One of my favorite things about starting a new school year was deciding on a theme or color scheme. I would spend days designing the furniture setup and shopping for classroom decor, which made starting a new school year exciting.
Beyond having a visually appealing classroom, creating well-structured linguistic spaces was a priority.
These spaces are designated walls or bulletin boards for each language of instruction: English, the partner language (Spanish in the picture included), and a third space where both languages are used in a complementary and supportive manner. Using a color-coding system to designate these spaces can be helpful for students to easily identify the language of instruction and access the academic information they need.
The third space is where students can leverage their full linguistic repertoire. It’s a place to document connections made through biliteracy instructional strategies, such as the Bridge (a process for explicitly connecting content and literacy skills in both languages) and metalinguistic awareness activities. These strategies help students connect their languages and deepen their understanding of both.
Having well-defined spaces ensures that students have balanced exposure to both languages, as defined by the language allocation plan for your grade level.
Reach out to us if you would like further training on the three linguistic spaces. We offer professional development on all essential components of dual language instruction.
Saludos,
Esmeralda Espericueta, M. Ed
Comentários