The detailed outline for this first day was as follows:
TWO WAY IMMERSION INSTITUTE
DAY ONE
DAY ONE
8:30 – 8:45 Welcome/Team-Building/Getting to Know You Activity
1) Name & position (offer prize at breaks, lunch & end for anyone who can successfully ID everyone’s names) (5 min)
2) Artful Closer (15 min—8 for drawing; 7 for share out)
This activity begins with reflection, proceeds through nonverbal communication, and ends in a discussion. You can use ARTFUL CLOSER to debrief participants after an experiential activity. You may also use it as the final activity at the end of a workshop. You may even use it as an opening ice-breaker by asking participants to think about common personal experiences. For example, I began a recent session on presentation skills by asking participants to process their experiences with the most inspiring speech they had ever heard.
Purpose
To reflect on a common experience and share insights with each other.
Participants
Any number. Best for 8 to 30 participants.
Time
20 to 45 minutes
Supplies
* Large sheets of drawing paper
* Crayons of different colors
* Timer
* Whistle
Flow
Form teams. Divide participants into equal-sized teams of 4 to 6 members each. Seat team members around a table.
Review the experience. Specify a common experience: LEARNING YOUR SECOND LANGUAGE. Ask participants to silently think back on what happened during that experience. Invite them to close their eyes and visualize the highlights of the event. After a suitable pause, ask participants to silently focus on one or more lessons they learned from the experience.
Distribute supplies. Place sheets of drawing paper and boxes of crayons in the middle of each table. Ask each participant to take a sheet of paper and to share the crayons.
Time to draw. Invite participants to draw an abstract picture that captures the essence of major insights from the experience. Discourage them from focusing on artistic quality and encourage them to flow with their intuitive thoughts and feelings. Announce a 10-minute time limit for this artistic activity.
Time to stop. At the end of 10 minutes, blow the whistle and ask participant-artists to stop their activity. Reassure them that it does not matter if their artwork is not yet complete.
Interpret other people’s pictures. At each table, ask participants to take turns holding up the picture. While doing this, ask each person to perform the difficult task of keeping her mouth shut. Invite other participants around the table to treat the picture as a Rorschach inkblot and report what they see in it. It is not necessary that participants take turns in presenting their interpretation. Anyone may call out her insights whenever she feels inspired.
Interpret your own picture. After all pictures have been interpreted, ask the table teams to repeat the process. This time, however, each person should hold up the picture and describe what insights she meant to convey.
Debriefing
After the sharing of insights, encourage a discussion at each table. Use questions similar to these to structure this discussion:
* What insights were the most frequently mentioned?
* What insights were unexpected and unique?
* What was the most powerful insight that affected you?
* How do you expect this insight to change your future behavior?
(should have allowed at least 10 more minutes for this intro activity)
8:45 – 9:30 Concepts related to Bilingualism, Biliteracy, Biculturalism
BIG IDEAS
• It is beneficial for us to have a common language to discuss bilingualism and biliteracy.
• Language, literacy, culture, and learning are interdependently connected.
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will classify terminology related to bilingualism, biliteracy and dual language education.
• Participants will state the relationships among these terms.
SESSION ACTIVITIES: DUAL U: 01-01
1) Pairs write vocab on individual sticky notes; open sort (10 min)
2) Ask a few pairs with varied responses to share their categories & why; clarify meaning and model correct usage of words (5 min)
3) Model connect-2 or connect-3 statements; have each pair come up with 2 statements (5 min) write sentence frame (and visual of key vocab) to model this strategy
4) Ask several pairs to share their statements (5 min)
5) Have teachers rearrange terms into 3 categories (closed sort): Terms I Know and Can Use; Terms I Think I Know But Would Probably Not Use Yet; Words that Are Still Confusing (they post on chart paper) (10 min)
6) Lingering questions? (10 min)
9:30 – 10:45 Critical Features of IDEA Mission’s Dual Immersion Model
BIG IDEAS
• We have developed a Dual Immersion model at IDEA Mission that is tailored to our students’ demographics, strengths, & needs, as well as our school’s long-term academic goals.
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will summarize key features of IDEA Academy Mission’s dual immersion model.
SESSION ACTIVITIES
Part 1
o KWL chart about dual immersion at IDEA Academy Mission (Know (write even if wrong), Want to Know, Learned); make sure I number questions
o Participants read our school language philosophy. Code text: underline answers to questions on KWL and write number next to it; put a question mark next to something that makes you think of a new question.
o Return to KWL to revise K (if necessary) and add Learnings; add new questions
Part 2
o Peanut butter/jelly: pair activity (one reads the other connects then switch): vocab related to our schedule
o Give each pair a navy week schedule. Review what each color means; go through & explain day. (Leave room for notes on handout)
o Tell them that during gold week students follow the same schedule but the languages they receive each content area in switches. Have them build and glue the gold block schedule (did not do this last gluing activity--went over time going through the schedule, but it was worth it. All but a couple of teachers rated their understanding of the schedule at a level 4 or 5 (out of 5); the remaining teachers at a level 3)
o Answer questions
Part 3
o Inside/outside circle
o Put questions on powerpoint; 1 person answers, the other one rates (according to answer criteria)
Name at least 4 subject areas students will study each day.
What language will students do guided reading in?
Explain what navy & gold blocks are.
During what part of the day will students focus very specifically on science & social studies content objectives?
What language will students receive Rise instruction in?
What language will students study math in?
What subject will students study in both languages every day? Why?
What is a “homebase?”
How does “circle time” work?
(should have allowed at least 15 - 20 more minutes for this session)
10:45 – 11:00 Break
11:00 – 12:00 Language Allocation Considerations
BIG IDEAS
• A language allocation plan is developed according to the goals of the program, the needs of the learners and available resources and staff.
