Organizing Centers in our DL Classrooms

So today I wanted to share how we set up our learning centers in our Kindergarten Dual Language classrooms! Sometimes people feel that there is not enough time to get in centers, but this is where students get to work in small groups tackling different skills we have been working on during previous weeks as well as add new skills we are learning. This is also where students get their guided reading time with the teacher - which is extremely important!

I teach in 50/50 two-way dual language classroom, so we have two groups of students and we each always start with the same group but switch groups after lunch.

My partner and I currently follow a two-day schedule that we created in order to make sure we were getting in all the subjects in both languages as well as our learning centers, but in a way where we weren't repeating material to either group of kids. This is the schedule we follow:

The area that is highlighted - Learning Centers - are the times where we have our small group centers happening and where we get in our guided reading centers. Both my partner and I have a Center Rotation Chart where we have cards with our student names/groups and the 4 centers to they are getting to in one day. So here is an example of how the rotations would work for my homeroom ("los perritos") and my partner's homeroom group ("los leones"):

MY homeroom ("los perritos"):
Monday: Morning centers in Spanish with me
Tuesday: Afternoon centers in English with my partner
Thursday: Morning centers in Spanish with me
Friday: Afternoon centers in English with my partner

My PARTNER'S homeroom ("los leones"):
Monday: Morning centers in English with me=y partner
Tuesday: Afternoon centers in Spanish with me
Thursday: Morning centers in English with my partner
Friday: Afternoon centers in Spanish with me

In one week, it takes our students 4 days to complete all 7 Spanish centers (guided reading counts twice) and all 7 English centers (guided reading counts twice).

This is my Center Rotation Chart. As you can see, the children would find their name on the colored card and read across for their 4 centers for one day. Each center is about 20 minutes long. As you can also see, the MAESTRA center is doubled because that center has to be in every rotation, so students Monday-Thursday have a guided reading group (2 in Spanish with me and 2 in English with my partner).

Since I teach 2 groups of 18 students, I have two sets of grouping cards. After the day is finished, I switch the cards (move up or down) and then I bring the other set of cards to the front. Basically, I'm organizing all my 36 kids centers on one chart, I just have the group that has centers with me that day on the front and I make sure when the day ends I switch the cards in the correct way so that the other group is up front and cards are ready for the next day.

So depending on the week, my centers may change but they always include:

1. Maestra (guided reading)

2. Trabajo con palabras (word work)

3. Escritura (writing)

4. Computadoras (computers)

And then they may also include:

• Mesa Estrella (Star Table)-- a thematic-related art project/craft that we usually use later to write about
• Fluidez (fluency)--fluency games and activities the kids are familiar with
• Matematicas (math)--a review math center with concepts we have worked on previously to reinforce
• Tabletas (iPads)--learning games (alfabeto o silabas games)

Learning centers are such a staple of our instructional time because not only are students are working on activities that reinforce fundamental skills we have been working on, but students also get the opportunity to work in small groups and negotiate meaning with each other. I also make sure that there are answer keys or ways for students to check their answer (when I deem necessary and appropriate) so that each center is differentiated and at the student's level. Another example is in Word Work, is after students complete the activity, my higher-level groups might then go on to use the words from the sorting activity to build their own original sentences, while my non-native groups might just be writing the words on the dry erase board. I make sure to explain the varying things they can do when they are done with the activity so they feel they can choose and succeed independently at the activity.

How do you run your centers? Leave a comment or question!

Raising a Bilingual Child

It might seem overwhelming thinking about how to raise a child bilingually. You may be in a household where one spouse knows a different native language than you, or you may be in a household where you both speak the same native language but live in a country where another language is the majority. Can I teach my child a language if I have a full-time job? What if my child doesn’t want to learn? How can I balance this? What if their native language suffers? What if they fall behind? These are all natural concerns for parents and rightfully so! You want the best for your child no matter what. So, I’m writing this post to give you some tips on how to approach raising a bilingual child! I base a lot of my recommendations from my own experience as a dual language teacher, a child who was raised bilingually and from two excellent books titled “7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child” by Naomi Steiner and "The Bilingual Edge" by Kendall King and Alison Mackey.

