Learning fractions can be challenging enough. Adding in a second language, the difficulty just multiplies.
However, it’s a challenge that some fourth-grade students in the Kuna School District are clearly willing to take on.
The Dual Language Program there has become very popular, according to teacher Courtney Shearer.
“We're able to fill each year and have a waiting list of people who want to get into the program and speak two languages,” Shearer said. “We're trying to lottery in a 50/50 mix. So that we have half of the class as native Spanish speakers and half of the class is native English speakers.”
Shearer says the kids work together and learn from one another.
“We can have these programs where students can learn the language, learn English, and not lose their native language,” she said. “Maybe share that gift with others, that gift of bilingualism.”
Half of the curriculum is instructed in English and the other half in Spanish.
“All the time I'm teaching language learners, no matter what language I'm in,” she said. “So I have to act things out, I have to use videos, I have to use pictures. It's the kind of teaching where you always have to be very on and very creative to reach everybody.”
Starting this program in Kindergarten, the kids are learning to be bilingual right from the get-go, and Shearer hopes her lessons will lead to more in the future.
“They're able to make connections, and learn a third language, a fourth language that much easier because they have that basis,” Shearer said. “Getting to see that pride of, ‘I do know this language and I can speak it, it's okay if I make mistakes. It's okay if I stumble through it. I can still speak it and carry on a conversation.’”
Shearer says that specific classroom supplies are very essential for her bi-lingual instruction, and often times books and materials in Spanish are more expensive.
She applies for grants, like one that was awarded by Cap-Ed Credit Union, to keep the burden of the extra funds off of the school district’s budget.
Courtney Shearer is this week’s Innovative Educator.