Mutually Beneficial Teamwork between Bilingual and Mainstream Classes.

A three-year program to bring together third-grade students in a self-contained bilingual classroom and a mainstream classroom is described. The project was designed to reduce the isolation of the bilingual students and prejudice toward them shown by mainstream students. During the first year, gym and music classes were combined, students were teamed in pairs or trios for science and social studies, and combined classes viewed and discussed curriculum-related films weekly. In the second year, combined gym and music classes were continued, adjacent classrooms were used, students from each class were paired for weekly lessons, new teacher training was undertaken, students wrote individual logs and paired to create a publication in English and Spanish. In the third year, these principles and additional lessons learned from experience about grouping students were implemented. As a result, students are getting along better, sharing work equally and working well together, and playing together during recess, and establishing friendships. It is concluded that the program also facilitates mainstreaming. (MSE)