Bilingual Blueprints:  Designing Our Dual Immersion School
By:  Kelsey Ambrose 

Project at a Glance :

This project is for the students and teachers in the dual immersion program at Lakeshore Elementary. The program will be moving to a new building next year (2025-2026 school year), and the whole building will be a two way dual immersion building.  This project is being designed to help give students voice and choice in what their new school building looks and feels like. The goal is to have our building be distinct as a dual language school, welcoming to all, and a place in which all students’ cultures are celebrated.

Driving Question:

How can we create a school environment that is welcoming to all and celebrates all students’ cultures in our new school building?  How can we create a school environment that is welcoming to all and celebrates all students’ cultures in our new library/cafeteria/hallways/outdoor spaces/entrance?

Standards:

• Identity 2 ID.3-5.2 I know about my family history and culture and about current and past contributions of people in my main identity groups.
• Diversity 6 DI.3-5.6 I like knowing people who are like me and different from me, and I treat each person with respect. 
• Diversity 8 DI.3-5.8 I want to know more about other people’s lives and experiences, and I know how to ask questions respectfully and listencarefully and non-judgmentally
• RI.3.6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
• SL.3.4. Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
  

Team / Culture Building:

• ME Cubes
• Inner Heroes

Entry Event:

• Visit North Holland building
  
• Visit collaborative space or Latin American space 
  
• Get a treat from an authentic plac
  
• Share with students the demographics of Lakeshore, our current DL program/our class, and the future demographics of the program. Discuss the beauty of our school representing the demographics of the community.​

Stakeholders:

• Families who are dominant in English
• Families who are dominant in Spanish
• New students and families to West Ottawa Public Schools
• Families & students who have gone to Lakeshore Elementary and are making a transition to a new building.
• Teachers & Administrators moving to new building
• Custodians
• People providing money for the projects.

Empathy Building:

• Empathy Maps

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Conduct Interviews
• Create a Need to Knows list​​

Incubation:

• 100 Idea protocol - encourage students to push themselves - the first few minutes will be easier, the last few minutes will be challenging!
• Use the Group & Saturate protocol to organize solution ideas.

Checking in:

• Regularly ask students to reflect on how each protocol is guiding them toward the solution to the driving question. ​

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Solution Building:
 
AI GENERATED IMAGES
Students use AI to generate images of their possible solutions.

NUF TEST- 
Rate ideas by newness, usefulness, and feasibility


Critique and Revision: 
 
POSTER SESSIONS

DOT VOTING

Meet with other DL classes. Present ideas in small groups and give each other feedback.

Authentic Audience:


Final Presentation:

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

Kelsey Ambrose teaches third grade dual immersion at Lakeshore Elementary in West Ottawa.
     "PBL allows students to feel like they are the leaders in their own learning. Students take so much more ownership for their learning when they know that their ideas matter."