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)

Teachers at Coronado Elementary used a collaborative process to develop their students' ability to have academic conversations in Spanish. This process is called VISITAS, Viewing Interactive Sheltered Instruction, Teachers and Students. We found that the VISITAS process gave us a schoolwide focus for improving instruction. 

Coronado Elementary is 90/10 dual language immersion school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our professional development program needed to reflect our biggest challenge as a dual language school: getting our students to talk about their learning in Spanish. With the support of Dual Language Education of New Mexico (DLeNM), we collaboratively developed a focus on student-to-student academic conversations to improve instruction. We used a process similar to the instructional rounds model that was designed by DLeNM for dual language programs called VISITAS, which stands for Viewing Interactive Sheltered Instruction, Teachers and Students. This practice uses teachers' abilities to see what is happening in another teacher's classroom by using close observation that is descriptive and non-judgmental. We used this protocol to help us identify academic conversations as an area for schoolwide focus. The VISITAS protocol was a powerful tool because it included scaffolds that are appropriate for dual language programs such as planning for peer interaction and activating prior knowledge. More importantly, the specific norms like presuming positive intentions and maintaining confidentiality helped make it feel safe for teachers. Our students are now better able to meet Common Core objectives while developing Spanish literacy and speaking skills. In the 2015-2016 school year, we have expanded the use of academic conversations into mathematics to help students consider and discuss multiple strategies for solving problems. The VISITAS process has enabled us to come to a common vision of how we wanted to improve as a school, and that vision is reflected in our students’ success.

Zwiers, J. & Crawford, M. (2011). Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk That Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.