Context
My learners:
23 students: 11 boys and 12 girls, all ages 10-12.
3 students are native English speakers
19 are native Spanish speakers
1 student natively speaks an indigenous language from Guatemala
2 learners are offered special services as they struggle with reading comprehension
The school:
SWCC is public K-8 school that runs a dual language immersion program. Starting in third grade, language arts is taught in English. It is considered a low-income school; the majority of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. The district provides the school with a curriculum, down to daily lesson plans for Language Arts.
The community:
SWCC is located in the Roosevelt Parks Neighborhood, which is a predominantly latino community. There are also a large number of African Americans who live in the community.
My unit:
Because my students are predominantly latino, I purposefully included poems that were written by latino authors. If I were in a school with more resources, I might have divided students into groups and had some work with a paraprofessional, or I may have had more opportunities to integrate technology. There might also be options for outside projects, as parents in other districts might be better equipped (language and time wise) to help with these types of projects.
23 students: 11 boys and 12 girls, all ages 10-12.
3 students are native English speakers
19 are native Spanish speakers
1 student natively speaks an indigenous language from Guatemala
2 learners are offered special services as they struggle with reading comprehension
The school:
SWCC is public K-8 school that runs a dual language immersion program. Starting in third grade, language arts is taught in English. It is considered a low-income school; the majority of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. The district provides the school with a curriculum, down to daily lesson plans for Language Arts.
The community:
SWCC is located in the Roosevelt Parks Neighborhood, which is a predominantly latino community. There are also a large number of African Americans who live in the community.
My unit:
Because my students are predominantly latino, I purposefully included poems that were written by latino authors. If I were in a school with more resources, I might have divided students into groups and had some work with a paraprofessional, or I may have had more opportunities to integrate technology. There might also be options for outside projects, as parents in other districts might be better equipped (language and time wise) to help with these types of projects.