Where Im From: Inviting Students Lives into the Classroom

1
Where Im FromInviting Students Lives into the
Classroom

• In order to get students to share real thought
  and feelings, we must make them feel emotionally
  and physically safe.
• Where Im From by George Ella Lyon
• Linda Christensen, uses this poem to inspire
  students to share about themselves
• Using the parts of the poem Mrs. Christensen has
  students write their version

2
Where Im FromInviting Students Lives into the
Classroom

• In the article there are several tips to help
  students write their version of the poem.
• Teaching Strategies
• Have students recognize the line that links the
  poem forward I am from
• Write list that match the ones in the poem (i.e.
  household objects)
• Share list out loud this gives students an
  opportunity to embellish their thoughts
• Have students use the/a repeated line to link
  their poem forward
• Have students read their poem out loud and share
  what they liked about the other students poems.

3
Where Im FromInviting Students Lives into the
Classroom

• This lesson allows students to think critically
• They are able to connect the real world with
  the classroom world
• This also allows students to share personal
  cultures and allows for the celebration of
  differences.

4
An International Proverbs Project

• Project Orillas is a project to collect and
  analyze proverbs. Since 1986 a teacher, Rose
  Hernandez, has engaged in long-distance
  team-teaching with a teacher in another part of
  the world.
• The Proverbs announcement
• Best Drawing for illustrating one of the
  following proverbs "Those who live in glass
  houses should not throw stones. or It takes all
  kinds to make the world go around.
• Best Original Fable Students pick a proverb
  write an original story illustrating that
  proverb, then give the proverb at the end of the
  story as the "punch line
• Largest list of "Animal" proverbs submitted by a
  single class.
• Greatest Number of contradictory proverbs
  submitted by a single class.
• Best original asset on "what's wrong with this
  proverb"

5
An International Proverbs Project

• Mrs. Hernandez's class jumped on the boat and got
  over 100 animal proverbs. The class analyzed the
  proverbs in many ways Debating the meaning,
  making note of the frequency of use. Identified
  different versions or regional variations.
• Another classroom used the proverbs project to
  bring parents into the class and get them
  involved with their student.
• Another classroom a bilingual classroom used the
  proverbs to help teach and relate the to student
  studying proverbs in both languages.

6
An International Proverbs Project

• Another class did drawings and focus on weather
  the drawings ended up as figurative or literal
  meanings of the proverbs
• Classrooms took what they thought of as "Bad"
  proverbs such as  "A Women's place is in the
  home" and discussed them.
• Proverbs are "Short sentences drawn from long
  experience." Cervantes

7
An International Proverbs Project

• Proverbs are UniversalThe families of students
  are involved, encouraging oral histories.
  Children from families who have immigrated to
  North American can build links to their culture.
  Analyzing proverbs encourages discussion,
  critical thinking and a deromanticizd
  appreciation of culture Students studying Spanish
  gain from the cultural knowledgeYoung students
  can participate
• Proverbs encourage much longer writings

8
What Color is Beautiful?

• By Alejandro Segura-Mora
• "Young students, because of their honesty and
  willingness to talk about issues, provide many
  opportunities for teachers to take seemingly
  minor incidents and turn them into powerful
  teaching moments."

9
What Color is Beautiful?

• Mrs. Segura-Mora's multi cultural kindergarten
  class
• One child shares that he is taking pills to turn
  his skin white because he does not like his dark
  color, he does not like to be dark Unexpected
  opportunity to teach
• Nina Bonita- The story of an albino rabbit who
  meets a young dark skinned girl and wants to know
  how he can get black fur
• She polls the class to find out how many think
  the little girl is beautiful
• Only about ½ do

10
What Color is Beautiful?

• When asked why some of them do not they say
  things like, "Because she has black color and her
  hair is really curly." and "I do not like black
  girls."
• As a class they explored why some people would
  think that someone with dark skin was not
  beautiful.
• After reading the book, she asks the children the
  same question this time there are a few students
  who have changed their minds.

