I remember in third grade I had a new classmate Emilio, who came into our class in October and by the time spring break came round Emilio was gone. I never understood why he was in my class. He didn't speak much English, he was constantly confused and he really didn't fit in. Now I lived in a very culturally diverse town, but I had never experienced this, why did Emilio speak a language that I did not know? Finally after leaving Milford Massachusetts I have learned why Emilio was in my class.
In other classes we are also discussing multiculturalism, and why it is important to appeal to those students who may not speak English. In the narrow minded world of America we feel that everyone should have to speak the same language as us, but this may not always be the case, so we have to differentiate our lessons to work with these ELL students.
After doing some research and reading our assigned text I have come up with some simple solutions to help our ELL students feel more at home. One way to do this may be through labeling. Go around the classroom and label objects in not only English but in your ELL student's first language. This will help them to learn some key English words and phrases. Also invite your ELL student to teach lessons about his/her culture. This could create a fun break from the content and allow your students to learn more about the student.
Not all multicultural students are going to be ELL students. As teachers we are also going to have students who speak English but may look different. Not all students are going to be raised to be accepting of differences, so as a teacher it is important to embrace the differences. In A Class Divided we learned of a teacher who took an interesting approach to dealing with students not being accepting. While not every teacher is going to be able to facilitate that experiment, there are other ways to embrace differences. One important way is going to be through the text we use in our English classrooms.
Now after rambling about everything random I ask my future teachers of English a question: What do you feel some good texts would be to help encourage students to be more accepting of others who may be a little different?
You point out an interesting idea: "Go around the classroom and label objects in not only English but in your ELL student's first language." Often times when I imagine my classroom, I do think of the different types of learners, the ethnic diversity that will be present, and the differing attitudes towards my class; however, I think that I do not really take into account students that are learning English as their second language. So, I think this would be a good, practical way of allowing our students to learn by seeing their native language paired with English.
ReplyDeleteI love that you mentioned to have the ELL student to teach the class. I think this is something teachers often forget that we can learn from our students. The students learn from us and we can learn from them. It involves all of us teaching and learning from one another that makes us as a class a whole.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that having ELL students teach the class about their culture is a fantastic way to get the other students more accepting of them. When I was in 8th grade, we had a "culture day," where each student in my social studies class would choose a culture from their heritage or of their own choice. For about a week or so, we would each present our findings about this culture and bring in a food from that culture. It really got all the students involved with the project.
ReplyDeleteTo go along with all of your ways to incorporate the ELL students abilities in the classroom could be such as making a bullentin board that reflects the students cultures.. perhaps where they are from, and really dig into information about their heritage & each student could post up their information and pictures that represent them. I think it is a good idea to help the students inform each other about one another, creating a classroom bond and with this relationship they can learn from each other. I feel that educators need to express to students that everyone learns of language (words) by acknowledging its opposite to understand its true context, therefore we as humans learn from our opposites (different cultures) and therefore learn more about our world and our selves. This should be reminded when discussing multicultural topics in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think having ELLs teach things might not be a bad idea, but we'd just have to be aware of their capabilities: some students might not feel comfortable speaking extensively in front of people if they don't have a good grasp of the language or the words they need to be able to speak off the cuff. Then again, maybe they'd love the opportunity. Depends on the student.
ReplyDeleteI like your concept to label around the room in English, as well as the students language. Not only will it help the ELL student begin to understand English with visual reminders, it will that encourage the other students to learn that particular students language as well. This could help on both sides of the spectrum, asking every student to learn something new in relation to language.
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ReplyDelete_Night_ by Elie Wiesel would be sufficient for students to understand why we should accept people from a different background. Nothing would need to be said-- they would read it and just know why.
ReplyDeleteAnd on another note concerning our classroom, many other cultures are based around collective ideas, where they seek relationships and usually engage in group work.. totally opposite to the workings in much of America, where we are very individualistic and independently goal driven most of the time.. so we may confuse a new child from a different background as being shy or introverted, when really they are waiting for a relationship to be formed with them, to gain our trust first before they get in-tune with what we are teaching.. food for thought, that's all.
Your suggestions for ELL students are great! I can imagine it is a huge adjustment for these students to be thrown into a regular English-speaking classroom. So whatever we can do to make them feel more comfortable and at home will make it easier on them.
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