PROGRAM BACKGROUND
Cypress Hills Program Features
Program Model: 50/50
Languages: Spanish and English
Language of Initial Literacy Instruction: All students are taught in the partner language and English simultaneously
Student Background Within the Dual Language
Linguistic Profile: Of 246 students enrolled in 2004, roughly one third spoke predominantly English at home, one third spoke predominantly Spanish, and one third spoke both languages.
Ethnic Profile: Most students (71%) are Latino, with families from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, and other Latin American and Caribbean countries. African American students, many with family ties to the English-speaking Caribbean, account for 27% of the student body. Asian and White students make up the remaining 2%.
Percent of students in the program qualifying for free/reduced price lunch: 85.4%
UNIT PLAN
Standards to Be Addressed
New York City Performance Standards for Applied Learning
- A1a: Design a product, service, or system; identify needs that could be met by new products, services, or systems, and create solutions for meeting them.
- A5a: Work with others to complete a task.
- A5b: Show or explain something clearly enough for someone else to be able to do it.
- A5c: Respond to a request from a client.
New York City Performance Standards for English Language Arts
- E1b: Read and comprehend at least four books on the same subject, or by the same author, or in the same genre.
- E3b: Participate in group meetings.
- E4a: Demonstrate a basic understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.
New York State Standards for Native Language Arts
- Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in their native languages for information and understanding.
- Standard 4: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in their native languages for social interactions.
New York State Standards for Foreign Language Learning
- Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
Big Ideas
- Libraries are important parts of a learning community.
- Libraries have many resources (e.g., Internet access, read alouds for children, and summer reading clubs).
- Libraries have rules for behavior.
- Libraries have systems in place to help us find books.
- Librarians have to be familiar with the books in the library in order to help others find the books they may need.
- Libraries have categories and subcategories for books (e.g., fiction subcategories include fairy tales, historical fiction, realistic fiction, and fantasy).
- Libraries and their resources are shaped by the interest of those in the community.
- Libraries must have a variety of books in order to address the various needs of the people in the community.
Guiding Questions
- What are the characteristics of a library?
- What can we discover in a library?
- How do we decide the kinds of book we want to borrow?
- What will we find out when we visit our local library?
- How do we behave in a library?
- What kinds of jobs are necessary to make a library run well?
- How does the lending system work?
Background/Prior Knowledge to be Activated in the Unit
- Knowledge of what is a just right book and how students can select their own just right books
- Knowledge of genres
Assessment
Formal assessment takes place through grading of the various products that students create during the unit (scavenger hunt worksheet, design of a book, poster for how to take care of books, and essay on their experiences in the public library). These products should be assessed for students’ understanding of the concepts as well as their proper use of vocabulary and incorporation of other language objectives.
Students are also informally assessed through teacher evaluation of content and language skills. Questions to be asked:
- How are the children treating library books after this unit?
- What is their attitude towards reading?
- Do children show increasing interest in books? Did the students collaborate in partnerships?
- Are the students using environmental print and words from the text in written work and conversations?
- Are the students using appropriate vocabulary?
Objectives
Content Area Skills and Concepts
- Using the library to discover new information, to find enjoyable books, and to find out more information about a topic
- Identifying the different parts of a book (the cover, the back cover, the spine, and the title page)
- Finding similarities and differences in books written by the same author
- Sorting books in their groups and genres, and providing a rationale for this grouping
- Deciding on the criteria for giving the Second Grade Librarian Award to a book
Language Skills
- Providing constructive criticism and comments in group discussions
- Listening respectfully and taking turns speaking.
- Recounting events orally using sequence words
- Formulating interview questions (e.g., Where is…? What is…?)
