Discovery Charter

   Dual Immersion Program /Programa de Inmersión de Dos Idiomas

Program Model

Discovery Charter School's Dual Immersion Program follows the 50:50 Two Way Dual Immersion model. In this model, students spend 50% of their instructional time in English and 50% of their instructional time in Spanish. An equal number of Spanish-speaking and English-speaking students are taught half day in each language.  This proportion of time will remain constant throughout the elementary grades. The instruction provided is not a translation of the lessons but rather a teaching of the concepts and skills needed to meet the Common Core State Standards in Language Arts, Math, Next Generation Science Standards and History/Social Science.

For more information on Dual Language Immersion Programs, please access the CVESD Dual Immersion Language Program Page: (click here)

Discovery Charter School Dual Language Immersion Program Brochure (English)

Discovery Charter School Programa de inmersión en dos idiomas  (Spanish)

Kindergarten—6th Grade

50% Spanish—50% English

Spanish Instruction (1/2 day):

• Spanish Language Arts (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) through an integrated STEAM curriculum
• History/Social Science
• Next Generation Science Standards through project base lessons and activities

English Instruction (1/2 day):

• English Language Arts (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) through an integrated STEAM curriculum
• Mathematics

Program Overview

Underlying Beliefs:

1. Bilingualism, biliteracy, multiculturalism and the ability to work with people from other cultures are valuable assets, especially in the 21st century.
2. The best way to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, multiculturalism, and to learn how to work with people from other cultures is through the Dual Immersion Program model.
3. You can become bilingual, biliterate, and multicultural without sacrificing academic achievement.

Background:

Dual Immersion programs have been found to be very successful for both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students who remain in the program for an extended period of time (5 or more years). Research indicates that both native English-speaking and non-native English-speaking students perform as well or better than their peers on academic tests and have the opportunity to become truly bilingual, biliterate and multicultural.

All dual immersion programs have three broad outcomes that are equally important:

• Academic achievement
• True bilingualism/biliteracy
• Cross-cultural competencies

Goal:

Discovery Charter School is a 21st century STEAM school that provides an English/Spanish Dual Immersion program to promote bilingualism, biliteracy, multiculturalism, academic achievement, cultural competencies, and 21st century skills for career and college readiness. Outcomes for our Dual Immersion Program are based on long term goals.

Guiding Principles for the Program:

Discovery STEAM Charter School follows the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education.  The document can be found here [click here to view and download].

Important Characteristics

Language Separation:

In the classroom, students are either learning in English or learning in Spanish, they are not learning in both languages at the same time. Teachers will maintain integrity and purity of both languages. Instruction will be given in either Spanish or English but not mixed. However, opportunities exist for students and teachers to use both languages concurrently for clear academic, linguistic, or social purposes.

Student Integration:

English and Spanish speaking students are integrated throughout the entire day serving as language models for each other.

Immersion:

Students are immersed in both languages every day. They do not just "study" a second language through conjugating verbs or memorizing vocabulary. They are learning math and science or social studies through the second language. Instruction is carefully prepared so that students are able to understand the content being taught and at the same time develop their language.

Same Content:

Students in the Dual Immersion Program learn the same content as students in other classrooms and participate in the same school activities. Our program is designed for students to achieve high levels of language proficiency in both languages and to meet or exceed academic standards. Our Dual Immersion Program offers students a joyful, yet rigorous learning environment, therefore helping students achieve success in learning both language and grade level content knowledge.

Testing:

All assessments administered are used to monitor student progress and proficiency. Parents will be provided information on student progress from both teachers. At the end of the year local and state testing will be given to each student in both English and Spanish.

English Version (click here)

Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education PowerPoint July 31, 2020

(click here)

Virtual Multicultural Night 2021

https://youtu.be/rsqWCWmkZKo

Dual Immersion Board Presentation March 14, 2019 (click here)