making more connections! cross cultural2 making connections—february, ‘04 making...

◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ February, 2004 ◆

Also in this issue...

A publication of the Department of Language and Cultural Equity

—continued on page 2—

❖ Pioneers of the American Southwest... a traveling exhibit❖ Instituto para el desarrollo de la lectoescritura❖ Scaffolding Mathematics for all Learners❖ A Curriculum Alignment Plan in a Dual Language Setting...❖ Expanding Story Patterns, Expanding Possibilities❖ Making More Connections!

Eugene Field Strives for Multicultural Education,Social Action, and Awareness

By James D. Luján, Principal, Eugene Field Elementary

OOOOOVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWOur schools are a reflectionof our society where peoplefrom different ethnic, racial,and cultural groups live inclose physical proximity.However, just because agroup of people coexist, itdoes not mean that theyknow, relate to, and caredeeply about one another.The challenge for educatorsis to teach students tounderstand unfamiliargroups, cultures, traditions,and languages.

Multicultural education isn’tsomething that educators need to add add add add add to existingcurriculum as separate lessons or units. It canand should be an integral part of everything thathappens in the classroom. Almost all aspects ofmulticultural education are interdisciplinary.Curriculum and instruction should always reflect

the learner, their immediatesocial context, and theworld in which they live.

LLLLLEADERSHIPEADERSHIPEADERSHIPEADERSHIPEADERSHIP INININININ M M M M MULTICULTURALULTICULTURALULTICULTURALULTICULTURALULTICULTURAL

EEEEEDUCATIONDUCATIONDUCATIONDUCATIONDUCATION,,,,,SSSSSOCIALOCIALOCIALOCIALOCIAL A A A A ACTIONCTIONCTIONCTIONCTION, , , , , ANDANDANDANDAND

AAAAAWARENESSWARENESSWARENESSWARENESSWARENESSJames A. Banks hasidentified five dimensionsof multicultural education.They are contentintegration, the knowledgeconstruction process,prejudice reduction, an

equity pedagogy, and an empowering school cultureand social structure. As an instructional leader, itis essential that I facilitate these dimensions invarious ways, such as setting an example in myown work; ensuring that Eugene Field is a sitewhere empowering and anti-discriminatoryeducation occurs; and encouraging teachers andstudents to demonstrate their own social andcultural uniqueness. At Eugene Field we strive ona daily basis to create lived experiences thatreflect the five dimensions which I describethrough examples below.

Content Integration deals with the involvementof teachers using examples and content from avariety of cultures and groups to illustrate keyconcepts, generalizations, and issues within thesubject area or disciplines. During literacy block,students read literature which reflects theircultures and write about their own lives. On alarger scale, I support activities like InternationalWeek Celebration, where each classroom

Principal Luján works with studentson their writing during literacy block.

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.

Making more connections!

❖ Southwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageTeaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,LeadershipLeadershipLeadershipLeadershipLeadership: March 25-27, 2004, Hyatt RegencyDowntown, Albuquerque. For more information,contact Nancy Oakes at [email protected].

❖ TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:March 31-April 3, 2004; Long Beach ConventionCenter, Long Beach, California. For more information,go to the TESOL website at http://www.tesol.org andclick on “2004 TESOL Convention.”

Cross CulturalResource Library

Important announcement regardingImportant announcement regardingImportant announcement regardingImportant announcement regardingImportant announcement regardinglibrary hours...library hours...library hours...library hours...library hours...

Department of Language and Cultural EquityCity Centre, 6400 Uptown NE, Suite 601 West, Albuquerque, NM 87110

Phone—505.881.9429; Fax—505.872.8859; Web—www.lcequity.com

Director: Lynne RosenALS Coordinators: Nana Almers,

Doddie Espinosa, and Jesús RevelesALS/Special Education/LAS Coordinator:

Yvette MontoyaMulticultural Education Coordinator:

Joycelyn JacksonTitle VII Project Coordinator:

Rosa OsbornTranslation and Interpretation Services Coordinators:

Tomás Butchart and Jason Yuen

Making Connections is a publication of theDepartment of Language and Cultural Equity,Albuquerque Public Schools; it is distributed tothe Board of Education, district administratorsand departments, and all schools. Please directquestions and comments to the editors:Dee McMann and Nancy Lawrence, 881.9429.

Making Connections is printed byAPS Office Services.

Special thanks for their expert help!

Lina Friedenstein has begun a study group atEugene Field Elementary for teachers to

improve speaking, reading, and writing skills inSpanish. As a bilingual teacher and president of theHispano Educators Association, Ms. Friedensteinheard of teachers’ desire to improve their academicSpanish. Study group participants learn strategies forteaching students in their native language. The goalof the group is to accelerate the learning of Spanish-speaking students in their first language while theylearn English.

This opportunity was open to all schools, and schoolsstipended their teachers through professionaldevelopment funds. Participants are from EugeneField, La Mesa, and Alamosa elementary schools.

The Library Specialist will be on maternityleave from March 8 until May 3.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to finda temporary replacement. Therefore, duringthat time, the library will be open Monday,Monday,Monday,Monday,Monday,Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00

p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. for patrons to access the collection. Thedrop box is always available for material

being returned. Oversized material can beleft at the Unified Library near the east

entrance to Montgomery Complex.Thank you!

FYIBack issues of Making Connections are nowarchived and may be downloaded from theLanguage and Cultural Equity website,www.lcequity.com. Check it out!

Lina Friedenstein works with participants onacademic literacy skills in Spanish.

Coming Events

LLLLLIBRARYIBRARYIBRARYIBRARYIBRARY S S S S SPECIALISTPECIALISTPECIALISTPECIALISTPECIALIST: JoAnn Gonzales: JoAnn Gonzales: JoAnn Gonzales: JoAnn Gonzales: JoAnn Gonzales883.0440, ext. 147883.0440, ext. 147883.0440, ext. 147883.0440, ext. 147883.0440, ext. 147

◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆2

—continued from page 1—represents a different country. Students researchthe culture, resources, language, music, food,etc., and share with other classrooms what theyhave learned. Teachers are encouraged tointegrate this research into content-areacurriculum throughout the year.

