Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education and

Classroom Strategies
Diane Dekker

Angelita Calsiw

Rose Dumatog Camacam

SIL International
12 Big Horseshoe
Quezon City
63 02 722 6186

Dep Ed Lubuagan
Lubuagan Central Schools
Pudpud, Lubuagan, Kalinga

Dep Ed Lubuagan
ALS Mobil Teacher
Lubuagan, Kalinga

Marlyn Lumasoc

Narcissa Sabian

Diane_Dekker@sil.org
Leah Gawon

Dep Ed Lubuagan
Lubuagan Central Schools
Pudpud, Lubuagan, Kalinga

Dep Ed Lubuagan
Mabilong Elementary School
Pudpud, Lubuagan, Kalinga

ABSTRACT
In this paper we discuss Mother Tongue Based Multilingual
Education and suggest specific classroom strategies for begin
learning through the childs first language. During the workshop
presentation of this paper there will be presentation on methods
followed by short demonstrations.

Dep Ed Lubuagan
Lubuagan Central Schools
Pudpud, Lubuagan, Kalinga

the mother tongue of the learner with transition to the second

(Filipino) and third languages (English).
MTBMLE is a curriculum and teaching methodology that:

Begins with the learners first language as a medium of

instruction and builds good bridges to other languages,
while maintaining the use of L1 for as long as possible.

Builds on what we know about how children learn best.

It begins with the known and moves to the unknown by
building on the childs prior knowledge, using his/her
world or real knowledge and moving to new
knowledge.

Education, Instruction, Learning, Teaching, Learning Outcomes,

Achievement, teaching strategies.

Allows the child to construct knowledge rather than the

teacher being the only way to knowledge and rather
than the teacher designing only one learning
experience.

Keywords

Uses cultural concepts to teach basic concepts or the

prescribed curriculum.

Uses the language the child knows best to teach

reading and writing skills.

Builds on the vocabulary that the child possesses and

then adds the L2 vocabulary equivalents for what the
child has learned.

Allows the child to continue building cognitive skills in

a language the child already is using for meta-cognitive
processes.

Emphasizes understanding, meaning and

communication as well as emphasizing skill
development (accuracy and correctness).

Categories and Subject Descriptors

[Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Eduation]: Beginning
education through the use of their first language allows the
cognitive skills developed at home to continue being developed
in school. Oral language development strengthens use of
language for thinking and enables stronger literacy skills when
reading and writing are introduced.

General Terms

Cognitive development, Language Development, First and

Second Language Acquistion and Development, Comprehension.

1.
1.1

Explaining MTBMLE
What is MTBMLE?

MLE is a structured program of language learning and cognitive

development providing a strong educational foundation in the
first language, with successful bridging to one or more additional
languages, and enabling the use of both/all languages for lifelong learning.
The purpose of a multilingual education program is to develop
appropriate cognitive and reasoning skills enabling children to
operate equally in their community language, the national
language and English. Effective multilingual education begins in

1.2

Why is MTBMLE important?

MLE is necessary because children whose mother tongue, local

culture and known environment are not used in schooling face

many problems. The language barrier that exists when learners

first language is not used in the classroom:

Results in low intake and high drop out rates

Makes learning content difficult and thus lowers

achievement levels,

Lacks relevance and interest to learners real world

experiences and situations.

Limits learners ability in developing their second and

third languages because the first language is not well
developed in the classroom.

Delays understanding by avoiding use of the language

they think in.

Many think that children who are immersed in a

second language from the beginning learn the second
language better. They do not.

Educational theory suggests that children learn best from a

familiar starting point. Learning should begin with what a child
knows and understands. Thus, children learn best when using a
language they speak and understand well. Learning to read and
write is easier in a familiar language and academic concepts are
best learned and understood through their first langauge. Using
the Mother Tongue first builds a strong foundation in both
language learning and concept learning and provides a good
bridge to the second and third languages.

1.3

Sequence of Learning

First, continued development of oral L1 so that the

language for thinking continues and is not silenced. If
the langauge of thinking is silenced, their thinking is
silenced as well.
Second, learners begin to develop literacy skills in their
L1 while continuing development of their oral L1

While continued development of oral and literate L1 is

on-going, development of oral L2 is begun.

