Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part I: Scaffolding oral language development

1. Rebecca Curinga, PD CoordinatorAika Swai, Program Coordinator PD Session #2 November 2, 2013 Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part I: Scaffolding oral language development

2. Agenda 10:00 Introductions, Agenda, and Today’s Goals 10:15: The Bridges Students: Who are they and how can we meet their needs? 11:00: The Bridges Classroom: How can it support oral language development? 11:45: The Bridges Curriculum: How does the Unit Structure support oral language development? 12:15 Lunch 12:45: The Bridges Instructional Methods, Part I: Scaffolding with the Essential Question 1:00: Scaffolding with See, Think , Wonder 1:30: Workshop: Taking See, Think , Wonder into your classroom 2:15: Conclusions, Homework, Questions & Answers 2:30: Administrative Matters & Evaluation

3. To be able to discuss and gain initial understanding of: The unique characteristics of Bridges students, as distinguished from SIFE and other emergent bilinguals. How the Bridges program, curriculum and instruction address the unique needs of Bridges students. The critical importance of comprehensible input in the development of second language. The broad curriculum unit structure and interdisciplinary connections. To learn and be able to use scaffolding in your classroom to support oral language development through: Translation of the Essential Question See Think Wonder Today’s Goals

4. The Bridges Student

5. Activity 1: In 20 Words… What are twenty words that come to mind as you think about SIFE?

6. What we know…

8. Attributes of Bridges Students • Characteristics • Limited academic HL • Limited HL literacy (below 4th grade) • Limited content knowledge • Needs • Academic Vocabulary and Syntax • Foundational literacy skills  text-level skills • Foundational content knowledge

9. How can teachers meet the needs of these unique students? THE BRIDGES PROGRAM!

10. How does Bridges address the unique needs of its students? The Bridges Program • Pre-ninth grade intervention • Interdisciplinary team of teachers • Sheltered classes • Central Role of Home Language and Culture

11. How does Bridges address the unique needs of its students? (cont) The Bridges Curriculum Bridges curriculum framework: Four units each in: English, Social Studies, Science and Math Integrates language, literacy and subject area-content in ALL classes Thematic interdisciplinary connections Reinforces conceptual knowledge and academic language, vocabulary and syntax Project – based units Developed around essential questions that engage and provoke inquiry

12. The Curriculum (cont) Each Unit in Every Discipline: Builds and engages home language as a resource Emphasizes classroom routines and strategies that promote strong academic habits Builds towards a final project with specific outcomes and objectives in all four language domains Aligns to common core and language development standards.

13. Bridges Curriculum Goals Develop oral academic language as the foundation for literacy and content knowledge. Develop foundational reading skills (learning to read) so that students are able to read to learn. Build foundational world and conceptual knowledge to support student access to 9th grade high school content. Integrate content knowledge, language and academic skills, so that students gain competence in each domain. Build academic habits such as persistence, organization and preparedness as well as an ability to reflect on one’s own learning.

14. The Bridges Classroom

15. Activity 2: Think-pair-share How can we support the development of oral academic language for Bridges students?

16. Learning a second language is different from learning the first because ________.

17. Learning a second language is different from the first… Learners are older Learners bring their prior knowledge and skills to the task of language learning Everyone is successful at learning to speak their first language; not everyone is successful at learning to speak their second language In first language, children learn from hearing the language in context with no explicit correction In second language, learners benefit from appropriate correction

18. Learning a first and second language is similar for Bridges students… • Develop an understanding of the rules of the language: You can say: We like chocolate cake. You can’t say: Cake like chocolate we. • Developmental Process: • Oral language before literacy! • Receptive before productive • words  phrases sentences

19. Language Abilities Productive Receptive Listening Speaking Oral Reading Writing Literacy

20. In order to develop oral language students need ________.

21. Input! A second language cannot be learned without enough input! Input needs to be understood/comprehended so that language (and content knowledge) develops: COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT Different Types of Input Social Academic

22. The Importance of Making Input Comprehensible: SCAFFOLDING Need to turn the input into meaning and understanding! How? • Using this example sentence, describe how you would use SCAFFOLDING to make the input comprehensible. How did people long ago get what they wanted and needed? • Visuals • Gestures and dramatization • Pre-teaching vocabulary before hearing the sentence • Home language

23. Activity 3: Group Work How do we use the Bridges Curriculum to scaffold oral language development and content knowledge?

24. The Bridges Curriculum

25. Curriculum Materials Interdisciplinary Overview Unit Plan(s) Weekly Lesson Outline(s) Sample lessons Sample student materials Teacher’s Guide to the Curriculum Bridges Website [http://bridges.ws.gc.cuny.edu/] 25

26. Introduction to Curriculum Structure Year at a Glance • 4 units • Unit 1 takes approximately 6 weeks; Units 2, 3 and 4 take 7 weeks • Each Unit has a theme and poses an interdisciplinary question • With the exception of Math, these themes and questions are aligned with each other • Each Unit culminates in a project

27. Unit Structure Overview

28. Translate the Essential Question Da dove veniamo? Come sono simili e diversi questi luoghi?

29. Today’s Focus: Scaffolding Oral Language Development Classroom Environment as a Resource for Learning Home Language as a Resource for Learning

30. Activity 4: Group Work How do we use the Bridges instructional method of See Think Wonder to scaffold language development and content knowledge?

31. See Think Wonder - Model Social Studies Unit 1: Connections Week 1: Engage, Introduce Essential Question, Build Background Lesson 2: See Think Wonder Social Studies Week 1 Materials Why is this a ‘power method’ in the Bridges Curriculum? • Builds oral language in English relevant to the topic being studied • Builds schema and background information central to an understanding of the topic • Engages pre-reading strategies through interpretation and inference • Creates climate of inquiry

32. See Think Wonder - Practice • Break into groups • Look at the See-Think-Wonder Activity from Week 1 in your group’s assigned content area • Take Note: • What resources will you need for your population? • How will you SCAFFOLD the input in your see-think-wonder activity, considering: • Classroom Environment • Home Language as a Resource • Building Background • Other Scaffolds? • Be prepared to present to the rest of the group!