On one side of her classroom, Washington Elementary School teacher Jennifer Jones reads an exercise from “My Animal Colors Book” to a dozen first-graders.
Across the room, teacher Patti Ryan asks her nine pupils, “Todos listos?” – “Is everyone ready?” – as they start a game of hangman in Spanish. The letters reveal the word “hermano,” which is Spanish for brother.
The class uses a dual-immersion setup, in which pupils receive instruction in both English and Spanish through the Evanston/Skokie District 65’s Two-Way Immersion program.
The program, which began its second year at Washington and Orrington Elementary School in the fall, so far has been praised as an alternative to traditional bilingual education.
“I’d characterize it as a symbiotic relationship (between the pupils),” said Judith Yturriago, principal of Washington, 914 Ashland Ave.
The children in Jones’ class began the program last year as one of two TWI kindergarten classes, with the other at Orrington, 2636 Orrington Ave. A new set of kindergartners joined the program this year while the original groups moved on to first grade. They will continue in the program through fifth grade.
An average day finds Ryan, whose first language is Spanish, teaching native English-speaking pupils in Spanish while Jones gives the native Spanish-speakers an English lesson. The teachers then switch groups and teach students a writing lesson in their native language.
“If you think kids have an infinite capacity, they can learn anything,” Jones said. “It’s neat to see them start to envision themselves as bilingual.”
Jones, who is fluent in both languages, serves as the primary teacher for Washington’s first-grade TWI classroom. Ryan teaches part-time.
Jones said it has been interesting to watch the dynamics between the native English and Spanish groups as they learn from each other, breaking cultural barriers by forming friendships.
Orrington Principal Nina Williams said she has noticed the sense of closeness when she visits her school’s two TWI classrooms, with both sets of children conversing in Spanish.
“The kids are sitting there, telling stories and laughing and understanding the punch line,” Williams said. “I’m just sitting there thinking, ‘Now, what did they say?'”
Jennifer Moran, whose son Lewis Herman is in the TWI kindergarten class at Washington, said her son has made friends with several Spanish-speakers in his class.
Moran recalled a day when her son came home and talked about a new friend named Salvador. She asked him if Salvador spoke Spanish.
“He said to me, ‘No, mom – he’s bilingual, like me,'” Moran said.
Lewis has picked up a lot of the Spanish he hears in class, even developing a good Latino accent, Moran said.
“He doesn’t know how to read, but he knows how things sound,” Moran said. “And he loves to count.”
Yturriago said Spanish-speaking parents have told her that they “see that their children learn their English faster than their older children,” who did not go through the TWI program.
Yturriago pointed to the spring assessment in English proficiency that showed native-Spanish-speakers in the TWI program significantly outscored their peers in the traditional transitional bilingual program. Test results also show the TWI pupils outperforming traditional pupils in Spanish-language reading, even though they started the year on equal footing.
“I think (TWI) is the better program for Spanish-speaking students,” Yturriago said. “We’ve already seen that.”
Northwestern Education Asst. Prof. Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, who has consulted on the TWI program for D65, said it is important to recognize how program benefits Spanish-speakers.
“This should not be seen as just an enrichment program,” Orellana said. “The principal clientele are the Spanish-speaking students. The small number of kids who do not get into the program because of lack of space – those kids are getting a bum deal.”
The demand for expansion at both Orrington and Washington of the program has grown steadily.
At Washington, parents of both language groups showed enough interest that the school could have filled another kindergarten class this year. Williams said other parents have visited Orrington to observe TWI classrooms, even though their children are not yet old enough to attend.
Orellana said native Spanish-speaking pupils benefit much more from the TWI program than from the transitional program, in which children are pulled out of regular classes for English instruction. As a result their schedules lack continuity throughout the school day and language development is stunted, Orellana said.
One of the strengths of TWI is that it values Spanish-speakers’ native language more than the traditional program, which tends to teach English in place of Spanish, Jones said.
“We’re telling these kids, ‘You’ve got this asset – let’s develop it, let’s emphasize it, let’s make you an expert in the classroom,'” Jones said. “Through language and culture, we’re validating their identity.”
