Language usage is what makes teaching Dual Language successful for both the teacher and the learners, and weaving content area skills and knowledge in with Language Arts and Reading skills is essential, but how do you do that? In this post I will show you a resource that will do that for you!
Homes and Journeys: An Integrated Unit for Dual Language Kindergarten
Integrated units are beneficial for both students and teachers because 2 skills are taught and learned at the same time. As a teacher you weave together reading and Language Arts skills with a content area. In this case, Social Studies and Spanish Language Arts with an English Bridge: Homes Around the World, Communities and their Workers. I love integrated units because we all save time and teaching and learning becomes super efficient. This unit is completely in Spanish with an English Bridge at the end of the unit.
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The Contents of this Resource Include:
- Lesson Plans for a 15-Day Unit with a focus on vocabulary, map skills, continents, and community places and workers, final exam included.
- Practice sheets and answer keys for reinforcement of concepts
- A Homes Around the World booklet with accompanying video to broaden students' understanding.
- Vocabulary word cards and picture cards in Spanish to support language development along with anchor chart labels.
- A Bridge into English Project at the end of the unit giving students options to create a poster, a book or a diorama so that they can use English for about 3 days. This is your ESL component. This end of the unit project includes instructions, guidlines and a parent letter in all English and Spanish.
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| Different options with the Vocabulary Cards include Anchor Charts that are also practical for The Bridge |
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Themes in this unit center around common places in the community and the people that work there: supermarket / cashier, hospital / doctor, school / teacher, restaurant / server, home / mom & dad, library / librarian. Once students have been introduced to these concepts, then the teacher will introduce them to the concept that in each of these places we are expected to behave a certain way.
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There is a code of conduct, if you will, for the following places and people:
- The home with our family
- School with teachers and friends
- The library with our family and with people that we don't know
- A restaurant with our family and with people that we don't know
The codes of conduct are listening, cleaning up, helping out, and getting along. These are the same code of conduct and principles of good behavior, but they look slightly different in different places. Included in the resource is a projectable PowerPoint presentation that explains these different places along with the behavior expectations.
Interwoven in the locations and code of conduct concept, the resource includes learning objectives in the way of 'I Can Statements'. These statements include creating different vocabulary sorts, identifying good manners and respectful behavior as civil responsibility. Also, learning objectives include map skills, and as a guide the teacher will use the book "Me On the Map". Students will create maps of their room, classroom, and then learn about the elements of a map when they create a map of their community with a legend that students also create. The lessons continue with identifying the USA on the world map, and then learning about homes around the world. This video is an added extra for visual understanding:
At this point, students take the final assessment in Spanish, and the teacher notifies parents about the English Bridge Project.
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| Click on the image so that you can see this resource in my Teachers pay Teachers store today! |
The English Bridge Project:
This is an important part of the unit because students are transferring their knowledge of homes and journeys into English where they will choose how they want to do that. Students can choose writing and illustrating a book, creating a diorama, or a poster. The point is for the students to use English writing with simple labels and speaking by telling the class about their project in English.
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The Bridge takes about 3-5 days.
On the first day the teacher will transfer the meaning of the vocabulary words from Spanish to English using the picture cards and the anchor chart labels.
Once the vocabulary has been successfully transferred into English, in the next lesson the teacher will lead the class in a shared writing experience about their homes. Generally the teacher starts out by modeling and thinking aloud so that students can begin to help 'scribe' more thoughts about 'home'.
Then, the last step is to introduce the projects. Students will work on these at home and in class, as time dictates. The final day/s will be a fun time to share about the projects that the kids created. The objective is for students to use the English vocabulary in writing labels and as they speak to explain their creation.
Integration of Skills:
As you follow this plan, you will seamlessly integrate social studies skills and Spanish Language Arts skills seamlessly.
The leveled books will support literacy development in various settings as the teacher sees fit for the group. These settings include guided reading, independent reading, partner reading and intervention.
Benefits of Homes and Journeys Integrated Unit for Dual Language Kindergarten for Teachers and Students:
The biggest benefit for teachers is that your planning is streamlined, and you are not planning small and insignificant 30-minute social studies times that are isolated. The Language Arts center time is all about Homes and Journeys, and students are reading and writing all about this particular social studies theme.
Students are experiencing holistic learning, as they are engaged in language development activities throughout the entire unit.
In conclusion, Homes and Journeys Integrated Unit for Dual Language Kindergarten engages bilingual children in vocabulary development, map skills, communities and their workers plus a code of ethics! I encourage you to continue to explore integrated units as a powerful approach to teaching diverse subject matter as the most effective and efficient way possible.
Reading to embark?
If you are ready to dive into this Homes and Journeys Integrated Unit in Spanish with a Bridge in English, then click here so that you can start teaching your class about manners, maps and the wide world around them!
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