Partner with families to learn about their language practices, stories, and literacy-related interactions at home, recognizing that children bring rich knowledge and skills from their first languages and cultural experiences. Dual language learners should have opportunities to demonstrate proficiency in the standard in both their first language and English, with supports such as first-language use, cross-language connections, gestures, visuals, and props. These opportunities allow young dual language learners to build on what they know and can do in their first language as they continue to develop communication, language, and literacy skills in all their languages.
Gather some small plastic animals from your manipulatives area and some clear plastic cups. Call out positional words and have the children place the animals in a variety of positions such as on top of the cup, inside or under the cup. Being able to see the animal, even when it's inside the cup, adds interest to this activity.
