'Tis the Season for TAMALES!

     Being a teacher is one of the greatest jobs ever! 

This week I had the greatest opportunity to share my family Christmas tradition with two second grade classrooms. I shared with my students how my family gets together every Christmas and make tamales for our Christmas Eve dinner tradition. We read the wonderful written and illustrated book "Growing up with Tamales" by Gwendolyn Zepeda and illustrated by April Ward. This wonderful story not only shares with students the ingredients needed for tamales, but also reflects how in our culture the chore assigned to you, in the making of tamales, is based on your age!
Our students loved the story! Students were able to create a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting their life to the main character's life!

Now, the highlight of the day was making the tamales after reading the story. I brought all the ingredients to prepare the tamales in the classroom! Students watched me prepare the masa...but a Hispanic student in the classroom modeled for the class how to prepare it and wrap it!
Each and every student made and ate their own tamale....I think out of two classes only 5 students did not want to eat it :)

I think the best part of this experience was giving our Hispanic students the opportunity to share a little bit of their culture, food, and language with the rest of the class! They felt really special! 

Preparing the Masa

Karen showing students how to make a tamale

Students making their own tamale

Students enjoying their own tamale

The most amazing book to teach about tamale making!

ESL Resources for Classroom Teachers

     I love the beginning of a school year. New staff, new classroom decor, new ideas...a fresh start!
As I was planning my year for my ELL (English Language Learners), I realized that in order for them to reach their highest potential, I needed to do more.  You see, I teach students whose English language is not proficient...for all language domains. My job is to help them develop linguistically and at the same time excelling academically...what a CHALLENGE! You might notice that I too need to develop my writing skills! This is because I faced the same challenge my students face....Language Development!  I was born in Guatemala and lived there for 15 years of my life. When I came to this country I didn't speak, read, write, nor understood English. Thanks to a very good ESL program at the high school I was enrolled, I was able to learn English and achieve my goal in life...BE a TEACHER!
So I decided, to better serve my students this year, to partner up with classroom teachers. I believe that in order to support my students learning an effective partnership between core and language teachers, is a must! 

     My first small step was to invite classroom teachers to my classroom and share a few resources. 

• I shared what an ACCESS for ELLs is (Assessing Communication and Comprehension in English from State to State).

• I shared the CAN Do's for ELLs, and  

• ELD standards/Language Objectives, and other resources!

     I'm hoping that by sharing this very important topics, our students develop even more not only linguistically but also academically!  

I'm looking forward to see our students grow this year!!

Teachers adding student's names to their CAN DO charts

Myself! Explaining how we use the ACCESS scores

Diana Tirado Explaining CAN DOs

Teams trying to decipher each letter for ACCESS

Teachers trying to decipher what ACCESS stands for!

 

Using Poetry to develop ELL's language skills

     In Guiding Readers and Writers, Fountas and state, “When you immerse your students in rich, lively poetry, you introduce them to intense, concise, skillfully crafted language.”

     After reading this quote, I was convinced that POETRY was the genre I needed to use with my 4th graders. At first I thought that it was going to be hard for them especially because of the similes, metaphors, and the intense language. However, they were fascinated!!! After learning a few elements and "how-to-read a poem" rule, they were immersed!!  

     Since my PD is on implementing the Reader's Workshop model in my Pull-out group, I thought I would share how this genre has helped me develop the workshop model. I start my providing a mini-lesson (lot's of modeling), next we work as a group, then individual reading (conferences), we finalized with a moment to share! I'm also having my students make the anchor charts for this unit....not too neat...but they're excited about their work!

     We had a great week reading a variety of poems. Next week we will be learning about Jorge's life through poems. I can't wait!! 

Enjoying Poetry! 

Poetry is a type of literature in which the sound and meaning of language are compiled to create ideas and feeling. "

------Arbuthnot

Literacy Night,

     I was super excited to be part of WM Irvin's first LITERACY night!!! Sarah and I had the opportunity to provide a session for our Latino parents.....in Español!!!
     Our session was based on guided reading levels. We explained parents how students are placed at each reading level, and informed them of the level that correspond to each grade level. We also displayed textbooks ranging from A to Z to give parents an idea of the text their students should be bringing home and reading. We emphasized the importance of reading every night for at least 20 minutes using the picture below!
     We had a good turn-out at our session....however, I was blown away when I went to the cafeteria and saw all the parents and students that attended the literacy night. Overall I thought it was a great success, and I have no doubt that our parents and students had a great time! Events like this would definitely bring our community and school closer together.

