Teaching Strategies
Bridging
Throughout the unit, we will bridge—or connect—vocabulary words and sentences. The Bridge, as defined by Beeman and Urow in Teaching for Biliteracy: Strengthening Bridges between Languages, is “when teachers purposefully bring two languages together, strategically guiding bilingual learners to…transfer the academic content they have learned in one language to the other.”[204] We will compare “immigrant” in English and “inmigrante” in Spanish. Because at Bancroft we use purple for English words and orange for Spanish words, I will use these colors to highlight the different languages and prompt students to notice that these words are cognates. We will discuss their similarities and differences, circle what is the same, and underline what is different about these words. Using their prior knowledge, students will define these words; they will use their knowledge of Spanish words to understand the meanings of English words, and their knowledge of English words to understand the meanings of Spanish words. To help students develop a habit of bridging English and Spanish words, we will continue this word activity with other vocabulary words in the unit.
Repeated Reading
We will read the text several times to develop fluency and expression. For example, we will take excerpts from the book Yes! We are Latino: Poems and Prose about the Latino Experience by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy. After editing the text to make it more age-appropriate and pairing some images with the words, we will build meaning by previewing key vocabulary and activating prior knowledge. Students will take turns reading passages aloud to a partner. We will repeat this process three times as they build their fluency. Then, students will summarize and discuss their passages with their partners.[205]
Think-Pair-Share
To provide all students with an opportunity to grapple with questions and participate in discussions, we will use think-pair-share. This strategy encourages students to think, collaborate, and share their response with their peers. For example, I will pose questions such as: “Did you know that not all schools in D.C. are bilingual? Why do you think students at Bancroft learn English and Spanish?” Students will have a minute to think about their response, then discuss it with a partner, and then share their answers with the whole class.
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