Volume 4 February 2014

Las Noticias A periodic

newsletter of the Spanish Immersion

Program at Ventana Vista Elementary

School

Our Spanish Immersion Webpage

Save the Dates! Wednesday, March 19

6:00-7:00 PM

“An evening of Celebration & Information”

For Immersion Parents

Friday, April 25

6:00-8:00 PM

“Spanish Movie Night”

For ALL VV Families

***see info later in newsletter with details

http://tinyurl.com/jvsvgtq

Dear Immersion Parents,

Welcome to the second edition for the 2013-14 school year of our newsletter just for Spanish Immersion families at Ventana Vista!

Included in this volume:

• Immersion Parent Survey Analysis

• Building Community

• Plans for Middle School

• Fliers for 2 exciting upcoming events

• A link introducing our new blog!

We greatly enjoy working with your children, and very much appreciate your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Kim Boling

Principal

lorem ipsum dolor issue, date

2

Ongoing THANKS to our 2013-14 Spanish Immersion Advisory Board:

Amy Acuña – Kindergarten Immersion Teacher

Norma Fregoso – Kindergarten Parent

Molly Sax – Kindergarten parent

Maria Jimenez-Baca – 1st Grade Immersion Teacher

Brittany DeFazio – 1st Grade English Partner

Steve Przymus – 1st Grade Parent

Joan McKee – 2nd Grade English Partner

Maribel Miranda – 2nd Grade Immersion Teacher

Michelle Martinez – 2nd Grade parent

DeDe Plante – 3rd Grade Immersion Teacher

Holly Knutson – 3rd Grade English Partner

Maria Orozco – 4th Grade Immersion teacher

Amy Hawkins – 4th Grade English Partner

Natasha Escalada-Westland – (4th Grade and 2nd Grade Parent)

Christie Iacomini – (4th grade and 2nd Grade parent)

Kim Boling – Principal

Sheryl Castro – CFSD World Languages Coordinator

Gr. 3 Immersion Students with guest teachers from the UA’s Project SEED, a new and exciting partnership!

In December, a survey about our Spanish Immersion Program was sent electronically to all (182) VV Immersion families. We had 51 responses (28% return rate), representing the following grade levels:

Kdg – 13 families Gr. 1 – 11 families Gr. 2 – 14 families Gr. 3 – 9 families Gr. 4 – 14 families

Survey results revealed:

parents’ average (mean) comfort level with their child’s (children’s) SPANISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (1=not comfortable; 5=very comfortable): 4.14

parents’ average (mean) comfort level with their child’s (children’s) ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT (1=not comfortable; 5=very comfortable): 4.01

parents’ average (mean) comfort level with THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND HOW IT LOOKS IN OUR PROGRAM (1=not comfortable/no knowledge; 5=very comfortable/lots of knowledge): 3.61

There were also many comments in response to the questions posed. The Advisory Board met in January to Analyze survey results. Their summary follows in this newsletter.

Your Thoughts Matter!

lorem ipsum dolor issue, date

3

Parent Survey Analysis

Our Advisory Board met on January 23, 2014 to analyze the results of the survey sent to all Spanish Immersion families in December 2013. Prior to the meeting, advisory Board Members were sent all survey results, including comments, and asked to come prepared to share strengths noted, as well concerns with possible action steps for addressing them. Below is a summary of this analysis.

STRENGTHS of the VV Spanish Immersion Program

• There was an overall sense of satisfaction with the program; lots of positive comments.

• Parents trust teachers as professionals, and give them much credit for the success of the program.

• Parents are excited to see their children eager to learn and using Spanish outside of school (even outside of the US!). Students are able to speak with Spanish-speaking relatives and make new friends with native Spanish speakers – great intercultural connections.