- Vocabulary: parts of a book, fiction, nonfiction, reference, encyclopedia, sections, subcategories, subheadings, juvenile, librarian
- Understanding cognates (true and false)
- Using cognates to develop comprehension in English
- Using persuasive language to justify the choice for the Second Grade Librarian Award
Teaching/Learning Activities
- Using a KWL chart (i.e., what do you know about this topic; what do you want to know; (later) what did you learn) to assess students’ prior knowledge about libraries and to find out their reading interests
- Creating a book using the writing patterns or styles of a particular author (featured in the classroom library display)
- Designing a diagram showing the different parts of a book
- Designing a poster showing how to take care of books
- Visiting the public library for a tour and interviewing a librarian
- Discussing the names of parts of a book and parts of a library, noting that many of these terms are English/Spanish cognates
- Reading award-winning books and determining why these books received awards
- Deciding criteria for awarding the Second Grade Librarian Award to books in the classroom library
- Using the computer to design a lending library card for the class library
- Organizing the classroom library using a system similar to the Dewey Decimal Classification System
- Acting as librarians in the classroom when other students from the school come to the classroom lending library during library hours (last half hour of lunch)
- Writing about experiences during the library visit and about how students felt as librarians after the grand opening of their classroom library
Materials/Resources
- Student-to-student reading interest surveys
- Books from a variety of genres in both languages
- Baskets
- Large labels
- Markers
- Pencils
- Golden award seals
- Several sets of books by the same author (Anthony Browne and other student-selected favorites)
- Treasure Hunt worksheet
- Library card (for checking out books)
- Large construction paper
LESSON PLAN
Standards to Be Addressed
New York State Standards for Native Language Arts
- Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in their native languages for information and understanding.
New York State Standards for Foreign Language Learning
- Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
New York City Performance Standards for English Language Arts
- E3b: Participate in group meetings.
Guiding Questions
- How do we use Spanish cognates to help develop English vocabulary specific to literary genres?
- How can we locate various types of resources in a library?
- What are the characteristics of a library?
- What can we discover in the library?
- How do we behave in a library?
Motivation (5 minutes)
Whole Group Activity
The teacher leads a discussion with the students about their last visit to the library, reviewing the questions the students asked the librarian and what she told them about her job and the different sections of the library. Then the teacher introduces the Treasure Hunt Sheet activity:
“Now that we know the different parts of a library, we will discover the kinds of books that are found in the different parts of the library. We will be library detectives looking for clues, but in our case we are looking for titles of books. Every one of you will have a partner, and together you and your partner will read the instruction on this Treasure Hunt Sheet and go out and LOOK for a title that is found in that section of the library. We will then come back and share what we found out in our investigation. Are we ready? Let’s put on our detective coats and take our notebooks and clip boards.”
Assessment
Formal: The teacher checks the Treasure Hunt Sheet for appropriate responses.
Informal: During the library visit, the teacher listens in on the students’ conversations and watches for interactive skills. Are students taking turns to speak? Are they listening to each other? Are they referring back to their Treasure Hunt Sheet to share what they learned? During the student discussion of the library visit, the teacher notes students’ understanding of how nonfiction and fiction books are classified and their use of the lesson vocabulary.
Extension
Students use their knowledge about the community library to design a classroom library, complete with classification and lending systems. Students continue to maintain the classroom library throughout the year.
For upcoming units of study, students will be exploring the solar system and developing questions they want to research. Students are encouraged to bring in books from home or the local library on these topics to help the class find the answers to our inquiry questions.
Objectives
Content Area Skills and Concepts
- Understanding that systems are used in libraries to help us find books
- Understanding the different ways a library is organized (e.g., Juvenile, Adult, and Reference sections)
- Understanding that nonfiction books are classified by numbers printed on their spine while fiction books are classified by letters
Language Skills
- Asking WH-questions about the library (e.g., Where is…? What is …? What other ….?
- Using content vocabulary: reference, encyclopedia, sections, subcategories, subheadings, juvenile, librarian.
- Using cognates as a tool for understanding English terms: reference/referencia, encyclopedia/enciclopedia, sections/secciones, subcategories/subcategoría, fiction/ficción, juvenile/juvenil, author/autor, illustration/ilustración.
Thinking/Study Skills
- Understanding headings and subheadings
- Understanding principles of sorting and classifying
- Understanding how to collect and record data
- Understanding how cognates can build a bridge to the English language
Materials/Resources
- Student-generated list of books read in this and other classes (includes fiction and nonfiction books)
- Library Treasure Hunt Sheet
- Clip boards
- Pencils
Teaching/Learning Activities (60 minutes)
Pair Activity
- The teacher and the students walk to the community library.