While oral L1 and L2 are on-going and literacy in L1 is

continues, literacy in L2 is introduced.

While continued oral and literate growth of L1 and L2

are strengthened, oral L3 is introduced.

While oral L1, L2 and L3 continue to progress and

literacy skills in L1 and L2 continue to increase with
comprehension being in focus, literacy in L3 is added.

For the remainder of the school progress, all three

languages are focused on to develop strong thinking
skills, comprehension and academic skills in all three
languages.

2.
Learning languages and using
languages to learn
2.1
First Language Acquisition
In the home babies listen to language for around a year before
they begin to attempt responding in sensible syllables and words
(speaking). Babies are allowed to try, to make mistakes and to try
again without blame. This same safe environment should exist in

the classroom, allowing continued development of the first

language in order to continue developing cognitive skills.
Continuing the developing of the learners first language enables
them to use that language for thinking. When the mother tongue
is bypassed we postpone learning until adequate proficiency is
developed in the second language. Thus mastery of content is
postponed while second and third language acquisition is taking
place. First those foreign languages must be understood before
learning of content can take place.
People say that 95 % of all Filipinos speak Filipino, but that is
not true at the time young children begin their schooling. At age
5, 6 and 7 only 30% speak Filipino. How we teach Filipino and
English are of key importance for adequate mastery and useage
of those languages. Building on the first language of the learners
provides a strong foundation and a good bridge toward learning
Filipino and English.
Listening, speaking, reading and writing
The four modes of language, talking (speaking), listening,
writing and reading, are all interdependent. As learning is very
much dependent on language, a classroom should be a place
where language flows confidently with the four modes
constantly interweaving.
Children come to school with a good foundation of oral language
development in their mother tongue which requires expanding
through experience and practice. It is the teacher's responsibility
to provide children with those experiences which will increase
their language capacity and practices, expanding their
competence and confidence in the four language modes.
Conversation is an important tool for developing oral L1.

Conversation between teacher and student

Conversation between student and student

Conversation provides ways to

Explor new topics

Share tentative ideas

Consider possibilities

There is strong positive correlation between early oral language

skills and the later development of reading and writing.
However, in the focus on literacy, the importance of getting
children to listen and to talk is often overlooked. The teacher
who encourages the children to listen and to talk and to use
language in all its forms, first in the childs mother tongue, will
have the greatest success in promoting the cognitive development
of the children. This must first occur in a language the learner
knows best and uses most, the learners first language. Then, as
oral or communicative competence is built in the second and
third languages, the cognitive abilities will transfer from the L1
to subsequent languages learned.
Cummins (2000), an educational researcher and writer suggests:

Childrenwith a solid foundation in their mother

tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the school
language.

The level of development of children's mother tongue is

a strong predictor of their second language
development

Children's knowledge and skills transfer across

languages from the mother tongueto the school
language

A good bridge allows learning of a new language before learning

in a new language.
Reading and writing skills only have to be learned once and
these skills, as well as understanding concepts can be transferred
from one language to another.

2.2

Second Language Acquisition

Second language learning is more successful with a good L1

foundation. Learning a language should come before learning
through a language.
General Principles of 2LA:

Comprehensible input is crucial learners need to

understand what the teacher is saying in order to learn.
Language learning is a result of meaningful interaction
in the L2.
Low anxiety situations enable the comprehensible
input to be processed by the learner. When high anxiety
situations occur in the classroom even comprehensible
input does not get past the learners emotional filter.
Social factors include societal support and opportunity
to practice and use the L2 in a (emotionally) safe
environment affect language learning.
Relationship between the learner, their cultural group
and the dominant cultural group (language status) can
impact language learning.
Beginning learning by developing BICS (Basic
Interpersonal Communicative Skills) for meaningful
conversation should come before cultivating CALP
(Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency).

Basic L2 literacy helps develop cognitive process if L2

oracy BICS is already developed. Often development
of BICS and literacy occur at the same time rather than
sequentially.

