Lincoln Elementary Dual Language Program: DLP Meetings

Parent Workshops for Leyva & Santana's classes

Maestras Leyva and Santana held their 2nd parent workshops on Wednesday, November 20th at 6pm. Many thanks to the parents that were available to attend. Las Maestras discussed the different math programs available to their students (Xtramath.org, Sumdog.com and AMath), the economy project that both maestras are conducting in their classrooms and the fall break project - Esteban el plano. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming parent workshops and meetings.

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Wednesday, October 16th at 6PM

We will meet in the school courtyard for a brief introduction and then move into the classrooms for teacher lead workshops on homework and AR.

If you missed last month's parent meeting, please note that Las Maestras requested input from the parents about the topics for future DLP workshops.

Here's a link to a survey where you can share your input and ideas: SURVEY

We hope to see lots of parents at these workshops, as the teachers are working very hard to provide valuable tools for all of us to help our students.

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1st Dual Immersion Parent Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 26th, 2013 at 5:00PM in the cafeteria. Free childcare provided.

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PAST NOTES:
Next Scheduled Meeting 10/18/12
Also, SAVE THE DATE 11/17 for 2nd annual DLP Conference
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Summary from the first 2012-2013 DLP k-2nd grade & Spanish Immersion Preschool Parent Meeting 8/30/12

Mrs. Rains started meeting off by welcoming families (new and returning) and introduced the DLP teachers. Mr Toledo could not attend.
She discussed the Silver Spoon awards and talked about the kids having ten minutes of quiet time at lunch to encourage kids to actually spend lunch time eating.

Announced that Grandparents Days are coming in September
September 21st for the Kindergarten classes
September 13th for the 1st grade classes

Mary Pritchard was next speaker who discussed:
-reminder of the Dual Immersion vision
-model at Lincoln is a 90/10 model
-formal English instruction begins in 3rd grade
-trimester bench mark assessments and testing
-3 schools in district have DLPs and Lincoln has 129 students in theirs, which is small, but large considering we only go K-2nd grade.
-preschool has 56 kids
-Lincoln is doing a great job growing
-Info meetings will take place as outreach with one tentatively planned for November.
-Because middle school opportunities are lacking at the moment for kids exiting 6th from DLPs, a task force will be forming to help advocate for our kids to have this opportunity waiting for them in junior high.
-preschool has music twice a week in Spanish

Parents Maria Giannini and Yvonne Santos were Introduced who represent the Dual Language Program Advocates who discussed:
-Advice from Yvonne includes continue to use your home language and be supportive in homework even in Kinder and 1st grade because it is important
-Ginger Pierce, another parent was also asked to speak about her personal experiences with her daughter who entered DLP at Lincoln last year as a 1st grader and some of the challenged they faced, but overcame with perseverance and patience.
-Maria discussed the DLPA, a 501(3)c created to support DLP in the district and the Get Smart Campaign which aims to get Lincoln up to speed with technology support in the DLP classrooms. She reported $4,000 has been raised in two weeks with $2500 coming from Margaret D'Arrigo and another $5000 expected to come in soon. She asked that families consider making a $240 lump sum donation or monthly donations to help support this ambitious goal of supplying each of the five classrooms with a smart board.
-Families were asked to also consider volunteering their time coding Spanish books for the library and encouraged to get in touch with Cecilia Marsh about doing so to increase the number of Spanish books available to the DLP students
___________________________________________ Summary of the DLP Parent Meeting 5/12

We had a good turn out to our final meeting of the school year. Refreshments were provided by several parents (many thanks!). Mary Pritchard, Director of Bilingual and Migrant Student Programs, spoke about the 2012-2013 class size and possible class configurations. The district and our school are continuing to accept registration for the incoming kindergarten classes. The Spanish Immersion preschool program will more than likely be five day a week offerings in morning and afternoon. Las Maestras touched upon summer learning and maintenance and the importance of reading, reading and reading! In addition, we learned about a Migrant and Dual Language Summer Program, Explore Your World, that is being offered through Smart Start at Monterey Park Elementary School for four weeks this summer. We finished the meeting with a presentation from DLPA about the "Get Smart" campaign. The DLPA is the non-profit organization that hosts this blog and advocates for dual language immersion programs in our district. The "Get Smart" campaign's goal is to raise enough funding to provide SmartBoard technology in all the dlp classrooms, starting this coming school year. More information on the details will be posted here in the near future.

