Research in the Primary Grades - Las Invenciones

I have been going through my files recently and found some samples of a spring research project I did in the past with second grade bilingual students.  Social Studies seems to be the most neglected subject because of time but it is really a practical, engaging, and easy subject to teach.  When possible, I tried to integrate some of my reading and writing objectives into the social studies objectives so that I could free up the time to actually "do" Social Studies.  This was a fun project we did about Inventions that touched on summarizing important details after the students had read in groups several nonfiction resources in English and Spanish about a specific invention.

We used sticky notes with the questions ¿Quién?  ¿Qué? ¿Cuándo?  ¿Dónde?  ¿Por qué?  ¿Cómo? written on them.  With several books about the television, I modeled looking for answers to these questions in the books and placing the sticky notes on those pages.  Later, I went back and paraphrased the information in my own words to answer the question on the sticky note.  Then, I modeled transferring my notes onto the writing frame.  I made the frame as a Word document and then ran it on Legal sized paper.

Below, are some of my students' examples.  They worked as partners and their work was not edited or revised by me. (Just clarifying! :))

 

 

 

So, I would love to know how you integrate Social Studies into your lessons!  As our students enter middle school and high school, they will benefit from having a foundation of history and social studies because there is so much content (new people and vocabulary) added every year.

Dual Language Linky Love - 3/18/13 Edition

I'm back on the blog and wanted to share some of my favorite links that I have found in the past few months in case you missed them on my Facebook page:

• California has posted their Common Core Language Arts Standards in Spanish.  The standards that are specific to the Spanish language are noted in blue.  There is a lot of emphasis on the use of the accent in reading and writing.
• At The Dual Trio, three dual language teachers share some of the Spanish songs they have created to teach content in Spanish.  These songs are so easy to find in English but Spanish ones can be challenging!  I have posted some of my song creations here and here.  Don't judge.  It's hard and I'm not a musician so please share your own ideas!
• Calico Spanish's YouTube channel has a growing list of Spanish music videos available that include introductory Spanish language for SLLs but also include content-based songs that would be great for native Spanish speakers in the primary grades (days of the week, vowels, weather terms, etc.).
• Do you have a parent meeting or open house coming up?  This site has lots of fun tips with appealing graphics in Spanish to encourage parents and child to READ!   
• Spanish Playground has free printable bookmarks with rhyming phrases along with a whole list of more rhyming phrases that would be great to incorporate into your daily routine.  With my preschoolers at home, I have found that incorporating fun rhyming language into the activities we do every day makes us feel like we have lots of inside jokes AND it naturally trains their ears to hear the rhymes.  My youngest just turned three and she is a rhyming machine!

Thanks so much to all of you for continuing to visit I Teach Dual Language!  Visit me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/iteachdl/  I follow some amazing teachers and try to gather as many great resources for you as I can!  Stay tuned for more blog posts coming soon!

Have a great weekend and Spring Break week (for some of you)!

Explorar las expectativas: Segmenting words into syllables

If you find yourself questioning the importance of some phonological awareness activities like segmenting words into syllables, check out this short video for some inspiration.  These bilingual Kindergarten students were able to write with accuracy and confidence in March because their teacher had spent the first months of their school year developing this skill.  Just as blending words is crucial for reading, segmenting words is essential for spelling and writing.

Beginning Reading Skills/Phonological Awareness
KINDERGARTEN
Spanish Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(H) separate spoken multi-syllabic words into two 
to three syllables (e.g., /to/ /ma/ /te/).

FIRST GRADE
English Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(F) separate spoken multi-syllabic words into two to 
four syllables (e.g., “ra-na”, “má-qui-na”, “te-lé-fono”).

Here is a free resource I have created to help your students practice segmenting the syllables in words.

More resources for developing the ability to segment syllables:

• This site is SO comprehensive with many activities for phonological awareness.  
• This paper from Spain titled "Tareas para la evaluación de la conciencia fonológica en escolares disléxicos" has a series of phonological awareness activities that can be used to determine students' phonological flexibility.
• Need help knowing exactly how to segment a word?  This resource lets you type in the word and it separates the word in syllables for you!

What other resources or activities do you use to develop your students' ability to segment words into syllables?

Explorar las expectativas: Isolate the initial syllable

Living with two preschoolers and working with ReadyRosie, we spend a lot of time developing phonemic awareness by chanting nursery rhymes and playing all sorts of word play games.  I have been amazed by how these activities so quickly helped my girls acquire an ear and an awareness of sounds in words.  My husband would tell you that it is ALMOST obnoxious!  You can't have a conversation with either girl without one of them telling you that you said two words that rhyme or that one word you said sounds similar at the beginning to another word they know.

As my four-year-old is in the very early stages of reading and writing, I see how her phonemic awareness provides the foundation she needs for confidently working with text.