A childs second language competence is partly

dependent on the level of competence already achieved
in the first language. The more developed the first
language, the easier it will be to develop the second
language.

Use events and activities that the pupils are familiar

with when using language and learning new languages.
Familiarity increases comprehension.

Learning a language before learning in a language is

crucial for educational achievement.

Five goals of language learning:

Communication goals using language for negotiating

& sharing meaning with others.

Language and cultural awareness goals understanding

ones own language and culture better.

Socio-cultural goals understanding

language and culture better.

Learning how to learn goals understanding how to

learn in and through language.

General knowledge goals learning about the world.

3.
3.1

the

target

Classroom Strategies
First language development
Focus on meaning and
communication

Focus on accuracy and correction

LISTEN Listening to understand, enjoy, Recognizing & distinguishing

appreciate
sounds; recognizing parts of words;
following directions
SPEAK Speaking to communicate
thoughts, ideas, needs,
experiences

Using language correctly

(pronunciation, grammar)

READ

Reading for meaning &

understanding

Decoding words by recognizing their

parts

WRITE Writing to communicate

thoughts & feelings

Forming letters properly, neatly, and

spelling words correctly

Speaking and listening

Talk is basic to children's self-expression that is, to personality
growth. It is also, obviously, basic to children's language growth:

their talk and their thinking-in-language are

inseparable to silence their talk is to inhibit their
thinking;

their early writing grows out of their 'speech written

down' so that confident talkers tend to become
confident writers;

their early reading is largely listening with the inner

ear to a writer's 'voice' so that confident talking also
helps reading.

Talking is more than 'communication'; talking encourages

learning. It is in finding words to express ideas and feelings
through talk that the child's thinking becomes clear, and
confidence grows. Talk fixes ideas in the mind better than silent
thinking can do even tentative, hesitating talk produces more
effective learning than when the child only listens. The speaker
gains more than the listeners thus the main purpose turns out to
be 'talking to learn', 'not talking to communicate'.
Every subject area offers scope for real-purpose talking and
listening real problems to solve, real situations to explore:

thinking up questions

suggesting possible answers

reflecting on experience

sorting ideas into order.

In every subject and every lesson there may be:

whole class discussion

small group discussion

one to one discussion

Developing Oral language for meaning and communication

pupil reports to the class

Listen and respond to different kinds of questions.

tape-recorded interviews

use of radio and TV talks

use of audio/video tapes, films.

Listening is also a means of learning, particularly when the

listener adopts an interested, expectant, critical attitude; but
children, (even more than adults) find lecture-style listening
unendurable and so they lapse defensively into day dreaming or
illicit talk. Talking and listening should not be regarded as
'skills' to be 'practiced' but as language forms to be used as
adults use them to explore and solve problems. In this way,
talking and listening, with writing and reading, are indispensable
tools of learning.

Have you ever? questions.. Ask the child a

question. Theme is rice. Have you ever planted rice?
Children talk about experience...

Imagination questions. If you were walking by the

river and saw a tiger, what would you do?

The main objective of classroom oral work is not fluency, or

skill, or correctness, but to build confidence. Fluency and other
good qualities will follow. So a supportive and encouraging
classroom climate is essential and thus listening and speaking
must occur first in the childs first language.

Conversation. This is by far the most important form of

talk relatively spontaneous, and undirected through
the discussions that arise as children and teacher go
about their affairs. It does not need to be taught; but it
does need to be given the opportunity to flourish. For
example use small groups and the provision of subjects
within the range of children's interests.
Talk in 'Situations'. The teacher prescribes 'situations'
such as those that are close to real life (eg. telephone
calls, greetings, real life problem solving such as If
you had ).
Talk in Drama. The simple real-life 'situations' merge
into somewhat more structured dramas of human
conflict, from the role play of an improvised family
squabble or the 'imaginative creations' of scenes from
traditional stories.
Reading Aloud. Whether thought of as 'reading' or
'speaking', the act of reading aloud is of prime
educational importance. Many suggest that teachers
should read aloud to their class every day (in both
primary and secondary schools). The children too,
when able, should get the opportunities to read aloud,
and that both these forms of reading will greatly
encourage the child's reading, writing, talking and
listening abilities. Children can read aloud in pairs or
small groups, including reading their own written
work, with discussion following. (But no boring wholeclass 'round robin' reading!).
Choral Speaking. Speech-making. A group, or the
whole class can prepare a poem or rhyme, or the
individual can make a speech before a group or whole
class. The latter is relatively stressful and advanced
form needs a gentle approach. (Attentive listening is
cultivated by having pupils write one or two questions
during the speech for asking at the end.)

