11-28-2022 4:46am

COCKEYSVILLE AND PADONIA

LITERATURE BRINGS ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND SPANISH-SPEAKING STUDENTS TOGETHER

New quarterly partnership between Cockeysville Middle and Padonia International Elementary schools

LITERATURE CONNECTS STUDENTS

On Thursday, October 20, dozens of Cockeysville Middle School students walked one mile from their school to the PAL (Police Athletic League) Center at Padonia International Elementary School.

Their mission: To begin a quarterly literary partnership between the two schools.

Some of the 50 Cockeysville Middle School students are English-speaking participants in the school’s AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) college readiness program, and the others are bilingual, native Spanish-speaking students who participate in the school’s BRILLA (Bilingual Readiness for Intellectual Language Learning Advancement) program.

When the students arrived at their destination, the AVID participants were matched with 35 English-speaking Padonia students, and the BRILLA participants were matched with 35 Spanish-speaking Padonia students. All the Padonia students are in Grade 3.

Cockeysville Middle School students traveling to and arriving at the PAL Center at Padonia International

STUDENTS LEARN TO PLAN LESSONS

The Cockeysville scholars spent a few weeks planning for this trip.

“Prior to our trip, BRILLA students engaged in a lesson about COSTA’s Levels of Questioning in the Spanish language,” explains Spanish teacher Kristen Denton, who coordinates BRILLA with Spanish teacher Tiffany Higgins. ”Students brainstormed two or three questions for each level of questioning, keeping in mind the age of their audience. Students then voted on which questions they felt would fully engage Grade 3 students. Those questions became a part of the lesson offered to the elementary students along with an activity focusing on tema (theme). All this work happened in the Spanish language!”

AVID students selected children’s books with positive messages and designed activities aligned with their selected books. For example, one group read “Rainbow Fish,” and students had to create their own fish by sharing scales with other students.

BRILLA scholars read the Spanish book “Wonder: Todos Somos Unicos.”

“Ms. Higgins and I chose “Wonder: Todos Somos Unicos,” says Denton, “to promote Spanish literacy amongst young Spanish-speaking students as well as send a positive self-worth message to the Padonia students.”

The Spanish book “Wonder: Todos Somos Unicos” was selected, according to Denton “to promote Spanish literacy amongst young Spanish-speaking students as well as send a positive self-worth message to the Padonia students.”

Cockeysville Middle students working in small groups with Padonia International Elementary students

BRINGING JOY TO READING IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

“The student leaders shined,” says Megan Thomas, Cockeysville’s AVID coordinator, “and the third graders were so excited to have their attention and get to hear an older peer read to them. This was a special event because many of the scholars are alumni of Padonia, and for many of the Grade 3 students it was a chance for them to get a glimpse of Cockeysville Middle and what they can aspire to in the coming years. We were so excited to provide opportunities for students to partner up and bring joy to reading both in English and in Spanish!”

“The third graders were so excited to have [the Cockeysville Middle school students'] attention and get to hear an older peer read to them.” - Megan Thomas, Cockeysville's AVID coordinator

BRILLA, which means “shine” in Spanish, is a flexible curriculum designed to close opportunity gaps for Latinx students. According to program coordinators, the program promotes bilingualism and strengthens students’ academic English.

“Cockeysville Middle School Principal Adam Carney and Assistant Principals Justin Benjamin and Kara Williams identified the need to provide additional academic supports for the school’s growing Latinx population,” says Denton. “Ms. Higgins and I created and implemented a Spanish language course for students in the BRILLA program.”

Through use of data-driven assessments, tiered instruction was provided based on student ability. As a group, students in the program had a collective grade point average of 0.8 in English language arts at the beginning of 2021.

“By May 2022, BRILLA scholars truly did ‘shine’ as they successfully skyrocketed to a 2.9 GPA in English language arts,” Denton shares. “Our students are navigating their bilingual lives and identities to support their educational goals! In October, we presented BRILLA and the incredible successes our students are seeing at the Maryland Foreign Language Association’s fall conference.”

“In October, [Ms. Higgins and I] presented BRILLA and the incredible successes our students are seeing at the Maryland Foreign Language Association’s fall conference.” - Kristen Denton, Cockeysville Spanish teacher and BRILLA co-coordinator

(More photos from the October 20 event can be found in a BCPS Flickr album.)