Bilingual education called best of both worlds

Michelle Mitchell

"¿Qué es esto?" Martha Arriola asks her kindergarten class, holding a picture of a bed.

"Cama!" the students respond in unison. "Cah ... ahh ... mmm ... ahh," they sound out each letter.

Arriola picks one student to find the letters that make those sounds from a group of cards and place them in the right order to spell the word.

Later, she turns an invisible switch on her head. "Click, click click, English time," she said as the students mimic the gesture.

They repeat the same exercise in English -- this time with "bed."

The class at Coral Mountain Academy is one of about 12 bilingual classes in kindergarten through fourth grade at the Coachella school.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 20, 2011 1:52 AM
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