Looking at Core Instructional Practices in TWI through the Lense of the Biliteracy Unit Framework Elizabeth Howard University of Connecticut Elizabeth Howard: elizabeth.howard@uconn.edu Two-Way Immersion Network, Catholic Schools June, 2016

In the garden of dual language instructional approaches… Counterbalancing Teaching Learning Cycle Biliteracy Unit Framework Literacy Squared GLAD SIOP TWIOP …what plants do you choose ???

Start by bringing your attention to what’s below the surface Counterbalancing Teaching Learning Cycle Biliteracy Unit Framework Literacy Squared GLAD SIOP TWIOP ‘The Big 5’ – Core Instructional Strategies

‘The Big 5’ – Core Instructional Strategies for Dual Language Classrooms Content-language integration (i.e. teaching language and literacy skills through content areas; formulating both language and content objectives for lessons; developing thematic units); Providing comprehensible input (e.g. hands-on activities, visual aids, graphic organizers, slower speech, modified materials); Promoting comprehensible output (e.g. modeling, interactive activities, sentence frames); Building background (e.g. tapping into prior knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary, providing concrete experiences); Promoting metalinguistic awareness and fostering cross-linguistic connections (i.e. components of language and how they are the same and different across languages).

What do ‘The Big 5’ look like in practice? Example 1: Teaching for Biliteracy (Beeman & Urow, 2013) www.teachingforbiliteracy.com

Components of the Biliteracy Unit Framework (BUF) (2-6 weeks) Content area: Theme/big idea: “I want students to understand that…” Standards: (content and language) Content targets (objectives) Language targets (objectives) (English, partner language, and cross- linguistic) Summative assessments

Components of the Biliteracy Unit Framework (BUF), continued Building Oracy and Background Knowledge (linguistic resources, creativity, and funds of knowledge) Reading Comprehension Writing Word study and fluency Summative Assessment The Bridge: Strengthening Bridges Between Languages Extension Activity (in opposite language)

So what does it look like So what does it look like? Some modest, real-life examples of emerging practice in kindergarten…

Example 1: Los sentimientos Content area: social studies and language arts Theme/big idea: We all have feelings. Our feelings change. Standards: (content and language) Recognize values and attitudes that promote getting along with one another; Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities. Content targets (objectives): SWBAT identify feelings from facial expressions Language targets (objectives) (English, partner language, and cross-linguistic): Orally and in writing, SWBAT tell what they do when they have various feelings using the form “Me siento ____ cuando ______.”

Building Oracy and Background Knowledge Shared reading of wordless picture book – together, students identify feelings and make faces. Students play charades to identify feelings. In centers, students create facial expressions using playdough. At morning meeting, students sing, “Buenos días, ¿cómo te sientes?”

Reading comprehension Every week, we would do a read-aloud focused on one of the target emotions of the unit. Following a group discussion about what the main character did when she felt angry, students did ‘turn and talk’ to tell their bilingual partners what they do when they feel angry.

Writing Each week, following the read aloud and turn-and-talk about a specific emotion, students modeled the writing activity by dictating their conversations with partners to me, while I wrote them on the white board: Me siento enojad_ cuando ___________________. Students worked independently each week to write and draw their own experience of what they do when they feel the focal emotion. By the end of the unit, all students had created a book about their feelings.

Word Study and Fluency Identifying ma/me/mi/mo/mu and sa/se/si/so/su We noticed how the ending of some feeling words was different if the subject was a girl or a boy. We noticed how the sentence began with a capital letter and ended with a period. After writing their own pages, students read their pages to their bilingual partners.

Summative Assessment The feelings book that each student wrote over the course of the unit served as the summative assessment.

The Bridge – promoting cross-linguistic transfer

The Bridge Focus Marking sentence boundaries with a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and a period at the end is the same across English and Spanish. Gender marking occurs in Spanish but not in English.

Extension Activity Sing ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ and make up alternative verses for other feelings.

What examples did you see of ‘The Big 5 What examples did you see of ‘The Big 5?’ How could they have been integrated even better? Content-language integration (i.e. teaching language and literacy skills through content areas; formulating both language and content objectives for lessons; developing thematic units); Providing comprehensible input (e.g. hands-on activities, visual aids, graphic organizers, slower speech, modified materials); Promoting comprehensible output (e.g. modeling, interactive activities, sentence frames); Building background (e.g. tapping into prior knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary, providing concrete experiences); Promoting metalinguistic awareness and fostering cross-linguistic connections (i.e. components of language and how they are the same and different across languages).

Example 2: Los animales de la granja Content area: social studies, science and language arts Theme/big idea: Farm animals are alike and different. Standards: (content and language) plural markers (E/S); informational writing (E/S); fiction vs. non-fiction texts (E/S); definite articles (S) Content targets (objectives): SWBAT name body parts of farm animals, identify what they eat, and describe their life cycle. Language targets (objectives) (English, partner language, and cross-linguistic): SWBAT use the correct definite article when referencing farm animals; SWBAT sequence information in a logical way; SWBAT distinguish fiction from non-fiction texts. Summative assessment: informational brochures about each farm animal.

Building Oracy and Background Knowledge During the first trimester, we visited the farm every Wednesday morning and spent time with the different animals and the farm workers. When we returned to the classroom, we used LEA to document what we had seen and done that day.

Reading comprehension Starting in the 2nd trimester, half of the class did empirical research at the farm and the other half did book research in the classroom; the groups switched every week. Class activities involved fiction and non-fiction texts on the focal animal.

Writing After conducting empirical and book research, we used shared writing to record students’ observations. The observations were transferred to sentence strips and put in order. The sequence of the facts was used to create an informational brochure about each farm animal.

Word Study and Fluency The Bridge: We noticed the use of the definite articles ‘los’ and ‘las’ and how they corresponded to ‘os’ or ‘as’ endings of farm animal names. The Bridge: We noticed that English did not require the use of the definite article and did not have different endings for male and female animals.

Extension Activity Because this year-long activity did not follow the recommended structure of the BUF (all instruction in one language before The Bridge), there was no formal extension activity. Rather, instruction was integrated across languages throughout the year-long course of study.

What examples did you see of ‘The Big 5 What examples did you see of ‘The Big 5?’ How could they have been integrated even better? Content-language integration (i.e. teaching language and literacy skills through content areas; formulating both language and content objectives for lessons; developing thematic units); Providing comprehensible input (e.g. hands-on activities, visual aids, graphic organizers, slower speech, modified materials); Promoting comprehensible output (e.g. modeling, interactive activities, sentence frames); Building background (e.g. tapping into prior knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary, providing concrete experiences); Promoting metalinguistic awareness and fostering cross-linguistic connections (i.e. components of language and how they are the same and different across languages).

Example 3: upper grades See handout and website www.teachingforbiliteracy.com

What examples did you see of ‘The Big 5 What examples did you see of ‘The Big 5?’ How could they have been integrated even better? Content-language integration (i.e. teaching language and literacy skills through content areas; formulating both language and content objectives for lessons; developing thematic units); Providing comprehensible input (e.g. hands-on activities, visual aids, graphic organizers, slower speech, modified materials); Promoting comprehensible output (e.g. modeling, interactive activities, sentence frames); Building background (e.g. tapping into prior knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary, providing concrete experiences); Promoting metalinguistic awareness and fostering cross-linguistic connections (i.e. components of language and how they are the same and different across languages).

Let’s give it a try! Working with your grade-level partner or other teachers at your table, begin to generate some ideas for a unit that you could teach together using the Biliteracy Unit Framework. Record your ideas on the BUF planning template. Be sure to incorporate ‘The Big 5.’