scaffolding for the emergent bilinguals. Here is a summary of how the
teacher was scaffolding the translanguaging activity:
(a) The teacher presented the English worksheet on Hanukkah to the Year
3/4 pupils and explained in Welsh:
‘Mae angen ichi ddewis pump ffaith ddiddorol a chofnodi yn y Gymraeg.’
[You need to choose five interesting facts and record in Welsh.]
(b) The teacher asked all the pupils to read the following information in
English:
‘Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration.’
‘At Hanukkah Jewish people go to the synagogue to say prayers as a
family.
They meet their friends and play games.’
(c) The teacher asked the group to explain in Welsh what has been read in
English.
She prompted the pupils to respond in Welsh by presenting the sentence
stem:
‘Mae’r Iddewon yn.. .’ [The Jewish people.. .]
d) One pupil responded with: ‘Mae’r Iddewon yn dathlu Hanukkah am wyth
dydd’.
[The Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah for eight days.]
(e) The teacher repeated the pupil’s responses in Welsh.
(f) The teacher encouraged some pupils to elaborate in Welsh on their
responses, for example,
Pupil: ‘Mae’r Iddewon yn mynd i’r synagog i weddio.’
[The Jewish people go to the synagogue to pray.]
Te a c h e r : ‘Pryd maen nhw’n gweddio yn y synagog?’
[When do they pray in the synagogue?]
Pupil: ‘Yn ystod Hanukkah’ [At Hanukkah]
162 Part 4: Bilingual Education
Hannukah is an eight-day celebration. At Hannukah Jewish people
go to the synagogue to say prayers as a family. They meet their
friends and play games. Most Jewish people light an eight-branched
candlestick called a menorah at Hanukkah. Each evening during
Hanukkah one candle is lit and the menorah is placed in the window
for all to see. During Hanukkah children spin a dreidl to win choco-
late coins. People eat special foods, such as potato latkes served with
apple sauce and sour cream. During Hannukkah Jewish families get
together to exchange gifts, sing and play games. Hannukah is a
happy time.Figure 7.2 Hannukah worksheet for Years 3 and 4