The Knowledge Construction Process describeshow students learn to understand, investigate,and determine how biases, frames of reference,and perspectives within the different contentareas influence the ways in which knowledge hasbeen historically constructed. Students learnhow to build self-knowledge and how theiridentities are being socially and institutionallyconstructed. Eugene Field enjoys a biliterate andmulticultural environment. As principal, Iencourage several strategies. Students can dothe following: •identify their historical and cultural origins in the content; •respond through activities and assignments which are accepted as their unique cultural expressions; •receive instruction in Spanish; and •learn in an environment that reflects both Spanish and English, e.g., social studies reports may be written in English, class book reports in Spanish.

Prejudice Reduction occurs through providingstudents with activities and lessons created byteachers and school personnel that help developpositive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic,and cultural groups. When issues of prejudice dooccur, we address them through open dialogueand consciousness-raising and community-building activities with guidance from the schoolcounselor. Teachers implement lessons thatinclude content about various racial and ethnicgroups which help our students to develop morepositive images of all groups.

An Equity Pedagogy is developed when teachersmodify their teaching in ways that will facilitatethe academic achievement of minority anddiverse students. This occurs when teachers shifttheir “traditional” instructional methods toutilizing cooperative learning strategies; whenteachers create an atmosphere where all are

valued and supported; and when teachersencourage students from different racial groupsto work together. Teachers at Eugene Field meeton a weekly basis to collaborate about ways thatthey can transform their instruction. They areredefining learning as a co-construction ofexperiences, knowledge, new learning, andperspectives of both teachers and students. Myrole is to support the teachers by providingstipends to pay for these meetings, constantlygiving feedback and encouragement, and offeringsuggestions to move toward a multiculturalapproach in curriculum and pedagogy foreducating our students.

An Empowering School Culture and SocialStructure is created when the culture andorganization of the school are transformed inways that enable students from diverse racial,ethnic, and gender groups to experience equalityand equal status. When students learn contentthat reflects who they are and who others are,they learn about their world from theperspectives of various groups that have shapedhistorical and contemporary events. Given ourstrong curriculum, we believe that our studentswill become biliterate, competitive, andknowledgeable, thus better able to participate insociety in personal, social, and equitable ways.

Schools are faced with many problems, many ofwhich can be resolved by transforming ourschools in ways that reflect the very studentsthey are supposed to serve. Schools built upon amulticultural curriculum can begin to close theachievement gap; help students growacademically; revitalize faith and trust in thepromises of democracy, equality, and socialjustice; build education systems that reflect thediverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and socialcontributions that forge society; and providebetter opportunities for all students.

ReferencesBanks, J. A. (1995). Multicultural Education: HistoricalDevelopment, Dimensions, and Practice. In J. A. Banks & C.A. Banks (Eds.). Handbook of Research on MulticulturalEducation. (pp. 3-24). New York: Macmillian.

Gay, G. (2004). “The Importance of MulticulturalEducation.” Educational Leadership, December 2003/January2004, pp. 30-35.

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students’ work, but equally important to remember thateach individual is unique and brings his own experiencesto literacy learning in school. While the different culturesin our classrooms need to be acknowledged andcelebrated, there is more we need to do.

In Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, PaulineGibbons calls for the explicit teaching of differentpatterns, or text types, for students who are learning in asecond language or who are new to academic language.She believes in analyzing each genre of writing withstudents in order to give them a semantic map forstudying it. In teaching writing, she asks teachers tomodel each type of writing for students, then construct asimilar piece of writing with the group, and only thenwould she ask students to try writing a piece on theirown. Gibbons suggests that models of reports, narratives,letters, etc., be posted in classrooms to help guidestudents’ writing. Graphic organizers to structure writingand help with format are necessary. Rubrics let studentsknow specific qualities of exemplary work and makeexpectations clear. While some teachers worry thatexplicit modeling will limit their students’ imaginationand autonomy, it in fact gives them a wider range oftools to use in making their own decisions about whatform their writing will take.

The idea of cultural story patterns is also important whenlooking at student writing. While we might not know thetraditional story structure for every student, we can beaware that what seems like a divergent story pattern maybe caused by a culturally-influenced semantic map. Wecan point out the pattern in a specific genre of writingassigned, but we should be careful in judging a creativepiece as “wrong” when it may simply reflect culturaldifferences. What if Sandra Sisneros’s teachers hadinsisted she change her style? The wonderful book, AHouse on Mango Street might never have been written.Or Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima withoutcontradictions and digressions...? Different writingpatterns are often what make our lives as readers so rich.

In all that we do, we must be aware of our students —where they began their journey, what experiences haveshaped them, and how we can help them move forward.Culture is part of the mosaic, and many of our studentshave a foot in more than one culture and operate in morethan one language. Part of our responsibility as educatorsis to help all of them live comfortably and productively inmany worlds and cultures.

A Selection of Common CulturalStory Patterns

ENGLISH Linear construction:United States

Topic idea idea ideaBritain

Hint hint hint conclusion

SEMITIC (Old Testament)Parallel construction of stories; thereader makes the connections:

Story…

Story…

Story…

SOME ASIAN LANGUAGESCircular story with eight hints:

SOME ROMANCE LANGUAGESBuild up to a conclusion withdigressions, rich detail, and elaboratelanguage:

—continued from page 10—

SOME AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGESFour major events, rich details, often aformulaic introduction and summaryending: Opening…

EventEvent

EventEvent

Ending

◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆ 3

I watch as a small group of eighth gradersstands in front of an old photograph. Thestudents are looking at a man on horseback,holding the reins looking like the quintessentialcowboy. The image, dated 1911, is of GeorgeMcJunkin, a ranch foreman and discoverer ofthe Folsom fossil site. Mr. McJunkin is black.

“Did you know that African Americans werecowboys too?” I ask the group. “Yes,” comesthe response. “Our teacher told us.”

The photograph is part of an amazing collectionthat is available to schools as a traveling exhibit.The exhibition, Pioneers of the AmericanSouthwest,,,,, is from the Charlie MorriseyResearch Hall, a division of African AmericanStudies at the University of New Mexico. Thephotographs document the achievements andcontributions of people of African descent inNew Mexico and the Southwest, showingimages of African American cowboys, cooks,soldiers, scouts, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists,politicians, community leaders, and manyothers whose presence and whose contributionshave often been overlooked.

