August 13, 2026

Thursday Edition

Empowering DLI educators with best practices, relevant research, classroom tips, and fun ideas that will inspire you into, through and beyond your teaching week.

OUR NORTH STAR

Our Craft

Sociocultural Competence

One of the ways that we establish an inclusive environment is by creating a classroom space where students feel safe. Clear routines and procedures help are important for smooth operation of your instructional day, however for beginning level language learners those routines help lower anxiety because they know what to expect even if they don't understand all the words being spoken. We establish routines for entering the classroom, starting the day, transitioning between activities, but have your considered establishing a routine for talk?

Routines for Talk

Oral language development is key in dual language education. While we plan for literacy, math, science and social studies, we sometimes don't plan for intentional talk. A routine for talk is a sequence of actions followed regularly to successfully engage in a conversation or discussion.

In DLI a noisy classroom is productive

DLI classroom should not be quiet classrooms. Students need to use language in order to feel confident in their speaking skills and in order to gain confidence with your new language, you have to use it. Opportunities for talk throughout the day will show up as a 'noisy classroom' but that buzz of talk is exactly what you want. In order for talk to be productive, you need a routine.

Resources for teaching routines

Establishing routines, including routines for talk, not only help in having a smooth instructional day, it also helps students develop healthy executive function. Download The Power of Routines in the Classroom. The beginning pages explain executive function as it relates to daily routines followed with steps on establishing routines in your classroom. This resource is a comprehensive list of the many routines needed in a classroom: Must Teach Classroom Routines This resource is for middle school: First Week routine for middle school

This short video gives an overview on how to establish classroom routines.

MORNING QUESTION

First Thing - Student Talk

Establish a morning routine where students engage in a conversation or discussion prompted by a morning question.

Non-Academic Topics

Start the year off with non-academic topics. Students learning a new language, especially when it's a non-English language need opportunities to speak that language. Establishing a routine where students answer a non-academic question first thing in the morning positions the target language as a language students use socially as well as academically and some students only use the target language when they are in your classroom. Morning question gives students the opportunity to jump into a conversation that low risk. We're not looking for perfection, just participation.

Teach the Routine

Decide what type of structure you want to use for the morning question. Partner share/Pair share is the most common structure used and one students are familiar with but regardless of whether students know the structure or you have to teach, model and review the structure before students engage in a conversation with a partner. At the beginning of the year, teach and reinforce all routines for at least a few weeks, even if it feels repetitive. The repetition will solidify the routine.

What are your students interested in?

Find out what your students are interested in. You can ask them informally or you can survey your students. Ask them? What are topics that we can talk about? If you are an experienced teacher, you know what kids in your grade like. You can pick the first few questions to teach the routine and then ask for their input.

Routine for Talk in Kindergarten & First Grade

Routines for talk are for all grades! In my kindergarten classroom, we answered a morning question every single day using the same routine. The question changed each day; the routine stayed the same. I used what I called a dialog circle (like a morning meeting) to engage my students in talk. Every morning we went around the circle, 3 times. The first round was a simple morning greeting, the second round we answered the question "How are you feeling today" and the third round was an engaging question for kindergarteners. This routine got my students talking in the target language within the first 5 minutes of the school day. It took about 10 minutes. If I felt rushed in the morning, I cut it to two questions. My first grade teacher friend uses partner share and students answer two questions each morning, also in the target language: How will you maximize your learning? ¿Cómo vas a maximizar tu aprendizaje? - this question promoted students to reflect on the class norm they would focus on; followed by a question of high interest.

Let's get our students talking.

Oral language puts students on the road to

strong reading and writing skills in both languages.

INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD

The teacher Read Aloud is an essential component of the DLI instructional day. Reading Aloud models fluent reading, an opportunity to connect to a story and practice comprehension skills, as well as, an opportunity for intentional talk.

Read Aloud Stories: First Day Books

Nuestra clase es una familia

Spanish Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

English Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

Una carta de tu maestra

Spanish Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

English Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

¡Que nervios!

Kindergarten - Third Grade

Spanish Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

English Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

The Results are In...

Dual Language Schools help with attendance

Why dual language schools may be our best attendance level

Science of Reading

Many states have passed science of reading legislation, but now the Feds are jumping on it. A new Federal science of reading legislation: the READ Act and the 21st Century Dyslexia Act are both headed to the Senate for approval.