8 Ways to Foster Reading Growth in Multilingual Learners

     I chose to apply the Readers' Workshop Model in my pull-out ESL classes as my professional development this year.
     I have learned, through workshop trainings, the procedures to implement the Readers' Workshop Model, but I have not found enough strategies for teaching reading to ELLs' WHILE supporting LANGUAGE acquisition. This is why I found this information very useful.
     If you follow the link below, you can read with more details the 8 strategies that the author of Reading Problems: Assessment and Teaching Strategies recommends. These strategies not only provide a number of things to do to engage bilingual learners in reading, but also provide ways to teaching reading to ELLs' while supporting their language acquisition. This is an outline of the strategies provided in the book:

1. Use English Books.
2. Use Bilingual Books. 
3. Provide Many Opportunities to Use English.
4. Use Conversation About Books to Foster Natural Language Use. 
5. Use Language-Based Approach. 
6. Use Cooperative Learning.
7. Foster Home-School Collaboration.
8. Collaboration in the School.

     I think these strategies a great and will definitely help me while applying the Workshop model, and supporting my students' language acquisition.   

8 Ways to Foster Reading Growth in Multilingual Leaners

Bilingual Family Night for ELL Families

   
      This article begins by sharing an activity a teacher did during a Latino parent night. All the parents were asked to write their child's name on a sticky note and paste it on the board. When all 33 post-its were on the board, she stated "50% of Latino students drop out of school by 9th grade." She then removed half of the post-its. "Another 20% drop out of high school before grade 12." She removed another bunch. "Another 10% are not able to pass the required tests and do not get a diploma." She remove some more. The room was quiet as they all stared at the 5 post-its left on the board. The activity was closed as she takes one post-it and tells them how one of 5 will receive a college degree. The teacher used this activity to express the importance of a strong support at school and at home.
     This activity was shocking, however, its a reality. And I truly believe this is what our Latino parents at Irvin Elementary need, "A Wake-up Call"!  This article goes on explaining the important role parents play in the students' academic development. It also provides several ideas on hosting bilingual family nights.
     Last month Sarah Doyle and I hosted our first bilingual meeting with out Latino parents. We had 30+ parents and 35+ students. There was no doubt that our parents were very comfortable and happy to be part of this event. However, after the meeting I was thinking on ways to make these meetings more meaningful.  After reading this article, I now have lots of ideas to host the meetings, and a better idea on what information to share with them. If you are reading this blog, consider following the link and reading the article, and perhaps you'll want to join our next Latino/bilingual meeting in January! :)

Bilingual Family Night for Ell Families

Con Respeto By Guadalupe Valdes

    
      This book was based on a study by Guadalupe Valdes, where she focused on the lives of 10 families.  She spent three years observing the struggles and hardships that come along with trying to succeed in an unfamiliar society. The study took place in a town called Las Fuentes, along the US-Mexico borderlands, focusing particularly on the poorest area of the town known as “el barrio”. This side of the city emitted a feeling of transience rather than permanence. There was no sense of ‘community’ and most families were left on their own, or with their family ‘collective unit’, to navigate through unfamiliar territory, including the educational system. Valdes hoped to show that Mexican parents do know how to parent, but their parenting styles are a product of their class, culture, and experiences.  They are very unlike the ‘standard’ American family (p. 39).  What seemed to stand out was the fact that the women were the ones who kept things together. They did not seek individual fulfillment, instead focused on their families. As Valdes says, “They were focused on living out their roles in life as they understood them.” Indeed, the interpretation of what is considered ‘making it’ varies a great deal in the United States compared to Mexican ideals. Money, prosperity and materialism is not the primary goal for these families. They simply want to survive. 

     Ms. Doyle and I thought that a great way to implement what we learned in this book is to invite our ESL students' parents to our school once a quarter. In this meetings we will talk to them about ways they can be involved in our school, and ways they can help their children with school work. Our intentions are not to change these families' life style, but perhaps educate them about our school system and the expectations we have for all students. This meetings will take place in spanish so our parents should feel comfortable and have a sense of welcoming.