Happy 2019! š„ #Earlylang I'm moderating tonight's topic -āheritage learnersā with co-moderator Julie Speno @MundodePepita
Letās get started with introductions. Tell us who you are, what you teach, and share if you teach heritage language learners?
Hello everyone and welcome to #earlylang chat! I'm Julie, co-moderating w the fantastic @MaCristinaRV . I teach K-4 Spanish in Maine, and have at least a few heritage learners for Spanish each yr, along w heritage learners of other langs as well
Happy new year #earlylang! Iām Dorie and I teach Spanish including heritage students, grades 1-5 in CT. Iāll be in and out of tonightās chat since Iām also on mom duty.
Hi! My name is Caitlin Connell. I teach grades K-4 Spanish. Students in my classes have Spanish once a week for half the year. I do have some heritage learners, but not many. #earlylang
A1: I consider any child who that speaks a language other than the dominant lang of the community (to greater or lesser degree of ability in that HL) to be a heritage student #earlylang
A1: To me it is any S who has the TL and/or TC as part of their heritage. I often have Ss whose parents speak the TL, but raised them not speaking it. The Ss understand it, but canāt speak it; I š watching their transformation when they realize how much they know. #earlylang
I also have several students who can understand and speak at it various levels depending on if they're families "force" them to use Spanish at home. #earlylang
Hi #earlylang! I'm Tonya from Richmond, Virginia. I teach Spanish preK-5. I have several heritage speakers. I'd love to find ways to get them more deeply involved in Spanish then the rest of the class.
Me too! I cracked up at a mom who was so excited to find out we had Spanish class. She hit her son on the arm and told him, now you'll have to learn! Bless his heart! #earlylang
A1: Someone who has had some exposure to the language/culture through their family (could be a little or a lot), but who hasn't grown up in an environment where that language is a native/dominant language #earlylang
I get Congolese refugees that speak different levels of French. #earlylang Obviously not heritage learner in my case but I love finding out all the languages my kiddos speak. #earlylang
Given that we know as language learners ourselves that knowing/being exposed to one lang aids in learning another, all our heritage learners bring great strengths to our classrooms; tapping into that is super exciting! #earlylang
A2: For me a big push is literacy. A lot of my Ss can't read or write in the TL even though they speak it so giving them opportunities to become biliterate is important. #earlylang
A2 My 1st step is to connect w my heritage students & ascertain their level of comfortability w their peers knowing about their heritage-some of my sts over the yrs have been extremely uncomfortable & wanted to be "just like everyone else" not singled out #earlylang
A2: I think that we can embrace them by first recognizing that all of our classes have mixed levels of proficiency, with or without heritage learners. I try to empower my heritage speakers to be leaders. #earlylang
A2: In terms of proficiency (missed that part of the Q at first!), give them ways for them to shine and be an example for their classmates who might be at lower proficiency levels. #earlylang
A2: I also think teaching CONTENT is so important when you have heritage learners. Maybe they know the months of the year but what about butterfly migration. How can I teach them something NEW in the target language and keep them engaged? #earlylang
Exactly! And I love teaching FLES because it means they're learning to read in my class and in their gen ed class so it's totally age and developmentally appropriate! #earlylang
A2 In terms of actual activities, on a small scale I regularly extend convos w these kiddos, going deeper w addt'l questions, having quick asides w them during transitional moments to build their vocab & esp content knowledge #earlylang
A1: heritage language learners are a gift to my Spanish classroom. In our discussions of immigration, they provide current examples of success in the United States. I encourage them to show pride in who they are. After all, we are all immigrants. #earlylang
This is why it's so important to connect with our ESL colleagues and make sure they know the research. I try to send home reading material home with specific kids so they can practice their L1 (Span) literacy at home for this reason. #earlylang
A2: On a larger scale, non fiction & culture can be very powerful; though a HLL might have greater lang skills, their knowledge of the world is typically at the same level as their peers, so engages them in the actual content of the class #earlylang
Reminder: You can vote for future topics here: https://t.co/pGVBVAEwCs#earlylang We would love to have you chime in and let use know what YOU want to talk about!