If your small brother/sister fell into a deep

hole, what would you do?

If you found P100, what would you do?

If you saw a friend steal someones money,

what would you do?

If you went to [name a place], what would

you see?

Once the C understand the purpose of the

game, they can make up questions for each
other.

How & Why questions. Tell or read a story then ask

open-ended questions about the story.

Prediction questions.

Describing character questions.

Kinds of Classroom Talk:

Children develop their own oral stories focusing on meaning.

Life Stories.

Life Stories Relay.

Guess our story

Making stories with exaggeration

Exaggeration relay story.

Class story

Students Skits

Students report #1...

From a picture...

Sharing ideas and information with partners or in small groups.

Focus on meaning using familiar songs, poems, riddles, wise
sayings, creating new songs, creating and activing out songs,
action songs.
Focus on meaning through listening and responding to stories.

Listening stories

Predict what comes next.

Re-tell stories

Change the ending of the story

Act out the story.

Listening for special words

3.

Write the story on the board or chart paper as the

learners dictate it to you. Encourage all students to
participate in creating the story. Write just what they
say. Ask them Is this what you want to say? and then
adjust as they suggest (teaches editing).

4.

Read the story back to the learners

5.

Learners give their story a title

6.

Read the entire story with the reading plan (below):

7.

Later, copy the story onto manila paper and put it on

the wall for display free reading

Developing Reading and Writing in L1

Prereading and writing

Sequencing focus on meaning

Sorting and matching focus on meaning

Talk about pictures focus on meaning

Making patterns focus on accuracy

Theme pictures to develop childrens oral language skills and

observation. The teacher asks appropriate questions related to
personal experiences associated with the picture.
Shared reading to encourage prediction in reading, helping
learners understand the relationship between print and speech,
informally introduce print conventions provide and enjoyable
learning experience and teach sight vocabulary. Procedure:

talk preparing for the reading, building suspense,

setting the stage.

Read to the learners while they listen or follow along.

Talk look at pictures, talk about the story, predict

what might come next..

Read

Do and talk retell, sequence, silent reading, paired

reading, creative writing, keyword lesson.

Big books to develop listening and talking, predicting, learning

that print has meaning, learning the conventions of the written
word. Big books should have predictable text so that learners can
easily participate in reading with the teacher.
Listening Stories to develop hearing and communication skills
and comprehension and interest in listening and reading. Teacher
reads a one page story not more than five minute then asks
conprehension questions about the story and leads in dialogue.
As you are reading:

ask what they think will happen next

ask learners to tell you something that has already

happened

ask when, where, who, how and why questions after

reading.

Series Pictures for developing knowledge, vocabulary,

observation and communication skills. Teacher uses good
questions to develop conversation around the pictures.
Experience stories for understanding that writing is merely our
thoughts written down, that print it intended for meaning, and to
encourage creative writing and self expression. Procedure:
1.

Do a group activity related to the weekly theme or talk

about an activity they all know about that related to the
weekly theme.

2.

Learners make up a story about that experience

Reading Plan:
1.

Read the entire story to all the learners

2.

Read the entire story with all the learners

3.

Read one part of the story (page or sentence) with one

or two of the learners

4.

Let one or two learners read the story by themselves

5.

Read the entire story again with all the learners

Asking the right kinds of questions. Closed questions are those

requiring only one word answers or answers that are directly
found in the text. These do not encourage deeper thinking,
analyzing, expressing opinion or strong learning. Open questions
require complex thinking and articulation of ones thoughts in
response. Open questions build thinking skills and language
skills while giving control of the conversation to the learner.