Here are MY 6 main tips for raising a bilingual child:

1.       Define your goals as a bilingual parent/household

2.       Create a Bilingual Action Plan (from the book “7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child” by Naomi Steiner)

3.       Integrate the second language within the technology already being used in their household (such as iPad apps, YouTube videos, online books). For example, these are some great YouTube channels in Spanish to utilize in your home:

a.       El Reino Infantil

b.       Lunacreciente

c.       Kidsmmersion

4.       Read, Read, Read

a.       A strong foundation in a child’s native language is a great predictor of their success in their second language acquisition.

5.       Write, Write, Write (in a meaningful context)

a.       Give children the opportunity to use the Spanish vocabulary they are learning in a meaningful context (grocery lists, labels around the house, words around the community, etc).

6.       Use the target language in context (make it fun!)

a.       Whenever possible, create opportunities for students to use the target language in a meaningful way and most importantly – make it fun! Language learning should be engaging, exciting and interactive!

The most important tip I have for language learning is to make it “comprehensible” which means, to make sure you are doing everything you can for your child to understand. This is mostly done through using as many visuals (images, videos, songs, poems) as possible! Remember that language learning is a long journey and any small stride is a success! Another important aspect of language learning is for it to be “interactive” – give your child opportunities to interact with other children who are being raised bilingually (playdates, outings, etc) and provide them activities where they will be interacting in a meaningful way with the target language. Therefore, it is crucial for you to give your children opportunities to produce the language orally and to interact with other children who are bilingual or being raised bilingually.

Here are some recommended books that are great reads for parents wanting to or already are raising their children bilingually:

1.       The Bilingual Edge by Kendall King and Alison Mackey

2.       7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child by Naomi Steiner

3.       Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Zurer Pearson and Living Language

4.       Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability: Ideas and Inspiration foreven greater success and joy raising bilingual kids by Adam Beck

Como Enseñar Las Vocales

Para enseñar las vocales, lo mas importante es enfocarse en una vocal cada semana. Esto significa que le enseñanza de las vocales durará 5 semanas (a, e, i, o, u). Sigue esta esquema cada semana para organizar tu enseñanza de cada vocal:

Esquema:

1. “Los amigos de las vocales” (Introduce el sonido de las vocales)
2. Videos/Canciones de las vocales
3. Introducir el poema de las vocales
4. Mapa de burbujas de las vocales
5. Libreta de las vocales
6. Actividades de alfabetización enfocadas en las vocales
7. Repaso de las vocales

Paso 1: "Los amigos de las vocales"

Para introducir cada vocal, introduce la amiga/el amigo y lee su cuento. Después, dile a los estudiantes que repitan el sonido que hace ese amigo.

Paso 2: Video/Canciones de las vocales
En YouTube hay muchos videos buenos de las vocales y a los estudiantes les encanta verlos. También, utilizo unos "chants" o canciones de las vocales que creé que ayudan a los estudiantes repetir los sonidos y nombres de cada vocal.

Vowel Chants in Spanish  --you can listen to the chants here!

Vowel Pack in Spanish  -- if you want to purchase the vowel pack/chants!

Paso 3: Introducir el poema de las vocales

Para introducir el poema de la vocal de la semana, lo muestro usando mi proyector y primero lo leo yo. Después, les digo a los estudiantes que repitan el poema mientras yo lo leo. Por ejemplo:

Maestra: A de abeja

Estudiantes: A de abeja

Maestra: A de avión

Estudiantes: A de avión

Al final de la semana, dejo que los estudiantes tomen turnos con el “pointer” y dirigiendo la lectura del poema a la clase entera. ¡Les encanta hacer esto!

Paso 4: Mapa de burbujas de las vocales

En grupo entero, di: “Vamos a pensar en palabras que comienza con la vocal Aa. Hmmm. ¿Quién sabe una palabra que comienza con Aa?” Aquí puedes dejar que los estudiantes se den una vuelta y hablen con un compañero de la alfombra (turn & talk). Después de unos minutos, haz la pregunta de nuevo. Mientras van diciendo palabras, escríbelas en el papel grande y pega la imagen (si no tienes una tarjeta con la imagen, dibújala – recuerda que los visuales son muy importantes). Cuando terminen, deja el cartel en una pared.

