Primer grado/First gradeJust another Whittier Dual Language School weblog

I’m really excited about this year because we are focusing school-wide on writing, possibly my favorite “area” to teach/facilitate, etc.  Right now I’m reading Of Primary Importance, What’s Essential in Teaching Young Writers by Ann Marie Corgill.  I’m working on setting up my classroom in an entirely different way this year, so that the children have more easy access to all writing resources. 

I’m also looking forward to trying to maintain actual, effective assessment portfolios with the kids. If we do it well, we will be able to better see when & how the transition to reading in their second language  develops.  Even after teaching  in a dual language setting for many years, t’s still somewhat mysterious in so many ways.  They kids are also going to work on their own self-assessment component.  This is the most diffcult part to launch and maintain for me, due to the VERY short school day in Chicago.