- After greeting the librarian, the students go with her to the Juvenile section.
- The librarian discusses with the students appropriate behavior in the library.
- The students go off with their partners to find the things listed on the Treasure Hunt Sheet.
- After students have had time to complete their Treasure Hunt Sheets, the teacher leads them back to the classroom, modeling low voice and quiet walking while in the library.
- Back in the classroom, students work in pairs with their partners, taking turns talking about what they found in the library. The teacher encourages students to use the appropriate vocabulary when referring to the types of books they found (novel, poetry, encyclopedia, etc.).
- The teacher calls on a few students to share with the class what they told their partners that they learned at the library.
TEACHING THE LESSON
Many struggling readers are uninterested in reading. Since one of the goals of two-way immersion classrooms is to develop literacy skills in two languages, struggling readers in these programs face special challenges. Therefore, two-way immersion teachers must find creative ways to motivate students to read.
This unit seeks to improve the reading lives of students in two ways. First, it provides them with plenty of opportunities, in the classroom and in the library, to experience the joy of reading. Many students in my classroom come from low-income homes where both parents work long hours and do not have the time to read to their children. In Schools that Work, Richard Allington and Patricia Cunningham (2002) note that “children who arrive at school with few book, story, and print experiences are the very children who need rich literature environments and activities in their school day” (p. 54). This unit provides students with those environments and activities.
Second, this unit builds on students’ knowledge of Spanish vocabulary to help them understand English terms related to literary genres. Through the use of cognates, students make cross-linguistic connections and deepen their understanding of both languages.
Unit and Lesson Activities
At the beginning of this unit, students explore different authors and their writing styles. The class reads books by Anthony Browne (author of the Willy series) in Spanish, and by Mem Fox in English. Students expand their experiences with literature through read alouds and classroom discussions of the similarities and differences, in content and style, found in the books.
In this lesson, students discover the wealth of resources available at the local library. Students learn how a library operates, how it is organized, and how to access its resources. Then, by completing theTreasure Hunt Sheet activity, students put their new knowledge to practical use by working in pairs to locate familiar books. Finally, back in the classroom, students have the chance to discuss their findings, using the words they have learned to refer to the books they found. Thus, the students have an opportunity to use language within the context of an authentic experience.
This unit and lesson also underscores the importance of using cognates to build English comprehension. I teach students to find the roots of words, pointing out to both English and Spanish language learners that many words in English derive from Latin or Spanish. I point out, for instance, that the English words fiction and nonfiction look similar to the Spanish words ficción and no-ficción. In fact, almost all of the genres that students identify at the library have similarities in their Spanish and English spellings.
Student Grouping
Grouping techniques are an essential component of the dual language classroom, where peer interaction is as crucial as student-teacher interaction. As Pauline Gibbons (2002) notes, “We [teachers] should not forget that group work may have positive affective consequences: Learners who are not confident in English or [Spanish] often feel more comfortable working with peers than being expected to perform in a whole-class situation” (p. 18).
In general, I like to combine students with different proficiency levels in the two languages. I often create groups of three or four that have at least one bilingual student. The rest of the students at the table can be a combination of English dominant and Spanish dominant.
I also like to combine children with different reading levels. I find great value in seating a low-level reader next to a high-level reader. The arrangement is mutually beneficial: The high-level reader serves as a model for the low-level reader, and in the process of helping someone else, the more proficient reader develops a deeper knowledge of the reading process.
Another factor to take into consideration when grouping students is personality. In my experience, two introverted students are not helpful to each other in terms of acquiring language skills. However, with the help of guidelines that spell out the different roles that students are expected to take in the group activity, an extroverted student may be a good partner for an introverted student.
All of these grouping strategies proved helpful in this unit with its many opportunities for reading, discussion, and writing. For example, a student with basic English skills was paired with a bilingual student who could read English and was therefore able to help the less proficient student. And when low-level readers saw their more proficient partners reading a variety of books, they were often motivated to read as well.
References
Allington, R. L., & Cunningham, P. M. (2002). Schools that work: Where all children read and write. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.