Tice Elementary Observation

Upon my observation at Tice Elementary I noticed that the physical and social environment that was given in the classroom was one that prevented cultural deficit and cultural mismatch. The school had some grade levels that were English-only approach, while other grade levels used the dual language program. This means that the students learned content in English and Spanish. With the dual language program the school is able to meet the needs of the student’s native language and culture. They learn school content in both languages as well as have outside assignments in both. For instance, the students are to read books in both English and Spanish for homework. This enforces the idea of balanced bilingualism. One language is not pressed more than the other. The teacher’s interaction with the students was very interesting to
During this time she was teaching about the trigraph -edg and how it sounds. She also used examples of different words in which the trigraph was used. Then she provided physical scaffolding by giving each student a word. She then allotted time for the students to read the words to themselves then sent them off to find a buddy and recite it. She called this activity High Five because after the students recite the words they high five and move to somebody else. She also used verbal scaffolding when reading a short story that involved words with the trigraph -edg. She would then ask the students questions regarding the reading. If students did not answer the question appropriately she would correct this error by rephrasing the question to allow students to properly understand what she was asking. These readings also contained the academic vocabulary that the students had already learned or were in the progress of learning. With these vocabulary words the students are able to make a comprehensible input, and make sense of the words used and allows them to see how to use