RESOURCES

Invitations for further engagement with chapter ideas

  1.   In this chapter we explore the idea that a teacher in a translanguaging classroom takes on a different role than in the monolingual classroom.  How does this change in the teacher’s role empower students who may otherwise feel they have little or nothing of value to contribute?

  2. Allowing students to have frequent and meaningful partner or small group interactions can have both positive and negative impacts on EB learning.  From what you have read in Chapter 2, how would you use partner and small group instruction in your classroom?  What special considerations will you implement to avoid potential negative impacts?

  3. The chapter contrasts teaching and learning experiences in monolingual and translanguaging settings. Select a content standard for the grade you are teaching and focus on one of the EB students in your classroom. What would the student be able to do if they are only allowed to use English to demonstrate their learning? What would the student be able to do if they were supported in using the entirety of their linguistic resources to show what they know? 

  4. The teachers featured in the translanguaging classroom vignettes planned their instruction to productively include home language resources. Access to such resources supported their students' content and language learning and affirmed their bilingual identities. Review a unit you have taught before. Do you already have provisions for home language resources? Are there any (additional) spaces where adding home language resources (print, digital, video, podcasts, visitors, etc.) would support your students' learning?

  5. In this chapter, bilingual children's books are proposed as important mentor texts in exploring how experienced bilinguals may address the challenge of effectively representing bilingual practices for specific audiences and purposes.
    1. What such mentor texts do you currently have in your classroom library that could serve such purposes? 
    2. What are some titles you would like to add?
    3. What are some mini lessons you could add to your writing instruction to support your emergent bilinguals?

 resources for further Reading/viewing

  1. CUNY NYSIEB: Translanguaging Resources
    1. Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators
    2. El Translenguar: Una Guía de CUNY-NYSIEB Para Educadores – Versión Abreviada en Español
    3. A Translanguaging Pedagogy For Writing: A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators
  2. Seltzer, K., & de los Ríos, K. (2021). Understanding Translanguaging in US Literacy Classrooms. National Council of Teachers of English: Policy Research Brief.
  3. Seltzer, K., Johnson, S., & Garcia, O. (2025). The translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Brookes Publishing.
  4. Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2025). Beyond the Science of Reading: How Bilingual Teachers Mediate Foundational Reading Pedagogies. Language Arts, 102(6), 293–304. (Open Access)
This Edutopia video captures the example of a newcomer class where EBs have plentiful, consistent opportunities to use all their language resources.
An example of translanguaging instructional practice in a freestanding ESL classroom
This is the first of 5 episodes from  the video series Teaching Bilinguals (Even if you are not one) created by CUNY NYSIEB. The other 4 episodes are also available on YouTube.