August 6, 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

In DLI programs, our third pillar is more than holidays, food, and celebrations that represent the culture of the target language. While learning about the culture of the target language is valuable, sociocultural competence calls DLI teache rs to pay attention to the students in your class. Who are THEY? What languages do they speak? Where do they come from? How can students feel like belong and how does that belonging help create a classroom environment that helps students learn FROM each other, while they learn WITH each other? Our programs are not just about becoming bilingual and biliterate, it's also about co-creating a classroom environment where students can thrive socially and academically while learning in two languages.

My own understanding of sociocultural competence shifted a bit when I saw this post by @littlejusticeleaders. They make a distinction between diverse representation and affirming students. You may have a diverse group of students in your classroom, but do all students feel "safe, and seen and valued." In other words do all students feel like they belong.

In order to meet the goal of sociocultural competence, we need to go beyond just enrolling students who are linguistically and culturally diverse. We need to ensure that all students feel a sense of belonging. It is that sense of belonging that creates an inclusive environment where students feel safe learning from and with each other and where students feel that their differences are valued.

How are you co-creating an environment where all students feel like they belong? Reflect on that question for your own classroom, and as a DLI team.

Deeper Dive

For a deeper dive, these articles address the importance of belonging:

Click HERE for a free copy of the DLI Pillars Poster

Create a Class Mission Statement

Creating a class mission statement and a class chant are two ways to engage students in an inclusive activity where they can begin for develop a sense of belonging in your classroom. For DLI classrooms, the mission statement should reflect that they are learning in two languages.

It's a process...

Creating a class mission statement is a multi-day process, but well worth. Take some time each day to engage in conversations and brainstorming sessions that will eventually lead to writing the class mission statements. Here are some questions to engage students in conversations and brainstorming sessions that will eventually lead to writing the mission statement.

Kinder-Second Grade Questions:

What does it mean to be bilingual in our classroom? Examples: We learn in two languages? We can talk about _____ in two languages?
What kind of classroom do we want to have? Examples: Examples: A classroom where we are kind. A classroom where we help each other. A classroom where we learn in two languages.
How do you want to feel when you come to our classroom? Examples: happy, safe, special, ready to learn.
Take 3 to 4 big ideas: help students identify the ideas that are most important.

For K-2: Write a simple statement such as:

We are the Room 8 bilingual scholars

We are kind

We help each other

We learn together

We celebrate our languages and cultures

K-2 Example

Third-Fifth Questions:

1.What does it mean to know two languages? What does it mean to know two cultures?

2. How do you want to feel when you come to this classroom?

3. How do we want to treat people whose experiences, languages, cultures, or ideas are different from ours?

4. Find the common themes: place students in groups with a copy of the brainstorming sessions. Ask them to find the themes that appear repeatedly. Examples: We respect one another, we help each other, we use our languages, we use our voices, we include everyone.

Have each group construct a statement using a simple frame:

We are the Room 8 Bilingual Scholars, we _________, _________, and __________ so that ________.

5. Combine and refine: have groups share their statements, as a class identify the strongest ideas, then co-write the final mission statement.

We are the Room 8 Bilingual Scholars, we respect one another, celebrate our differences, and use our voices, in Spanish and English, so that everyone feels valued and has the opportunity to learn.

Step by Step Tutorial from YouTube for the mainstream EO classroom however it's a good example that demonstrates the process of creating a mission statement.

INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD

The teacher Read Aloud is an essential component of the DLI instructional day. Reading Aloud provides students a model of a fluent reader, an opportunity to connect to a story as well as an opportunity to talk.

Read Aloud Stories: On Belonging

¿De dónde eres?

Pre-school - 3rd grade

Spanish Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

English Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

Soñadores

Pre-school - 3rd grade

Spanish Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

English Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

El día en que descubres quién eres

Spanish Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

English Edition - BOOKSHOP AMAZON

For 5th/6th Graders

Reading aloud to students isn't only for our young learners. Upper grade students also benefit from hearing a fluent reader, they learn more challenging vocabulary and most importantly can engage in thoughtful conversations.

Harbor Me by award winning author Jacqueline Woodson

is a book about belonging and community.

Ages 10 - 12

Harbor Me BOOKSHOP AMAZON

The Results are In...

Research in Two-Way/Dual Language Immersion programs has consistently shown for decades that multilingual learners/emergent bilinguals enrolled in a dual language bilingual program outperform their peers on state exams. The 2025-2026 State of Texas Academic Readiness assessment in Dallas ISD showed what we already know: emergent bilingual students outperformed their peers in reading, math and social studies. ¡Felicidades!