The teacher jotted down observations about writing discourse, sentences, words, phonics, and conventions. Then, she analyzed, looking for strengths across languages.

Maite is a sixth grader in a 90:10 dual language immersion program. Originally from Honduras, Maite comes from a Spanish-speaking home and began to learn English when she entered Kindergarten. Maite’s teacher, Maestra Flo, chose Maite as a focal student to work with in a Transliteracy cycle of her Biliteracy Methods course.

Maestra Flo sought to learn more about Maite by carrying out a Transliteracy writing observation. She composed a prompt in Spanish: ¿Cuáles son tus metas, y cómo las lograrás? and a prompt in English: Why is it important to work hard in school and in life?. She assigned the prompts as a whole-class formative writing assignment, and she chose Maite’s writing as samples to closely observe side-by-side. She recorded her observations on Maite’s observation framework for writing. The teacher jotted down observations about writing discourse, sentences, words, phonics, and conventions. Then, she analyzed, looking for strengths across languages.

Upon recognizing writing strengths across languages, M. Flo considered an opportunity for teaching Transliteracy. She decided to focus a lesson on using Maite’s strength in writing with clarity in Spanish to support her in writing with clarity in English. In her teaching, she honored how, in English, Maite used techniques that offered clarity (a clear organization, logical sequence of ideas, transition phrases, and consistency in the narrator voice). She explained how readers of this passage clearly understood the message due to these writing techniques.

Together, they turned to the English sample. Maestra Flo asked if Maite would like to have that same level of clarity in English, so readers could grasp the powerful points the writing wanted to convey. When Maite agreed, Maestra Flo invited her to reread what she wrote and point to a part that “was not as clear as it could be”. M. Flo prompted her to use a technique from her Spanish sample –use of transition phrases – and apply there. With some support on forming English language structures, Maite was able to revise her writing for clarity.