As we read in article “Being and Becoming: Multilingual Writers’ Practices” by Tasha Tropp Laman and Katie Van Sluys, students should be allowed to use their skills in both languages, this lets them use the knowledge of both languages to enhance their academic work in classrooms where both languages are respected and used as necessary tools for learning.

I will get my students engaged in a number of literate activities through writing workshop format, including collecting stories, reading, writing, editing, revising and translating. I would encourage my students to write about the topics from their homes and communities. Written translation, which is usually not part of language arts curriculum, but it can create metalinguistic awareness among bilingual students. This practice stresses the young writers to use all that they know about oral and written language. Most of these students are afraid and don’t know how to communicate. They have knowledge but don’t know how to use it, so letting them use their knowledge in any language will give them confidence. It will make them realize that they are not clean slate they do have something that they can talk about and write about. Later assisting them in translation will built their vocabulary and literacy skills.

This is specially beneficial for ELL students, as they feel out of place and shy, they are not able to communicate or participate and jumping into using a new language is difficult for them. This practice of using their fist language to help them build their second language is a very good idea and I believe that this will give students confidence and encouragement to participate and use their knowledge to build their new knowledge.

Cultural PracticeBiliteracy

As read in the article “Scaffolding oral language development through poetry for students learning English”, by Nancy L. Hadaway, when we discuss oral language, we are really referring to listening and speaking as separate from reading and writing. This is a technique that most teachers use to get the new students get comfortable with the new words, introduce rhyming words, and build their skills of listening and speaking. The real meaning of scaffolding is creating a support for students so they can climb up, and poetry does just that by introducing new words, new concept, and new ideas and while singing and listening the students slowly gets familiar with the concepts and words. They starts to recognize and use these words in their everyday lives.

Many students come from a home environment that has limited to low vocabulary for English and home language. This is the reason why as a teacher I would make all efforts to make my classroom a rich learning environment for ELL students and all others. When we provide students a free and caring environment where they can talk with ease and discuss what’s going on in their lives and homes, without hesitation and scared of being ridiculed. This gives us teachers a chance to build on what they know and enhance their future knowledge. Also known as ZPD, Vygotsky’s theory explains how the more knowledgeable teacher or caregiver can build on the lower mental abilities of the students and build on their higher mental abilities by providing the scaffolding for it. When students learn poetry they like to listen to it because it is in rhythem and the rhyming words creates interest of listening. The poetry is a very good tool to introduce new concepts of everyday lives. Students learn new vocabulary words and get familiar with the genre of poetry also.

I believe that ELL learners are sometimes not familiar with a lot of cultural aspects of the new language and the things around the new culture. Poetry will be a very effective way of introducing them with the concept of fishing that a child from middle east might not be familiar with. Also when these students sing a poetry together, the ELL learner will not feel shy or intimidated as they will not be afraid of being heard by themselves and doing any mistake. Normally reading aloud is used to build on students speaking abilities, but I believe poetry is a better tool for building their reading and speaking abilities.

Cultural PracticesScaffolding

Reading in the article, “No half measures: Reading instruction for young second-language learners” by Kimberly Lenters I was able to identify this practice of cultural immersion. As she describes that teachers should build first-language reading support by value the child’s first language.

This can be easily implied in a classroom where a teacher can value the first language of ELL learners and also value the differences in the culture. By forming a strong bond between the home and school by getting the families and community involved. Another thing could be filling in the missing cultural information when materials must be used that are culturally unfamiliar to the learner. Again it would be to choose the books that are more culturally appropriate, Paying attention to the cultural bias in the text and providing a non-bias atmosphere in the classroom.

I think all of these are very important cultural practices and not only ELL students but students from all background can benefit from these practices. This will create a sense of belonging and assimilation to the students who are multicultural and also to the students who are from low socio-economic back ground or from other ethnic groups. Providing some insight knowledge and filling in the gap between their cultural knowledge can make them feel more comfortable and connected to the text and thus keep them connected and more interested.