Although New Mexico is often said to have a“tri-cultural heritage,” Pioneers of the AmericanSouthwest helps students learn a morecomplete history of our state and one thatreflects the true diversity and multiculturalismof our past and present. As exhibit coordinatorCharles Becknell Jr. explained to students atTruman Middle School recently, “The problemwith being a tri-cultural state is that it leavessome people out. And when you are left out,you become invisible, and being invisibledoesn’t feel very good.”

This exhibit is appropriate for students andteachers from elementary through high school.For information on how to schedule thetraveling exhibit for your school, please contact:

Picturing African Americans in the Southwest—a traveling museum exhibit

Charles Becknell Jr. speaks to studentsat Truman Middle School about the

presence of African Americans in theSouthwest. To help students

understand more about the thousandsof people of African descent who

settled on the frontier, he presented“Pioneers of the American

Southwest,” a collection of rarephotographs by and about Blackpeople here in New Mexico and

neighboring states. These engagingphotographs are available to schools

as a traveling exhibit. Contactinformation for Mr. Becknell Jr. and

the “Pioneers of the AmericanSouthwest” exhibit is listed above.

Charles Becknell Jr., Program CoordinatorThe Charlie Morrisey CollectionsAfrican American StudiesUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerque, New Mexico 87131505.277.4883

by Greg Hansen

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In her presentation at La Cosecha, KathyEscamilla, Ph.D. (University of Colorado,Boulder) talked about the importance ofincorporating Latino children’s literature intoliteracy programs. The stories of Alma Flor Ada,Gary Soto, and Rudolfo Anaya are rich withexperiences shared by many of our students,and making their stories a part of literacyprograms is essential. However, it was the nextpart of her presentation that was most rivetingfor me. She presented the elements of Spanishstory structure and then noted that the Englishstory structure is quite different.

At La Cosecha, Dr. Escamilla read two stories byfourth graders—one that had an individualfocus, a linear pattern, and a happy ending; andthe other, a story with digressions, rich visualimages, and several contradictions. This was herkey point: if she had read the second storywithout telling her audience about elements ofSpanish story structure, the reaction for many

might have been that the story was engaging,full of wonderful images, but neverthelesshopelessly disorganized.

The idea that story patterns are not universal,but vary from culture to culture, has hugeimplications for teachers. As one kindergartenteacher said, “I always wondered why some ofmy students seemed to have such troubleunderstanding simple folk and fairy tales. Thatparticular pattern of story-telling is so much apart of my inner map that I just assumed it wasthe same for everyone. I think I’ll spend muchmore time looking at story structure with mystudents from now on!”

That’s what Dr. Escamilla calls languagetransparency—what people know about theirfirst language and culture is such a part of themthat they don’t notice that it is there. Bothteachers and students bring their own culturalnorms with them. They are reflected in eachstudent’s writing, in the understanding andempathy each has for the stories he reads, andthe background knowledge he brings to hisunderstanding of them. As teachers, we need tobe aware of our students’ cultural and discoursepatterns. We also can’t assume that everyonehas the same “inner map,” even within the samecultural group. It’s important to be aware ofgeneral cultural patterns that may be present in

We were celebrating Thanksgiving with our Grandma andGrandpa. And my two sisters went to the backyard with ourgrandparents. Grandpa is in the cage getting a chicken andgrandma was getting them by the neck. And then Grandma cuttheir heads off. We didn’t have enough money to buy a turkey.Grandma decided to make a chicken. I was dropping mysnowcone. My sister was looking at the suffering chicken.Grandma left her coffee on a green chair by the tree. Mygrandma was trying to get the terrified chicken. The black dogwas throwing saliva because he was starving. Then we decidedto go inside. Then we cooked the chicken, and we had a niceThanksgiving day. Even if we didn’t have a turkey.


by Kathy Waldman

A group of students in Mr. Manny Ramos’sclass at Atrisco Elementary work

on a story based on an illustration fromCarmen Lomas Garza’s “Family Pictures.”

In this story, The Suffering Chicken, written cooperatively by asmall group of students, many of the elements of Spanish story

structure can be seen. As teachers conferencing with youngauthors, we have important decisions to make about pointingout differences in organization while respecting the wonderful

visual images and word choices in such a story.

Expanding Story Patterns, Expanding Possiblities...

Spanish story structure

•polemic/struggle•contradictions•digression•group focus•visual image•family unity

•problem/resolution•happy ending•linear logic•individual focus•visual images•family conflict

English story structure


La enseñanza de la lectoescritura requiere laimplementación de diversas actividades queconlleven al estudiante a la adquisición dellenguaje escrito. Para lograr el dominio de lalectoescritura se deben desarrollar procesossimultáneos de decodificación y codificación dellenguaje oral así como también la comprensiónde la lectura. Basados en estos principios, enseptiembre de 2003, bajo la dirección de EliaMaría Romero, Susana Ibarra-Johnson, AnnetteMaestas y Cecilia Gonzales de Tucker, delDepartamento de Equidad de la Lengua y laCultura, nos reunimos para establecer elInstituto para el desarrollo de la lectoescritura.El próposito de este instituto es proveerinstrumentos pedagógicos que apoyan elproceso de aprendizaje de la lectoescritura, paralas maestras y los maestros de los programasbilingües, con la finalidad de mejorar losmétodos de enseñanza que garanticen el éxitoacadémico.

A continuación presentamos una entrevista conElia María Romero con el fin de compartirinformación sobre la filosofía y el métodofreiriano, conocido como Fono-AnalíticoSintético (FAS).