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Summary of DLP Parent Conference 2/25/12

Approximately ninety parents were in attendance on Saturday morning, February 25th, at Boronda Meadows Elementary School. Boronda Meadows is home to one of the three dual language programs in the Salinas City Elementary School District. It was an ideal setting for such a large one-day conference. The day started off with two powerful guest speakers: 1) Tom Carvey, former Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO and 2) Rosa Molina, a leading advocate and expert in two-way (dual) immersion educational programs in the United States.

Break out sessions were held for Spanish speakers and for English speakers, as well as, parents whom were just learning about dual immersion. For the English speakers and current dual immersion parents, there was an in-depth discuss on how we should plan the next stage of education for our, soon to be, bilingual children. As we know, the public and private middle & high schools in our area do not currently offer advance Spanish language courses or content areas offerings in Spanish- which is exactly what our children will need to further their fluency.

The new parents attending an informational session, led by Mary Pritchard and Virginia Nunez. As the Director of Bilingual and Migrant Education Programs for SCESD, Mary was able to provide the parents with a clear picture of what dual immersion programs are all about in our district. And Virginia, Coordinator of Student Assessments, was able to describe the outcomes one should expect from a dlp student. In addition, being that both Virginia and Mary are parents, themselves, of dlp students, they were able to discuss their personal experiences with the program.

The morning finished off with a brief wrap-up and thank you. Parents were invited to shop in an exclusive book store which featured beautiful Spanish books from all over the World. Overall, the event was a big success and we are looking forward to our 2nd Annual Conference this coming year!
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Here’s a summary of the 11/3 DLP Parent Meeting:

Approximately thirty parents, Principal Rains and the three maestras were in attendance. It was a good turnout considering we had just come off of Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos. Many thanks to Maestra Gonzales for providing the translation.

1) Healthy snacks - there have been concerns on what types of snacks are being brought to school for our children. Las maestras discussed several options that they consider healthy choices. Click here to download a printable list with more information. The also stressed NOT to bring drinks and to try and individually package snacks for easy distribution.

2) Assessments - as you may know, this week our children our being assessed; however, las maestras have been assessing them throughout the last months and have reported significant progress on the whole. Additionally, las maestras encouraged us to prepare our children by reviewing the ‘high frequency words’ and making sure that they come well rested and fed to school. All three maestras reported that only a few students (1-4, depending on the class) were not yet at proficient levels; meaning, the rest (an overwhelming majority) are proficient or higher in language. Woo hoo!

3) Field trips- las maestras discussed a future cultural field trip where our children could use their Spanish skills and asked for suggestions/ideas. Laura Palmer, parent of Ivancito in Maestra Boni’s class, offered the idea of visiting an organic farm run by ALBA (ALBA - Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association) that she’s been to while teaching at Castroville’s dlp. She also suggested visiting a tortilleria (tortilla making shop). Las maestras are open to suggestions, so please feel free to share any ideas you may have for a field trip.

There is no meeting scheduled for December and the January meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 12th. In addition, our February meeting is scheduled for Saturday the 25th and will be a special one day conference. Please mark your calendars.
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As promised, here is a summary of the 2nd DLP Parent Meeting on 10/6.

Principal Connie Rains, Maestra Gonzales, Maestra Boni, Maestra Ruiz, and approximately 50 DLP parents were in attendance. Many thanks to Maestra Ruiz for providing translation via headset.

Here's a summary of what was discussed:

1) Field Trips & School Activities:

Young life Pumpkin Patch field trip during school hours (Kinder 10/13, 1st 10/14)- $5 p/student due by 10/12
Halloween- 10/31, school wide parade and classroom rotations with activities (during school hours)
Dia de Los Muertos- 11/2- DLP classroom rotations with activities during school hours(including Spanish Preschool), After school event 2:45-4:00pm open to entire school
Fire Fighters Visit- November date tba (during school hours)
Family Feast- November date tbd (during school hours)
Polar Express event- December date tbd (during school hours)
Aquarium- 3/8 Kinder field trip (during school hours)
Ariel Theater/The Hobbit- 3/14 school wide field trip (during school hours)
Wild Things- Spring date tbd, 1st grade field trip (during school hours)
The Farm- Spring date tbd, Kinder grade field trip (during school hours)

2) Estrellitas: Maestra Boni and Maestra Gonzales demonstrated the hand motions that accompany los sonidos iniciales. You can find the audio portion here (click here). You can also find a chart here of the sequence. The Estrellita program is structured so that students apply the same pattern that was established in learning the beginning sounds (sonidos iniciales) to learning the blending process. The Blending Component includes lessons and activities to teach students to blend letters into syllables. Parents are encouraged to work on the syllables at home with their child(ren). Students learn how to manipulate syllables to progressively make up words, sentences, and then short stories. Children soon gain fluency with the use of mini-books and home study materials. Students’ progress continues to be monitored using daily assessments and/or observations. If interested, you may speak with your child's teacher for more details.

