One of the things I have been doing for a couple of years to welcome my students and make them feel confident they will succeed in my class is using meaningful cognates on my bulletin board. That is the first area they see before stepping into my classroom and it is my billboard to amplify my motto for the year. 

The first bulletin board I set up was about STEM cognates in a year we wanted to focus our division efforts towards that area. Here is the resource I created:

I remember I invited my students to work in groups to figure out how many words they already knew. They were thrilled about how much they already knew.

Last year, I wanted my bulletin board to show my appreciation for how diverse our school community was and the values we stand for. Rather than focusing only on the meaning of the words, I invited my students and their homeroom teachers to select the five most important words from the display and type them in their order of importance on a Paddlet. Then, we analyzed what words were ranked higher and discussed words that should be added but were not cognates. “Familia”, “Justicia”, and “Identidad” were among the most common ones listed . Here is the resource:

This year, I want to focus on affirmations and have my students see, say and remember this motto full of purposefully chosen inclusive cognates. I will also make it part of my webpage. I love using  meaningful phrases, chants or poems as attention getters that can also be great brain breaks. Saying these affirmations chorally is one of the ways I strengthen our class community as my students are exposed to meaningful comprehensible input and repetition.  

In the past, when I said “Somos”, my students responded “un equipo” and immediately looked at me and waited for directions. Last year, when I said “Somos”, they responded “una comunidad”.  This year, we will say our community affirmations. 

I hope you have a terrific school year!!!