Paso 5: Libreta de las vocales

Al principio de la unidad sobre las vocales, cada estudiante debe recibir una libreta de las vocales. Deja que cada estudiante escriba su nombre y coloree la portada de la libreta. Después, pon todas las libretas en un lugar asignado del salón donde los estudiantes saben donde están. Cada semana, después de que hayan hecho el mapa de burbujas de las vocales (no en el mismo día), deja que cada estudiante complete la pagina que corresponde a la vocal de la semana. Esto los ayuda a repasar la vocal y al mismo tiempo tener una libreta que después podrán leer ellos independientemente porque reconocerán los dibujos.

Vowel Booklet in Spanish 

Paso 6: Actividades de alfabetización enfocadas en las vocales

• Vocal (sonido) inicial que falta
• Vocal (sonido) final que falta
• Emparejar un dibujo con su vocal inicial
• Rompecabezas de las vocales
• Determinar la vocal inicial del dibujo
• "Escribe el salón" de las vocales

Otros Recursos:

• Missing Vowels in Spanish
• Vowel Game in Spanish
• Back to School Vowel Game in Spanish

Paso 7: Repaso de las vocales

Hay varias maneras de repasar las vocales en después de las 5 semanas. Como las vocales son una base fundamental del idioma en español, dedica una semana después de las 5 semanas para repasar lo que han aprendido.

• Mapa/Grafica en grupo entero de todas las vocales
• Utilizar WheelDecide para repasar y practicar las vocales
• Cada estudiante deben tener un pizarrón y marcador (o un papel/lápiz). Anteriormente, pon palabras que comienzan con todas las vocales en la rueda. Gira la rueda y los estudiantes deben leer la palabra y después escribirla en su pizarrón/papel propio.
• Pelota de playa plástica
• Escribe en una pelota de playa plástica una vocal en cada color (a, e, i, o, u, y en el ultimo color escribe “tu decides”). Los estudiantes deben estar sentados en un circulo en la alfombra. Tira la pelota y el estudiante debe decir una palabra que comienza con esa vocal. Después, pasan la pelota a otro compañero.

Staying Organized!

So, ideally, every teacher is uber organized and enjoys the satisfaction of seeing their organization come to fruition and aid in their sanity! I would personally say that this holds even truer for teachers in two-way 50/50 dual language immersion programs! Being that I am a Kindergarten teacher in such a program where I work super (and I mean SUPER) closely with the English side teacher, we pride ourselves in how we have organized our program - including a two-day schedule, math unit charts and thematic unit charts!

In this post, I'll share samples of our charts and how we utilize them to inform our teaching and to make sure that we are not repeating information and that our groups of students are not receiving the material twice in both languages (what a waste of time that would be!).

First, here is a look at our rough copy of our daily two-day schedule rotation. As you will notice, we are both doing the "same thing" but just with a different group of kids. Basically, let's say DAY 1 is on Monday, then both myself and Mrs. Looky (my super awesome partner!) would be doing Calendar/Poetry/Shared Reading, and our Reading Groups/Learning Centers at the same time, just with our own respective group of students. THEN, that same day, we would switch groups of students after lunch and we would both then doing Math Centers, Writing/Literacy Workshops and our Science or SS lesson with our afternoon group of kids! Then, on Tuesday, we would both follow the DAY 2 schedule (which is basically Day 1, flipped!).

So that is our basic two-day schedule chart to its bare bones! It has made our planning for each week and month much easier and it has allowed for us to make sure we are getting all the standards, content and activities in but without repeating it with each group of students!

In addition, for our math curriculum, we teach our GoMath chapters utilizing Math Centers, so we have a whole separate chart for that. At the beginning of the unit, we rip the chapters out and send them home so students can work/practice at home with their parents and that way, the parents know the vocabulary we are using in class and they can also see what their child is learning in school!