3) Dia De Los Muertos: We discussed the various activities (arts and crafts) planned for the Dia de Los Muertos event. Parents are encouraged to help create decorations on Monday, October 17 from 6-8pm in the cafeteria. Student activities are planned for the three dlp classrooms and the Spanish Immersion preschool class on Wednesday, November 2nd. Students will tour all four classrooms and participate in a different arts and crafts project in each room. Cupcake decorating, colorful skull masks, paper flower making and paper skeletons are some of crafts planned for the students. Tours of the classrooms and more crafts will be offered immediately after first grade dismissal (2:40-4:00) and open to anyone interested in learning more about Dia de Los Muertos and it's relevance to the Latin culture. Dia de Los Muertos pan will be provided along with Champurrado (a Mexican hot chocolate drink).

4) Other items discussed:

All future meetings will be held on the 1st Thursday of every month at 6PM. There will be no meeting in December and the January meeting will be held on a Saturday (TBA).
Parents requested a "wish list" of supplies needed from each teacher and the DLPA will coordinate with the teachers to develop and distribute the list.

If we have missed any details, please let us know and we will update and repost.

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As promised, here is a summary of the 1st DLP Parent Meeting on 8/24.

Last Wednesday night, August 24th, was the first dual language program parent meeting for the 2011-2012 school year.

Principal Connie Rains and all three dlp maestras were present at the meeting, along with a large representation of parents. Maestra Gonzales provided translation via headset (many thanks to Maestra Gonzales!).

As promised, here is a brief summary of what was discussed:

Homework (Tarea):

Translation will be provided on all future homework

Maestra Boni’s homework is given on Mondays and due back the following Monday

Maestras Gonzales & Ruiz assign homework on Mondays and is due back on Fridays

Show and tell items (letter of the week) should be brought to school on Fridays

Reading log books can be in either language

Families should read in whichever language is dominant (for now)

Anxiety (Ansiedad):

It is completely normal for the children to feel anxiety entering a dlp. Parents should encourage their child(ren) and reassure them that they will understand more as time goes on. Parents should tell their child(ren) how special they are that they get to learn two languages and talk about all the benefits (see blog on transitioning in to Spanish for more helpful hints)

For a lot of the children, having a longer day or simply going to school every day for the first time creates anxiety and/or tiredness. Parents should recognize that as a normal transition into kindergarten and the first grade

Give your child(ren) time to adjust and parents should see a noticeable difference in the near future

English Schedule (Horio de Ingles):

English is being taught daily. Maestra Ruiz is the English Model for Maestra Gonzales' and Maestra Boni’s classes. Maestra Gonzales is the English model for Maestra Ruiz’s class.

Science and Social Studies (history) will be the core subjects taught in English: however, the Maestras will try and incorporate some of those same topics in the Spanish portion, as well.

Afterwords, there was a question and answer period. These are some of the important facts that came out of the Q&A:

Monthly DLP parent meetings will TENTATIVELY be held on the third Thursday of every month. We will post more information on this as soon as it becomes available.
It was clarified that the curriculum is the same as the “English Only” track and is the state adopted curriculum. Parents can find the curriculum outlined on the district website
Parents requested a recommended reading list. Scholastic book orders for Spanish books will be available in the near future. The Salinas libraries have a lot of Spanish books for children. Many of the popular English titles are available in Spanish. We have listed some helpful links below for reading resources and other interesting Spanish learners resources.
DLP students will be visiting the school library once a month and Spanish books will be available. Students may also check books out from their individual classrooms.
It was re-emphasized that English Only parents should schedule a time to speak with their child(ren)’s Maestra if they have questions and/or concerns. It is important that the students only hear their Maestra speaking in Spanish. Parents are welcome to email the teachers or send them a note to schedule a time to speak.
Parents requested dates for field trips (we will post the information here as soon as it is available). The Farm and Monterey Aquarium were two trips that were discussed; however, dates are still being discussed. DLP students will be integrated the English Only classrooms for the field trips (according to their grade level).

There was a lot of great questions posed by parents, so please comment if there are things we missed or if you have additions.

Many thanks to Principal Connie Rains for scheduling this first meeting and to the Maestras for doing such a great job leading the discussion.

WEB RESOURCE LINKS: