education

#ReadYourWorld

by Mia Ariela Allen

Mia is founder and Director of Professional Learning for Denver-based 4Ed Consulting. Mia currently is working with school districts nationally and internationally to develop language-rich learning environments. Mia is also a professional development facilitator and content developer for English Learner Portal.

As English Learner Portal prepares to celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day on January 25th, Mia shares her thoughts on supporting our students with literature. Hear the other English Learner Portal team members share their favorite multicultural children’s books by visiting https://englishlearnerportal.teachable.com.

Reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world, Freire & Macedo (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world.

Even if your students have not been exposed to all of the recent news stories about or even photos of refugees, they may have heard about the crisis impacting young children and families around the world. Many of our nation’s refugee families, are resettling in communities across the United States.

When we are talking to our students about the global refugee crisis, it is very important to reinforce your own student’s safety. The journey that many of our newcomers have had to take was incredibly dangerous. As you consider the students in your class, you will want to first consider these journeys and how to relate the stories about refugees to their experiences. As our students are able to begin to relate to these journeys to their own sense of safety, it will be important to first help students create their understanding of who a refugee is, where refugees may come from, and what newly arrived refugees might need to feel safe and welcomed in their new communities.

Children’s literature is an excellent way to support difficult discussions and to foster empathy and understanding about the refugee crisis. These children’s books focus on two central and common themes; the refugee journey to safety and their experiences within the new community.

I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien

K-1^st Grade Selection

This simple story is told through the eyes of three newcomer children; Jin from Korea, Fatima from Somalia, and Maria from Guatemala. All three children share the struggles of feeling safe, welcome and comfortable in their new American schools. Each student shares the challenge of communicating in English both in the classroom and on the playground. This simple and approachable story helps facilitate wonderful classroom discussion on community, collaboration, and caring for one another.

The Colour of Home by Mary Hoffman & Karin Littlewood

1^st-2^nd Grade Selection

Hassan, a 1^st grade student from Somalia talks about feeling homesick in his new community. Hassan and his family have just recently arrived in the United States after fleeing war and spending time waiting in a refugee camp. Like many newly resettled refugees, Hassan misses speaking Somali, his home, his community and is struggling to communicate in his new language, English. Hassan is especially missing his cat, Musa, who he had to leave behind. When Hassan arrives in his new home, he believes he has left all of the colours of his world behind. This incredibly vivid story helps our students feel empathy and gain a better understanding of some of the experiences a student their age may have overcome to begin a new life in a new community.

Stepping Stones- A Refugee Family’s Journey

3^rd Grade and Beyond Selection

Our final selection is a beautiful story told by Margaret Ruurs and accompanied by the art of Nizar Ali Badr. As Ruurs highlights in the forward, the rock painting illustrations were created by Nazir, an artist in Syria. The l rock illustrations highlight the story, in both English and Arabic, a journey to safety. Much like the other stories, the newly resettled family is both hopeful and thankful for their new home and community.

Additional selections to consider for your classroom library

Ada, A.(2002), I Love Saturdays and Domingos
(1998). Mariante’s Story: Painted Words & Spoken Memories.
Anzalüda, G. (1993).Friends from the Other Side
Applegate, K. Home of the Brave.
Beckwith, K. Playing War.
Bunting, E. (1993) Going Home
Burg, A. Serafina’s Promise.
Cha, D. Dia’s Story Cloth: The Hmong People’s Journey to Freedom
Choi, Y. (2001). The Name Jar
Cohen, S. Mai Ya’ Long Journey.
Danticat, E. Mama’s Nightingale: A story of immigration and separation.
Deitz-Shea, P. The Whispering Cloth
Del Rizzo, S. My Beautiful Birds
DePrince, M. Taking Flight: From War Orphanto Star Ballerina.
Duncan, D.
Flores-Galbis, E. 90 Miles to Havana
Garza, C.L. (1996). In My Family: En mi familia.
Gillick, M. Once they had a country: Two Teenage Refugees in the Second World War
Gutiérrez, R. K’naan.
Hampton, M. The Cat of Kosovo
Hoffman, M. The Color of Home
Jimenez, F. (2001). Breaking Through
Jimenez, F. (1997a) The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
Kuntz, D. Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush’s Incredible Journey
Lai, T. Inside Out and Back Again.
Laure Bondoux, A. A Time of Miracles
Lofthouse, L. Ziba Came on a Boat.
Lord, M. A Song for Cambodia
Martinez, V. (1996) Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida.
Mead, A Girls of Kosovo
McCarney, R. Where will I live.
Mikaelsen, B. Red Midnight.
Palacios, A. (1997). One City, One School, Many Foods.
Park, F. My Freedom Trip.
Paulsen, (1995). La tortelleria
Pinkey, A. The Red Pencil.
Ruurs, M. Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey (Arabic & English Edition)
Sanna, F. The Journey.
Simon, R. Oskar and the Eight Blessings.
Smith Milway, K. The Banana-Leaf Ball: How Play Can Change the World
Soto, G. (1997). Buried Onions
John, W. Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
Tsang, N. (2003) Rice All Day
Young, R.
Wild, M. The Treasure Box.
Wilkes, S. Out of Iraq: Refugees’ Stories in Words, Paintings and Music.
Williams, M. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
Williams, K. Four Feet, Two Sandals.
Woodruff, E. The Memory Coat.

Do you have a favorite multicultural children’s book you’d like to share in our online collection? Make a video of you sharing your favorite and reasons why and send it to info@englishlearnerportal.com. We’d love to have you!

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Writing with English learners: Why plagiarism is serious business

Frank Bonkowski is an educational writer, English language teacher, and e-learning specialist, passionate about learning and teaching. As a lover of writing, Frank has a twofold mission: to teach English learners to write better and to train language teachers in teaching effective academic writing. He was a teacher trainer at several universities, including McGill, Concordia, and TELUQ, a center of distance education. We are thrilled to have Frank as a member of our online course community at English Learner Portal.

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In today’s post, let’s look at ways you can help learners avoid plagiarism. The text is based on a lecture in Module 3 of my three-credit graduate course in teaching writing.

Why plagiarism is serious business

cartoongirlcomputer In this lecture, we tackle the serious problem of plagiarism. If a learner is caught plagiarizing, it can have serious consequences.

At college or university level, the least serious penalty could be getting a zero grade on an assignment; a more serious penalty would be failing the course altogether. The most serious penalty would be getting thrown out of the school.

Learners need to be able to properly paraphrase, summarize, and quote the ideas of others when doing research. In doing these things learners avoid plagiarism.

In this lecture, we’ll first look at who is guilty of plagiarism. Then, we’ll review two strategies for helping learners avoid plagiarism: taking notes and paraphrasing.

Who is guilty of plagiarism?

Ask learners if they have ever taken parts of someone’s writing without citing the source.

Ask learners if they have ever used quotations without giving credit.

Inexperienced writers make these mistakes. It’s easy, simple to do, and seems harmless. If learners haven’t mastered the intricacies of English, it may be tempting to plagiarize. This is true for both native and non-native speakers of English alike.

Plagiarism, also called “cyberplagiarism” by McWhorter, has increased dramatically with cartoonlightbulb the widespread use of the Internet (Successful 592).

It can take 3 different forms:

a) “borrowing” information from online sources without acknowledging it,
b) cutting and pasting material directly without citing the source,
c) buying essays or papers online and using them as your own work.

Copying the ideas of others is not new. Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Martial complained about others stealing his poetry.

Plagiarism is not just a violation of another’s writing. it’s also harmful to creators of music, videos, and graphics. For example, here is an interesting anecdote.

Songwriters sometimes commit plagiarism and may get heavy fines if found guilty. In 2014, the Marvin Gaye family was awarded a whopping $ 7.3 million for copyright infringement of a 1977 Gaye song by another singer.

Any way you look at it, plagiarism is theft—the stealing of somebody else’s ideas. Plagiarism is just dumb.

So how can writers avoid plagiarism or be more conscious of it?

The answer is simple. They can learn and practice how to take notes and to paraphrase.

Tip #1 for avoiding plagiarism: Take Notes

nocountryforoldmen Learners need to get into the habit of reading carefully and taking good notes.

Here is a student example using the two-column method (which I explain in another lecture of the online course) presented in an academic English classroom course I teach. The student had to take notes using an online film review.

Film: “No Country for Old Men”

Keyword and questions

Unpredictable narrative
Breathtaking
Sanguinary film
Remarkably
Sharpest

Notes (key ideas and facts) A modern movie
“Remains remarkably grounded in the everyday”
“Sharpest Coen Bros. film in years”
“Excruciating violence to ratchet up the tension”
“Shocks ’round every plot twist”

Summary:

Review by Bob Mondello , art critic: A really great movie and even the best Coen’s Brothers film in a while.

The movie has a surprising narration and is remarkably authentic and realistic.

The violence keeps the tension high and shocks viewers at every turn in the plot.

Tip #2 for avoiding plagiarism: paraphrase

Paraphrasing is a restatement of an original text in the writer’s own words. It could be a restatement of an entire sentence, part of a sentence, or one or more paragraphs, written in about the same length as the original.

It shows that a writer understands clearly the meaning of the original text. Paraphrasing is a useful way for all writers, but particularly non-native speakers of English, to improve their writing skills.

Here is a useful 10-point paraphrasing checklist you can share with your students.

checklist

Sources:

Douglas, Scott Roy. Academic Inquiry: Writing for Post-secondary Success. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.

McWhorter, Kathleen T. Successful College Writing: Skills, Strategies, Learning Styles. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.

Williams, Julia. “Unit 4: Art History.” Academic Connections 4. White Plains: Pearson Education, 2010. 75+. Print.

For more helpful teaching tips, enroll now in Teaching Writing to Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners and earn 3 university credits.

In the next blog post, we will take a look at the SQ3R method based on a lecture in Module 4 of the writing course.

JOIN me on June 28 for a 2-hour online writing workshop

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Increase Equity through Family Engagement

Today’s blog is written by Laura Gardner. Laura has 16 years of experience working in public education, refugee resettlement, and social work. While in public education, she worked as a district level manager for immigrant family and community engagement as well as a school social worker. Learn more about Laura on our English Learner Portal website.

20 Ways to Increase Equity through Family Engagement with English Learners & Immigrants by Laura Gardner

Making international families feel welcome and included in your school is crucial to building success for students. Not only can you increase family engagement through language access, it is also a legal responsibility. What does your school system offer? How can you raise the bar for your school and classroom? Take a look at the tips below!

At the school level

Translate your parent newsletter – and all information going home to parents! – into the major languages of your school community. This includes information about field trips, after-school programs, and extra-curricular activities.
Make sure non-English speaking parents know it’s their right to ask for an interpreter when they’d like one and that they know how to request one.
Offer English Learner and immigrant parents an orientation workshop (or video) in their language with information about your school and how to get involved.
Talk to English Learner and immigrant parents about the concept of “parent involvement” in the U.S. and expectations around it. Make sure parents understand it is not disrespectful for them to visit school and/or ask the teacher questions.
Make sure signage is translated by the front door of the school and in the front office.
Translate report card comments or have a mechanism in place for parents to call and get oral assistance understanding the comments.
Consider overhauling how you do Back to School Night or Open House to make it more accessible and less confusing for all Advocate for as many interpreters as you need.
Balance the family events in your school in such a way that some events are 1.) for all parents (with interpretation provided for parents needing it) and other events are 2.) just for English Learner / immigrant parents (typically funded by Title III) so that they can hear the information in their language and topics can be specifically geared towards immigrants.
Make sure your parent events or opportunities are linked to students’ learning! For example, potlucks are nice, but why not choose a high-impact family engagement strategy? (Check out our online course on immigrant family engagement for loads of ideas.)
Advocate, advocate, advocate for immigrant families’ needs. But don’t only advocate for the Spanish-speakers!

