Tonya Cook

Electronic Presentation

LTCY 444

Dr. Pam Petty

Different People
performed by No Doubt
from the album Tragic Kingdom
"He and she two different people
With two separate lives
Then you put the two together
And get a spectacular surprise
'Cause one can teach the other one
What she doesn't know
While still the other fills a place inside
He never knew had room to grow"

~A pinch from a song by popular recording artists No Doubt upon the positivity of diversity

Teachers Celebrate and Accommodate!! …Essential to Teaching Reading to Diverse Classrooms

It is absolutely imperative that educators hold in mind the implications of diversity in their classroom, and equip themselves to adapt their instruction to BOTH accommodate and celebrate learners various cultures.  After all, it is diversity that empowers our classrooms and equips to better understand themselves and the world around them.  Educators must be mindful of cultural diversity in their classroom while planning instruction—and careful consideration to the matter must be given at many levels.  Teachers as professionals should work diligently to familiarize themselves with the cultures that are represented in his/her classroom, and seek professional development opportunities that promote empathy and understanding for a diverse population of students.  In intimate regards to teaching reading to culturally diverse students, educators must be resourceful in promoting cultural pluralism with both student and teacher directed materials.  In pursuit of an educational environment that promotes literacy and reading proficiency for all students, educators must consistently assess and examine research upon how students of various cultures best attain reading proficiency---and investigate which teaching strategies and classroom management approaches are most affective for the students. Teachers should also take strides to develop new and innovative ways to connect students of diverse cultures with community resources, as well as to involve the parents/guardians of minority students in their child’s education upon levels equal to that of other students. The following is a list of online-sources that may act as a reference guide in preparing a language/reading teacher to accommodate and celebrate diversity while building students’ reading proficiency.  These resources primarily focus upon accommodating language diversity in mainstream classrooms, and building reading skills for students from other language environments (with varying degrees of English language proficiency).  These resources supplement ideas and foundations touched upon  in Chapter 11 of : Brozo, W.G., & Simpson, M.L.  (1999).  Readers, teachers, learners:  Expanding literacy across the content areas (3^rd Edition).  New Jersey:  Merrill Prentice Hall.   

***Crossing Borders: Multicultural Literature in the Classroom.

The above site an online edition of an article that appeared in The Journal of Educational Issue of Language Minority Students in 1995.  This article serves as an excellent tool in establishing a basic understanding of how teachers can best include multicultural literature in the classroom.  The text, authored by professional educators from the University of California, first introduces the implications of growing diversity in our nations classrooms.  The text then moves to dissect the issue further into subtopics, discussing conflicts caused by diversity in classrooms, a teacher’s role in personally connecting students to culturally diverse literature, power in collaboration, introducing multicultural literature to students, and an overview of the challenges students face when introduced and approaching such literature.  This website, as a whole, is very encouraging and optimistic in pinpointing the attitudes and expectations that teachers should have when teaching literature to a diverse group of students.

***Multicultural Book Review Home Page.

This site could serve as a quick tool to aid in a teacher’s search for appropriate culturally diverse texts.  Though the site looks rather unprofessional and somewhat to the effect of a personal website, this source is created by a former graduate student in Seattle University's Master in Teaching program and manages to offer reviews for many middle and high school age-appropriate texts.  The reviews, though brief in nature, offer suggestions as to age groups and interest groups, and are organized practically into the following groups:

African American Literature
Asian American/Pacific Islander Literature
Latino and Latina Literature
Native American and Eskimo Literature
Jewish
Middle Eastern or East Indian
Titles in English from Other Countries
Textbooks
Multiple Ethnicities
 

Essentially this site would be a great quick reference guide to gain ideas on possible texts or unit instruction ideas, and could serve as a first-step in investigating which choices a teacher may give students options upon reading.

***The Multicultural Pavillion.   This site serves primarily as a tool for educators interested in developing multicultural curriculum.  Though the site isn’t bent specifically toward English/Language Arts teachers, there are a substantial number of resources here for planning class instruction that would boost performance levels of language-diverse students.  Some of the best and most useful features (from the list below) offer strategies and suggestions for lesson planning and classroom management (Awareness Activities, Multicultural Supersite, etc.)  Also, teachers may find sites such as the song index or the film review index helpful in planning reading/literature activities that foster students of diverse languages.

