A few questions come to mind as I wonder about middle school immersion:

1. What is the balance of English and Spanish that is used in the program? What should it be?

2. Are languages divided by teacher? by subject? by unit? I know that in one elementary school (one-way) all math instruction is done in Spanish and in the other elementary (two-way) even units are in English while odd units are in Spanish. So what should be done about the middle school into which both elementary schools feed?

3. Every student has English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts every day… don’t they? Is it RW and WW? even in 7th and 8th?

4. If they only have one writer’s workshop class what is the language of instruction? Should it alternate by genre and then switch when they are in 7th and then in 8th?

5. Does the history of the program matter? They have been operating solely in Spanish except for English Language Arts but now there will be students from a two-way program entering.

6. Are there materials available to meet the standards in all subjects in both languages? If not what is needed? Should decisions be made based on available materials or on best practice? What materials are currently being used in 6th grade for RW, WW, Social Studies, math and science to meet the standards?