Who is the gifted emergent bilingual student? What are the characteristics of gifted emergent bilingual children? How can teachers play a role in their identification? How can educators increase the rigor of instruction to address both the language and learning needs of not only the gifted learners, but all emergent bilingual learners? This session will provide answers to these questions and more.
A special emphasis will be placed on classroom instruction that encourages emergent bilinguals to exhibit in-depth, complex thinking while also increasing their achievement and proficiency in English. Participants will explore ways combine the thinking model of Depth and Complexity with Sheltered Instruction in classroom instruction. Examples of activities that structure classroom interaction for emergent bilingual learners to use academic vocabulary will be provided. These activities provide students opportunities to engage in all four language domains.