Basically, we decided that we will teach 5 centers at a time for the math skill we are working on, meaning, that we will both have the same exact math centers happening in each of our rooms, but we have students go to ONE center per day in one language and then the next day they go to the next center in the other language, and so forth. Basically, each group will get, out of those 5 centers, 2 in Spanish and 3 in English OR 3 in Spanish and 2 in English. Here is a sample of one of our math charts:

As you can see, the children move to the next center the next day, just in the OTHER language. For example, imagine Group 1... This will be Group 1's rotation through the math centers for that skill/chapter:

Monday: CENTER 1 - English

Tuesday: CENTER 2 - Spanish

Wednesday: CENTER 3 - English

Thursday: CENTER 4 - Spanish

Friday: CENTER 5 - English

This way, they are all receiving all of the math skills, just half of the time they are receiving them in Spanish and the other half in English. We also run our classrooms this way to ensure that we are being as efficient as possible with the time that we have with each group (we really only have about 2 hours with each group!!)AND to ensure that we aren't repeating any content!

Finally, we have our VERY important thematic unit charts! So we teach our standards through thematic units and for each thematic unit we created a Unit Chart where we specify what graphic organizers, writing activities, collaborative group activities, technology (videos, songs) and poetry we will be doing with which group of students and in which language! For all intents and purposes, we call our morning group of kids our AM group and our afternoon group of kids our PM group and I am "Pantin" (the Spanish side) and my partner is "Looky" (the English side). Here is a sample of one of our unit charts:

As you can see, by using a chart like this we stay organized throughout our unit and we are able to tell what we need to cover with which group, making our lives SO much easier! Of course, we communicate daily and let each other know if perhaps we didn't get to cover something that day or if something came up, but overall, these thematic unit charts have been amazing at helping us stay focused on what we need to get done with each group!

Here are some other Unit Chart examples:

I just finished putting together our last three charts for this school year!...AND I must admit, they look MUCH cuter with a bright colored paper!

Finally, my partner and I do all 40 conferences together, since we are both teachers to all 40 of our kids! Therefore, when conference time comes around, we create this chart designating the time slots for our parents to sign in and then our Room Parent puts these dates and times on the class Sign-Up Genius. Once all the parents have signed up, we write in each parent's/student's name on the box next to the time and we have this handy throughout our conferences so we are on-task with which parent is next and the order of our conferences! This is another great and simple tool we've employed to help us stay super organized!

There is nothing more satisfying than staying organized and it is especially essential for teachers in two-way dual language programs to stay on top of it and to stay organized! I hope you will find this post helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions about our schedules or the way we run our program! :)

Sight Word Games

An important part of reading foundational skills to to build students' fluency with sight words/high frequency words (palabras de uso frecuente!). This year, I am trying various different methods to get students more involved with the sight words - especially by playing weekly games to practice, practice and practice those sight words! I am also finding that by introducing the words early on students are already building their practice with reading Spanish syllables/practicing how to recognize and read Spanish letters/words with their correct sounds! I introduced these games first in my small guided reading group so that I could explain how to play. Now that they have played these three games, I can place the same type of games (but with different sight words) at their independent centers throughout the year!

 Here students spin the Spinner and then read the sight word out loud and then find it and color it!

Here students throw the dice, find the word that by that dice, read it out loud and then trace it! If they roll the number 6, they skip their turn!

 

Here students throw the dice, read the word out loud and then write it on a dry erase surface! There is also the option of using the worksheet that comes with the game, where students need to find the word and color it in!

You can find these sight word games in my "Sight Word Bundle in Spanish": https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sight-Word-Bundle-in-Spanish-2804366
 

Reflections on Year 1

I cannot believe how quickly time flies by (when you're having fun AND you're super busy!). Since my first year teaching (what!) has come to an end, I am left here reflecting over the last 9 months and pondering about the upcoming months and school year. When everyone said that your first year will fly by, it seemed like such an abstract statement since I had never experienced anything like this year before. But it did fly by and my, what an amazing journey it was, which I feel excited and privileged to have had.

