On April 13, 2019, children and families from Allen Jay and Hunter elementary schools participated in the Dual Language Literacy Day activities at UNC Greensboro. Allen Jay and Hunter are two schools in Guilford County Schools (GCS) that started the dual language programs in Spanish and Urdu last year. With over 40% of students in these two schools who are native Spanish or Urdu speakers, the dual language programs not only engaged the emergent bilinguals in the development of both English and their native languages, but also supported native-English speaking students who are interested in learning Spanish or Urdu as an additional language.
With the support from Project EnACTeD (Engaging and Advancing Community- Centered Teacher Development), funded by the National Professional Development grant, UNC Greensboro partnered with GCS to offer teacher professional development and support family engagement for dual language program participants. Teacher candidates from UNC Greensboro led dual language literacy activities and families also visited the local Barnes and Noble bookstore to shop for bilingual books. Children and families expressed their dreams and visions for dual language schools through artwork and multiple languages.
GCS district and school leaders, dual language educators from both schools, teacher candidates from UNC Greensboro, and the project EnACTeD team coordinated this visit and will continue the collaboration to support dual language learners and their families.
