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Help for first
year classroom teachers.
Let me give you some background on the school too so you'll understand
our circumstances. The dynamics of our school are such that there is one
bilingual class for each grade and one non-bilingual class at each grade.
Very small school and district, 250 kids in the whole ISD. Town of 500 people. School district is 75% Latino. Nearly all the families work in
greenhouses/plant farms which form the base of the local economy. These plant farm owners comprise the school board and there is very little
expressed interest in the culture/issues/needs related to those wonderful
bilingual kids we teach.
My wife teaches the 3rd grade bilingual class, I teach the 4th. About 50 or 60 Spanish books in the library, no administrative guidance for the
bilingual "program", all 4 bilingual teachers are emergency-certified and
untrained in bilingual practices, our best bilingual teacher left after last school year to teach in Tyler where they have good bilingual
programs. From what I gather, our school is something of a jumping off point for new teachers who teach here for a couple years then move on to
"greener" educational pastures (Greener in the money sense and the
developed-program/"better" schools sense.)
But lest I give a negative impression, let me assure you my wife and I are devoted to doing our best for these kids and simply want to learn
more about how to do that.
What style of bilingual education do you have at your school?
I wish I could tell you. I know the terminology (early exit, late exit, two-way, etc.) but our school literally has no system and no
overall organization for the bilingual classes. Like I said, my wife and
I are trained teachers but emergency certified to teach bilingual as is the rest of the bilingual "department." Our principal is happy to find
certified teachers who know even a smattering of Spanish to hire. Many teachers stay 1 or 2 years and move on.
This past school year we had a bilingual Pre-K, no bilingual kindergarten, and then bilingual 1st through 4th in which the majority of
academic instruction is in Spanish (Reading, Writing, Math) and perhaps one subject (SS/Science) in English. Being a 4th grade teacher and
knowing my kids would not have a bilingual 5th grade teacher next year, I taught them in Spanish until the TAAS, (with one hour a day for ESL, then
began teaching English in all subjects the rest of the school year.) I know this isn't best. That's why I'm writing to you :)
So I guess that makes it and early-exit program by default. Though we bilingual teachers recognize the importance of the kids developing
Spanish literacy along with English literacy. We *aren't* trying to move them as quick as we can into English only.
What iteachilearn.com said:
I think now with the additional information we can come up with some more ideas.
Some of the broader issues we will cover are: library book deficits, ESL structuring, the goals of Bilingual Education, program type, scheduling and audio books.
Library book deficits:
You said that the library has about 50-60 books in Spanish. Krashen calls the library the foundation upon which the school revolves. Obviously your school will not magically go out and buy thousands of books by the beginning of the year. Does your school receive title I (one) funds? This can be a source for book money. But that is not the point that needs to be made. You live in East Texas. How close are you to a big city? Maybe Houston? After reading The Power of Reading- I realized that for most kids in 3rd and 4th grade my job as reading teacher was not helping with decoding or comprehension. My job was that of literary instigator and book finder / provider.
Here is what i am suggesting: get yourself a library card to the Houston Public library, buy or locate 6 plastic crates. Every two weeks make the pilgrimage to the downtown Houston public library. Check out at least 75 books (each if your wife decides to do this too). The first time you go you will not know you students, that's ok just get the books in the
Spanish section that you find interesting. Also don't worry about grade level. You should have everything from picture books to middle school chapter books (just watch the content). When you check the books out, ask for a print out. Set up two libraries, the school/your personal library and the Houston (big city) library. Count the books and appoint a librarian during the first week. I know that you know that the first week is mostly socialization and training so if the kids only get 10 or 15 minutes per day with the books that's ok. Have the "librarian" count the books to make sure none are missing. You can also laminate the book list and the students can use dry erase markers to
"check out" books to their desk. Your librarian could then solve the problem of how to figure out if all the books are there... All of what I am saying will be more clear after you read The Power of Reading.
Also while you are in Houston, stop at the Half-price books on Kirby and University, you can buy
English and Spanish books for a dollar or two -if you are thinking of building up a personal library- some teachers even let their students buy the books (it can be a business -math, ss...-).
