This is the last time you will receive a newsletter from me in 2015; crazy to think how quickly the school year is going. In anticipation of Winter break, my Rincón de Richie this week will focus on how to best answer any family members, cousins, or extended relatives that might ask: “So you send your kid to a Spanish immersion school? Isn’t that hard for them to understand? What do they do in a Spanish immersion school?”
I hope you find it helpful.
Immersion Education; Defined
The term “language immersion education” can easily be misused or misunderstood. I would like to take this week’s Rincón de Richie to clearly identify and define some common terminology.
The Center for Advanced Research and Language Acquisition (CARLA) describe these five core characteristics of immersion education:
- Additive bilingualism with sustained and enriched instruction through the minority language and the majority language is promoted. In our program, students are introduced to academic English in the third grade.
- Subject area instruction through the minority language occurs for at least 50% of the school day during the elementary school years. In our program, students learn academic content in Spanish 100% of the time in grades K-2. In grades 3-4, English language arts are slowly introduced; however, academic content (math, science, social studies, health, etc.) remain in Spanish.
- Teachers are fully proficient in the language(s) they use for instruction. In our program, all of our classroom teachers and paraprofessionals are fully bilingual.
- Support for the majority language is strong and present in the community at large. In our program, we all understand and value the importance of the Spanish language.
- Clear and sustained separation of languages during instructional time. In our program, students and teachers understand when are the appropriate times to speak in English vs. Spanish.
More information can be found at http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion.
If you have not yet liked our Facebook page or joined Twitter, I would highly encourage you to. We share many pictures, videos, and information through these two medians of social media. Our La ola del lago hashtag is #LODL, my Twitter handle is @RKucinski, and our Facebook Page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/EdgewoodPLSAS
If there is anything I can help you out with over the course of the school year, or if you have any questions about Spanish immersion education, I am always happy to hear from you. I can be reached directly at 952.226.0903 or [email protected].
¡Felices fiestas y próspero año!
Richie