Sixth International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education: Connecting Research and Practice Across Contexts

Paper/Best Practice Session (1 hour)

Spanish and English

Two-Way Bilingual Immersion

Elementary (K-5)

This session focuses on the use of iPads as a tool for authentic language production in the elementary classroom and how this technology can be used to support early Spanish literacy as well as comprehension. We will show how apps, such as SEESAW and iMovie, enrich student language experiences.

   Riverview Elementary is home to a K-5 Spanish-English Dual Immersion program and is a 1 to 1 iPad school.  Our teachers have utilized technology in the classroom to support early literacy in Spanish as well as comprehension in the intermediate grades.  This session will cover practical uses of the iPad in supporting comprehensible input as well as authentic production of language.  Through the use of technology students are able to work on improving fluency, expanding vocabulary, utilizing thinking processes that promote language acquisition of both Spanish and English.

    For emergent readers and writers, we support student language and literacy learning, which includes reading syllables, initial and final sounds, letter-sound recognition and vocabulary expansion through the use of various FREE apps.  For example, in one first grade dual immersion classroom SEESAW, an electronic journal driven by student work, has been fully integrated into literacy instruction .  Students upload work samples, which allows teachers and families to provide feedback and maintain accountability.  Teachers and families verify and support students’ work in order to reinforce grade-level skills.

    For early established and established readers, technology is also used to support student language learning, but more importantly gives intermediate students an outlet for authentic language production. For example, iMovie is a platform through which students can publish finished products and dramatize written pieces in order to share with peers or other authentic audiences.  Multiple internet resources are utilized to build comprehension leading up to this final product, such as Keyboard text prediction, online dictionary, and Google images.

  We have found that digital technology supports student language acquisition through the use of  adaptive features that allow for purposeful and appropriate scaffolding.  In addition, digital technology enriches student language experiences due to the level of engagement enticed by producing language for authentic purposes.

Katherine Perron Pantano earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education and Spanish from the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota.  She is currently pursuing a Master of Education in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Certificate in Dual Language and Immersion from the University of Minnesota.  As part of the Riverview Elementary Dual Immersion teaching team, Katherine has been an integral part of the development of the Two-Way Immersion program, now in its tenth year.  Over the past nine years, she has taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades and is currently serving as Riverview’s Instructional Coach.

First grade teacher, Ada Kristel Perez is from Puerto Rico and has being teaching for seven years. She has a bachelor degree in Early Education and pursuing a masters at Walden University with a concentration in Reading and Literacy k-6. Currently works at Riverveiw Elementary as a first grade dual immersion teacher. She uses the iPad app called SEESAW to engage students in enriched activities to increase language. 

Fifth grade dual immersion teacher, Yomarie Arroyo, is also from Puerto Rico and has been teaching 5th grade for three years and in Puerto Rico she taught 7-12 grade English for a year. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Secondary Education in the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao.  She uses iMovie in various ways to engage her fifth grade dual immersion students.