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Becoming Bilingual
Acclaimed actress Rita Moreno hosts Becoming Bilingual, a 30-minute PBS program that examines the challenges of teaching children to read in a new language. The show visits six cities across the country to learn about the different ways schools are working to create bilingual readers. Becoming Bilingual is the seventh episode of the award-winning series Launching Young Readers.
About the program
For a teacher who speaks only English, having students who speak another language can be a daunting prospect. How do teachers teach English language learners (ELLs) to read in a new language? Becoming Bilingual visits schools and programs in El Paso, Texas; Arlington, Virginia; Long Beach, California; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, D.C.; and Woodburn, Oregon, to highlight the different ways schools are working to create bilingual readers.
First Steps
Find out how Ms. Espinosa and her team at the Escontrias Early Childhood Center in El Paso, Texas, teach a significant number of their young learners to listen, speak, and write in English.
New Kid in Town
Watch as the Arlington Public Schools Intake Center in Arlington, Virginia helps place kids like eight-year-old Marlon, a new student from Honduras, in the right classroom.
Parents as Partners
Meet Kathy Mayer, the principal of Rachel Carson Elementary in Chicago, Illinois, who learned early on that one key to teaching young readers is getting parents involved.
Two Languages at a Time
Learn how Ms. Gonsalves gives equal time to both her native English and native Spanish speakers in her class at Webster Elementary in Long Beach, California.
Bilingual Poet Francisco Alarcon visits Oyster Bilingual School in Washington, D.C., where he helps a group of third-grade students tap into their dreams and write poetry.
Beyond Survival English
Travel 30 miles south of Portland, Oregon to Heritage Elementary, where part of the job is teaching kids one word at a time — first in their native Russian, and then in English.
A Welcoming Library
Join librarian Laura Kleinmann in the Oyster Bilingual School library, a place where English language learners can go to put everything they've learned about phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension together.