As a first year teacher, who was also helping to launch a new dual language program at our school, I certainly felt an enormous amount of pressure to be successful and to provide my K students the most authentic, immersive language learning (and content learning, of course) experience possible! One of the most important things that I can say and reflect upon is how important it was for me to use the resources available (i.e., the internet & my colleagues!) to search for, find and adapt activities for learning that I could utilize. Using search engines to find Spanish poems (and being selective about which poems I believe would be the most beneficial), along with using sites such as Pinterest, I was able to gather ideas and implement them in the way I felt most appropriate. Reflecting on this I realize the importance of seeing ideas from seasoned educators and finding ways to adapt and implement them!

Although sometimes the pressure and stress felt overwhelming, these tools allowed me to realize (1) I am not alone and (2) there are SO many great ideas out there. I also decided that because I knew my kids best and what their needs were, I would need to take what I had learned as a Kindergarten student in Venezuela meshed with my academic experience in the U.S. and my personal family life experience growing up Latina in the U.S. to create an overview of how to teach literacy in Spanish and integrate it with science, social studies and mathematics. Coming into such an innovative and progressive school helped me in this journey. Our Kindergarten team teaches in thematic units, which I now realize is such a powerful way to teach all the standards and content, while not leaving out important subjects such as science and social studies. By integrating all the subjects to thematic units (which the English side teacher was also doing), the children were able to find fluidity and continuity between the two classes, the content and the learning experiences.

Finally, I've also realized how crucial it is for the English side and the Spanish side teacher to have a close working relationship, because I believe, the majority of the success of our program this year was based on that relationship. The other teacher and I would coordinate before every unit to discuss what we were each doing with what group of student (our morning group or our afternoon group), we would discuss everyday what we were doing/what we did with each group and how it went and we would make sure we didn't repeat any lessons (but rather, added on and provided students with different activities aimed at reaching the standards we were working on). I truly believe that this not only helped our sanity (so we were not repeating lessons and things of that nature), but it also demonstrated a coordination and teamwork model for the students, who undeniably saw how closely we both worked!

Overall, I am so grateful for the incredible first year I have had! I feel privileged to be at a school where our Principal allows (and actually encourages) teachers to be creative, innovative and authentic in their practice, while still adhering to standards and what needs to be covered/taught. I have learned a lot and continue to learn a lot and gather new ideas, and am excited for the road ahead as I enter into my second year of teaching Kindergarten!

Happy Summer Everyone!

Community Helpers Unit in Spanish

The past week we began our community helpers unit, which I was SO excited about because it is such a relatable unit for our kids! Students get to learn about different community members and I've seen them make such amazing connections to their own lives, such as sharing what their parents do for a living, or how they've seen police/firefighter cars/trucks in their town and by sharing what they want to be when they grow up and how they will be community helpers as well! 

Therefore, I was excited to bring together different elements to teach/share with students about our community helpers in Spanish. I utilized Spanish nonfiction texts, videos, a song with a video, bubble maps, Important Words, student booklets, Venn Diagram activities, and a cumulative collaborative activity at the end of the unit. 

These are the books that I have found in Spanish and utilize for our community helpers unit:

Before beginning the unit I went over our learning scale (based on Marzano) and had students understand and try to verbally say what the learning goal was (which in a concrete sense was difficult for them to say the whole learning goal in Spanish, but they were able to verbalize who we were going to learn about and most of our Important Words for the unit).

We dedicated a day to each community helper and we focused on: Doctor, Firefighter, Teacher, Police, Vet and Chef.

First, each day we would go over our "Important Words":

Then, we would watch the video of "Las Profesiones" and try to sing along! This is a GREAT video because it has really beautiful visuals and words to sing along!

Then, we would read a book about the community helper and possibly watch a video. There were some great videos for firefighter in Spanish ("Sam el Bombero") and for police ("Caillou el oficial de polica") and a very catchy song about a vet ("Tio Mario Veterinario") and a Peppa Pig episode about the vet ("el veterinario volador"). I must warn you - the Tio Mario Veterinario song is SUPER catchy and students have continued to ask me to play it for them everyday after I introduced it to them!!

