Classroom Instruction: Study Guide

Teachers may want to use the Two-Way Immersion Toolkit in teacher study groups to explore ways in which they can improve their dual language program. This guide is intended to support study group members as they critique their practices and inquire together in order to deepen their understanding of two-way immersion education and to improve their teaching practice.

This guide is designed for use in school-based teacher study groups that meet regularly to discuss issues and share experiences in two-way immersion education. Study groups function democratically. Sessions can be led by group members, each one taking a turn, or by a member who is a skilled facilitator. Click here for more information on facilitating a teacher study group.

Classroom Instruction: Questions and Answers

Language and Literacy Development

Cross-Cultural Competence

Assessment

Supporting Special Student Populations

Teacher Supports

Classroom Instruction

Unit and Lesson Plans

Parent Involvement

Parents’ Questions About Two-Way Programs

Q&A: Language and Literacy Development

Pre- Reading Discussion	What questions about language and literacy development do you believe are likely to be asked by practitioners in new two-way immersion programs? What are your experiences with the issues raised by those questions? What are the most important issues in language and literacy development in your program?
Post- Reading Discussion	Is there a place in the two-way immersion classroom for translating information into the students’ first language? Do all group members agree? If teachers don’t translate, what else can they do to ensure student comprehension? What are some of the things teachers can do to get students to use their second language right away? In your classroom, how do you encourage students to use the language of instruction and take risks with it? Teachers used to believe that an error in language production should be corrected right away. What is the current thinking? Is there any place in the classroom for error correction? When do you correct a student’s errors in your classroom? Consider this statement, which appears in the reading: “A general principle of language teaching today is to provide students with language they can understand and opportunities to use and practice that language.” According to the reading, what specific strategies put this principle into practice? What strategies have you found effective? What have you tried that didn’t work, and what did you do about that? What are the different ways for combining students for small group work in a two-way immersion classroom? In your classroom, how do you decide which groupings to use? Two-way immersion teachers work with students who are at very different levels of language proficiency. How can a teacher challenge native speakers while keeping the language level manageable for second language learners? What can you add from your experience about ways to support language and content area learning for students at all proficiency levels? According to this reading, students at lower levels of proficiency can learn challenging new academic content. What has been your experience teaching academic content to students with less language proficiency? Are group members currently experimenting with new techniques for sheltering instruction? Explain this statement: “In two-way immersion programs, it is essential that instruction be designed to encourage the transfer of skills, strategies, and knowledge across languages.” What does your program do to encourage transfer, and how do individual members of the group address this? For a native Spanish speaker who can read and write in Spanish, what skills and concepts would she bring from her first language to her study of English? What skills and concepts would she have to learn for the first time? What about a student whose first language is Chinese? If group members have faced these questions in their classrooms, talk about what they have learned from working with specific students.
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	Go back to your predictions about teachers’ questions. Did they ask the questions you predicted? Were the answers to the questions different from those you expected? How? Are there issues in your school that weren’t raised in the questions? What are they? How will you find expert help to address them? As a result of reading the material, what new questions do you have about language and literacy development in two-way immersion programs? What next steps do you want to take to improve language and literacy instruction in your program? What additional information do you need, and how can you get it? How can you plan for improvement and implement the plan?

Q&A: Cross-Cultural Competence

Pre- Reading Discussion	What questions about developing cross-cultural competence do you believe are likely to be asked by practitioners in new two-way immersion programs? What are your experiences with the issues raised by those questions? In teaching cross-cultural competence in your school, what are the most important issues? Sometimes teaching about cultures often focuses on heroes and holidays. But clearly there is more to teaching about culture than that. How do you teach about culture in your classroom?
Post- Reading Discussion	One goal of two-way immersion programs is to help learners become culturally flexible and savvy. How can teachers achieve this goal, according to the reading material? In your own teaching, are there strategies other than those mentioned in the reading that you have found useful? According to the reading material, “Teachers should concentrate as much, if not more, on values, norms, and perspectives of the partner language culture(s) (as well as those of other cultures, particularly if they are represented in the classroom) as they do on visible cultural practices, such as holidays, foods, music, and dance.” Why is the focus on values, norms, and perspectives important? What strategies have you used effectively to explore values?
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	Go back to your predictions about teachers’ questions. Did they ask the questions you predicted? Were the answers to the questions different from what you expected? How? Which of the issues raised in this section are most important to you and your school? Are there issues in your school that weren’t raised in the questions? How could you address them, if you decide to do so? As a result of reading the material, what new questions do you have about teaching cultural competence in two-way immersion programs? What next steps do you want to take to improve the teaching of cultural competence in your program? What additional information do you need, and how can you get it? How can you plan for improvement and implement the plan?