At the district level:

Make sure your legal office is aware of all federal, state, and local language access laws.
Make sure interpretation and translation services are budgeted for! Do not rely on Title III for all needs. Be aware of “supplement vs. supplant.”
Consider having a language access committee or task force that includes staff from multiple offices such as communications, ESOL/English Learners, and family engagement. That said, no matter the size of the district, make sure there is at least one person at the central office who is ultimately responsible for language access.
Provide multilingual outreach for all district-wide invitations to events or activities. Never attempt to document the need for interpretation services at a particular event unless the outreach for such event was translated.
Make sure all information going home to parents from the central office is translated into the district’s most dominant languages. This includes information about any gifted and talented programs, magnet programs, and any other accelerated programming. This also includes information about the budget and any opportunities to weigh in on the budget.
Make sure all robo-calls and/or text messages are sent out in the major languages of the community, particularly for emergency situations.
Make sure the district has a contract with a phone interpretation system. It is the cheapest and most convenient form of instantaneous language access there is.
Provide training for staff on language access laws and how to work with interpreters.
Provide simultaneous interpretation for school board meetings (via headsets and equipment), particularly for opportunities for public comment.
Don’t forget about all of the language backgrounds besides Spanish! While it may not be legally required and/or cost efficient to create written translations for smaller language groups, be sure to have other mechanisms in place for parents in those communities to access the information (i.e. through your phone interpretation system, etc.).

Can you think of other ways? Comment below and join in the conversation!

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10 Possible Alternatives to “International Night”

Today’s blog is written by Laura Gardner. Laura has 16 years of experience working in public education, refugee resettlement, and social work. While in public education, she worked as a district level manager for immigrant family and community engagement as well as a school social worker. Learn more about Laura on our English Learner Portal website.

Many schools across the U.S. host international or multicultural nights each year. At intnight these events, students and/or their families typically set up tables to highlight their countries and cultures and the rest of the students and families walk from table to table sampling food and looking at artifacts and maps. While organizers of these events have good intentions and aim to honor their students’ cultural backgrounds, sometimes these events can seem tokenistic. How can we build family comfort in schools throughout the school year? With 79% of teachers in the U.S. being white* and 25% of students being children of immigrants, getting to know the cultural backgrounds of students requires a deeper dive.

There are often two goals of international nights. The first is for students to learn more about other cultures and the second is for teachers to learn more about the backgrounds of their students and their families. With those goals in mind, what are 10 possible alternatives to international night?

Invite immigrant parents or community members to speak in your class about their background and culture or a particular topic (i.e. a Vietnamese refugee could speak to students who are learning about the Vietnam war, etc.).
Invite immigrant parents or community members to come to the classroom and share a story from their home country.
Visit the main places your students and their families spend their time (places of worship, stores, community centers, neighborhoods, etc.).
Travel as much as possible outside of the United States, particularly to the home countries of your students. Talk with students and their families about your experiences.
Conduct an immigrant parent panel. For this professional learning opportunity, invite 3-6 immigrant parents to form a panel. Have one educator ask questions to each parent such as “Can you tell us about schools in your home country?” and so on. Be sure to provide teachers in the audience with an opportunity to ask their own questions.
Invite immigrant parents to provide input on the rules and values that are practiced at school. Discuss any “cultural mismatches” between home and school.
Take an interest in immigrant parents’ approach to raising their children. Ask questions about their family life.
Ask immigrant parents or community members for information needed. Every time you seek background information on something from another country or culture, ask a parent from that culture (or student, if appropriate) to tell you what they know about that topic. For example, if you have a lesson on Chinese New Year, find a Chinese parent in your school or community leader to talk to for more information and/or invite the person to speak directly with your students. Resist the urge to Google for lesson plans when you have direct sources of information nearby.
Invite immigrant parents or community members to provide input on the curriculum.
Help students make connections between what they’re studying and the immigrant communities in their own town. For example, an IB (International Baccalaureate) class studying India could visit a local Indian organization rather than visiting the Indian embassy.

When you are ready to plan your schedule of parent/community events, please visit the English Learner Portal Resource Center for a free “Planning Checklist for ELL Family Nights”. You will find this document in the Family Engagement folder.

*https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf

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