Bilingual dictionary/glossary*

When to use it

Use during content-area instruction (science, math, social studies, ELA) when the cognitive demand of a task should stay high but unknown vocabulary would otherwise block comprehension. It is most valuable at the earlier proficiency levels, when a student already understands a concept in the home language but lacks the English label, and during reading-to-learn, writing, problem-solving, and academic discussion. It is also useful for newcomers who read and write in the home language, since their existing literacy and content knowledge can support work in English. It becomes less necessary, and is intentionally faded, as students learn to derive meaning from context, English glosses, cognates, and morphology. On state-required assessments, provide it only when the student meets TEA designated-support eligibility, an LPAC (or 504/ARD) committee has documented the decision, and the support is already part of routine classroom instruction and testing.

How to implement it

1. 1Identify the 5-10 highest-leverage academic terms in the upcoming lesson and check whether each has a true cognate, a partial cognate, or a false cognate between the home language and English, so you can teach the connection (and the trap) explicitly.
2. 2Match the tool to the proficiency level: a picture-supported bilingual glossary at the earliest levels, and a fuller bilingual or bilingualized dictionary or digital tool for students with stronger home-language literacy.
3. 3Co-create the glossary with students when possible (students add the home-language term, a visual, and a student-friendly English definition), since generating the entry deepens retention more than receiving a finished list.
4. 4Teach students HOW to use the reference: scan for the headword, choose the sense that fits the context, and avoid grabbing the first translation. This metacognitive routine is what makes the tool effective rather than a crutch.
5. 5Build access into the task, not around it: keep glossaries visible at desks, embedded in the digital document, or on a word wall so the scaffold does not interrupt the flow of reading or problem-solving.
6. 6Pair the dictionary with comprehensible-input scaffolds (visuals, realia, sentence frames, partner talk) so the student moves from translation toward producing the English term in context.
7. 7Plan the fade explicitly: track which terms students now use independently, shrink the glossary across the unit, and shift from home-language translations toward English definitions, cognates, and morphological clues. If the tool is also used on state assessments, document the LPAC (or 504/ARD) decision and confirm any furnished dictionary meets the current STAAR Dictionary Policy.

Examples

• •In 7th-grade science, before a lesson on the water cycle, students add 'evaporación / evaporation' and 'condensación / condensation' to a co-created bilingual glossary with arrows and pictures, and the teacher highlights that both are near-perfect cognates.
• •A newcomer who reads Spanish uses a bilingual dictionary while reading a social-studies primary source, looks up 'drought' to find 'sequía,' then writes the English term into a sentence frame the teacher provided.
• •In math, an Intermediate student meets 'denominator,' tries the cognate 'denominador' first, then checks the class bilingual glossary to confirm before solving fraction problems, keeping the math reasoning at grade level.
• •A teacher gives Beginning students cognate sort cards (e.g., 'family / familia,' 'problem / problema') alongside a warning chart of false cognates such as 'librería' (bookstore, not library), building strategic dictionary use.
• •Over a unit, the teacher replaces home-language translations on the glossary with English definitions and example sentences as students start using the terms in discussion, intentionally fading the scaffold toward independence.