This week, we look at the next Spanish-English correlation for phonological awareness.  This one focuses on the ability to isolate initial syllables in Spanish or initial sounds in English.

Beginning Reading Skills/Phonological Awareness
KINDERGARTEN
Spanish Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(G) isolate the initial syllabic sound in spoken words (e.g. /pa/ta, /la/ta, /ra/ta)
English Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(H) isolate the initial sound in one-syllable spoken 
words

FIRST GRADE
English Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(E) isolate initial, medial, and final sounds in one syllable spoken words

Some thoughts on why this is an important expectation:

• From the Tejas LEE Training Notes:
• Although Spanish is a syllabic language, research shows that a student’s ability to manipulate syllables and phonemes are equal predictors of reading success in Kindergarten and the PHONEME knowledge is a better predictor starting in first grade.
• Phoneme knowledge helps students with difficulties blending.
• Phoneme knowledge helps with the later transition to English.
• The language used on several assessments of this skill is something like to "Si a "____", le quito /_/, ¿qué queda?"
• When it comes to reading, one of the first strategies we teach to beginning readers is "Get your mouth ready to say the first sound." or "Prepara la boca para decir la primera sílaba."  As they do this and look at the picture, they are cross-checking what word would make sense based on meaning and visual cues.  

When it comes to activities for isolating initial syllables, here are some resources to get you started:

• This website has a lot of resources available for purchase for developing Spanish reading.  You can see a free sample of one of their blacklines here.   

• This site lists pairs of words where removing the first syllable of one words leaves the remaining second word (cometa-->meta, helado-->lado, etc.).  It would be a great reference to print out and use during circle time or at transition times.  
• Aprende Aprenda also has some Smart Board resources for practicing this skill!

Since some Spanish assessments require flexibility at the sound level and because we need to have an "eye towards transition" for English, here are some FREE cards you can cut apart to practice with your class while standing in line.  Once your students understand how to play, they can play as partners in a center.

Activities like classifying according to initial sound (here and here) can be revisited as you ask students to really stretch the word by exaggerating the initial sound (mmmmmm...esa, mmmmm...ano, etc.).

As always, feel free to let me know other ways that you build this awareness with your own students! You are welcome to include a link to your TpT store resources as well!

Explorar las expectativas: Blending phonemes & syllables

Forget political parties or topics of religion.  If you really want to start a heated discussion at a gathering of bilingual teachers, bring up the topic of blending syllables versus phonemes in Spanish!

I won't even pretend to be able to address this topic comprehensively on my humble little blog but, based on what I have learned over the years from experts on biliteracy, here are some thoughts on teaching the expectations listed below:  

Beginning Reading Skills/Phonological Awareness
KINDERGARTEN
Spanish Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(F) blend spoken phonemes to form syllables and words (e.g., /m/ … /a/ says ma, ma-pa says “mapa”)
English Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(G) blend spoken phonemes to form one-syllable 
words (e.g. /m/…/a/.../n/ says man)


FIRST GRADE
Spanish Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(C) blend spoken phonemes to form syllables and 
words (e.g., sol, pato); 
English Language Arts and Reading TEKS:  2(D) blend spoken phonemes to form one- and two syllable words, including consonant blends (e.g., spr)

• Spanish is a syllabic language with the majority of its words composed on open syllables (syllables ending with a vowel such as ca + mi + sa).  There are 117 open syllables in Spanish.  You can download a great assessment freebie from Claudia with all of these syllables here.  When a child has mastery of those 117 syllables, he has unlocked the basic code of Spanish reading.  
• There is no true Spanish equivalent for the English word family (-ad, -et, -op, -ug, etc.) but the Spanish syllable is typically introduced in a developmentally equivalent order.  Just as students are introduced to English word families once they have begun to master letter sounds, Spanish speakers are introduced to syllables as soon as they have a grasp on initial sounds.
• As is stated in the Kindergarten TEKS 2F above, blending the Spanish syllable is usually taught something like /m/.../a/ dice ma.../p/.../a/ dice pa...mapa.  Blending English phonemes in early CVC words would go like /c/../a/.../t/...says cat.
• Since the Spanish syllables are so consistent and few (117 is a relatively small number when compared to the variety of craziness with the English language), early Spanish readers are more fluent and successful when they read ma as a syllabic unit rather than as two distinct phonemes.  
• In bilingual and dual language education, early Spanish readers will eventually become English readers.  As teachers plan instruction for transfer, it is important that we prepare our students to be flexible with sounds.  While we would first teach students to blend and segment words at the syllable level (ca-mi-sa), we do want them to be aware of the individual sounds and letters that comprise those syllables if we were to stretch the words even further (c-a-m-i-s-a).  
• Lucy Caulkins talks about stretching the words like a rubber band to hear all of the sounds.  When we move from syllables to phonemes, it is as if we are just stretching the rubber band even further.  Again, my recommendation is that this second level of stretching only occurs once students have mastered blending and segmenting at the syllable level.