¿Nos puede hablar de su educación y trabajo entorno a la lectoescritura en Nicaragua y aquí enlos Estados Unidos?Mi trabajo en Nicaragua inicialmente fue elparticipar en una Campaña Nacional deAlfabetización en el año de 1979. Como una delas tareas de la revolución, se me asignó trabajaren la parte Atlántica de Nicaragua, donde lamayoría de las personas de ese lugar hablabandiferentes dialectos indígenas, español e inglés.Teníamos que organizar un programa dealfabetización multicultural y bilingüe para esaregión que nunca había tenido la oportunidad derecibir educación bilingüe, como es su derechohumano. Paulo Freire, uno de los grandes líderesy defensor de las masas oprimidas, llegó comoasesor de la campaña. Nos recomendó que paralograr una alfabetización liberadora los ciudanosde Nicaragua tenían que recibir por primera vezuna educación en su idioma materno. El métodoconsistía en escribir cartillas con temasrelacionados a la realidad de esa región. Yoparticipé en la organización del currículo de estaregión con ayuda de Paulo Freire. Se organizabantalleres de educación, programación ycapacitación educativa (TEPCE). Allíorganizamos todo el programa, y la campaña fueun éxito. Teníamos muchos maestros de NuevoMéxico y especialmente maestros deAlbuquerque. Ellos también nos ayudaron en laalfabetización bilingüe. Esa experienciaenriquecedora me ayudó cuando llegué a losEstados Unidos ya que pude hacer conexionesporque era la misma realidad y problemática queexistían en los Estados Unidos en cuanto a laeducación bilingüe.

Freire habla de la conexión entre laalfabetización y el contexto sociocultural.¿Puede comentar sobre este tema?Freire siempre enfatizó la conexión entre laalfabetización y el contexto sociocultural en lasmasas oprimidas. La cultura y la experiencia de lagente son la base del proceso de su liberación.

Instituto para el desarrollode la lectoescritura

por Susana Ibarra Johnson y Cecilia Gonzales de Tucker

—continúa en la pagina 5—

Maestras de la escuela Valle Vista participandoen el Instituto Freiriano para la lectoescritura.

9


team consistent in the language used to teach agiven content area, or was each teacherfollowing his or her own plan? If, in fact, eachteacher was following his or her own plan, howdid that affect the next grade level? Were somestudents fluent in the Spanish of third grademath while some were more comfortable doingmath in English?

Later, a grid was devised for each grade-levelgroup to input the language used to teach eachcontent area including the four blocks inliteracy development. In this way the entiredual language program could be seen at aglance: grades pre-K to fifth were listed on theside and content areas were listed along the top.The first thing that was noticed was that mathwas being taught in Spanish in each grade level!The lack of English language developmentthrough math created a large gap for ourstudents as they entered middle school. Wouldthere be a Spanish-language math program atthat level? If not, had we, as a school, preparedour students to benefit from English languageinstruction? These basic activities wereenormously eye-opening and helpful.

Many teachers saw that they needed to makeadjustments to their program to stay in linewith the 90/10 model. In addition, the need forhigh-quality, focused professional developmentbecame clearer. As more English-dominantstudents join our dual language program,teachers are shifting their instructional practiceto include not only well-sheltered lessons, butdirect language arts instruction in Spanish.

East San José has found the CAP process to beessential as we begin each new school year.Teachers new to our school benefit from a clearunderstanding of the dual language programand more veteran teachers refocus with eachnew group of students. The CAP processprovides excellent professional developmentinformation. Sheltering strategies have recentlytaken center stage as we discuss and share waysto scaffold both content and language learning.This year the dual language staff has focused onthe ways in which teachers add English

instruction year by year, as the percentage ofEnglish is increased from 10% in kindergartenand first grade to 50% by the second semesterof fourth grade. We have had to look carefullyat our Four Blocks literacy framework to seewhere more direct English instruction makessense as well as the content activities thatwould provide our students with theopportunity to practice and use academicEnglish with their peers.

We have also focused our financial resources onmaterials and teaching aids that support high-level literacy development in both languages.East San José students need to be able to readand use as a resource appropriate contentmaterial at advanced reading levels in bothlanguages. The CAP gives us the information weneed to pinpoint the level, language, andsubject areas for ordering materials that bestserve our students.

The Curriculum Alignment Plan has given EastSan José the structure to study and improve theeffectiveness of our dual language program.We invite schools who may be looking for asimilar structure to contact us!

Jardineros del Corazón, East San José’senvironmental sciences program, includes math,

science, and literacy development in planningand maintaining our gardens. Here, students

record weather patterns.


—continuación de la pagina 4—Cada persona tiene un pensamiento crítico y se ledebe tratar como un ser humano que tiene supropia voz. Hablar de Freire es percibir al maestrocomo estudiante y al estudiante como maestro, esdecir todos enseñan y todos aprenden.

¿Nos puede hablar sobre las fases del métodoFono-Analítico Sintético?Paulo Freire revolucionó la enseñanza de lalectoescritura en los idiomas en donde la unidadbásica es la sílaba, como lo es en portugués,español, etc. El método Fono-Analítico Sintéticosigue el proceso siguiente.

Milliones de niños y adultos alrededor del mundohan aprendido a leer su mundo a través de estemétodo. Aquí en Estados Unidos se ha utilizado enlas comunidades empobrecidas y en las cárcelescon buenos resultados.

Queremos agradecerle a Elia María su dedicacióna los niños y maestros de Nuevo México y suapoyo en el proceso educativo. Ha sido un placerpara nosotras dos trabajar en este instituto conuna colega que tiene tanto conocimiento de losinstrumentos pedagógicos necesarios paramejorar el proceso de la adquisición de lalectoescritura en los programas bilingües. GraciasElia María.

Una lección usando el método FAScon el tema de las calabazas...

Experiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losjuegos...juegos...juegos...juegos...juegos...La maestra les enseña a los estudiantesuna calabaza y hablan sobre las características dela calabaza, luego pueden cantar una canción,Calabaza, calabaza, para practicar el sistema decodificación del lenguaje oral para luegotransferirlo al lenguaje escrito.

Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...La maestra lee un libro relacionado con lascalabazas ya sea ficción o realidad, p. ej., Tómas yla calabaza. Esto le permitirá al niño percibir ellenguaje escrito como un proceso gradual dondenotará reglas de correspondencia entre fonemas ygrafemas.

Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...La maestra comienza el diálogo preguntándoles“¿Qué saben ustedes de las calabazas?” Escribe lasoraciones. Luego ella les da información sobrecalabazas usando vocabulario e informaciónacadémico. Escribe las oraciones en el tablero.

Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Elige una oración que tenga una palabrarelacionada con el tema y que se pueda dividir ensílabas.

Ej. La calabazacalabazacalabazacalabazacalabaza tiene mucha vitamina C y zinc.

Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...La palabra que la maestra elige tiene que tenersignificado y las sílabas apropiadas según el nivelde lectoescritura de los alumnos.

calabaza calabaza calabaza calabaza calabaza

Dividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras consignificado...significado...significado...significado...significado...

