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Acknowledgements
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities provided by the STEMSS Cruise grant program and the TL3C grant program for offering resources, continuing professional education, and a community for STEMSS teachers working with dual language or second language learners.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Christina Marie Verdugo
I have had the privilege of teaching in dual language education for most of my 20 years in the classroom. As a student, I was fortunate to spend a year as a foreign exchange student and experienced firsthand what language immersion feels like. Now as a teacher, I am passionate about fostering bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism in our community.
As a teacher of second-language learners, my focus has been developing new language skills and making the content comprehensible for emergent bilingual students in all content areas. Our classroom is full of graphic organizers, illustrated vocabulary charts, and hands-on STEM projects. Teaching science and social studies in the target language is my favorite because there are so many ways to capitalize on students’ creativity and curiosity, while keeping engagement high. It is important for students to have a safe place to experiment with language as they learn about their community and the world around us.
I have been teaching all elementary grade levels in Arizona since 2001 and am currently teaching first grade in a dual language immersion classroom in Mesa. I received my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Spanish from Northern Arizona University in 2001 and hold a Master’s Degree in T.E.S.O.L. (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) from Grand Canyon University.