3.2
Second language acquisition
strengthening learning Filipino and English
through TPR
3.2.1

TPR principles

The success of TPR is built upon these foundational principles of

second language acquisition theory: Languages are best learned
when the learner receives lots of comprehensible
(understandable) input in a low anxiety situation. For young
learners, listening to a teacher give instructions in a still foreign
language or listening to a radio broadcast in the L2 is not
understandable; listening to short chunks of the L2 followed by
physical response is much more understandable.
Beginning language learners can benefit greatly from a "silent
period" in which they learn to understand and respond to parts of
the language without attempting to speak it. This is also referred
to as "delayed production," and reflects the way that children
learn their first language. The basic idea behind Total Physical
Response is that a language learner learns to hear something in
the language and then physically respond to it. Often at first the
segments uttered in the L2 are commands such as "stand up," "sit
down," "walk," "touch your nose," and so on. However, as
discussed in a section below, TPR is easily extended to other
verb tenses and more complicated sentence patterns. By using
gestures and props, the teacher is able to add enough context to
his speech to help convey meaning to the learner. The teacher
needs to control the number of new items to be learned each day,
limiting them to 2 -3 and reviewing all items learned each day to
ensure strong learning and building on previous lessons.
During this learning time, the students only listen and respond.
Trying to speak too soon 1) may distract them from rapid

vocabulary development, 2) will likely cause their anxiety level

to rise which could decrease their ability to remember what they
have learned aurally, and 3) could harm long-term pronunciation
if they develop bad habits before having heard lots of language.

3.2.2

TPRB

TPR-B for "TPR with body", includes everything that can be

done with general body movement: stand up, sit down, turn
around, turn right, turn left, lift up your arm, touch your nose,
etc. This is best done in a room with some space to move around.

3.2.3

TPR Object

TPR-O stands for "TPR with objects. This is best done sitting at
a table that has some objects on it. For example, one day the
teacher could bring produce from the market. That day the
students could not only learn the words for "apple," "banana,"
"orange," and so on, but also, "give me," "take," "put," "smell,"
"bite," "roll," "peel," and "show me." For this activity, the teacher
could start off with: "This is an apple. This is an orange. This is
an apple. This is an orange. Where is the apple? (The students
point.) Where is the orange?" Once again new words can be
fairly quickly built up one at a time. (Remember, only add two or
three new items a day. Once the new words are learned they can
be combined with forms learned previously, building on the
language. For example, phrases previously learned such as put on
top of, put underneath can be used when learning the above
names of fruit. The following day add the other verbs such as
give me, take, smell etc. 2 or 3 a day only.)
When doing TPR-O, always remember to learn verbs that are
associated with the objects they are learning. For example, if the
students are learning about a radio, they can learn the parts of the
instrument as well as words associated with its use, such as turn
it on, turn it off, turn up the volume, turn down the volume,
change the station, open up the battery case, take out the
batteries, and so on.

3.2.4

What about Speaking?

At some point students will feel the urge to start speaking. Don't
push it, but at some point they can begin saying things for the
teacher or their peers to do, from "stand up" to "turn the volume
down" to "show me the man who ate fish yesterday." They can
also speak about a table of objects: "This is a ball. This is a key.
This is a book. The pen is on the book." And finally, they can
describe pictures in any tense: "The man ate fish. The boy read a
book."
Things to Remember when Teaching with TPR
The most common mistake that teachers who are new to TPR
make is to introduce new words too quickly or to introduce them
two or more at a time. Students will feel overwhelmed if they
dont receive enough repetition. The teacher should learn to
continually monitor and evaluate the students progress and make
minor adjustments as needed. The secret of TPR is to make it a
regular, ongoing part of the language study program, with great
emphasis at the beginning but continued use throughout the
school years.