Ejemplo:ca la ba zaco lo bo zocu lu bu zu

li bi zile be ze

Ejemplos de palabras:cubo, cazo, ala, ola, acá

Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Ejemplo de oraciones: El cubo tiene muchos lados.

Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Los estudiantes pueden escribir un cuento, unpoema, una anécdota, una canción, etc.

Método Fono-Analítico SintéticoExperiencia

con ellenguaje oraly los juegos

Lee en voz alta

Discusión delcuento

Saca una oraciónclave

Escoge unapalabra consignificado

Dividen en sílabasy forman palabrascon significado

Forman oraciones

Escritura creativa

➠➠

➠➠

➠

➠➠

➠

Elia María Romero

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8—continued on page 9—

In 1995, East San JoséElementary School began the

exciting process of developing adual language program. Like many

schools in Albuquerque, for many years EastSan José had a traditional maintenance programthat relied on resource teachers to maintain andbuild on the students’ Spanish language skills.While a maintenance strand was retained toaccommodate those parents who preferred thatprogram, the dual language strand has grown tothe point that this year there are twenty-twodual language classes ranging from pre-Kto the 5th grade. The growth of our programhas caught the attention of families outsideour neighborhood who would like theirchildren to become bilingual and biliterate.As a result, our student population is slowlybecoming more diverse, with many morenative English speakers opting for duallanguage instruction. While we celebrate thegrowth of our program, the success of ourstudents, and the professionalism andpreparation of our teachers, we know that thework of improving never ends.

About four years ago, one of our resourceteachers, Regina Whitmore, attended apresentation given by Rosa Molina of RiverGlenn Elementary School in California, in whichshe described a CAP, or Curriculum AlignmentPlan. This plan was based on the notion that adual language program constantly needed to befine-tuned in the amount of time instructionwas provided in each of the languages, whichcontent areas were taught in each language,and the methodology and materials used toprovide that instruction. Regina thought thatEast San José would benefit from this processand presented it to the principal, RichardBaldonado. And so CAP was launched!

The staff began by looking again at the researchfor effective dual language education. Thecriteria for a high-quality dual languageenvironment hinge on an additive model, whereboth languages are given equal value, they areused both in the service of content instructionand in language arts, they are kept separate,and students are given many variedopportunities to practice each one.

The first activity was to revisit our adopted90/10 dual language program and calculateexactly how many classroom minutes thatmodel provided in each language. We had toconsider what the language of instruction wasin classes such as library, physical education,music, art, and computers and include that inour calculations. Each teacher was then askedto list all of the content areas he or she coveredin a week and list the language used to teachthem. Did their lists conform to the 90/10model? Then grade-level teachers shared theirlists with one another. Was the grade-level

A Curriculum Alignment Plan in aDual Language Setting...by Ruth Kriteman, Resource Teacher, East San José E.S.

Making Every Minute Count—

Students use graphic organizers to tielanguage and content together. Here, a

student has illustrated and used keyvocabulary to describe the water cycle.

The Curriculum Alignment Plan has givenEast San José the structure to study and improvethe effectiveness of our dual language program.

◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆6—continued on page 7—

There is a common misconception amongteachers that mathematics is one content area inwhich second language learners will not struggle.Reasons for this thinkinginclude the notion thatnumbers and algorithms canbe taught and understoodindependently of language.While this may seem to betrue, it is only if arithmeticproblems involve “nakednumbers,” i.e., numbers withno connection to a problemor real world situation.

In working with third gradestudents at Adobe AcresElementary School this year, we learned that itwas impossible to teach mathematics withoutconsidering the needs of second languagelearners. The experiences that follow took placein Melissa Evans’s third grade dual languageclassroom, where each content area is taughtalternately in English and Spanish for nine weeks.

As teachers, we may not always delve into thecomplexity of multiplication and division. Mostof us remember how to do long division throughmemorizing the steps of divide, multiply,subtract, and bring-down. But this only works ifwe are given the problem with the dividend anddivisor already set up, such as: 528/16 =❑.

However, when children are given situatedproblems where they must determine whichnumbers are useful and what to do with them, itis extremely important that challenges for secondlanguage learners be considered. Think about thefollowing set of problems:1. Robert has 3 packages of pencils. There are 12 pencilsin each package. How many pencils does he have in all?2. Robert gives 3 pencils to each of his friends. Howmany friends can get 3 pencils each?3. What if Robert shares his pencils equally amonghimself and 11 friends? How many pencils does eachperson get?Problems from Everyday Mathematics, Grade 3, p.35, 1998.

Mathematics educators describe each of thesedifferently. When the number and size of groupsare known, the problem involves multiplication.

When either the numberor the size of the sets isunknown, it is division.(Van de Walle, J., Elementaryand Middle School Mathematics...,2001) Within multiplicationand division there arefurther categories. Thefirst problem above ismultiplication and isnamed “equal groups withwhole unknown.” The

second is “measurement division with equal groups,number of groups unknown.” The third is“partition division, equal groups: size of groupsunknown.” While children don’t need to knowthese categories, as teachers we must be awarethat each requires a different way of thinkingand grouping or sorting to solve the problem.

Now let us look at some of the language issuesinvolved in these problems. Outside of themathematical question, in problem 1, studentshave to know what “packages” means and alsodistinguish between “in each” and “in all.”

The second problem is even more challenging.Children see two numbers in this problem, andif divided, they equal 1; if multiplied, they equal9. Neither of these results answers the question.To answer problem 2, children must use theresult of problem 1, yet nowhere is this explicitlystated. If a child has experienced a mathematicsprogram in which all the problems are presentedas naked numbers or the word problems arestraightforward and follow an algorithmic model,he or she may be especially confused bysituational word problems.

In the third problem, students face a similardilemma. There is only one number to deal with,and it has not been used before, though theproblem still involves Robert and pencils.

Scaffolding Mathematics for all Learnersby Gregg McMann, Mathematics Resource Teacher, Adobe Acres E.S.

Denisse, Roberto, and Diana (left to right)work on making sense of a division problem.

7


“Among” and “himself” confused students atfirst. Also, the answer here is supposed to be in“persons,” but the question discusses ”friends.”As in problem 2, the answer from problem 1must be used to reach a solution.