Cultural PracticesCultural Immersion

As I read in article, “A pedagogy of Control: Worksheets and the Special Needs Child” by Mellinee Lesley. She has described a case study that she on a three year old child, that was identified as a ‘special needs’ child at a very young age and placed in special education classroom. This article explores her progress and the methods of education that the teacher used on her. One of the major problem emphasized in this article is the use of mass-produced worksheets.

I agree with the writer that worksheets provide very little or no exposure to language experiences. This is a control form of delivering education and they are not only in appropriate for special needs children but they also hinders with teachers decision making processes. Worksheets don’t provide meaningful assessment for the students and thus hinders teachers ability to know what is the progress of the child. Worksheets not only control the students but also control the teachers, as some of the lower performing school districts have non-qualified teachers to work with.

I believe that as it hinders with the cognitive and expressive literacy development of the special need children it is totally damaging to the normal children and thus they should not be used in any classroom. They can be used with blank spaces where students can put their own expressions and ideas to solve problems. I would again discuss the ways my cooperating teacher uses these worksheets, where she lets students decide what numbers they are going to put to make their own problem and then solve in their own ways by drawing the pictures of their own imagination.

Cultural practicesNo worksheets

Article The Family Stories Project: Using funds of knowledge for writing by Joel E. Dworin explains the importance of incorporating real life and family experiences into classroom practices. There is a big difference between the home life and the school life in most of the cases. The cultural differences is obvious but these students feel like they have come to a new world and the teachers need to find ways to give them sense of belonging. These kind of projects build a bridge between the home and school environment.

As a teacher for ELL students I would encourage my students to participate in writing their real life, everyday stories. I have noticed that students write very well when it is something that they are familiar with and it is about them or their loved ones. Writing about their families is sure something that’s easy for them and close to their heart. It also breaks the boundaries of isolation and makes a teacher more close to its students by knowing what’s going on in their lives outside school.

I strongly believe that a teacher should try to get to know the student as a complete person, its weakness and strength. Letting students use their knowledge and write something that they are familiar with gives teacher an insight on the students lives and also builds a strong bridge between the two. Students feel more comfortable and write with ease this also builds their self confidence. Students learn to put their knowledge into words and get familiar with the process of writing and learning the concepts of writing.

Cultural practicesIncorporate Real Life

In article The Family Stories Project: Using funds of knowledge for writing by Joel E. Dworin, says that, “The children worked collaboratively with others to accomplish the various tasks within the project, creating ‘zones of proximal development’ with one another to jointly achieve the goal of writing stories for publication.

This shows that students learn a lot from peers and each other, I have seen that during my work as candidate teaching at the elementary school. These kindergarten students collaborate and learn a lot from each other. They provide the scaffolding needed for each other and students learn from their peers. Sharing the writing gives them a chance to get to know each other and learn from each other’s mistakes.

I definitely think that students from all cultural background can benefit from sharing their writing and I would definitely use this practice in my classroom at all times. Recently one of the lesson plans in our kindergarten classroom was implemented by dividing the students in groups and letting them find the pr, fr, fl, and pl words from a Pictionary book. They worked with such interest and collaboration that we all were surprised and amazed. The students helped each other and worked with the book to find what they were told to do. They didn’t talk or wandered here or there. They concentrated on their work and were able to complete their task on time. This shows that children love sharing and this also builds their social skills and teaches them to work collaboratively.

Cultural PracticesSharing Writing

In article, “Toward A Framework for Culturally Responsive Design in Multimedia Computer Environments: Cultural Modeling as A Case” by Carol D. Lee, she describes the importance of prior knowledge. In this article she emphasized the need for teachers to help students to make the connection between prior knowledge and the new lesson.

I have personally seen that children who don’t know how to read and write can learn with scaffolding, and it can be easily fostered by starting them from a very easy and common ground to build over their understanding and use of language. As we all know home is what everybody is comfortable with and culture involves around home and people surrounded with family, so if we help these students of color or from low socio economic status to use their own cultural and home experiences and let them work with that I am sure slowly they will start feeling confident and start using other topics in their writing as well.

