Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part I : Scaffolding for oral language development Rebecca Curinga, PD Coordinator Rocío Raña, PD Facilitator PD Session #1 October 28, 2013

2 Agenda 8:45: Introductions, Agenda, and Today’s Goals 9:15: The Bridges Students: Who are they and how can we meet their needs? 10:00: Break 10:15: The Bridges Classroom: How can it support oral language development? 10:45:The Bridges Curriculum: How does the Unit Structure support oral language development? 11:15: The Bridges Unit Structure: How do the activities in week 1 support oral language development? 11:45: Lunch 12:45: The Bridges Instructional Methods, Part I: Scaffolding with the Essential Question and See, Think,Wonder 1:45: Break 2:00: Question and Answer, Scheduling, Homework & Evaluation

3 Today’s Goals To be able to discuss and gain initial understanding of: 1.The unique characteristics of Bridges students, as distinguished from SIFE and other emergent bilinguals. 2.How the Bridges program, curriculum and instruction address the unique needs of Bridges students. 3.The critical importance of comprehensible input in the development of second language. 4.The broad curriculum unit structure and interdisciplinary connections. 5.How scaffolding is used in the Bridges classroom through instructional methods.

4 Activity 1: Think-pair-share What is ONE critical difference between SIFE and other emergent bilingual students?

What we know… Both Emergent Bilinguals and SIFE Knowledge of home language (HL) and culture Knowledge of their world Learning English Emergent Bilinguals Age-appropriate HL literacy No educational gaps Age-appropriate content and academic knowledge Enter NYC schools at all ages SIFE Limited HL literacy 2+ years of educational gaps 2+ years below grade level in Reading and Math Majority in NYC are adolescents 5

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Attributes of Bridges Students 7 Needs Academic Vocabulary and Syntax Foundational literacy skills  text-level skills Foundational content knowledge Characteristics Limited academic HL Limited HL literacy (below 4 th grade) Limited content knowledge

How can teachers meet the needs of these unique students? THE BRIDGES PROGRAM ! 8

9 The Building of Bridges History: Result of Four Years of Research on SIFE Now in Bridges Year 3! Diverse team of educators, linguists, researchers Still a pilot-- we welcome your ideas and experiences Some schools are now implementing Bridges for the 3rd year, some are only starting, some will start next year Purpose: To prepare students for success in 9 th grade by providing an additional, accelerated year of schooling with The Bridges Program A Specialized Bridges Curriculum and Instruction

10 How does Bridges address the unique needs of its students? The Bridges Program Pre-ninth grade intervention Interdisciplinary team of teachers Sheltered classes Central Role of Home Language and Culture

11 How does Bridges address the unique needs of its students? (cont) The Bridges Curriculum Bridges curriculum framework: Four units each in: English, Social Studies, Science and Math Integrates language, literacy and subject area-content in ALL classes Thematic interdisciplinary connections Reinforces conceptual knowledge and academic language, vocabulary and syntax Project – based units Developed around essential questions that engage and provoke inquiry

12 The Curriculum (cont) Each Unit in Every Discipline: Builds and engages home language as a resource Emphasizes classroom routines and strategies that promote strong academic habits Builds towards a final project with specific outcomes and objectives in all four language domains Aligns to common core and language development standards.

13 Bridges Curriculum Goals 1.Develop oral academic language as the foundation for literacy and content knowledge. 2.Develop foundational reading skills (learning to read) so that students are able to read to learn. 3.Build foundational world and conceptual knowledge to support student access to 9th grade high school content. 4.Integrate content knowledge, language and academic skills, so that students gain competence in each domain. 5.Build academic habits such as persistence, organization and preparedness as well as an ability to reflect on one’s own learning.

14 Activity 2: Think-pair-share How can we support the development of oral academic language for Bridges students?

Learning a second language is different from learning the first because ________. 15

16 Learning a second language is different from the first… Learners are older behavioral and biological differences Learners bring their prior knowledge and skills to the task of language learning Home language Literacy, oral vocabulary Everyone is successful at learning to speak their first language (informally); not everyone is successful at learning to speak their second language In first language, children learn from hearing the language in context with no explicit correction or instruction In second language, learners benefit from appropriate correction (e.g. recast) and explicit instruction

17 Learning a first and second language is similar for Bridges students… Develop an understanding of the rules of the language: You can say: We like chocolate cake. You can’t say: Cake like chocolate we. Developmental Process: Oral language before literacy! Receptive before productive words  phrases  sentences

Language Abilities 18 Oral Literacy Receptive Productive ListeningSpeaking ReadingWriting

In order to develop oral language students need ________. 19

20 Input! A second language cannot be learned without enough input! Input needs to be understood/comprehended so that language (and content knowledge) develops: COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT Different Types of Input Social Academic

21 The Importance of Making Input Comprehensible: SCAFFOLDING Need to turn the input into meaning and understanding! How? Using this example sentence, describe how you would use SCAFFOLDING to make the input comprehensible. How do people share culture where I am from? Visuals Gestures and dramatization Pre-teaching vocabulary before hearing the sentence For building background / context For learning new words Home language

22 Activity 3: Group Work How do we use the Bridges Curriculum to scaffold oral language development and content knowledge?

The Bridges Curriculum 23

24 Curriculum Materials Interdisciplinary Overview Unit Plan(s) Weekly Lesson Outline(s) Sample lessons Sample student materials Teacher’s Guide to the Curriculum Bridges Website [ ] Bridges Website

25 Introduction to Curriculum Structure Year at a Glance 4 units Unit 1 takes approximately 6 weeks; Units 2, 3 and 4 take 7 weeks Each Unit has a theme and poses an interdisciplinary question With the exception of Math, these themes and questions are aligned with each other Each Unit culminates in a project

26 Unit Structure Overview

27 Translate the Essential Question Da dove veniamo? Come sono simili e diversi questi luoghi?

28 Today’s Focus: Scaffolding Oral Language Development Classroom Environment as a Resource for Learning Home Language as a Resource for Learning

Activity 4: Group Work How do we use the Bridges instructional method of See Think Wonder to scaffold language development and content knowledge? 29

30 See Think Wonder - Model Social Studies Unit 1: Connections Week 1: Engage, Introduce Essential Question, Build Background Lesson 2: See Think Wonder Social Studies Week 1 Materials Why is this a ‘power method’ in the Bridges Curriculum? Builds oral language in English relevant to the topic being studied Builds schema and background information central to an understanding of the topic Engages pre-reading strategies through interpretation and inference Creates climate of inquiry

31 See Think Wonder - Practice Break into groups Look at the See-Think-Wonder Activity from Week 1 in your group’s assigned content area Take Note: What resources will you need for your population? How will you SCAFFOLD the input in your see-think- wonder activity, considering: Classroom Environment Home Language as a Resource Building Background Other Scaffolds? Be prepared to present to the rest of the group!

32 Proposed PD Schedule Proposed Dates LocationTopic 1. Oct. 28University Settlement / YMCA Houston Street Center Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals Part I: Scaffolding Oral Language Development 2. Nov. 22TBDBuilding Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part II 3. Jan. 10TBDBuilding Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part III 4. Mar. 7TBDBuilding Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part IV 5. Apr. 4TBDBuilding Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part V 6. May-JuneTBDOnsite Visits