Then, I would read our community helper poem, which provided a quick definition of what the community helper does:

Next, we would create a bubble map for that specific community helper together. Something crucial for a dual language classroom is VISUALS and so I had cards with each community helper's tools that I would tape up when a student said that tool. If students didn't mention the tool, I would show it to the class and have students recognize that tool. Here are our bubble maps:

 After we filled out the bubble map, I had each student fill out the respective community helper page in their own little booklet about community helpers. You can find this booklet in my Community Helper product!

Throughout the week I also incorporated various learning centers with this community helper theme. Here are some pictures of the students at work at those centers and engaged in activities that have to do with this theme, which they all really seemed to enjoy!!

 Math subtraction center using community helper's tools!

Writing community helper names in alphabetical order!

During guided reading I had students write down 4 things they learned about some of their community helpers and then illustrate the image in their notebooks! Here is one students example:

Students also put two of the poems in their Poetry Notebooks - the doctor and teacher poem! Here is one students notebook, where she illustrated both poems with amazing details!

  

 Also, during literacy workshops several students wanted to draw pictures of community helpers and they know the rule - if they draw they must write or label the picture to practice their writing! Here are some students' examples of their AMAZING drawings:

 Another student decided to go to our pocket chart and categorize the tools under the community helpers. I LOVE his concentration!

 I really enjoyed teaching this unit and working with students to learn more about our awesome community helpers! The kids really enjoyed it, especially because they were able to talk about what community helper they want to be when they grown up!

If you're interested in this unit, check out my Community Helper Unit product on my tpt store! The product is all in Spanish, with some parts in English as well!

My One Word for 2016... "Experiment"

Recently my principal wrote a blog post about his "one word" for 2016 and this inspired our latest twitter chat (Thursday nights--> #sofledchat) about each of our own "one word" for 2016. After reflecting back on the first half of the school year (still cannot believe we are halfway through the year!) and on a word that could embody how I want my students to push themselves and try new things... I came up with the word "experiment." Experiment is just a fancy word for "TRY" and while "trying" is SO essential in every single classroom, I also see it as a key feature of my Kindergarten Dual Language (Spanish) classroom. 

I don't have to try too hard to put myself in my students shoes (especially my Native English speaking students) because when I first immigrated to the United States, all I spoke was Spanish and I was placed in an all English first grade classroom where I felt intimidated and nervous at first when all I heard was English being spoken to me all day. This is how many of my English speaking students must have felt at the beginning of the year (and even at some points still must feel) hearing me speak Spanish all day. Thus, TRYING or EXPERIMENTING is a key part in being a successful language learner (even when we are babies and learning our native tongue!). When I see my students jump in and EXPERIMENT or TRY it leaves me inspired, excited and motivated to try more and to push myself more, so it can help them as well. An example: one of my native English speaking students started saying full sentences to me in Spanish towards the end of December and she has continuously been jumping in and experimenting with her language and her learning! If a 5 year old can experiment so freely and free from judgment, can't we all?

So as I have been reflecting over what my amazing students have accomplished and how they are growing as learners and language learners, I wanted to think of a word that could embody how I want my students to experience learning (through experimentation... through trying, through failing & getting back up again!) and how I want to be as a teacher - always trying hard and pushing myself!

I have said this repeatedly to people who know me - I never want to be 'complacent' with anything in my life because I think complacency leads to stagnation, standing still and lack of progression... One way that I will not become complacent is by experimenting - trying new things everyday both personally and in my career! I am constantly amazed at how much I can learn from my 5 and 6 year olds - how much experimenting is required of them (mainly because so much of this "school" thing is so new to them!) that I find myself motivated and excited to try new things too!

So as we start off 2016 I will vow to "EXPERIMENT," to try new things, to jump into all experiences that are coming with excitement, motivation and inspiration and in turn, provide opportunities for my students to EXPERIMENT, to TRY new things and ways of learning so that they too are excited, motivated and inspired! What is your One Word for 2016?