Also important is to start any topic or lesson with building on their prior knowledge and I have seen success with this technique in the classrooms. If the topic is touched with everyday lives and a teacher is able to made a text to self connection than the students are able to grasp it more effectively. This can be in any lesson and with any students. Not only the ELL students, special need students, but

Cultural PracticesBuilding on Prior Knowledge

In the article, “An intersection of Theory and Practice: Accepting the Language a child Brings into the Classroom” by Lynn Isenberger and Arlette Ingram Willis, it is said that, “we share how a teacher negotiated the intersection of her beliefs and values, the application of linguistic theories, a desire to value and appreciate the languages used in her classroom, and historic, social, and political realities.”

By accepting the language of my student’s I will give them the confidence they need to build their knowledge and understanding of the new language. There is a saying in my first language, “no one is born learned from their mother’s womb, everybody learns later in life”. So keeping that in mind we humans learn as we progress sometimes by watching and sometimes by experiments. The key is the confidence and motivation to move on towards our goals. The message a teacher gives is not only the language a child brings is acceptable but also the history, the culture, and social realities are all appreciated and valued.

I believe that this practice is beneficial for not only the ELL learners but also some of the mainstream kids who come from homes where different dialects of English is spoken. Children want an atmosphere where they feel loved, and comfortable. This gives them the confidence to participate and learn other wise they shut down. Acceptance will give them the ability to come out and learn.

Cultural PracticesAccepting the Language of a child

In the article, “Why Marco Can Read : Becoming Literate in a Classroom Community” by Debra Goodman, the author mentions the use of “books to go” or the book club as a means for encouraging students to participate in the literacy program and enhance their literacy experience.

I am able to see the use of this practice first hand in my field classroom, my cooperating teacher is using this strategy where some students are allowed to select books that they can read and practice with their families at home and then come back and read to the class. This allows the student to read and reread till they are comfortable with the text, this also gives them the time to practice at home. Not only students need to get familiar with the text but they also need to get familiar with the concept by able to predict. Students learn by overhearing the text and remembering the key words.

I would most definitely use this strategy because I have seen how proud these students feel when they get to sit in the teacher’s rocking chair and get to read to their friends. This works in motivating other students to try and learn to read by practicing at home so they in turn can read to the class also.

Cultural PracticesBooks to Go

In the article, “Scaffolding oral language development through poetry for students learning English” by Nancy Hadaway, explains, “that students need to practice developing their oral fluency and that they find poetry a particularly unintimidating and fun way to do it.”

Reading and rereading develops fluency and understanding of meanings. Students are able to build their vocabulary development by singing. Including bilingual poetry in the classroom can be beneficial in promoting other languages and creating a positive learning environment. This can create an environment where all students can get familiar with the other language and learn to distinguish and value it.

I believe and again had observed children enjoy reciting poetry and love the rhyming words. Even the one child in our classroom that has been diagnosed with SDD has also been very excited to recite poetry. Since this is a group activity it is very convenient for those who have difficulty with words or who are shy and not confident in their speech and vocabulary. Poetry helps ELL learners because of its rhythm, repetition, and the short lines are easy to remember and in creating understanding. I believe that it is an easy practice to introduce a theme with poetry and if introduced with visuals it clings to the memory.

Cultural PracticesPoetry for ELL

Being and Becoming: Multilingual Writers’ Practices by Tasha Tropp Laman and Katie Van Sluys. Scaffolding oral language development through poetry for students learning English by Nancy Hadaway. No half measures: Reading instruction for young second-language learners” by Kimberly Lenters. A pedagogy of Control: Worksheets and the Special Needs Child” by Mellinee Lesley. The Family Stories Project: Using funds of knowledge for writing by Joel E. Dworin Why Marco Can Read : Becoming Literate in a Classroom Community” by Debra Goodman. Toward A Framework for Culturally Responsive Design in Multimedia Computer Environments: Cultural Modeling

as A Case. An intersection of Theory and Practice: Accepting the Language a child Brings into the Classroom by Lynn

Isenberger and Arlette Ingram Willis

Refrences