3.3

Maths

As with pre reading and prewriting skills, children also need to

become number ready. Activities should be interesting and
enjoyable and children require direct manipulation of concrete
objects to understand the mathematical concepts. Learning
should therefore be planned sequentially from real-life/concrete
objects to abstract

real-life objects
pictures of objects
pictures of shapes and figures

Concepts can be developed through matching, identification,

naming objects and naming pictures of objects.

TPR with Pictures

TPR-P stands for "TPR with pictures." Pictures are extremely

effective language learning tools. The teacher may have large
photographs or could use cut out pictures from a newspaper or
magazine. If the pictures are from the community, it will be even
more effective. The teacher could go through and say "This is a
man. This is a boy. This is a man. This is a boy. Where is the
man? Where is the boy?" Gradually both background and
foreground objects in the pictures could be learned, as well as
verbs: "The carpenter is hitting the nail with a hammer," leading
to requests such as "Show me the man who is hitting something."
Even verb tenses can be incorporated by the teacher talking about
all of the pictures as if they happened last week, or now, or next
week. The actual physical response with pictures is fairly basic-pointing at something--but the opportunity for vocabulary
acquisition is as broad as the types of pictures one can use. In
addition to taking ones own pictures, children's picture or story
books can also be used for this kind of learning.

3.2.5

3.2.6

TPR Storying

TPR-S was developed by Blaine Ray and is being used in

classrooms throughout the United States. It involves the teacher
(and eventually the students) acting out simple stories as a means
of understanding the story and internalizing vocabulary.

3.3.1

Math skills in everyday life

Skills development focuses on training. The teacher will:

teach by introducing drilling, and by demonstrating

correct mistakes

encourage mastery of skills

stress accuracy

help learners become competent

aim to develop methodical behaviors, accurate thinking

and problem solving.
Math is taught in the classroom in the context of the day-to-day
lives of the children and by focusing on understanding their uses
in local culture and environment. The primary tool for teaching
is the theme and the five streams listed below will guide the
activities, plus games and number stories.
The teacher:

teaches by doing

builds confidence

encourages creativity

stresses understanding

surrounds learners with meaningful materials

aims to develop original and creative thinking and

problem solving

These areas can be taught through activities related to the theme.

The following provides some ideas.
Classifying objects (sorting):

sets of things

color, shape, size

Activities:

sorting objects on a certain set of criteria

sorting pictures of fruit, animals, color

sorting fruit we peel and fruit we don't peel

sorting leaves on basis of color, shape and texture

sorting seeds, stones, etc

Making sets of numbers:

sets of 3 stones

sets of 5 leaves
Materials for sorting and counting: Stones, seeds, wooden
shapes, counters
Sequencing:

Stringing colored beads in sequence: 2 red, 1 blue, 2

yellow, 2 red, 1 blue, 2 yellow......

Stories based on sequence (e.g. butterfly story)

daily routines

rhymes based on sequence

pattern making

Sorting from biggest to smallest

Have pictures on cards different sizes. Ask child to

point to the smallest/largest, biggest
Problem solving:

Maze: prepare a maze on a sheet or on the floor. Find

the way through

Puzzles: join the pieces together start simple

Counting:
Number in sequence start with concrete objects, then pictures
of objects, then you can go on to dots before using number
symbols

Use fingers and toes

Concrete objects, stones, seeds etc... demonstrate the

ability to count by touching each stone

Counting rhyme

Count different things in the classroom

Play counting games

Count trees, houses etc...

Clapping how many times

Sitting in a circle each child says the next number

starting at 1..... 10

One to one correspondence: place 5 objects in a row.

Ask child to put one seed/stone under each object.
(each glass with a spoon/straw). E.g. Ten hens with ten
eggs. Five nests, five birds. Laying a table with places
enough for each person.

Set up rows of same number of things (stones, leaves,

seeds, sweets....

Teacher calls a number: children get into groups of that

number. E.g. three.... children get into groups of three.
Clap when counting e.g. count to 10, with 10 claps
Cards with dots on: how many dots one each card.
When children know the number symbols, play
dominoes one part number and one part dots.
Place number cards in order. Child should put the
same number of beads on or beside the card.
Draw a number of objects on a sheet of paper. Ask
child to color in a number of objects e.g. one tree,
three birds....

