CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY

DIVERSE STUDENTSREAD 6718-By Jocelyn Caswell

Opportunities

A culturally and linguistically diverse classroom provides many opportunities for students

and educators. Dr. Lori Helman (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014s) explains how the

classroom must value and accept what each student brings with them and build on to

this foundation. In other words, we can all learn from one another as no two people are

the same. Teaching our students to respect other’s experiences, knowledge and

backgrounds models an appreciation for diversity. When students feel respected in the

classroom environment, it becomes a safe place for learning. Thus, improved learning

and collaboration between students and the teacher.

Student 1

◦ Student one is an eight year old Male, Ukrainian student who is currently in third grade.

The student moved to the United States as a second grade student and received

Newcomer services with an ELL specialist, as well as, reading and phonics support

through the Learning Assistance Program. The student is very outgoing and talkative.

He enjoys talking about his life in the Ukraine.

Home Life

◦ The student is the oldest of three children. He comes from a home where his parents

are married and his mother stays home. His father works for a large company in the

city. His family is in the upper-middle class category.

◦ Education is very important to this student’s family. The parents expect students to

perform in school, complete their work and act with respect.

School Life

◦ In the classroom, the student speaks English with a heavy accent. For only being in the

United States for a year, the student has a respectable grasp on conversational English.

The student can also converse well using academic language. When the student is

expressing thoughts and cannot think of the word he is trying to use, he describes the

word using other words he knows.

◦ The student is not shy or afraid to communicate with any staff members or peers. In

addition the student is not shy to ask for help with vocabulary if needed.

Academic Challenges

◦ Because this student has a strong foundation in his first language, both conversationally

and academically, he has acquired English very quickly.

◦ However, although he has picked up the vocabulary necessary to converse, he

struggles in reading English.

◦ The student is now in a Learning Assistance Program to get him up to speed with

reading. He specifically struggles with phonics and the rules of the English language.

◦ The intervention he receives is a thirty-minute intensive session focused on word

recognition, phonics, decoding and encoding. He is expected to catch up and be on

grade-level in reading by the end of the year.

Funds of Knowledge

◦ All students come to school bearing experiences both culturally and linguistically.

These experiences must be respected and utilized to build connections with new

learning. In order to do so, teachers must have an understanding of student

background experiences. Murillo (2010) explains how teachers can learn from and

about bilingual families in order to impact students through culturally responsive

teaching. These funds of knowledge must be explicitly connected to content, literacy

goals and student knowledge and experiences (Risko & Walker-Dalhouse, 2007). Lastly,

student knowledge and experiences may not always be directly connected to

content. Dong (2013) explains how students teachers must expand their definition of

prior knowledge in order to do so.

Funds of Knowledge

◦ Linguistic-The student speaks in English at school. At home, the student speaks a

combination of English and his native language. The student’s mother does not speak

English, but his father speaks English fluently. The father works with the children and

their English nightly.

◦ Cultural-All of the student’s extended family still resides in the Ukraine. The student and

his family return to Ukraine several times a year to visit family. He says he gets annoyed

with his cousins, but likes to eat all of the food he misses while in the United States.

Funds of Knowledge

◦ Family-The student lives at home with his parents and two other siblings. His father wors

and his mother stays at home to take care of the other children. A combination of their

native language and English is spoken at home. The family spends a great deal of time

together as a family and the father works hard to help his children with English.

◦ Experiences-The student has traveled all around the world. In addition, the student is

involved in karate and other after school programs that help him socially.

◦ Practical-

Literacy Strengths

◦ The student speaks English fluently.

◦ The student has developed oral language skills.

◦ The student can follow along to a text read aloud.

◦ The student can independently read second grade, level L, texts independently.

◦ The student can discuss a text thoroughly using pictures as evidence.

◦ The student can infer character feelings and actions, as well as, analyze the plot.

◦ The student can write about reading, discussing opinions and responding to text.

◦ The student recognizes many sight words and can read known words fluently.

Challenges in Literacy

◦ The student lacks foundational knowledge in phonics. This prevents him from

successfully decoding words while reading and encoding in writing.

◦ The student also struggles to read grade-level sight words and irregularly spelled words.

◦ The student sometimes struggles with content-specific or academic vocabulary when

encountered in a nonfiction text.

Challenges with Common Core

Foundational Skills:

◦ RF.3.3.C Decode multisyllable words.

◦ RF.3.3.D. Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

Reading Informational Text:

◦ RI.3.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and

phrases in a text relevant to grade 3 topic or subject area.

References

◦ Dong, Y. R. (2013). The Bridge of Knowledge. Educational Leadership, 71(4), 30-36.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

◦ Laureate Education (Producer). (2014s). Valuing linguistic diversity [Video file].

Baltimore, MD: Author

◦ Murillo, L. (2012). Learing from bilingual family literacies. Language Arts, 90(1), 18-29.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

◦ Risko, V. J., & Walker-Dalhouse, D. (2007). Tapping students’ cultural funds of knowledge

to address the achievement gap. Reading Teacher, 61(1), 98-100. Retrieved

from the Walden Library databases.