As a teacher, it is my job to help students value and understand varying cultures, societal roles, traditions, beliefs, and ideas (McKoy & Sabis-Burns, 2007). For this to be true I must begin with myself. “If teachers are expected to teach students about diversity using multicultural literature, they have to first be exposed to this literature themselves” (McKoy & Sabis-Burns, 2007, p.51). The first step of exposure was taking this class. Now that I’ve been exposed to what I lack and since I work with lower elementary students I need to read more multicultural children’s literature. Using children’s literature in my classroom will “provide students with vicarious experiences they would not otherwise have” (McKoy & Sabis-Burns, 2007, p.51) because I work in a district where the percentage of diversity is small.
I would implement a similar idea as
McKoy & Sabis-Burns (2007) did with the pre-service teachers having them “read
literature that reflected their cultural, racial or ethnic backgrounds” (p.52). I say similar because while we read the same
books I would not have my students write a paper about “how they felt the books
represented them” (McKoy & Sabis-Burns, 2007, p.52). Instead, we would make a chart listing how
these books made us feel. Another direction
I could take would be to read the books to the class and then have the students
make a video about how the books made them feel. This exercise allows them to understand
themselves, their culture, their race, their ethnicity, and their environment
more.
After reading books that reflect the student's
culture I would then go into reading multicultural children’s books. Since I work with lower elementary students “their
first exposure to others who are different takes place in the reading materials
found in their classrooms” (McKoy & Sabis-Burns, 2007, p.51). As a class, we would discuss the book and we would
fill out a Venn Diagram so that my students “see differences and similarities
and learn to appreciate both theirs and others’ cultures” ( McKoy &
Sabis-Burns, 2007, p.51).
References
McKoy Lowery, R., & Sabis-Burns, D. (2007). From borders to
bridges: Making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. Multicultural
Education, 14(4), 50–54.
https://moodle.morningside.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=1149965.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
I love the video idea. It is essential to know how our students are feeling as readers. I have seen the video review used a lot with choice boards for second graders. The video review would be more beneficial to students because it brings more of a classroom community feel to it. Sometimes, writing is hard to understand, but you can see expression and tone with a video. Have you had your students create video responses before? I am just wondering since you did not want students to write.
Hi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteI have had my students create video responses and they love doing it! I usually gain more from them this way than if they have to write. I've used Flipgrid which allows students to see other student's content. That would definitely bring the community feel to the classroom.
I've used this format because most of my students are below the benchmark for reading therefore writing is even harder. Making a video takes out the hard and allows them to speak their thoughts.
Emily-
ReplyDeleteWorking with lower elementary could be tricky. What a great idea to use a video for students to share their feelings. It is a fun way to give them voice and be able to share their own stories while also practicing their speaking skills and sharing their thoughts beyond just the classroom, making it more meaningful to them. The videos could easily be shared with the student's parents or kids in other classes if student permissions at your school allowed.
I like your idea of sharing it with the student's parents. I think this could be done easily on Google Classroom. Definitely something for me to consider and figure out!
DeleteEmily, I am so pleased to hear you say that you're going to read more multicultural literature written for the student age you teach. You are applying the ideas from class to your own teaching context, and that's exactly what I'd hoped to see.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read our texts I try to find a way that I can apply it to the age group that I work with which is Kindergarten-2nd grade primarily.
Delete