Blog number two

Connection: Goldenberg

Prompt number two

“Sound it out, what does the first letter say?” I ask. “Hhhh” says the student.

“Good! Now say the ending.”

The child responds (slowly, hesitant) “aaa…n…d”

“Now, put it together,” I say.

The child responds (confidently), “and!”

“…not exactly, what sound does the first letter make again?” I ask.

“H”

“Add the ending.”

“h…and?”

“Good! Hand.”

Reading can be a struggle for second grader Mayra. Every day I go in, we work at sounding words out and figuring out what they mean. I have seen some improvements since my work with her. I have observed that Mayra is of Latino descent and that Spanish is spoken at home. She speaks English with a ‘Spanish’ accent, as do most of the other students at The Garden Academy. When looking at the demographics of The Garden Academy as a whole, 38% of the students are speaking the Spanish language at home. This information can be determined from the web and just by walking into the school. The school has signs in English and Spanish. I have seen some of these Spanish-speaking students and observed them first hand in the classroom. I can tell that reading is hard for most of them.

Wow, this week’s blog covers much material that can be related to Goldenberg’s “Teaching English Language Learners”. Goldenberg talks about ELL students in his article and as I mentioned, The Garden Academy has many ELL students. Goldenberg states, “ELLs learn more words when the words are embedded in meaningful contexts and students are provided with ample opportunities for their repetition and use opposed to looking up dictionary definitions or presenting words in single sentences.” The students at the Garden Academy are learning English by using it in conversations with other students and teachers. They are also reading texts where the words are embedded in stories and pictures. This supports what Goldberg says.

Another point that Goldenberg makes is to make “text in English more comprehensible by using texts with content that is familiar to students.” What happens in the classroom could link in an interesting way to this statement but instead what happens sometimes goes against Goldenberg’s statement. The Garden Academy students may not always have background knowledge to apply to school stories they are reading. So, technically, if the teacher made it a point to know what the students do/participate in outside the classroom, she could choose stories that can relate to them. They could also read stories that the teacher writes that relate to their lives from the stories they tell.

Finally, Goldenberg says “to use the primary language for clarification and explanation.” This is happening at The Garden Academy when you enter the school the signs are in English and translated into Spanish. The primary language is being used for support. Goldenberg relates to this week’s blog well.

During one of my previous visits I observed something very interesting and informative. I was working with a group of three boys, Carlos, Felipo and Gonzalo, all of which needed help reading. This is what happened. I ask, “Hey guys! You need some help reading?” Gonzalo responds, “sure, I can’t figure out this word.” “Well, let’s sound it out.” (Eventually Gonzalo understands what the word says after some assistance).

Gonzalo responds, “Thank you!” I ask Carlos if he has any questions? He responds, “No, thank you.” “ How about you, Felipo?” I ask. Carlos (interrupting) states, “Nooo, he can’t read this, he don’t read English.” Felipo (in a convinced manner) says, “I don’t know English. I can’t read this.” I (in a positive, joyful manner) say, “Oh, I think you can knock my socks off and read this. (Felipo then leans back in his chair and lets out a sigh)and says, “you just don’t get it, I don’t speak English and I can’t speak it.” I say, “Well, I think that you are a very smart person and I think that you can. Just give it a try.” Felipo eventually makes his way through the passage and is happy. I praise him and say “I knew you could do it!”

As I moved on, what happened with the boys stayed with me. I started to assume that Felipo’s parents might discourage speaking English at home. In the classroom, his classmates, Carlos and Gonzalo, were convinced he would not and could not speak English. But, he could speak the language. It was kind of funny in a sense, this little boy looking into my eyes saying as clear as day, “I don’t speak English.” One linguistic characteristic of the kids at The Garden Academy is that many students speak Spanish. This makes it difficult to learn to read. But on the other hand the culture the children are living in may make it hard for them to accept learning to speak and read English because it is not their first language.

“Are you going to the St. Patty’s parade tomorrow?” asked Charlotte. I told her I might go but I wasn’t sure yet. She continued to tell me about who in her family was coming to the parade, what they would do after the parade and what happened last year, all in an enthusiastic manner. Charlotte’s socio cultural characteristics and ethnic values were exhibited in the classroom that day. You could tell that her family and Charlotte valued family time and exciting events; it was part of her culture and her family’s culture. She also brought in from the culture that it was ok to talk to other people about what you are doing for fun, verses being silent and not sharing with others. One socio cultural characteristic and ethnic value of the students at The Garden Academy is spending time with family. The Garden Academy has other socio cultural characteristics and ethnic values coming from the parents. Such as being on time for school, listening to the person in charge, and seeing school as a fun and learning place to be. These opinions could also come from influences like older siblings in addition to the school personnel. The students at The Garden Academy bring in an interesting cultural capital to the school.

Fearlessness. The kids at The Garden Academy are fearless. They are never afraid to question someone or something. They also introduce themselves to someone new and say how they feel openly. When looking at the demographics of The Garden Academy on the web, most of the students are in living in poverty. I personally think that kids in poverty come into this world with a lot of burdens and that they must acquire the skill to be confident and stick up for themselves and their rights. Some people can take advantage of people in poverty but, for now, the kids at The Garden Academy are confident and determined. So, I do not think they will be taken advantage of. The student’s determined spirit is motivating to someone like me. The students have a cultural capital of being fearless. It is important to have fearless people in society. Although the students are fearless, they lack a sense of background knowledge and background experiences that can contribute to their ‘well roundedness’. In society if everyone has a sense of ‘well roundedness’ then the society as a whole will be smarter. When our students have an idea about the ‘outside world’ they are more aware and enter the classroom with background knowledge.