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Making the Transition to English |
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Target Audience
Regular and bilingual classroom teachers, grades 2-5
Student and Teacher Needs Addressed
Assuming they have been in U.S. schools a while, most limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in the intermediate grades have acquired basic oral English proficiency and can decode in at least one language fairly well. They now need to acquire written language skills in English so that they can read to learn, handling both narrative and expository text at increasing levels of difficulty. Acquiring reading comprehension skills and independent strategies for vocabulary development, especially of technical and abstract terms, are key needs at these ages. Few of their teachers will have received in-depth training that focuses on the development of reading comprehension and vocabulary, and they may also lack understanding of the benefits of bilingualism beyond the primary grades.
Recommended Approach
Maintenance, or two-way bilingual programs that continue the valuing of the first language beyond the primary grades are the preferred approach, but schools often cannot implement them for a variety of logistical reasons. Transitional bilingual programs that continue to offer ESL instruction as well as some native language support are recommended as a second option. At IDRA, we can tailor our professional development for intermediate level teachers to whichever of the program models the school uses: maintenance, two-way bilingual or transitional bilingual.
Teacher Competencies
The participants in this professional development will:
- Know, understand and apply theories of first and second language development
- Review, analyze and interpret scientifically-based research on reading and on second language learners
- Develop classroom management skills that foster self-discipline and improve self-concept
- Diagnose and assess bilingual readers validly and reliably
- Use a variety of vocabulary development approaches that accelerate vocabulary acquisition
- Provide students with direct, explicit instruction in effective reading comprehension strategies
- Identify and use authentic, high quality multicultural children's literature in English
- Transition students to English reading and writing through targeted activities based on a contrastive analysis of both languages
- Explore technology tools that maximize language development
- Meet the decoding and comprehension needs of non-readers
- Improve student performance on reading assessments
- Assign meaningful homework that extends reading and writing practice
Suggested Format
- 12 hours of workshop training (may include video conferences)
- Quarterly demonstration lessons in participant teachers' classrooms
- Post-observations in selected teachers' classrooms (optional)
- Biannual meeting with principal
- Project listserv (optional)
- Phone and e-mail consultation
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