A2: On a larger scale, non fiction & culture can be very powerful; though a HLL might have greater lang skills, their knowledge of the world is typically at the same level as their peers, so engages them in the actual content of the class #earlylang
A1: heritage language learners are a gift to my Spanish classroom. In our discussions of immigration, they provide current examples of success in the United States. I encourage them to show pride in who they are. After all, we are all immigrants. #earlylang
A1: Any 1st, 2nd, 3rd.. native speaker of the language who doesn't live in the native country. Sometimes they only understand the language, sometimes they are fully fluent. #earlylang
A3 This can be especially challenging w FLES given the short time frames many of us have w our students & the age range. One big area is to encourage families to read to their children at home in the heritage lang, provide books if necessary! #earlylang
A3. I let Ss to borrow books from my library to read at home/school. I also give classroom Ts summaries of research that shows supporting home language literacy increases their Eng lit skills as well. This makes Ts more likely to let them read Span during school time #earlylang
A3: I hold them to a higher level of grammatical accuracy & spelling. Give them more complex texts - Newsela is great for this. Again, this is about a classroom environment where we recognize diverse levels of proficiency, and pushing all Ss from where they are. #earlylang
I get Scholastic Let's Find Out in Spanish magazines. Any of the copies I don't use I give to our K-1 teachers to send home. A to Z reading also has leveled books that are good to send home or let Ss choose. #earlylang
Q3: Creating a positive & safe classroom environment where Ss are motivated & engaged in learning the language. I use scaffolds / supports for Ss of all levels to succeed in tasks. Also love integrating technology to prompt/guide Ss in creating personalized products #earlylang
Of course there are books that never make it back, but if that student is reading a book they enjoy in their home language, I consider it a win. #earlylang
A3: Heritage language learners crave and deserve differentiation. I am pulling some great stuff from Spanish language novels. Thinking of have the kids read Berto y sus buenas ideas or El nuevo Houdini. But there are so many good options! #earlylang
A2: This is my weak area. I want the kids to feel part of the class, so I do not differentiate too much for them. I only have 2 heritage students this year and that is the common number for me every year. #earlylang
A3: I have found word sorts or card sorts are a great literacy and prewriting activity. Group write and guided writing worksheets are also good for a variety of prof. levels and I can push the heritage learners to go further while keeping more scaffolding for other Ss. #earlylang
A3 Also, by providing a print rich environment right from the outset in Kinder helps me develop early literacy skills in ALL my students, which is also a benefit for my HLL, who many not be exposed to the written word at all at home #earlylang
I seek to differentiate in ways have the kids participating along with the rest of the class instead of working on something separate. Low threshold, high ceiling instead of something completely different. #earlylang
A3. I like to have my students read whenever possible. We have "lunes de lectura" every Monday. I like to mix it up every week so they never know what we're going to read. #Earlylang
I agree so much! I don't want my kids to be 'outside' the rest of the class community doing something different; there's so much we can do as a whole group. #earlylang
Exactly! Provide lots of different resources & opportunities so all kiddos have a chance to interact where they are at... love how you put it! #earlylang
Yes! Having a library that honors my studentsā varied backgrounds is so important. Sometimes the Spanish classroom is the only place theyāll find themselves reflected in the school. #earlylang
I had a new S last year whose family is from Puerto Rico. They were blown away by the stories and folktales I had from PR. It moved them so much that they were very respectful of returning them. If they didnāt, I would, like you, consider it a win. š
A4 My biggest hope is that by me, & classmates, showing an interest in, & a love for, the language & culture of my sts that will convey what a treasure it is to have another lang be part of your life & inspire them to value it, too #earlylang
A1: A1: A heritage speaker to me is someone who is exposed to another language other than the dominant one at home. I have many students who have at least one parent or if not both who speak another language. #earlylang#slowchat
This has been really powerful not just w my Spanish speaking heritage learners, but w the heritage learners of other langs in my school-I have a bunch of my Russian children's books in my room, too, along w a small, but growing collection of Czech & Polish resources #earlylang
A1: A heritage speaker to me is someone who is exposed to another language other than the dominant one at home. I have many students who have at least one parent or if not both who speak another language. #earlylang#slowchat
A summary of tonightās chat will be posted at https://t.co/pGVBVAEwCs in the next few days! #earlylang Be sure to follow @EarlyLang so you don't miss notifications & great info on PD!
A4: Motivate HLL's the same way you motivate second language learners! Instilling a love for language and connecting with other cultures is a goal! #earlylang
A4: I think helping instill in them a pride in being biliterate will make them lifelong learners. Showing them that their culture and language is valued. #earlylang
That would be fantastic! I've been asking parents for resources & recommendations, which has helped. And scouting out garage & book sales, sometimes you find great gems! #earlylang
A4: Working to provide them with a postive experience that helps to build their self-confidence. Helping them to see the benefits of continuing to grow as a language learner #earlylang
A4: 1) Empowering them to see how knowing another language gives them a big upper hand; 2) planting the seeds to learn more languages. My son was raised bilingual in Spanish & English; he chose to study French and is currently trilingual - he is still young :) #earlylang
A5: This is one of my weaker areas - I want to do more to involve my families. Just did a PD on family engagement yesterday...got to implement some things. #rubshands#earlylang
A4: I remind them often about how fortunate they are to be bilingual. I think my students recognize how important fluency is for them, especially for their future. #Earlylang
I am looking for more ideas, also! Sometimes I am stymied by grade level lesson management-if a parent comes to only one class in the grade level, then I'm off in my planning ; small yet big challenge lol #earlylang
I think I need to start talking about it with 4th & 5th (and their parents!) Just get their brains thinking about taking language in middle and high school. #earlylang
A2: I feel that we shouldnāt assume that heritage speakers āknow it allā, especially basic vocabulary, writing and reading. For example, many donāt know how to say cabbage in Spanish. When I teach about basic food, I challenge them with more complex vocab. #earlylang#slowchat
I've had a few parents who've wanted their child working separate from the rest of class (such as a workbook that they provide). I think there are often assumptions abt what a lang class looks/should look like and that conversations to manage expectations are helpful. #earlylang
This is so true! Vocabulary & content building are just as important for them as for any learner at this age. I think sometimes we forget how small a vocab little learners (heritage or otherwise) actually have, hence the many vocab activities done in the homerms #earlylang
I have found that sometimes I have to coach parents a little bit in terms of what to talk about to be sure the conversation is appropriate and engaging for little learners, have you found this? #earlylang