It helps second language learners to make amatrix to categorize the information they haveand/or need. We used the matrices below.

2.

3.

Introducing these matrices and other graphicorganizers helped second language learnersorganize their thinking and capture ideas aboutknowns and unknowns. Using this matrix alsointroduced a new word, “per,” that confused ourstudents until we discussed what it meant.Through discussion, the students defined it as“for each.” Denisse mentioned “miles per hour,”and this helped the students agree that “foreach” made sense.

In this third grade class, we spent two daysdiscussing the three problems and determiningwhich number would go where in the matrix.We did not try to answer the problem at first;rather, our time was spent understanding thelanguage, vocabulary, the question, and whatwe knew from the information that was given.

To help the children fill in the information andfind the solution, we gave them objects tocount, such as Unifix cubes. For example, we

read problem 3 together and defined the numberfor each group. We counted Robert as 1 and thenadded 11 more. This told us we needed 12 circles orgroups on the paper. We then took 36 objects torepresent the pencils and put one in each groupuntil all were placed. We saw that each personwould get three pencils.

In this way, we discussed each problem as a wholegroup and then broke into pairs or triads to workon a solution. We returned to the whole group toshare ideas, allowing students to practice andrefine their language while they clarified themathematics. This process was repeated for eachproblem until we were all satisfied with a solution.

Finally, we asked the children to create a numbermodel to represent the question. They kept thegroups, objects, and matrices in front of them tohelp think through what the model would looklike. The students knew the three numbersinvolved, but this was still challenging becausethe information in the matrices did not alwaysalign with the number model. In problem 1 it did;the matrix numbers were 3, 12, and unknown, asin the number model: 3 x 12 = ❑. But in problem2, the matrix numbers were 12, 3, and unknown.The number model was: 36 / 3 =❑. In problem 3,the matrix numbers were 12, unknown, and 36.But the number model was: 36 / 12 = ❑. WhenOlivia saw this, she said, “Oh, we’re switching 3and 12 because they’re different things!”

This experience with multiplication and divisionwas but one of many lessons we taught. It isimportant for all learners, but especially secondlanguage learners, to take the time to makemeaning of the mathematical problems theyencounter. Shared reading, whole groupdiscussion, and structured peer interaction allhelped children understand the task. Thesestudents now readily use manipulatives whenconfronting a new problem and informationmatrices as graphic organizers to help them get ahandle on the numbers in a question. They havealso learned to use prior knowledge, orinformation from a previous question, to helpsolve problems. We will continue to revisitmultiplication and division this year and beyond,but now the children will bring new strategiesand understandings to their efforts.

packages pencils per package pencils

num

bers

units

friends pencils per friend pencils

num

bers

units

Robert andfriends pencils per person pencils

num

bers

units

1.


—continuación de la pagina 4—Cada persona tiene un pensamiento crítico y se ledebe tratar como un ser humano que tiene supropia voz. Hablar de Freire es percibir al maestrocomo estudiante y al estudiante como maestro, esdecir todos enseñan y todos aprenden.

¿Nos puede hablar sobre las fases del métodoFono-Analítico Sintético?Paulo Freire revolucionó la enseñanza de lalectoescritura en los idiomas en donde la unidadbásica es la sílaba, como lo es en portugués,español, etc. El método Fono-Analítico Sintéticosigue el proceso siguiente.

Milliones de niños y adultos alrededor del mundohan aprendido a leer su mundo a través de estemétodo. Aquí en Estados Unidos se ha utilizado enlas comunidades empobrecidas y en las cárcelescon buenos resultados.

Queremos agradecerle a Elia María su dedicacióna los niños y maestros de Nuevo México y suapoyo en el proceso educativo. Ha sido un placerpara nosotras dos trabajar en este instituto conuna colega que tiene tanto conocimiento de losinstrumentos pedagógicos necesarios paramejorar el proceso de la adquisición de lalectoescritura en los programas bilingües. GraciasElia María.

Una lección usando el método FAScon el tema de las calabazas...

Experiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losExperiencia con el lenguaje oral y losjuegos...juegos...juegos...juegos...juegos...La maestra les enseña a los estudiantesuna calabaza y hablan sobre las características dela calabaza, luego pueden cantar una canción,Calabaza, calabaza, para practicar el sistema decodificación del lenguaje oral para luegotransferirlo al lenguaje escrito.

Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...Lee en voz alta...La maestra lee un libro relacionado con lascalabazas ya sea ficción o realidad, p. ej., Tómas yla calabaza. Esto le permitirá al niño percibir ellenguaje escrito como un proceso gradual dondenotará reglas de correspondencia entre fonemas ygrafemas.

Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...Discusión del cuento...La maestra comienza el diálogo preguntándoles“¿Qué saben ustedes de las calabazas?” Escribe lasoraciones. Luego ella les da información sobrecalabazas usando vocabulario e informaciónacadémico. Escribe las oraciones en el tablero.

Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Saca una oración clave...Elige una oración que tenga una palabrarelacionada con el tema y que se pueda dividir ensílabas.

Ej. La calabazacalabazacalabazacalabazacalabaza tiene mucha vitamina C y zinc.

Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...Escoge una palabra con significado...La palabra que la maestra elige tiene que tenersignificado y las sílabas apropiadas según el nivelde lectoescritura de los alumnos.

calabaza calabaza calabaza calabaza calabaza

Dividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras conDividen en sílabas y forman palabras consignificado...significado...significado...significado...significado...

Ejemplo:ca la ba zaco lo bo zocu lu bu zu

li bi zile be ze

Ejemplos de palabras:cubo, cazo, ala, ola, acá

Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Forman oraciones...Ejemplo de oraciones: El cubo tiene muchos lados.

Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Escritura creativa...Los estudiantes pueden escribir un cuento, unpoema, una anécdota, una canción, etc.

