School: Ray-Pec High School
Class: Spanish 5
Instructor: Heidi Lanksbury
Client: Creekmore Elementary
Problem: How can we create effective bilingual resources that support both teachers and English Language Learners in our school community?
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Summary
Spanish students collaborated with Creekmoor Elementary, to create practical bilingual resources supporting English Language Learner (ELL) students and their teachers. Instead of acting as informal translators, students focused on designing educational tools aligned with their language proficiency and meaningful for classroom use.
They developed a variety of materials, including posters, bilingual classroom object cards, vocabulary lists with pronunciation guides, a feelings chart for students, Spanish labels for all school rooms, and an art classroom Spanish poster. All products were printed, laminated, and designed with a cohesive visual theme to enhance usability and engagement. This project allowed Spanish students to apply their language skills in a purposeful community-centered way, providing valuable resources for Creekmoor Elementary’s diverse student population.
Takeaways
Students had to send a professional email and survey to the staff at Creekmoor Elementary. They needed to make sure that the materials they created were appropriate for an elementary student. All the materials they made had to look professional. They also needed to really think through the phrases. For example… “use your walking feet”—well”, in Spanish you cannot express that the same way. There was a lot of discussion for many of these phrases and discussions about how language doesn’t work the same with a word-for-word translation. I tell them this often… but they got to see it in practice with this project.
Advice
Finding a good and meaningful project… one your students can take ownership in is most impactful.
Standards/Learning Targets
I can accurately translate and adapt written English content into Spanish, considering audience, cultural context, and clarity, to create accessible and useful materials for Spanish-speaking ELL students.