Promoting Dual-language in a Kindergarten classroom

Kate Hannon

Texas Women’s University

mhannon@twu.edu

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this lesson plan is to show how a dual-language approach may be used in a Kindergarten classroom to teach a Science unit.The primary purpose of this lesson is to teach the content area described as well as develop spoken and written English skills through the use of dual-language.

Relevance to Research

The current research shows that the most effective language model for both ELL and mainstream native-English speakers is a Bilingual/Immersion program that begins with a 90/10 instruction split and gradually evens out to a 50/50 split. Nearly equally effective, and extremely beneficial, is a program that begins with a 50/50 instruction time split.Over time, dual-language shows improved English test scores for both ELLs and native-English speakers alike, therefore both populations will benefit from this language instruction model.

Important information about Classroom Application

This is a classroom of approximately 50% Native English speakers and 50% Native Mandarin Chinese speakers.

This dual-language activity will attempt to model the 50/50 dual language model.

Science Lesson: Planting a Classroom Garden

Unit: Sharing the Planet

Theme: Growing Things

Objectives

ContentStudents will understand that plants are living organisms.Students will know the necessary elements of life for plants.Students will be able to describe the life-cycle of a plant.Students will think critically about our need for plants and be able to express some ways for how plants affect our lives.

LanguageStudents will be able to participate in activities and discussing in both English and Mandarin Chinese. Students will acquire new English vocabulary (key words) and use appropriately in presentations and discussions.Students will create written products in English and interact with text in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

TEKS: §112.2. Science

a(2) As students learn science skills, they identify components of the natural world including rocks, soil, and water. Students observe the seasons and growth as examples of change. In addition, Kindergarten science includes the identification of organisms and objects and their parts. Students learn how to group living organisms and nonliving objects and explore the basic needs of living organisms. a(4) A system is a collection of cycles, structures, and processes that interact. Students should understand a whole in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other and to the whole. All systems have basic properties that can be described in terms of space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems and can be observed and measured as patterns. These patterns help to predict what will happen next and can change over time. b(6) The student knows that systems have parts and are composed of organisms and objects. The student is expected to: (B) record observations about parts of plants including leaves, roots, stems, and flowers; (7) The student knows that many types of change occur. The student is expected to: (D) observe and record stages in the life cycle of organisms in their natural environment. (9) The student knows that living organisms have basic needs. The student is expected to: (A) identify basic needs of living organisms; (B) give examples of how living organisms depend on each other; and (C) identify ways that the Earth can provide resources for life.

TEKS:§110.11. English Language Arts and Reading

(b)(15)Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts. Students write expository and procedural or work-related texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes. Students are expected to dictate or write information for lists, captions, or invitations.(b) (23) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to follow agreed-upon rules for discussion, including taking turns and speaking one at a time. (b) (5) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it correctly when reading and writing. Students are expected to: (A) identify and use words that name actions, directions, positions, sequences, and locations;

Key English Vocabulary

LivingNon-livingLeavesRootsStemSeedSoilShoot

Materials

Mung bean seedsSpadesGarden plotSalad vegetablesDisplay paperPlant Diary books

English book: Living ThingsDisplay: plant life cycleIndex cardsWriting materialsLibrary book selections concerning the life cycles of plants.

Procedures: Motivation

Tuning in discussion(In Mandarin Chinese) Teacher will present the students with a display depicting the life cycle of a plant. Teacher will invite the students to share their thoughts and theories about what they are seeing and help them verbalize the life cycle of the plant.Students will share stories and experiences with growing plants.Teacher will ask students to draw at least 1 plant they use everyday.Students will share their drawings with the class and describe how they use these plants.

Procedures: Motivation

Tuning In Activity(In English) Teacher will ask the students to refer back to their drawings from their earlier discussion and share their plants with one or two other classmates.While students do this, teacher will prepare salad materials on the table.When students are finished, teacher will ask students to talk about the materials they see and ask them what they think she is going to do with them.With the student’s encouragement, the teacher will help them prepare a small salad containing various plants, that will be identified throughout the preparation.

Everyone will eat the salad!

Procedures:Discussion (In English)

The teacher will read Living Things that highlights the key words living, and non-living, pausing to emphasize and discuss the meaning of these words.In partners, the students will draw a brainstorm chart of things that are living and non-living. As always, the children are asked to label as many as possible. Students will present their findings and together as a class, try to answer the question: “How do you know if something is living or non-living?” --- The teacher will help the students write their answers on a large paper that will remain displayed throughout the unit. :Key point: Living things grow and change.

Procedures

Activity (In Chinese)Now that the students can describe what makes a living thing, they will be invited to begin growing their own plants. Students will plant mung beans in a small section of their classroom garden. As they take turns planting their seeds, they will begin composing a list of necessary care for their plants. The teacher will help them to write these down for them with illustrations in a display that will remain visible throughout the unit.

ProcedurePlant Diary (both English and Mandarin

Chinese)As the students watch their plants grow, they will keep a plant diary to record the changes they see occurring. This will be kept in both English and Chinese according to whatever the language of instruction is during that time period. (This book will not be translated.)(In English, specifically) As the plants begin to grow and develop, the teacher will identify key vocabulary words about plant parts and explain the function of those parts.

Procedures

Sharing plant diariesAt the beginning of each activity, children are asked to share their plant diary and the changes they have seen in their plants using their new vocabulary.Children will record and share both the changes that occur in their plant as well as the plant’s conditions (i.e. how much water, sunlight, etc) and hypothesize how these may be related.

Procedures

Extension (In Chinese)Teacher will ask the students to retrieve their original drawings about plants that they use in their life. She will ask them to use what they have learned to expand on their drawings and descriptions about how plants are used in our lives and the lives of other animals.

Procedures

Extension (In English)Teacher will refer to the displays used earlier in the unit: Life cycle, brainstorm for living vs. non-living, and life/care essentials for plants to grow. In small groups, the students will pick a favorite concept and create their own display to explain it in greater detail.Together with their group, the students will be asked to describe their displays using appropriate vocabulary and clearly explaining learned concepts.

Assessment (In English)

Students will create one of the following products:

On index cards, write a comprehensive set of care instructions for our classroom garden for another class.

Make up a story about a plant from seed to mature (flowering) plant and tell it to the class through words (oral or written) or pictures.

Rationale

The students will have adequate time to listen, brainstorm, discuss, and present material on all concepts.They will access this information through many different mediums and have sufficient opportunity to manipulate, synthesize, and summarize the concepts.The students will have the opportunity to talk about concepts in both English and Mandarin Chinese freely and extensively, helping to create a firm understanding of the concepts and the language used to describe them.

Conclusion

In this unit lesson plan, I attempted to access the students deeper understanding of Science concepts and greater development in the English language through activities that support their L1 (Chinese) (for ELL’s) and activities that extend on their English language abilities through their L2 (Chinese) (for native English speakers).Research shows that bilingualism aids both English language development and concept acquisition through the student’s ability to compare and contrast in the two languages- sharing information between the languages and giving them extra language with which to understand the concepts.

Conclusion

In reference to the TEKS, the formal assessment is done in English only as this language, according to the TEKS, should be the teacher’s primary focus, but extension lessons should be continued in both English and Mandarin Chinese.It was my intention to provide approximately 50% instruction in English and 50% in Chinese, though it is probable that the lessons and especially the writing focus will be heavy in English instruction.