Método Fono-Analítico SintéticoExperiencia

con ellenguaje oraly los juegos

Lee en voz alta

Discusión delcuento

Saca una oraciónclave

Escoge unapalabra consignificado

Dividen en sílabasy forman palabrascon significado

Forman oraciones

Escritura creativa

➠

➠➠

➠➠

➠➠

➠

Elia María Romero

➠

8—continued on page 9—

In 1995, East San JoséElementary School began the

exciting process of developing adual language program. Like many

schools in Albuquerque, for many years EastSan José had a traditional maintenance programthat relied on resource teachers to maintain andbuild on the students’ Spanish language skills.While a maintenance strand was retained toaccommodate those parents who preferred thatprogram, the dual language strand has grown tothe point that this year there are twenty-twodual language classes ranging from pre-Kto the 5th grade. The growth of our programhas caught the attention of families outsideour neighborhood who would like theirchildren to become bilingual and biliterate.As a result, our student population is slowlybecoming more diverse, with many morenative English speakers opting for duallanguage instruction. While we celebrate thegrowth of our program, the success of ourstudents, and the professionalism andpreparation of our teachers, we know that thework of improving never ends.

About four years ago, one of our resourceteachers, Regina Whitmore, attended apresentation given by Rosa Molina of RiverGlenn Elementary School in California, in whichshe described a CAP, or Curriculum AlignmentPlan. This plan was based on the notion that adual language program constantly needed to befine-tuned in the amount of time instructionwas provided in each of the languages, whichcontent areas were taught in each language,and the methodology and materials used toprovide that instruction. Regina thought thatEast San José would benefit from this processand presented it to the principal, RichardBaldonado. And so CAP was launched!

The staff began by looking again at the researchfor effective dual language education. Thecriteria for a high-quality dual languageenvironment hinge on an additive model, whereboth languages are given equal value, they areused both in the service of content instructionand in language arts, they are kept separate,and students are given many variedopportunities to practice each one.

The first activity was to revisit our adopted90/10 dual language program and calculateexactly how many classroom minutes thatmodel provided in each language. We had toconsider what the language of instruction wasin classes such as library, physical education,music, art, and computers and include that inour calculations. Each teacher was then askedto list all of the content areas he or she coveredin a week and list the language used to teachthem. Did their lists conform to the 90/10model? Then grade-level teachers shared theirlists with one another. Was the grade-level

A Curriculum Alignment Plan in aDual Language Setting...by Ruth Kriteman, Resource Teacher, East San José E.S.

Making Every Minute Count—

Students use graphic organizers to tielanguage and content together. Here, a

student has illustrated and used keyvocabulary to describe the water cycle.

The Curriculum Alignment Plan has givenEast San José the structure to study and improvethe effectiveness of our dual language program.


La enseñanza de la lectoescritura requiere laimplementación de diversas actividades queconlleven al estudiante a la adquisición dellenguaje escrito. Para lograr el dominio de lalectoescritura se deben desarrollar procesossimultáneos de decodificación y codificación dellenguaje oral así como también la comprensiónde la lectura. Basados en estos principios, enseptiembre de 2003, bajo la dirección de EliaMaría Romero, Susana Ibarra-Johnson, AnnetteMaestas y Cecilia Gonzales de Tucker, delDepartamento de Equidad de la Lengua y laCultura, nos reunimos para establecer elInstituto para el desarrollo de la lectoescritura.El próposito de este instituto es proveerinstrumentos pedagógicos que apoyan elproceso de aprendizaje de la lectoescritura, paralas maestras y los maestros de los programasbilingües, con la finalidad de mejorar losmétodos de enseñanza que garanticen el éxitoacadémico.

A continuación presentamos una entrevista conElia María Romero con el fin de compartirinformación sobre la filosofía y el métodofreiriano, conocido como Fono-AnalíticoSintético (FAS).

¿Nos puede hablar de su educación y trabajo entorno a la lectoescritura en Nicaragua y aquí enlos Estados Unidos?Mi trabajo en Nicaragua inicialmente fue elparticipar en una Campaña Nacional deAlfabetización en el año de 1979. Como una delas tareas de la revolución, se me asignó trabajaren la parte Atlántica de Nicaragua, donde lamayoría de las personas de ese lugar hablabandiferentes dialectos indígenas, español e inglés.Teníamos que organizar un programa dealfabetización multicultural y bilingüe para esaregión que nunca había tenido la oportunidad derecibir educación bilingüe, como es su derechohumano. Paulo Freire, uno de los grandes líderesy defensor de las masas oprimidas, llegó comoasesor de la campaña. Nos recomendó que paralograr una alfabetización liberadora los ciudanosde Nicaragua tenían que recibir por primera vezuna educación en su idioma materno. El métodoconsistía en escribir cartillas con temasrelacionados a la realidad de esa región. Yoparticipé en la organización del currículo de estaregión con ayuda de Paulo Freire. Se organizabantalleres de educación, programación ycapacitación educativa (TEPCE). Allíorganizamos todo el programa, y la campaña fueun éxito. Teníamos muchos maestros de NuevoMéxico y especialmente maestros deAlbuquerque. Ellos también nos ayudaron en laalfabetización bilingüe. Esa experienciaenriquecedora me ayudó cuando llegué a losEstados Unidos ya que pude hacer conexionesporque era la misma realidad y problemática queexistían en los Estados Unidos en cuanto a laeducación bilingüe.

Freire habla de la conexión entre laalfabetización y el contexto sociocultural.¿Puede comentar sobre este tema?Freire siempre enfatizó la conexión entre laalfabetización y el contexto sociocultural en lasmasas oprimidas. La cultura y la experiencia de lagente son la base del proceso de su liberación.

Instituto para el desarrollode la lectoescritura

por Susana Ibarra Johnson y Cecilia Gonzales de Tucker

—continúa en la pagina 5—

Maestras de la escuela Valle Vista participandoen el Instituto Freiriano para la lectoescritura.

9


team consistent in the language used to teach agiven content area, or was each teacherfollowing his or her own plan? If, in fact, eachteacher was following his or her own plan, howdid that affect the next grade level? Were somestudents fluent in the Spanish of third grademath while some were more comfortable doingmath in English?

Later, a grid was devised for each grade-levelgroup to input the language used to teach eachcontent area including the four blocks inliteracy development. In this way the entiredual language program could be seen at aglance: grades pre-K to fifth were listed on theside and content areas were listed along the top.The first thing that was noticed was that mathwas being taught in Spanish in each grade level!The lack of English language developmentthrough math created a large gap for ourstudents as they entered middle school. Wouldthere be a Spanish-language math program atthat level? If not, had we, as a school, preparedour students to benefit from English languageinstruction? These basic activities wereenormously eye-opening and helpful.

