Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part I:

Scaffolding for oral language development

Rebecca Curinga, PD CoordinatorRocío Raña, PD Facilitator

PD Session #1October 28, 2013

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Agenda• 8:45: Introductions, Agenda, and Today’s Goals• 9:15: The Bridges Students: Who are they and how can we meet

their needs?• 10:00: Break• 10:15: The Bridges Classroom: How can it support oral language

development?• 10:45:The Bridges Curriculum: How does the Unit Structure

support oral language development?• 11:15: The Bridges Unit Structure: How do the activities in week 1

support oral language development?• 11:45: Lunch• 12:45: The Bridges Instructional Methods, Part I: Scaffolding with

the Essential Question and See, Think ,Wonder• 1:45: Break• 2:00: Question and Answer, Scheduling, Homework & Evaluation

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Today’s Goals

To be able to discuss and gain initial understanding of:

1. The unique characteristics of Bridges students, as distinguished from SIFE and other emergent bilinguals.

2. How the Bridges program, curriculum and instruction address the unique needs of Bridges students.

3. The critical importance of comprehensible input in the development of second language.

4. The broad curriculum unit structure and interdisciplinary connections.

5. How scaffolding is used in the Bridges classroom through instructional methods.

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Activity 1: Think-pair-shareWhat is ONE critical difference between SIFE and other emergent bilingual students?

What we know…

Both Emergent Bilinguals and SIFEKnowledge of home language (HL) and culture

Knowledge of their worldLearning English

Emergent BilingualsAge-appropriate HL literacy

No educational gapsAge-appropriate content and

academic knowledge Enter NYC schools at all ages

SIFELimited HL literacy

2+ years of educational gaps2+ years below grade level in

Reading and MathMajority in NYC are adolescents

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Attributes of Bridges Students

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Needs

• Academic Vocabulary and Syntax

• Foundational literacy skills text-level skills

• Foundational content knowledge

Characteristics

• Limited academic HL

• Limited HL literacy (below 4th grade)

• Limited content knowledge

How can teachers meet the needs of these unique students?

THE BRIDGES PROGRAM!

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The Building of BridgesHistory: Result of Four Years of Research on SIFE• Now in Bridges Year 3!• Diverse team of educators, linguists, researchers• Still a pilot-- we welcome your ideas and experiences• Some schools are now implementing Bridges for the 3rd year,

some are only starting, some will start next year

Purpose: To prepare students for success in 9th grade by providing an additional, accelerated year of schooling with

• The Bridges Program• A Specialized Bridges Curriculum and Instruction

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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

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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

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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.

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Bridges Curriculum Goals1. Develop oral academic language as the foundation for literacy

and content knowledge.

2. Develop foundational reading skills (learning to read) so that students are able to read to learn.

3. Build foundational world and conceptual knowledge to support student access to 9th grade high school content.

4. Integrate content knowledge, language and academic skills, so that students gain competence in each domain.

5. Build academic habits such as persistence, organization and preparedness as well as an ability to reflect on one’s own learning.

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Activity 2: Think-pair-shareHow can we support the development of oral academic language for Bridges students?

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

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Learning a second language is different from the first…• Learners are older • behavioral and biological differences

• Learners bring their prior knowledge and skills to the task of language learning• Home language• Literacy, oral vocabulary

• Everyone is successful at learning to speak their first language (informally); 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 or instruction• In second language, learners benefit from appropriate

correction (e.g. recast) and explicit instruction

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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

Language Abilities

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Oral

Literacy

Receptive Productive

Listening Speaking

Reading Writing

• In order to develop oral language students need ________.

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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

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The Importance of Making Input Comprehensible: SCAFFOLDINGNeed 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 do people share culture where I am from?

• Visuals• Gestures and dramatization• Pre-teaching vocabulary before hearing the sentence• For building background / context• For learning new words

• Home language

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Activity 3: Group WorkHow do we use the Bridges Curriculum to scaffold oral language development and content knowledge?

The Bridges Curriculum

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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/]

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Introduction to Curriculum StructureYear 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

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Unit Structure Overview

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Translate the Essential Question

Da dove veniamo?

Come sono simili e diversi questi luoghi?

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Today’s Focus: Scaffolding Oral Language Development

• Classroom Environment as a Resource for Learning

• Home Language as a Resource for Learning

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

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See Think Wonder - Model

Social Studies Unit 1: Connections Week 1: Engage, Introduce Essential Question, Build

Background Lesson 2: See Think WonderSocial 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

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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!

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Proposed PD ScheduleProposed Dates

Location Topic

1. Oct. 28 University Settlement / YMCA Houston Street Center

Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals Part I: Scaffolding Oral Language Development

2. Nov. 22 TBD Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part II

3. Jan. 10 TBD Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part III

4. Mar. 7 TBD Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part IV

5. Apr. 4 TBD Building Bridges for Emergent Bilinguals, Part V

6. May-June TBD Onsite Visits