April 3, 2025
Thursday Edition
Empowering Dual Language Immersion educators with best practices, relevant research, classroom tips, and fun ideas that will inspire you into, through and beyond your teaching week.
Our Craft
At last week's CABE conference, I presented on oral language development and the need to develop social language along with academic language.
How do I motivate my students to use their new/less dominant language?
It's important to understand what motivates students. I often say, 'Our students didn't pick the program, their families did.' Most students don't enter a DLI program with intrinsic motivation to use their new/less dominant language. Ask yourself, "Are my students reluctant to use their new/less dominant language because they CAN'T or because they WON'T." This is an important distinction because if students can't, that means they don't have the words to express themselves or they can put the words together yet. If students won't, that means they can speak but they are opting out. In order to plan activities for oral language development we need to know if students can't or won't.
Students' social language is English, not the target language (typically).
In most schools the language of the playground, cafeteria, office, library, etc. is English. The target language is used in the classroom for instruction, and therefore students tend to view the target language as an academic language only and not for social interactions. Even if they can, they won't.
- When we ask students to engage in a group activity, it's natural for them to use their social language to engage with their peers even whether the topic is academic or social.
- Engaging students in a social conversation with their classmates, helps them see the target language as a social language as well as an academic language.
I recommend starting the day with a morning question that engages students in social interactions with their peers. The more students use language in a social context, the more they will find it natural to use the language during an academic activity.
Setting Intentions Oral Language Development
This 60 Second Strategy by Edutopia got me thinking.
What if we ask our students to set an intention for speaking when they are released to work in groups?
Once students are clear about what they are going to discuss in groups, ask them to set a goal or an intention for speaking. (I recommend setting intentions for academic talk, and allowing students to speak more freely for social interactions.)
Here are some goals or intentions students can set before working with their group:
I will use the new vocabulary we are learning.
I will use all the words I can in Spanish.
I will use complete sentences to express my ideas.
I will encourage my group partners to use Spanish during our work time.
Once students decide their intention, have them share it with their group members. Saying it out loud gives them that extra push to meet the goal.
Setting intentions for speaking, gives Spanish speakers a space to shine and gives Spanish learners permission to make errors when sharing an idea in Spanish.
Many times students abandon using their less dominant language because they feel pressure to get it right. If we establish that this is our time to practice and that making mistakes is part of the process, students are more likely to take risks. Remind students to use all the words they can in Spanish, if they get stuck they can ask "Cómo se dice?" instead of giving up.
Have students reflect on their use of the target language.
After a group activity, ask students to reflect on their use of the target language. Did they meet their goal? If they didn't meet their goal, it's ok because they will try again the next day. Finally, ask students to celebrate their classmates' attempts at using the target language. "Echale porras a tus amigos por sus esfuerzos." And don't forget to celebrate all attempts at using the target language.
Let me know if you try this strategy! You can reply to this email or any ¡Viva ser bilingüe! email.
Interactive Read Aloud
April is Autism Acceptance Month
Here are some books to consider for your Read Aloud time this month.
En español
Mis amigos tienen autismo Bookshop Amazon
Mi hermano Luca Amazon
Mi hermano tiene autismo Bookshop Amazon
English
How are you Verity? Bookshop Amazon
Flap Your Hands: A Celebration of Stimming Bookshop Amazon
Too Much: An Overwhelming Day Bookshop Amazon
*A percentage of sales in April on Bookshop will be donated to Mija Books
Enter to Win
@weneeddiversebooks is a non-profit organization sponsoring a special book giveaway. Click HERE for your chance to win their recommended books.
Spring Craft Ideas
Easy Paper Flower Craft
How to Fold an Origami Tulip
Stamping Flowers
Upcoming Conferences & DLI PD
The Association of Two-Way and Dual Language Education (ATDLE) June 18 - 20 Sacramento CA. For more information click HERE.
DLI Implementation Resource
Dual Language Immersion Project - Playbook
Directory of Dual Language Programs in the U.S.
Dual Language Schools.org counts 4894 Dual Language programs across the United States. There are more programs than are listed. Check the link above to see if your school is on the list.
¡Viva ser bilingüe! Newsletter is published by Multilingual Learning Network.
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