Massachusetts Association - Listening, speaking, reading, and writing in social and academic settings in two or more languages.
Culturally Responsive Practice

Culturally responsive practice is understanding one's own culture, beliefs, and values, as well as those of the families and students educators serve.  Cultural reciprocity is a two-way process of interacting with others that acknowledges and respects cultural differences.  (Kalyanpur & Harry)
   
             Cultural Reciprocity

    Professional Learning for Culturally Responsive
    Teaching, NCCREST

    Cultural Reciprocity in Special Education: 
    Building Family-Professional Relationships
    Maya Kalyanpur, and Beth Harry, 2012, Brookes
    Publishing

    Promoting Educators Cultural Competence To
    Better Serve Culturally Diverse Students
    http://www.nea.org/





   Resources on Languages  
Short informational Powerpoints on the  languages of students enrolled in RI schools http://www.ritell.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1409659
Teaching Resources

How to Support ELL Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFEs) http://www.readingrockets.org/article/27483/

This Pinterest site has many resources for dual language instruction particularly in Spanish.

The Internet Picture Dictionary is a completely free, online multilingual picture dictionary designed 
especially for ESL students and beginning English, French, German, Spanish and Italian language 
learners of all ages.   

Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. Here are some ways to promote cognate awareness in the classroom. www.colorincolorado.org/educators/background/cognates/

Common Core State Standards and ELLs 
Maria Brisk and Patrick Proctor write on Challenges and Supports for ELLs in Bilingual Programs

Multicultural Booklist Project Graduate students at RIC identify books that will reflect students' lives and experiences as well as list authors of diverse linguistic and cultural worlds for author studies.  Many books are bilingual so that parents can promote L1 reading at home. The RITELL Booklist Project 

   
   Do you know the benefits of learning in two languages?  

  • In addition to cognitive benefits, there are added benefits of family cohesion, student self-esteem and identify development that can result from bilingual instruction.
 
  • Ethnic and linguistic diversity in bilingual education programs can promote positive inter-group relations when both languages and both groups of students are valued equally in the classroom. 

Source: Gandara, Patricia and Hopkins, Megan, editors. (2010) Forbidden Language, English Learners and Restrictive Language  Policies. Multicultural Education Series, Teachers College, Columbia University

   Read CAL Digest: Does the US Need a Language Policy?, March 2011
  
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