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will compare and contrast various language allocation plans and support a plan for our school context.
SESSION ACTIVITIES: DUAL U: 02-03
• Introduce different ways of dividing language (time, person, place, or content)
• Scenarios of language use
• Use white boards to ID type of language use in scenarios (lots of "aha" moments as a result of this role play; didn't use white boards but should have) :)
12:00 – 12:15 Instructional strategy “step-back” (did not do this--had to skip to make up time)
12:15 – 1:30 Lunch (on your own)
1:30 – 2:15 Promoting the Non-English Language
BIG IDEAS
• Language use is language learning.
• Over-reliance on English in the early grades creates a dependency on it that becomes difficult to overcome: falling back on English in the early grades makes learning easier now, but more difficult later.
• Mastery of advanced academic material and cognitive skills in higher grades requires advanced levels of language competence; foundations of this competence must be laid in early grades to prepare students for learning through the non-English language.
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will identify and list strategies that help promote the non-English language in the dual language classroom.
• Participants will share and discuss whether the two languages in a dual language classroom deserve equal status.
• Participants identify and discuss the long-term difficulties that may arise from use of too much English in the dual language classroom.
SESSION ACTIVITIES: DUAL U: 03-01
1) Facilitator poses question: “Are there strategies that effectively reduce students’ use of English in the Spanish classroom?”
2) Teachers complete an agree/disagree chart
3) Compare thoughts with a partner using hand up-pair up
4) Partners then skim through the article “Help they’re using too much English!”
5) Partners brainstorm additional strategies using worksheet
6) Share with group on chart paper
7) Closing questions for discussion:
• Should the two languages in a classroom enjoy equal status or not?
• What difficulties may arise if too much English is allowed in the lower grades or as the amount of English increases in the upper grades? (The most powerful part of this session came as a result of teachers sharing their own unique experiences learning a second language--many had very negative experiences and felt "ashamed" of their ability to speak Spanish. Sharing their personal stories and connecting them to the broader history of language/culture divisions in the Rio Grande Valley makes the work of promoting the non-English language all the more important)
2:15 – 2:45 Initial Literacy Instruction
BIG IDEAS
• Expectations and concerns for initial literacy development should be considered separately for language minority and language majority students.
• In order to determine the initial language for reading/writing instruction, one must consider the status of the students’ language in the larger society.
• Informing all stakeholders in a dual language program of the specifics of the program can increase buy-in and decrease confusion about the rationale for delivering initial literacy instruction in one language vs. the other.
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will identify the problem(s) in a given scenario and list possible solutions and outcomes.
• Participants will decide on the appropriate language for initial literacy instruction for a particular student.
• Participants will discuss the need to inform all stakeholders of the rationale behind their initial literacy instruction policy.
SESSION ACTIVITIES: DUAL U: 03-04 (and 03-03)
1) Participants read the student scenario (partner read—one sentence each)
2) In groups of 4, fill out problem/solution template (assign each part a number so that every group member participates; those not writing are giving ideas and helping with spelling if asked)
3) Whole group discussion of various parts of template
4) Model follow-up parent/teacher discussion about this issue (if time)
(I actually skipped this session altogether, due to time. I was actually OK doing it since it was written to be such a short introduction (only 30 min) anyway. Much of it had already come up in prior discussions and it's something we'll come back to over and over again throughout the year.)
2:45 – 3:00 Break
3:00 – 3:50 Bilingual Partnerships in the Classroom
BIG IDEAS
• All students serve as language models for their peers.
• Children need explicit instruction and practice in how to work effectively in cooperative groupings.
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will understand why bilingual pairs are critical in a two-way immersion classroom.
• Participants will explain how they will set up bilingual pairings in their own classrooms.
• Participants will practice several cooperative structures that bilingual pairs can use in the classroom.
SESSION ACTIVITIES
1) Explanation of bilingual pairs & example
2) Quick practice with 8 real kids and their LAS scores
3) Activity: build a free-standing structure with straws (as a cooperative group)
a. Captain: (makes sure all are on task & participating; only one allowed to go to other groups or to teacher)
b. Scribe: writes data (if applicable)
c. Reporter: (shares out results verbally)
d. Materials Manager: (obtains and puts away materials)
4) Reflection on cooperative structures used throughout the day (numbered heads—1, 2, 3, 4 numbered in groups, I ask question, group confers, I call number and they answer)
a. What did you like?
b. What questions do you have?
c. What’s difficult about using cooperative structures?
d. Why are cooperatives structures useful in the classroom?
(Had I been more organized in getting this activity off the ground it would have been even more powerful--I didn't have all the materials completely ready nor were my directions crystal-clear so it fell a little flat...my own fault)
3:50 – 4:00 Wrap Up/Exit Slips/Prizes
I collected evaluation/feedback forms and every participant agreed/strongly agreed that they are highly invested in our Two-Way program and believe it will increase student achievement. They commented on the many things they learned--I got great feedback from Dolores that I could do a better job of checking for understanding (not just relying on teachers self-reporting that they understand)...gotta figure out how I can do a better job of that.
As far as Dr. Mercuri's sessions today, it was a lot for my staff to take in. Luckily she slowed it down and gave them plenty of work time to apply what she taught to their own unit planning. I told her I had no problems slowing it down--depth vs. breadth. She helped us understand the importance of interdisciplinary units of inquiry led by a big guiding question and helped us see the heirarchy of ideas and the relationships and connections between different parts of each of our units. Teachers were definitely feeling the "brain-stretch" but I think that's a good thing, as it means they're being pushed to think in new ways and approach planning and teaching units in a very different way. We have one more day with Dr. Mercuri, though she'll be back several times throughout the year and, hopefully, next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment