Author: James

For TWIN-CS members in Spanish-English dual language schools, Santillana’s Plaza, a Spanish classroom blog, is a rich source of information. Complete with Spanish book recommendations, lesson plans, language lesson videos, and a Grammar Corner which houses a collection of videos and articles dedicated to learning proper Spanish grammar, the Plaza encompasses a plethora of interactive … Continue reading Great Resources for TWIN-CS Teachers from Santillana

This past Monday, September 24th, was the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is celebrated during the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar and is most notably celebrated by Chinese or Vietnamese peoples. The Moon Festival has a rich history spanning all the way back to … Continue reading TWIN-CS Schools Celebrate the Moon Festival

Latino children are the future and promise of Catholic schools, but as the Editors of America Magazine point out, they are not being served by our schools nearly enough. Citing research from Boston College’s Dr. Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill and Dr. Hosffman Ospino, the article states that “[there is an] estimated 14.5 million Catholic primary and secondary … Continue reading Serving the Latino Community: Outreach from our Catholic Schools

Today’s fun Friday video comes to us from TEDEd,  World Educational Services‘ Mia Nacamulli and global educator Pen Pen Chen. This five-minute video provides key vocabulary, concrete examples, and yet another way to explain the lifelong benefits of multilingualism. I encourage our Network schools to share this video in faculty meetings, at parent nights, and … Continue reading Friday fun: The benefits of a bilingual brain – Mia Nacamulli

Here in New England, fall is in the air. The leaves are starting to change, small towns are holding community bonfires, and apple cider donuts are being shared by friends. It is a beautiful time of year, the start of many secular and religious holiday celebrations.  Our friends at Colorín Colorado have prepared a wonderful list … Continue reading Three Beautiful Books for Fall: Learning about Autumn from many Cultures and Languages

Colorín Colorado has refurbished its resource page for English Language Learner (ELL) educators for the upcoming academic year! The resource page features articles, blog posts, guides, toolkits, book recommendations, recent research, and related videos which promote collaboration between ELL colleagues and administrators, and discuss the best tactics to inspire partnership. One such example of encouraging … Continue reading Resources and Advocacy: Supporting ELL/DUal Language Teachers

An article recently published by the Language Magazine and authored by Dr. Simona Montanari details the profound effect one school district has had on the state of California. Benjamin Franklin Magnet School, a school located in the Glendale Unified School District in Southern California, is a dual language school environment which teaches all subjects in … Continue reading Heritage language learners: rediscovering heritage