• Fluency – the questions that students have at upper grades are more about CONTENT vs. the meaning of the language

• Parents are selecting the program for all the right reasons; they want bilingualism for their children, as well as to enrich their academic experience and learning. This fosters a great attitude toward language learning

• It is a desirable program that is attracting students/families to VV/CFSD • There is a real enthusiasm from parents, strong commitment/buy-in • The program continues to grow and develop and improve. Evidence of this

is seen as students progress through the grades. • Students’ language proficiency, as well as their self-confidence and self-

esteem are growing! • Parents are impressed with the amount of academic and language learning

that is taking place. • Songs are fun and effective for learning the language in the early grades. • Developmental language acquisition/layering – it’s happening as intended! • Parents like the connections being made between the English and Spanish

sides

Visit this link to our new “IMMERSION INQUIRIES” blog!

This is a place for parents to ask questions about dual language and language acquisition

and have them answered by the experts!

http://immersioninquiries.wordpress.com/ NE

W!!

lorem ipsum dolor issue, date

4

Parent Survey Analysis, cont. CONCERNS POSSIBLE ACTION STEPS

Fear of the future Lay out plans more in advance, whenever possible (teacher assignment, middle school plans, etc.)

Create a bank of videos showing what students know and are able to do at each level

Create a bank of videos showing parents and/or teachers answering FAQ

Communication Start blogging – Steve volunteers to start this from parent and language acquisition perspective, also with input from UA colleagues (ACTFL guidelines, transfer of knowledge; mirroring aspect of teaching; literacy development – struggling readers in immersion)

Monthly or bi-monthly meetings with teachers

Email with link to teacher websites

Video showing continuum of progress

Continue to respond to individual parent queries

Utilize a uniform template for all immersion websites – familiarity; frequent reminders to check teacher websites; teachers include “website check” as part of homework; put link to website as part of teacher “signature” on email

(at Curriculum Night and/or Parent Evening – mid year)

Maintaining Program Integrity/Class Size

Consider number of immersion students independent of number of regular students at a grade level in order to maintain 2 classes of each per grade level with a consistent structure from year to year

All suggested action steps are being taken into consideration. Some steps can be accomplished right away, while others will take further planning and development. See later in this newsletter…and stay tuned for more!

lorem ipsum dolor issue, date

5

Building Community Through

“Community Circle” Time

All four classes in 3rd Grade at Ventana Vista have begun a new tradition to further foster grade-level friendships and bonding.

In addition to common break times and mixing classes for math, the four 3rd grade classes are meeting twice a month on Tuesdays for minutes after lunch to share songs, stories and fun.

Students begin by meeting with a randomly assigned 3rd grade teacher, some students from each class, to play a greeting game such as introducing yourself and then using a variety of greetings in response (Hola, Hi, Aloha, Shalom) to greet your neighbor.

Students and teachers then meet in a common place such as an empty classroom or the upstairs patio and form one large circle, hence the name, "Community Circle." They sing songs, discuss common issues, and play games.

Finally, all Community Circle sessions end with the grade-level “Jody” or cadence song familiar to our nation's soldiers. Parents of 3rd graders, ask your child if they know this chant/song, as well as a new Spanish song called "Mi Cuerpo Hace Música!"

The 3rd grade teachers report that they have enjoyed watching the students participate in larger social groups, calling classmates by name, and they anticipate more friendships to blossom throughout the rest of the school year.

What’s Around the Corner? Plans for Immersion at Middle School

Plans are underway for our first group of immersion students to enter Esperero Canyon Middle School in the fall of 2015!

Students will enjoy a series of specially designed courses that will allow them to use Spanish as a tool to learn more content and/or to enhance problem-solving skills, related to local, state, and/or international issues. They will also continue to develop their Spanish literacy skills through the use of Spanish language literature and informational text.

4th grade parents were recently invited to a meeting to hear about these plans, in addition to our 5th grade and middle school programs.

Say What?? NEW BLOG Designed Especially for VV

Immersion Parents!

Please check out this excellent resource designed by VV Parent and SI Immersion Advisory Board Member, Steve Pryzmus.

He and his colleagues in the UA Department of Applied Linguistics will be happy to respond to your questions and inquiries.

http://immersioninquiries.wordpress.com/

A direct link from our Spanish Immersion website will soon be available.

lorem ipsum dolor issue, date

6