A program by the stellar folks at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition in Minneapolis. Definitely a must-attend for newer programs.

Immersion 101 for Chinese and Japanese

An Introduction to Immersion Teaching

June 24–28, 2013 (Teacher Session) June 24–25, 2013 (Admin Session)

New Chinese or Japanese immersion teachers and administrators will receive a research-based introduction to the challenges, options, and issues in the unique world of immersion education (K-12). Targeted institute participants include one-way (foreign language) and two-way immersion educators who teach subject matter through Chinese or Japanese for 50-100% of the school day and promote continued development of English (amount of instructional time in English varies by grade level).

On the first two days, the focus will be on issues of interest to new immersion teachers and administrators. Administrators and district personnel will have an opportunity to engage with key issues in immersion program design and implementation for character-based languages and discuss strategies for meeting those challenges with an experienced immersion administrator. During the following three days, novice teacher participants will be introduced to effective practices that inform language and literacy-attentive curriculum development and instruction with non-cognate, character-based languages whose writing system differs from English.

During this institute, you will: Become familiar with the educational philosophy, research, and practices of immersion education as well as the distinguishing characteristics and goals of various program models; Connect with colleagues and strengthen your professional network; Discuss the unique role immersion education plays in public education and explore administrative strategies for dealing with immersion issues at the school and district level; Examine effective classroom management and instructional strategies for immersion teachers who are new to teaching and learning in the United States; and Collaboratively develop content-based curriculum that systematically attends to language and literacy development.

Program Schedule (9 a.m.—4 p.m.) Day 1    All participants Immersion Philosophy, Practices, and Goals Types of Immersion Programs Immersion Benefits and Challenges Day 2    All participants Principal Perspectives Two Programs, One School Cross-Cultural Challenges Day 3    Teacher Participants Only Content-Based Curriculum Design Integration of Language, Culture, and Content Research-Supported Learning Activities Day 4    Teacher Participants Only Instructional Scaffolds Constructing Language Objectives Character-Based Literacy Instruction Day 5    Teacher Participants Only Mentor Teacher Panel Classroom Community Building Internet Resources for Immersion

Presenters

Tara Fortune, Ph.D., is the immersion projects coordinator at CARLA and will serve as the lead instructor and institute facilitator. She devotes most of her professional time to the preparation and continuing education of immersion educators throughout the United States and abroad. She oversees research initiatives in immersion which have recently included a focus on struggling immersion learners and immersion language assessment.

Guest Presenters will include several veteran immersion teachers and administrators who will share their specific expertise at the institute.

Designed for pre-service and novice K-12 immersion educators, administrators, district personnel or policy makers, and specialist teachers in immersion schools. It is not meant for experienced immersion teachers.

More here.

I won’t be attending this conference but would love to run reports from any parents, teachers or principals who are. If you’d like to be a correspondent, email me.

Beth

On the Main Stage April 7–9, 2013 | Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel Just confirmed for NCLC 2013: Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong (黄西)! Joe has dazzled audiences with his hilarious performances on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was recently the subject of a New York Times profile. He’s even roasted Vice President Joe Biden at the National Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner. A trained scientist with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, Joe’s unique—and intelligent—brand of bilingual, bicultural humor is a perfect fit for our conference themes and audience. This year’s NCLC will be bigger than ever with more than 70 breakout sessions and workshops that focus on model approaches to teaching that incorporate culture, technology, and international exchange, program quality and sustainability, and best practices in the classroom leading to high levels of language proficiency and deeper knowledge of China. We will also feature performances by the Voices of Renaissance Choir, the Medfield Jazz Band featuring acclaimed erhu player Yang Ying, and winners of the International Chinese Bridge Competition.    From left: Lucy Lee, Robert Murowchick, Deborah Delisle, Marcos Aguilar Chinese language and culture experts take the main stage to discuss China Across Subject Areas: The Career Connection Equity and Access in Chinese Language Education The Future of Education in China and the United States Plus Two-hour workshops on teaching, assessment, technology, and research Visits to Boston-area model Chinese language programs We hope to see you in Boston.    Visit Boston-area schools and see a model program in action. Learn more on the conference website:www.AsiaSociety.org/NCLC Book your room at the Boston Marriott Copely Place today. See yourself at NCLC: watch a short video for scenes from past conferences

I post these not to frustrate those who *don’t* live in Orange County, but rather so you can see the sorts of places that tend to put together these kinds of summer camps. For those in areas where Mandarin immersion is fairly new and summer activity camps haven’t gotten started yet, this could give you a sense of the types of businesses that might run these programs. Often if you reach out to them and explain that there’s a cohort of kids coming whose parents really want real immersion activities in the summer, they’re happy to create them. Knowing that their local school will soon be producing 20 or 40 kids a year whose families want Mandarin in the summer is a big draw.

It can be very simple. For example there’s a jewelry designer in  San Francisco who happens to speak Mandarin. She created a summer program where kids get together to make jewelry and it’s all done in Mandarin.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A Little Dynasty Chinese School

•Ages: 4-teens

A Little Dynasty chinese School in Irvine offers classes for kids of all ages.

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•9844 Research Drive, Irvine

•949-509-0288

•alittledynasty.com

A Little Dynasty’s summer camp is a Chinese language-immersion camp that gives campers a study-abroad experience without leaving the country.

Fondazione Italia-Italian Summer Camp

•Ages: 4-13

•Heritage Christian School, 22882 Loumont Drive, Lake Forest

•310-739-9350

•fondazione-italia.org

Students will practice Italian language and arts, outdoor games, crafts, music, dance and cooking. Three camps by age: 4-6, 7-10 and 10-13.

 

Please read more here.

More information here

Proposition 227 all but eliminated bilingual education in California schools in 1998. The law mandated that English be used as the primary language to teach non-English-speaking kids in schools. In recent years, a different form of secondary language acquisition has been gaining traction in Los Angeles public school system. They are called “dual language immersion” programs: classes are taught almost entirely in Spanish, Mandarin or another language, and they are designed to benefit both children who are learning English as a second language as well as those who are native English speakers.

KPCC’s Early Childhood Development Correspondent Deepa Fernandes has a piece today looking at one such program at Foster Elementary School in Baldwin Park. School officials there, mirroring what many researchers have found, say that kids in their dual language programs outperform those who are taught in just English-only classes.

If dual language immersion programs are so successful, why aren’t more California schools adopting them? What are some of the challenges and drawbacks? What are the benefits?

Guests:
Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, Director of the  English Learner Support Division at the California Department of Education

Roger Lowenstein, founder and executive director of Los Angeles Leadership Academy, a public charter school in Lincoln Heights that practices dual language immersion

Karen Nemeth, co-founder of Language Castle. She is a dual language immersion consultant who works with school districts across the the country

Please read and listen here.