Comparison:

Big, small
tall, short
heavy, light
long, short
high, low
more, less
first, last
left, right

Activities

3.3.2

Give each child a stick with leaves ask them to sort

the big from the small
Through stories (big lion, small mouse)
Observation when going out... big house, tall tree
Use cards with long short objects etc...
compare heights of children -make marks on wall
Using objects to measure (toothpicks along a ruler;
hands to measure each other)
Heavy and light objects put in order
Stand in a circle reach up high. Now bend down low
Meal times who has more rice? Who has less dhal?
Playing with water containers of different sizes and
shapes. Which holds more/less water? How many cups
does it take to fill the jug?
How many boys, how many girls in the class?

cultural math calendar activity

Develops language related to math. Procedure:

Put the date on the calendar

Count the days to any special event birthdays,

celebrations, holidays...

Say the date together: Yesterday was Wednesday,

February 17, 2010. Today is Thursday, February 18,
2010. Tomorrow will be Friday, February 19, 2010.

Together say the days of the week and the months of

the year.

Odd and even count keep tally of dots in groups of

two to show if the number of the day is odd or even.
Then count by twos.

Fact family chart call on a students to state a fact

family of todays date. On even days ask them to think
of doubles: 7+7=14...

Tally chart use tally marks to indicate the number of

the current day. Count tallys by fives and tens.

Days of school number line From the beginning of

school keep a number line relating to how many school
days have gone by. Count the days by ones, twos, fives,
tens, and backward from 20. Use sticks or straws to
indicate the number of days of school past. Bundle the

sticks by ten
the tens and
number with
value. Write
20+3=23.

and eventually by 100s. Together count

ones: 10, 20, 21, 22, 23... Write the
the tens and ones in the correct place
the expanded notation of the number:

Money chart: draw circles representing different

denominations of coins. Sort and count the proper coins
representing the number of school days.

Days of School Number Line: _ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 _7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25________________________________

Lnea de Los Das de Escuela::
DATE
FECHA
10+5=15

15-10=5

5+10=15

15-5=10

August

2002

Agosto

Fact Family
Datos de Familia

DAYS OF SCHOOL
DIAS DE ESCUELA

Hundreds Tens
Centenas

Decenas

Odd or Even?
Par o Impar

Ones

Unidades

20 + 5 = 25
Expanded Notation

Sunday

Tally
Conteo

4.

Monday

Tuesday

Domingo
Lunes
Months of the Year
January
February
March
April
May
June
August
September
October
November
December

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Our thanks to many who taught us learning strategies in a

Multilingual Classroom: SIL colleagues Kris Roth, Catherine
Young, Susan and Dennis Malone, and other MTBMLE
specialists Pamela Mackenzie.

5.

REFERENCES

Martes

Wednesday
Thursday
Mircoles

Friday

Saturday

Jueves
Viernes
Meses del Ao

Sbado

Money
Dinero

Enero
Febrero
Marzo
Abril
Mayo
Junio
Agosto
Septiembre
Octubre
Noviembre
Diciembre

Knowledge and Experience: Ideas for Learning Activities for

Early Grades with no L1 Textbooks. SIL International.
[3] Malone, Susan and Dennis Malone, 2007. Two-Track
Approach to Teaching Children to Read and Write Their
First Language. Adapted from Working Together for
Literacy, Second Edition by Mary Stringer and Nicholas
Faraclas, Kangaroo Ground, Australia, SIL Australia.

[1] Errington, Ellen, 2006. TPR Resources, Teaching Children

A Second Language. CANSIL.

[4] Malone, Susan. 2006. Activities for Language Education.

SIL International.

[2] Malone, Susan, 2007. Mother Tongue Based MLE Programs

that Build on Chidrens Own Language and Culture,

[5] Malone, Susan. 2008. Ideas for Planning and Building

Fluency in Oral L2.

[6] Roth, Kris. 2002. Multilingual Calendar Activity. Adapted

from Math Their Way Publishers.

[7] Young, Catherine. 2009. Personal Notes on MTBMLE.