When it comes to activities for teaching these expectations, here are some resources to get you started:

• These are some examples of simple flip charts to help students practice blending syllables:

• Circle Time Practice in Kindergarten Bilingual Classroom (video)
• Syllable Slides in Spanish (TpT Resource)
• Flash Cards Two Syllable Words (TpT Resource)

So...what are your thoughts about blending syllables versus phonemes?  How you do help accelerate your students' mastery of blending syllables in Spanish?  

Ditch the Holiday Packet! Give the Gift of Authentic Literacy!

Last November, I put together a collection of 25 Christmas books accumulated from my own bookshelves as well as the local libraries.  Before December 1st, I wrapped all 25 books with special wrapping paper (so as not to be confused with the actual Christmas gifts we were giving away!) and placed the "presents" around the tree.

Beginning on December 1st, I let my preschool daughters take turns selecting one present a day to unwrap and read.  Sometimes we opened and read the book first thing in the morning, sometimes before naptime, and sometimes it was the last thing we did before bedtime.  Most of the days, we loved the books.  Some of the days, we decided that a particular book didn't need to make a return appearance in coming years.  All in all, this book present tradition was definitely in the top five of favorite things we did to celebrate the Christmas holiday AND it didn't cost me a thing!  

I should add that it ALMOST cost me quite a bit of money when we accidentally over-watered our tree and discovered several wet packages!  Thankfully, I was able to carefully dry the pages of the books and there was no visible water damage!  WHEW!!!

I have been thinking of what this tradition might look like in the elementary classroom and I have an idea I am excited to try.  We all know that the final week or two before the holidays can be very stressful as teachers conduct assessments, wrap up semester grades, plan for holiday presentations and celebrations, and TRY to squeeze in some productive learning.  This stress has historically led to the use of the infamous holiday-themed worksheet packet.  Because nothing says "Christmas" like doing a word search, right?  

I am always crusading for more independent, self-selected reading time in the school day so I am thinking that these pre-holiday weeks might provide the perfect time to recoup those minutes that have been previously undiscovered so far this semester.  So here's my idea:

1. Collect enough holiday gift bags so that you have one for each student in your class.  DON'T BUY ANY!  If you don't already have 25 more than you need in your guest closet, I am sure that your neighbor or grandmother does!
2. Have a conversation with your students about gift giving.  Share some examples of how you go about selecting the gifts that you will be giving to friends and family.  What are some of the things that you consider about that person such as their interests, dislikes, abilities, etc.?  
3. Place the name of every student in a jar.  Have each student draw one name.  Remind them beforehand that there will be no visible demonstrations of disgust or disappointment with the name they have drawn!  ¡No se van a casar! :)  And, they can't tell whose name they have drawn yet!  Now, tell them that they are going to pick out a gift for this person based on his/her interests, dislikes, and abilities and they will pick out this gift from the classroom library or the school library.  
4. Now...here is where the magic of authentic reading and writing overrides whatever minutes of peace you may think you are gaining by passing out that gigantic worksheet packet.  Have your students select 3-5 books that they think are good options for the name they drew.  They will need to read (even picture-reading counts!) through all of the books and carefully consider which is THE BEST choice.  All of this must be done in utter silence because gift selection must be secretive and a surprise (Shhhhh....)!  
5. Give each student a gift bag and a blank label.  They should place the book in the bag and label To/Para: _________ From/De: ____________.
6. At your designated time of the day, the big reveal can commence.  Simply have students deliver the gifts to the appropriate desks.  Everyone opens their presents and enjoys a little reading time and reflecting on why that particular book was specifically selected for him/her.  
7. Don't forget!  Every good gift deserves a Thank You Note!!!  Share a thank-you note you have written for a gift and remind students of the important qualities of a note such as naming the specific gift (title of book) and explaining why you are grateful for that gift (an opportunity to infer why the giver selected this gift for you).  
8. And, finally, every good thing deserves repeating!  This same process can easily be repeated another two or three times up until the holiday break.  Just put the names back in the jar and regift the bags.  The reward?  Authentic opportunities for readers and writers to celebrate the spirit of giving!

I would love to know if you think this would work with your own students!  Also, I would love to know your ideas for avoiding the dreaded 1" packet this holiday season!

Formando palabras - Thanksgiving Edition

Maybe you are enjoying an autumn cruise right now or perhaps you are busy baking for Thursday.  However, on the off chance that some of you are still in school and looking for something to do with your kiddos tomorrow, here is a Making Words activity in Spanish that will allow you to work in a bit of conversation about the g suave and g fuerte at the same time that you talk about the word agradecimiento.  If you are not familiar with how to do Making Words activities, you can find more info here or here.

Enjoy!  And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!