11
What Color is Beautiful?

• If it was not for her students, Mrs. Segura-Mora
  may not have gotten the chance to have this
  discussion with her children. As teachers we must
  always be on the look out for unexpected
  opportunities to share something new with our
  students.

12
For My People

• By Linda Christensen
• "During the years I worked at Jefferson High
  School I found it necessary to develop writing
  prompts that allowed my students to "talk back"
  to disrespectful and untrue images that the media
  and popular opinion formed about by student, my
  school, and the faculty"

13
For My People

• The students in Linda Christensens class are a
  constant target for people who are quick to pass
  judgment or buy into common stereotypes..
• In her class she uses poetry to fight this type
  of ignorance and empower her students.
• Using "For My People" by Margaret Walker as a
  model, she has her students create their own
  poems in this same style
• A way to shout out and praise things in their
  community and attempt to dispel common
  misconceptions by others

14
For My People

• She has students list communities that they
  belong to first. For example poor whites,
  working class, Norwegians, Germans, teachers,
  mothers, overweight people, environmentalists...
• A poem one of her students wrote

15
For My People- Justin Morris

• This is for my people
• who are "colored"
• who are proud.
• For my people
• who cause white women to clutch
• their purses
• who drank from different
• fountains
• who fought prejudice.
• For my people
• with kinky afros
• and gheri curls.
• For my people

• For my people
• with big lips
• and wide noses.
• For my people
• with Black power
• fingertips drenched with barbecue
• sauce.
• For the people
• with pink hearts
• and brown/black skins.
• For my people
• Stay strong.

16
Ebonics and Culturally Responsive Instruction

• By Lisa Delpit
• Understand what ebonics is, where it came from
  and what the costs of allowing students to speak
  it are.

17
Introduction

• Are Ebonics positive or negative?
• Is it detrimental to a students success?

18
Group Identity

• Before age 8-9, students try to speak like
  their teacher. After, they become aware of their
  group and use Ebonics.
• If not, they may be ousted. Ebonics taught by
  loved ones, how can it be considered wrong?

19
Strategies

• Bilingual dictionaries
• Memorizing plays
• Superheroes
• Editing papers

20
Varying Reactions

• Black children and white children recorded
  telling story.
• Black children tell stories of shifting scenes
  and longer. White tells story focused on one
  event.
• White adults said the black girls story was bad,
  she probably had family and language problems.
  Black adults thought it to be great

21
Reading

• 78 of Ebonics corrected, 27 grammar.
• While reading Standard English and speaking
  Ebonics, constantly corrected. She obviously can
  read if she can TRANSLATE!
• Oral language is instant and difficult to think
  out. Writing is easier

22
Tests

• The iz Test
• iz added after every consonant cluster.
• Maybe becomes miz-ay-biz-ee
• Atlantis English
• Compilation of social and regional dialects. Ph.D
  students had to speak.
• Failed reading, passed writing.

23
Moral

• Content Content Content
• Content Content Content
• Content Content Content
• Content Content and Content

24
Exploring Black Cultural Issues

• Black authors are absent from our schools
• Black culture centers on music and archetypes of
  popular culture
• Other topics of black culture that affect
  personal lives are ignored, i.e. Black identity,
  language, interpersonal relationships, pride in
  culture, confronting white supremacy, and
  criminal injustice.
• The author taught an African American Studies
  class in a thematically based four week unit.

25
Exploring Black Cultural Issues

• Themes... Fight the power Traditions of
  resistance, Growing up in the hood, Growing up
  black and overcoming obstacles, The struggles of
  a black woman, Black male/female relationships,
  and In my opinion The black essay.
• The students are split into theme groups, and
  given the option of a variety of books for each
  theme. Each student responsible for relating what
  they read to the theme, and reporting it back to
  the group.
• -Each week, students have a different role in the
  group. i.e. facilitator, connector, highlighter,
  and illustrator.

26
Exploring Black Cultural Issues

• For the final, "fishbowl" discussion where the
  group sits in the middle of the class and answers
  a question that had been handed to them earlier.
• Author says, "I'm finding the only way I can get
  Black and other multicultural books in the
  classroom is by breaking the mold of tradition
  and forging a path for change.