Conference Sessions

German Immersion teachers will share their experiences of integrating theater throughout the school curriculum. They will speak to the unique benefits of theater techniques and of collaborations between specialists and classroom teachers in an immersion environment.

A team of K-5 Mandarin immersion teachers and program staff will demonstrate interactive activities that they have used to increase student proficiency in Mandarin in the context of subject matter instruction and discuss cross-cultural challenges that Chinese teachers face in adopting a student-centered approach to instruction.

What are the prevailing language ideologies among members of Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma? How are these ideologies reflected in linguistic practices associated with the Cherokee Immersion School? This paper aims to illuminate the impact that Cherokee language planning has had on intergenerational language transmission and the revitalization of Cherokee.

L'Etoile du Nord French Immersion School teachers are collaborating to engage parents from our growing Latino population through culturally and linguistically engaging storytelling activities to increase language fluency in French, Spanish, and English.

In Louisiana, French immersion teachers create tailor-made instructional units representing their students' reality and heritage. Come explore fresh material such as a Cajun alphabet or a Black History Month PowerPoint "Creole-style," and discover the use of authentic songs, poems, legends, and novels from the rich Cajun-Creole cultures.

We will examine the often overlooked skill of phonological awareness in young immersion students. We will explore the high-yield strategies, using a rhyming and segmenting hierarchy that we developed to meet our students' needs to prepare them to read in L2 in grade one. We will also share early invention tools in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to help identify students who may be at risk when learning to read.

This study, carried out within a sociocognitive perspective and based on video recordings, analyzes oral interactions of students involved in group work during a fourth grade science lesson, and describes how they co-construct epistemic knowledge through the performance of a scientific task involving the negotiation of meaning and knowledge.

Libraries in an immersion context are challenging. Join two library media specialists who have been through the process of developing second language collections for new immersion programs. Participants will discuss collection development, library organization, and promotional ideas.

The Appleton Bilingual Charter School marks a transformation in the Appleton, Wisconsin, community as it breaks from an anti-immigrant past. School personnel will share data regarding how such a school was established, political relationships forged, and successes and new challenges from year one of operation.

The Montessori method with its complete array of hands-on materials, student-paced approach, and 'teacher as guide' atmosphere creates a relaxed yet productive environment conducive to immersion. In this warm but structured, multiage environment conducted all in L2, students become confident and proficient both in the language and with academic content.