Dual Language Field Trips!

Take a Target Lanugage Field Trip

In order to raise the "power" of the non-dominate language, it is important to take field trips in that language. Staff at the location can be contacted prior to your visit if necessary.  They must be open to providing this experience for your students. You may have to visit the site, or take the tour that your class will receive in order to plan for their time there. It is essential that the day is completely in the target language rather than just dialog that is translated from English.

Here are some suggestions for possible locations to visit.  

 Environmental Park

A nature park provides an outdoor experience that is vocabulary rich.  Have a sheet made up for a scavenger hunt.  After touring the park, students can go off in groups or pairs to try to locate all of the 

Historical Sites

Visiting a historical site is especially powerful after studying a period of time in history.  Make sure that your students know the vocabulary that will be used before venturing to your destination.  This type of trip will most likely require a visit prior to your field trip unless they have staff available to lead tours in your target language.

Zoo

Visiting the zoo is one of the easiest field trips for a dual language program.  You will most likely not need any prior authorization.  Your students will be put with a chaperone that speaks the non-English language.  It is important that you stress to the adults that everyone speaks in the target language for the durartion of the experience.

Botanical Garden

After a plant or botany unit, a trip to a botanical garden can be a great way to reinforce what has been learned in the classroom.

Ethnic Experiences

If you are close to a large city, a trip to an ethnic part of town can be a powerful experience for your students.  Arranging for the students to eat lunch at an ethnic restaurant is also a great idea for a field trip of this kind.  If this type of experience is not possible where you live, a trip to an ethnic grocery store / restaurant can be a good alternative.  

Dance Performance 

Check with theaters in your area that host dance troupes.  These performances are sometimes done in their native language.  If you cannot find one in your area, consider having a group come to you.  Explain that you would like to have the experience in the target language.  Most groups are quite responsive to these requests.

Good luck planning your field trip.  If you have other suggestions, please comment below!

I Lied to my Students!

The energy surrounding my classroom door was very high the morning of Wednesday, November 9th, 2016. The students couldn't wait to ask me if I had heard the news.  

"Sra. Keaton did you hear?"

Of course I had heard!  Donald Trump was our new president.  I knew that my class which was 75% Hispanic would be anxious about this new development.  I calmly explained that I had heard the news.

"Sra. Keaton, Donald Trump is going to send us to Mexico!"

Trying to keep the excitement and anxiety levels to a minimum, I reassured them in a quiet voice.  "You are going to be fine. Donald Trump is not going to send any of you to Mexico."

I lied to my students!

Friday was Raul's last day of school. His father was deported. The family has moved back to Mexico. I felt so bad thinking about how I had quietly reassurred him that nothing would change for him. I believed that my words were accurate. How I wish that had been true!

Growing Your Bilingual Staff

Staffing Your Dual Language School

Finding and retaining quality bilingual staff is a concern at most dual language schools.  One way to address this concern is to "grow" the staff that you have.

Encourage support staff to become teachers.  Talk to teaching staff about getting additional certification.  It is important to have bilingual teachers in the roles of special education, librarian, administrator, physical education, music, and art.

Look for grants from local, state and federal agencies to further the education of your staff.  If these funds are not available, find ways to reimburse staff members from the school budget.  This is an investment that will benefit all of the students at your school.  

Tips for Your Dual Language Library

Does your dual language library function as it should?

If your school is completely dual language, your library should be too!  Students should have access to books in both of the target languages throughout the library.  It is not uncommon to find books in dual language schools separated by language.  When we treat a student as bilingual, we give them access to materials in both of the languages in which they are learning. Separating non-English books lowers the status of that language.  It is also important for your students to be checking out materials in both of their languages every week.  

The library budget should be spent on acquiring new materials in both languages. In fact, more money may need to be allocated for books in the non-English language.  This is because most libraries have more books in English, and the books in others languages tend to be more expensive. Periodicals, e-books, and reference materials should also be available in the two languages. The trend in education today is toward more informational text.  Libraries need to adjust to this change by purchasing more non-fiction materials in the languages taught at their schools.

If possible, a bilingual librarian should be on staff.  This person will be able to teach the lessons and to read to the students in whichever language is needed. This will ensure that the students are receiving the proper ratio of instructional minutes in each language.