Multicultural Pavilion Features:

***Preparing Secondary Education Teachers to Work with English Language Learners: English Language Arts.

This web address directs one to a professional journal article from the National Council for Bilingual Education Series, one that intends to appeal to teacher and teacher educators in providing a better understanding of mainstream language art instruction.  The article is concerned for the most part with secondary-level English language learners, and gathers research from NCBE bibliographic databases, the ERIC bibliographic database and various World Wide Web sites.  Curriculum and instruction, content standards, student assessment, and teacher training and education are addressed.  The most profound portions of the document are in relationship to “Making English Language Arts Accessible to the English Language Learner,”  addressing aspects respecting student diversity, selecting appropriate texts, and making literature more comprehensible.  The article discusses very practical instructional techniques, including native-language peer tutoring, using folktales, etc.  Though the text offers teaching strategies applicable to language arts as a whole, there are certainly benefits in applying these strategies to boost performance and attitudes toward reading skills.

***The Teaching of Language Arts to Limited English Proficient / English Language Learners: A Resource Guide for All Teachers.

This site is produced by the University of the State of New York, and provides a very in-depth look at most all aspects of language arts instruction and Limited English Proficient Students.  The site is truly immense in size and organization, and though the information stretches into a wealth of direction concerning language arts teaching as a whole, the following sections would best serve a teacher looking to improve upon reading instruction and attitudes/motivation from language diverse students in regards to reading.  The site mirrors standard set by the state of New York, but provides insightful suggestions upon reading, assessing just how well students are really doing in your classroom, as well as making family and community active partners in language instruction.  A glance at most of these pages would better equip any teacher in understanding assimilation into another culture, the struggles of limited English proficient students, and what decisions can be made to foster their learning.

The Teaching and Learning of Language Arts

·         Impact of New York State ELA Standards on Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners

·         Principles of Language Acquisition

·         The Teaching and Learning of Language Arts

·         Listening and Speaking

·         Reading

·         Writing

Formal and Informal Assessment of Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners

·         Assessment Practices for Monitoring the Performance of Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners

·         New York State ELA Assessment System

·         Study Skills and Test-Taking Skills

·         Informal Assessments for Evaluating Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners’ Progress

Parent and Family Involvement

·         Parents and Families as Active Partners

·         The Role of Parents Within the NYSED Standards Movement

·         Diverse Needs of Parents of Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners

·         School-Based Strategies to Increase Parental Involvement

·         Ten Ways to Promote Language Learning at Home

***The Help! Kit For Secondary Teachers of Migrant English Language Learners.

This site is a very comprehensive site for teachers looking for tangible assistance in building teaching strategies to accommodate students from diverse language backgrounds.  Strategies are research based and focus upon key-content areas, including but not limited to reading, and may act as a springboard for collaboration in other subject areas. Divided into twelve chapters, the Help Kit’s most beneficial chapters in regards to reading instruction and diverse learners are as follows:

Chapter 2 Migrant Students, Schools, and Culture
- Who Are Our Migrant Students?
- What Do I Need to Know about
- Learning a Second Language?
- What Can I Do as a Teacher

Chapter 3: Strategies for Involving LEP Students in the Mainstream Classroom

Chapter 4: Making Language Arts Comprehensible to the English Language Learner

Chapter 5:  Assessment and Evaluation: How Can We Be Fair and Demanding?

Chapter 9:  Fostering Home-School Partnerships

This site is super extensive and provides real, applicable suggestions.  Again, though some of the links go directly to material regarding teaching READING, a teacher can investigate issues concerning fair and demanding assessment, home-school partnerships, etc, while keeping in mind that establishing the appropriate learning environment is essential before content instruction can begin. 

***Classroom Strategies for Encouraging Collaborative Discussion.

This site very centralized upon one particular teaching strategy, and dissects each aspect of using collaborative discussion to foster the learning of diverse language students.  The nature of this source is related to the intimate relationships between teacher and student and among students themselves…and the empowering potential they have upon a language diverse students understanding of material.   The author discusses Patterns of Organizing Classroom Interaction, including Question-Response-Evaluation, Question-Response-Feedback, Student-Organized Interaction, and evaluates which is more appropriate for certain students’ development.  Other points of interest include Collaborative Talk Through Storytelling, Using Storytelling to Develop Oral Language, and the Linking of Storytelling with Reading, Writing and Other Skills.

Bibliography of Resources: Teaching Reading in Culturally Diverse Middle and Secondary Classrooms