Numbers, Pictures, and Translanguaging
This week was very busy! We went on a field trip with the onderbouw classroom to the local library. It was about a 5 minute walk from the school. The students were very excited to visit and pick out a book for their classroom library.
The onderbouw students begin when they turn four, so many students come in mid-year. In this classroom, the teacher does the "mapping" for the students because they are too young to do it on their own. In the onderbouw classes, each student moves around from station to station throughout the day. The students move on their own, as the teacher pulls aside two students at a time to work on a mini-lesson. Students may work on things like art, puzzles, making patterns, matching, etc. There are lots of Montessori materials for the students to choose from.
Numbers
Learning my numbers in Dutch helped me the most this week. I quickly realized that I could help the most with math, but the name of the numbers were different. The students were a huge help to us and loved teaching us our numbers. After learning our numbers, it was a lot easier to help out. "Plus" and "minus" are "plus" and "min" in Dutch, which was easy for us to use when helping the students with their math facts. When working with students on multiplication, we used a lot of the Montessori materials. Strategies the students used were synonymous to the strategies I in the classroom at home.
Pictures
In my ESL class, I learned how pictures are important to use when learning another language. However, I've learned for myself just how important they are to have in the classroom. In all 3 levels of classes, I was asked to help students learn English vocabulary. I would teach them the English word, and the students would teach me the Dutch word. Every teacher had a different game or activity they used for us to teach the students. However, they all had one thing in common: pictures. I was able to use the picture of what I saw to teach the English word, and the students did the same. If they saw a dragon on the card, they would tell me "oh! That's a drak," and I would teach the word "dragon." Having pictures in the classroom is crucial for ELLs because he/she can use his/her first language to remember the new word.
Translanguaging
I can see (and hear) translanguaging occur everywhere! Even some of the youngest students (age 4) are bilingual. In the classroom, the bilingual students are the most interesting to watch because they will go from speaking to us in English and interacting with their peers in Dutch. A lot of students at the school come from a bilingual home, so it is common for students to speak 2-3 languages daily. A unique experience I had this week in an onderbouw classroom was with a student who spoke Spanish and Dutch. When other students in her class had questions for us she would translate them from Dutch to Spanish, and then I translated it further from Spanish to English. There has been at least one student in every classroom who has spoken some English, but in this particular class, there was one student who spoke Spanish. It was particularly fun to see all the translanguaging happening in this classroom!
The onderbouw students begin when they turn four, so many students come in mid-year. In this classroom, the teacher does the "mapping" for the students because they are too young to do it on their own. In the onderbouw classes, each student moves around from station to station throughout the day. The students move on their own, as the teacher pulls aside two students at a time to work on a mini-lesson. Students may work on things like art, puzzles, making patterns, matching, etc. There are lots of Montessori materials for the students to choose from.
Numbers
Learning my numbers in Dutch helped me the most this week. I quickly realized that I could help the most with math, but the name of the numbers were different. The students were a huge help to us and loved teaching us our numbers. After learning our numbers, it was a lot easier to help out. "Plus" and "minus" are "plus" and "min" in Dutch, which was easy for us to use when helping the students with their math facts. When working with students on multiplication, we used a lot of the Montessori materials. Strategies the students used were synonymous to the strategies I in the classroom at home.
Pictures
In my ESL class, I learned how pictures are important to use when learning another language. However, I've learned for myself just how important they are to have in the classroom. In all 3 levels of classes, I was asked to help students learn English vocabulary. I would teach them the English word, and the students would teach me the Dutch word. Every teacher had a different game or activity they used for us to teach the students. However, they all had one thing in common: pictures. I was able to use the picture of what I saw to teach the English word, and the students did the same. If they saw a dragon on the card, they would tell me "oh! That's a drak," and I would teach the word "dragon." Having pictures in the classroom is crucial for ELLs because he/she can use his/her first language to remember the new word.
Translanguaging
I can see (and hear) translanguaging occur everywhere! Even some of the youngest students (age 4) are bilingual. In the classroom, the bilingual students are the most interesting to watch because they will go from speaking to us in English and interacting with their peers in Dutch. A lot of students at the school come from a bilingual home, so it is common for students to speak 2-3 languages daily. A unique experience I had this week in an onderbouw classroom was with a student who spoke Spanish and Dutch. When other students in her class had questions for us she would translate them from Dutch to Spanish, and then I translated it further from Spanish to English. There has been at least one student in every classroom who has spoken some English, but in this particular class, there was one student who spoke Spanish. It was particularly fun to see all the translanguaging happening in this classroom!
STEM lesson for the Bovenbouw classroom. The students were learning to make tops spin by using motors.
Field trip to the local library with the onderbouw class!
A beautiful and sunny week at the Montessorischool Valkenbos.
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