ESL structuring:
You mentioned to me that your school is searching for some insight on how best to serve its bilingual population. One thing you need to do is work efficiently
during ESL time. I know that writing takes up most of the time (I am assuming your students take the TAAS in Spanish)- making that hour of ESL even more important. Think about language levels in the classroom, you probably have students at all levels of
English language proficiency. If you wanted to learn French it might be logical to assume that the university test your
French abilities and then place you in a class. How would you feel if the school just placed you in a random class; some students knowing zero
French and others near native speakers...
It is advantageous to group students during ESL by their English language proficiency. This is easy to do in an urban setting. Agree to exchange students during ESL with other bilingual classrooms of the same grade. Each teacher takes a level- beginner, intermediate, sheltered instruction...
what if you and your wife tried it? Find a workable ESL time, split the classes into two ESL levels (two, though not optimal is better than one) let the advanced group go to your wife's room and the beginners to yours... This make the instruction more relevant to more students.
The Goals of Bilingual Education in the United States:
1. Teach second language learners English as fast as possible (different than exiting a bilingual program).
2. Give them pride in and a deep knowledge of their first language and culture -hopefully making them bilingual and bicultural in the process-
Your school seems to be using a bilingual-transitional late exit model (early-transitional usually means exiting by 2nd grade). The 4th grade, their last opportunity to receive instruction in Spanish. Also probably their first chance at receiving content in English (math, science...). I don't have to tell you that the year they spend with you helps determine their success in the English classroom as well as how they view their own language and heritage. An hour of english instruction is not enough. On the small scale one thing you can do is speak about all social items in English, you may go to the bathroom... time for lunch... take out your reading books and turn to page... what did you do last weekend... This relates to BICS (Cummins). For CALP (Cummins) you should have an additional FVR / SSR / DEAR (Krashen) period set aside for english reading (these books could come from the school library). FVR periods should start at 10 - 15 minutes, increasing by 5 minutes per week to a maximum of 45 - 65 minutes. This is in addition to both English and Spanish Read Alouds (and as you know from Trelease stories read aloud are more easily understood so challenge them ).
Scheduling:
Let me suggest a possible schedule / components.
8am Class news, notes (english)
8:15 Free Voluntary Reading (spanish)
8:40 Reading "Class" (spanish)(does your school use a system or basil?)
9:20 Bathroom Break (quiz the kids math facts...) (english)
9:25 Mini-Recess (bring the timer set it for 5)
9:30 Writing (spanish) ask me some specific questions about writing.
10:30 Rotation / Specials / Enrichment / Ancillary...
11:15 Games of skill (chess, stratego, checkers...)
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Bathroom Break (eng)(quiz the students on state capitols SS stuff)
12:05 Recess (bring the timer, recess time includes drinks)
12:20 Read Aloud (spanish) (make sure you practice the night before)
12:45 Math (spanish)
1:30 ESL switch (Read Aloud, additional components...)
2:30 Free Voluntary Reading (english)
2:45 Homework review, clean up, pack up,
Dismiss.
What about SS and Science? Integrate. Read Alouds from any book including Goosebumps cover SS TEKS objectives. Most basils (reading books) have SS TEKS components in them -use them during your reading time. As for Science, good math instruction means the students are confronted with problems which they have to solve. Integrate spelling with writing and health with recess (a great time for team building and social interactions).
Audio books:
You can use them to improve your spanish. Go to
http://www.broadcast.com/Audiobooks/Spanish_Books/
there you will find 10 different full length audio books you can listen to free of charge (includes: Los de Abajo, and Rimas y Leyendas).
Also after a day of teaching and grading compositions a person may not feel like reading (you will also be reading during FVR times with your students). Listening to your favorite author read a book allows you to relax and enjoy. It will also stabilize your vocabulary and speech patterns (all day you are subjected to 20+ students whose way of speaking is not yet perfected -this affects how you speak-).
Links below:
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Go
to
e-Lective
Language
Learning
click here
the theory and practice of an idea which increases the
contextualization of text for developing readers and language learners...
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Dave's
ESL Cafe great resource for teachers on
language minority students...
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Crawford's
Bilingual Policy Web explains the politics and
policy behind bilingual education and those who seek to diminish it...
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