El Mono Silabo... A Classroom Favorite!

Sometimes it feels like it's hard to find quality materials in Spanish to engage children or introduce topics to children, but when you find something quality, you can immediately see it 'click' with them. I have found several videos that we try to watch weekly to reinforce certain concepts. For example, when we do Calendar, we sing our "Meses del año" and "Dias de la semana" video/song, which the children really enjoy. We also have an alphabet video/song, that although it goes a bit fast, has been the one I have found the kids enjoy the most!

Once I began working on syllables with the children, I introduced "El Mono Silabo," our friendly monkey friend who will be helping us learn about syllables and how to read in Spanish. These videos are found on YouTube and I am seeing so much progress and engagement from the students when it's time to learn about our new syllables of the week. We watch the videos and I will stop occasionally throughout to ask students to read the words or sentences that they show in the video!

I introduced the syllables "ba, be, bi, bo, bu" this week before winter break, and plan on showing it again the week we are back in school in January, to refresh their minds, with their favorite little monkey (and his crazy friend!).

Here is the link to the YouTube channel where all the videos are found: El Mono Silabo

Here is a short video of my kids singing the S syllables while watching the video and a picture :)

Guided Reading in Spanish

Dual language programs across the board can be very different from school to school, district to district and state to state. Some dual language programs don't have guided reading groups in the Spanish classroom for grades as young as Kindergarten, however, I believe that both classrooms should run very similarly in the sense of the routines and the activities that the students engage in. I believe that both languages should have equal emphasis and importance, so as to not devalue or demote the significance of one language or culture over another. Furthermore, I think it's important to make sure that we are always stimulating and pushing our students forward, especially when there are such varying linguistic levels in a classroom (as is often seen in dual language settings!). Thus, in the dual language program we are building at Gator Run, we have guided reading center rotations during our learning centers. There are many different activities related to reading (and writing of course!) that happen during this 20 minute center, but I believe that time has been so instrumental in helping children gain linguistic confidence in their Spanish abilities as well as push students towards being able to read words, phrases and even sentences in Spanish. 

Here is my guided reading/teacher center table/area:

I painted my one table with Dry Erase paint so that students could write (and be able to see it better) when they came to me for this rotation - and the kids love it! Students come and begin by tracing their name (practicing handwriting) and/or sight words/sentences with dry erase markers while I make sure that the other groups are set and ready to begin! I also put out their book basket so that they can read the book if they finish tracing.

Here students are using whisper phones while reading their syllable words for the week during our guided reading groups. Students love these phones! They can hear themselves reading, which helps them recognize how it sounds when they read the word and it also allows me to lean in by each child and hear them read the text. Those books featured in the pictures are books from Venezuela, that I actually used also when I learned to read in Spanish back in the day! These books feature syllables and then words with those syllables and then some simple sentences at the bottom of each page. The book is simple, but that's how one learns to read in Spanish - by learning to read syllabically! We sound out the words syllable by syllable and then children practice reading the words themselves.

Here students are writing in their Spanish notebook during guided reading. I started Spanish notebooks around the middle of October. We use this notebook to respond to stories, work on our syllable words and to write words that we hear (sounding them out). This is an interactive notebook also, so sometimes, I might have something for the students to work on and then glue in their notebook that is related to our syllables/word work. I decided to use a Spanish notebook so that students can work on these skills (as well as handwriting!) hand in hand with reading since both are so closely related. The Spanish notebook is also differentiated by each reading group. That's another reason I decided to use the notebook, because I thought it could be a great differentiation tool and really work on the reading/writing skills each group needs and to document that progress throughout the year. 

 

During guided reading we also practice our sight words (palabras de uso frecuente)! Here, I was saying a word out loud and I had them write the word how they heard it (sounding it out). Then, I show the students the word so that they can see how the wrote it. The students enjoy writing the words and then waiting to see the "real" word on a star that I have them on and get so excited when they see that they've written it correctly or very close!

Guided reading in Kindergarten can include many different goals and activities to help children become readers and writers and it is no different in a dual language program on the side of the target language!