Q&A: Assessment

Pre- Reading Discussion	What questions about assessment do you believe are likely to be asked by practitioners in new two-way immersion programs? What are your experiences with the issues raised by those questions? What are the most important assessment issues in your program?
Post- Reading Discussion	According to the reading, “In two-way classrooms, as in all second language learning environments, it is very hard to distinguish between language proficiency and content knowledge, as language is always involved in conveying information.” In your experience, how can teachers tease apart language and academic content performance? In your experience, what are some specific assessment techniques that work well in two-way programs? In what ways are they particular to two-way instruction?
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	Go back to your predictions about teachers’ questions. Did they ask the questions you predicted? Were the answers to the questions different from what you expected? How? As a result of reading the material, what new questions do you have about assessment in two-way immersion programs? What next steps do you need to take to improve assessment in your two-way immersion program?

Q&A: Supporting Special Student Populations

Pre- Reading Discussion	What questions about supporting special student populations do you believe are likely to be asked by practitioners in new two-way immersion programs? What are your experiences with the issues raised by those questions? In meeting the needs of special student populations, what are the most important issues in your program? There are those who claim that two-way immersion programs are not appropriate for students with special needs. Do you think this section will support that view?
Post- Reading Discussion	How can teachers tell whether a student is having problems because of a learning disability or a temporary second language learning difficulty? According to the reading, “Two-way programs can be seen as ideal placements for special needs students.” What is the basis for this statement? Do you agree with it? What are some of the strategies two-way programs can use to support special needs students, according to the reading? How does your school attempt to meet the needs of this population? Is there a need to refine this approach?
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	Go back to your predictions about teachers’ questions. Did they ask the questions you predicted? Were the answers to the questions different from what you expected? How? Which of the issues raised in this section are most important to you and your school? Are there issues in your school that weren’t raised in the questions? What are they? As a result of reading the material, what new questions do you have about special needs students in two-way immersion programs? What next steps do you need to take to improve instruction for special needs students in your two-way immersion program?

Q&A: Teacher Supports

Pre- Reading Discussion	What questions about teacher supports do you believe are likely to be asked by practitioners in new two-way immersion programs? What are your experiences with the issues raised by those questions? How do you expect the questions will be answered? What are the most important teacher support issues in your program? Why is teacher support an especially important issue in two-way immersion programs?
Post- Reading Discussion	What skills and attitudes do two-way immersion teachers need, according to the reading and your own experience? How should teachers be prepared for teaching in two-way immersion programs? How can a program provide support to a new teacher? Is there a need to modify the means that your school uses to support new teachers? What role do you play now in supporting new teachers, and is that effective? How might it be made better?
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	Go back to your predictions about teachers’ questions. Did they ask the questions you predicted? Were the answers to the questions different from what you expected? How? Which of the issues raised in this section are most important to you and your school? Are there issues in your school that weren’t raised? What are they? As a result of reading the material, what new questions do you have about teacher supports in two-way immersion programs? What next steps do you need to take to improve assessment in your two-way immersion program?

Unit and Lesson Plans

Pre- Reading Discussion	What are your experiences designing, implementing, and assessing two-way immersion units and lessons to make sure that they are appropriate for your program? What successes and challenges have you faced? How have you dealt with any barriers to success? Which one or two unit and lesson plans would be most valuable for the group to read and discuss together?
Post- Reading Discussion	Discuss the basic structure of the unit and lesson plans. What reasons can you suggest for including each of the components? In what specific ways does the unit/lesson plan you chose to discuss take into account the needs of both first and second language learners? How does the unit/lesson plan structure and support the use of academic language in the classroom? How does the unit/lesson plan integrate culture into the unit/lesson? Why are the students grouped as they are for various activities? Is that the only possibility for grouping? What would be the effect of a different arrangement?
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	What new questions or observations do you have about designing and implementing units and lessons for the two-way immersion classroom? How might you apply what you learned during discussion to improve how lessons and units are designed and implemented in your program?

Parents’ Questions About Two-Way Programs

Pre- Reading Discussion	What major questions and concerns have parents presented to you? Talk about how you respond to parents. Does everyone agree? What are the critical parent involvement issues that your program faces?
Post- Reading Discussion	According to the reading, what are the advantages of two-way immersion programs for English language learners? For native English speakers? Does this match the experience in your school and community? What do you tell parents about the advantages of two-way immersion programs? How do students in two-way immersion programs compare academically with students in other programs, according to the reading? How do they compare in your school or district? If this is an issue in your school or district, how are you handling it? Do you need to make changes? How can parents support two-way immersion programs, according to the reading? What has your program done to encourage parent and community support? If you are not satisfied with the relationship between your program and the parents, how might you use ideas from the reading to make changes?
Post- Reading Wrap-Up	Go back to your predictions about parents’ questions. Did they ask the questions you predicted? Were the answers to the questions different from what you expected? How? Which of the issues raised in this section are most important to you and your school? Are there issues in your school that weren’t raised in the reading? What are they and how can they be addressed? What next steps do you need to take to improve your program’s connection to parents and community?