Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/fruit-or--vegetable--dual-language-strategies--to-expand-learning-during--spontaneous-interactions/5027250/
Teachers often seek guidance on how to address children’s comments that deviate from the main topic of the planned lesson. This type of behavior should not be discouraged, as it can enrich the classroom experience. Capturing the attention and engagement of children is critical for effective learning, and it can be particularly helpful when working with multilingual learners. Spontaneous interactions give teachers an opportunity to enrich the vocabulary of multilingual learners, in both their home language and English. Children’s spontaneous remarks, often reflecting their genuine curiosity and personal passions, can serve as catalysts to ignite their interest further and make the lesson more engaging and meaningful.
As a teacher, you may wonder, “How can I incorporate children’s interests that come up in conversation, while working with the curriculum my program uses? How can I support multilingual children during these spontaneous moments?” This can be a challenge, especially when teachers are following a set curricular plan, have children who speak different languages, and want to incorporate children’s home language along the way. If you are one of these teachers, you may ask, “Can I do all of this simultaneously?” The answer is yes!
Some programs implement scripted curricula to ...