Cats, Tigers: A Bilingual Class

Instructional Activity: This book activity would be implemented in a first or second grade classroom so the students would be able to express their creativity through writing. After “reading” the book we would discusses if the events of the book really happened or if it was just a dream. Then the students would write about one of their own dreams or write about their own adventure with Wonder Bear.

When I went into Elementary school my English was very limited. I was put into a Bilingual class where I would be pulled out from my Grammar and Math class so that I could learn English. The class was like a basic online class. I learned how to say my name, age, and other introductory phrases. In school I was taught how to use words; I was not taught how to speak the English language. After school, I would watch Yugioh and Pokemon with my cousin and brother. My friends from school would use common English idioms, and I would take time to understand what they meant. I did not know the difference between a literal and metaphorical phrase. When I watched Pokemon, I would try my hardest to remember the jokes, puns, idioms, and metaphors they used

I will hand Katherine a story called Let’s Make Cookies. I will ask Katherine to read the title, look at the picture and predict what she think the story will be about. Katherine will read the story out loud two times and one time to herself. While Katherine is reading she will have the three strategies we worked on today and two strategies from the day before. Then, Katherine will complete a comprehension worksheet.

Allow students to describe to their partner the front cover of the book, listen for words that describe characters and settings.

Adaptive (self-help): Students will be encouraged to think about how others see the world, in contrast to themselves

Strategy: The book is good taught through storytelling based on a one-on-one or in groups. The teacher should read the title of the book and then go on to read the book. After reading the book, the teacher should ask students what they were able to pick from the story. And then proceed to discuss the themes in the book in class.

Opening with a story about the subject that will be discussed will allow students to become intrigued and interested in learning more, for the reason that the story will be on their level, which will help the teacher introduce the lesson appropriately. Additionally, the teacher can have a project that correlates with the read-aloud in which the students can work together and she can expand their learning by providing thought-provoking questions.

Instructional Activity: For this book, I would use it as a read aloud in a second grade classroom and at the end of each day of reading I would have the students answer a writing prompt form something we read about. This would be a great activity to improve the students’ writing skills and get their creative minds working.

I grew up studying in a private school where the only Spanish speaking class was the Spanish class, the rest were in English. Even in the hallways we needed to speak in English or they will charge us. I studied there from first to twelve grades. No being a teacher I work in a dual immersion public school where my first graders receive 90% Spanish instruction and 10% English instruction. I do feel it is very important now a day for students to be able and know more than one language. It worked for me years ago, that is why I got a job in the United States, I am able to do my master in a complete English language without struggling. The way I have seen bilingual education has changed over the years and more with the information learned this week. My school ELL teachers always emphasize to my parents to keep focusing on the child’s native language in order to become proficient with other languages. Based on her arguments and on Dr. Stritikus ( Laureate Education, n.d) it is really important to consider the students’ language in order for them to have success. As a Spanish classroom teacher I have native English speakers who are learning Spanish and as recent as this school year I had a student that stop taking books from the library because he wanted them in English. This made me reflect on my goals a teacher towards him and think deeply if I was being

The stories that the students were reading were fun and easy reads for the students. The stories were all relatable to the students as well which was nice that the students were able to have some background knowledge about the stories they are reading. The story that the students read represented authentic types of text and it accommodated to all the different needs of the students.

Teaching Suggestion: Math: During the story, Little Man (Victor) takes over Rat’s paper route during July so that Rat could go visit his grandparents. Pretend that you are going to have a paper route of your own. Individually, decide and map out your paper

Our schools are changing, educators can no longer expect to walk into a classroom where all the students are English speakers. Consequently, administrators and educators must enhance the delivery of education to ELL’s. For the purpose of this paper, I would first look at what it means to teach in a bilingual classroom. Secondly, I will take an introspective look at a few multimedia tools used in making bilingual education interesting. Moreover, the ensuing paper would give a detailed rationale for the multimedia tools identified, and will show how these tools meet the needs of English Language Learners.

Based on my experience, the findings of this study are not surprising. Science has become a major challenge for bilingual students at the elementary school level particularly those in fifth grade who are scheduled to take the Science STAAR (in the past the TAKS) for the first time. In the schools I taught, many students struggled with the Spanish version of the test. Teachers and administrators claim that the reason for the students’ failure is the vocabulary. According to them, the Spanish version contains science terms that are too sophisticated which make this test harder than the English version. Coming from a science background and having received science education in both Spanish and English I found this intriguing. Soon I discovered that many teachers lack of basic science skills and knowledge. Consequently, they rely on the resources provided by the district, which were in occasions erroneous. In addition, most bilingual teachers in these schools did not have teaching degrees or significant teaching experience. In situations like this the availability of professional development for science bilingual teachers becomes of critical importance. However, most training is designed for monolingual English speaking students. Bilingual educators are left with the task of adapting materials in order to satisfy the needs of their students. This attempt often causes translated materials to be inaccurate and inconsistent with the original materials. Another factor that I noticed

As mentioned before, teachers need to use translanguaging pedagogy in bilingual classrooms because it has many advantages and benefits for bilingual learners. However, natural translanguaging involves teachers’ utilize of translanguaging because they use it naturally not pedagogically with specific students or small groups for specific reason which is being sure that students gain full comprehending in a subject or a text. For example, Michael-Luna and Canagarajah (2007) write about an example that showed this form clearly. They report a conversation between teacher and students as the teacher talk with students about the word “warm” because she wanted to ensure that they understood. The conversation is:

The students will demonstrate which narrative the story is written in for the story, such as first or third. The students are enrolled in physical classroom learning. Many of the students are struggling readers so they need more reading practice. The students will share reading by using peer support because some readers are proficient and they will collaborate among readers concerning the theme . Students will ask questions and get answers to questions about the novel from their peers.