other BUFs are implemented in English with a Bridge to Spanish. For more information on these and other ideas, click on the buttons to your right.
UPDATED BUF TEMPLATE Spanish Unit with Bridge to English 2018
UPDATED BUF TEMPLATE – English Unit with Bridge to Spanish June 2018
El BUF en español – actualizado- 2018
Standards:
Biliteracy units are anchored in standards. We highly recommend that teachers familiarize themselves with the standards, going to the primary source. Below you will find a list of the standards that are addressed in biliteracy units:
Content Area Standards:
Language Arts (Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and for Spanish Language Arts)
1 Primer Grado Kindergarten 2 Segundo Grado_0 3 Tercer Grado 4 Cuarto Grado 5 Quinto Grado 6 Sexto Grado 7 Séptimo Grado 8 Octavo Grado 9-10 Noveno y Décimo 11-12 Onceavo y Doceavo WIDA_SLD_Standards_Draft_Dec2012 copy
Common Core en español website
Next Generation Science Standards
C3 Framework for Social Studies
WIDA Spanish Language Arts Standards
Language Development Standards:
WIDA English Language Development Standards
WIDA Spanish Language Development Standards