Many teachers saw that they needed to makeadjustments to their program to stay in linewith the 90/10 model. In addition, the need forhigh-quality, focused professional developmentbecame clearer. As more English-dominantstudents join our dual language program,teachers are shifting their instructional practiceto include not only well-sheltered lessons, butdirect language arts instruction in Spanish.

East San José has found the CAP process to beessential as we begin each new school year.Teachers new to our school benefit from a clearunderstanding of the dual language programand more veteran teachers refocus with eachnew group of students. The CAP processprovides excellent professional developmentinformation. Sheltering strategies have recentlytaken center stage as we discuss and share waysto scaffold both content and language learning.This year the dual language staff has focused onthe ways in which teachers add English

instruction year by year, as the percentage ofEnglish is increased from 10% in kindergartenand first grade to 50% by the second semesterof fourth grade. We have had to look carefullyat our Four Blocks literacy framework to seewhere more direct English instruction makessense as well as the content activities thatwould provide our students with theopportunity to practice and use academicEnglish with their peers.

We have also focused our financial resources onmaterials and teaching aids that support high-level literacy development in both languages.East San José students need to be able to readand use as a resource appropriate contentmaterial at advanced reading levels in bothlanguages. The CAP gives us the information weneed to pinpoint the level, language, andsubject areas for ordering materials that bestserve our students.

The Curriculum Alignment Plan has given EastSan José the structure to study and improve theeffectiveness of our dual language program.We invite schools who may be looking for asimilar structure to contact us!

Jardineros del Corazón, East San José’senvironmental sciences program, includes math,

science, and literacy development in planningand maintaining our gardens. Here, students

record weather patterns.


I watch as a small group of eighth gradersstands in front of an old photograph. Thestudents are looking at a man on horseback,holding the reins looking like the quintessentialcowboy. The image, dated 1911, is of GeorgeMcJunkin, a ranch foreman and discoverer ofthe Folsom fossil site. Mr. McJunkin is black.

“Did you know that African Americans werecowboys too?” I ask the group. “Yes,” comesthe response. “Our teacher told us.”

The photograph is part of an amazing collectionthat is available to schools as a traveling exhibit.The exhibition, Pioneers of the AmericanSouthwest,,,,, is from the Charlie MorriseyResearch Hall, a division of African AmericanStudies at the University of New Mexico. Thephotographs document the achievements andcontributions of people of African descent inNew Mexico and the Southwest, showingimages of African American cowboys, cooks,soldiers, scouts, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists,politicians, community leaders, and manyothers whose presence and whose contributionshave often been overlooked.

Although New Mexico is often said to have a“tri-cultural heritage,” Pioneers of the AmericanSouthwest helps students learn a morecomplete history of our state and one thatreflects the true diversity and multiculturalismof our past and present. As exhibit coordinatorCharles Becknell Jr. explained to students atTruman Middle School recently, “The problemwith being a tri-cultural state is that it leavessome people out. And when you are left out,you become invisible, and being invisibledoesn’t feel very good.”

This exhibit is appropriate for students andteachers from elementary through high school.For information on how to schedule thetraveling exhibit for your school, please contact:

Picturing African Americans in the Southwest—a traveling museum exhibit

Charles Becknell Jr. speaks to studentsat Truman Middle School about the

presence of African Americans in theSouthwest. To help students

understand more about the thousandsof people of African descent who

settled on the frontier, he presented“Pioneers of the American

Southwest,” a collection of rarephotographs by and about Blackpeople here in New Mexico and

neighboring states. These engagingphotographs are available to schools

as a traveling exhibit. Contactinformation for Mr. Becknell Jr. and

the “Pioneers of the AmericanSouthwest” exhibit is listed above.

Charles Becknell Jr., Program CoordinatorThe Charlie Morrisey CollectionsAfrican American StudiesUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerque, New Mexico 87131505.277.4883

by Greg Hansen

10

In her presentation at La Cosecha, KathyEscamilla, Ph.D. (University of Colorado,Boulder) talked about the importance ofincorporating Latino children’s literature intoliteracy programs. The stories of Alma Flor Ada,Gary Soto, and Rudolfo Anaya are rich withexperiences shared by many of our students,and making their stories a part of literacyprograms is essential. However, it was the nextpart of her presentation that was most rivetingfor me. She presented the elements of Spanishstory structure and then noted that the Englishstory structure is quite different.

At La Cosecha, Dr. Escamilla read two stories byfourth graders—one that had an individualfocus, a linear pattern, and a happy ending; andthe other, a story with digressions, rich visualimages, and several contradictions. This was herkey point: if she had read the second storywithout telling her audience about elements ofSpanish story structure, the reaction for many

might have been that the story was engaging,full of wonderful images, but neverthelesshopelessly disorganized.

The idea that story patterns are not universal,but vary from culture to culture, has hugeimplications for teachers. As one kindergartenteacher said, “I always wondered why some ofmy students seemed to have such troubleunderstanding simple folk and fairy tales. Thatparticular pattern of story-telling is so much apart of my inner map that I just assumed it wasthe same for everyone. I think I’ll spend muchmore time looking at story structure with mystudents from now on!”

That’s what Dr. Escamilla calls languagetransparency—what people know about theirfirst language and culture is such a part of themthat they don’t notice that it is there. Bothteachers and students bring their own culturalnorms with them. They are reflected in eachstudent’s writing, in the understanding andempathy each has for the stories he reads, andthe background knowledge he brings to hisunderstanding of them. As teachers, we need tobe aware of our students’ cultural and discoursepatterns. We also can’t assume that everyonehas the same “inner map,” even within the samecultural group. It’s important to be aware ofgeneral cultural patterns that may be present in

We were celebrating Thanksgiving with our Grandma andGrandpa. And my two sisters went to the backyard with ourgrandparents. Grandpa is in the cage getting a chicken andgrandma was getting them by the neck. And then Grandma cuttheir heads off. We didn’t have enough money to buy a turkey.Grandma decided to make a chicken. I was dropping mysnowcone. My sister was looking at the suffering chicken.Grandma left her coffee on a green chair by the tree. Mygrandma was trying to get the terrified chicken. The black dogwas throwing saliva because he was starving. Then we decidedto go inside. Then we cooked the chicken, and we had a niceThanksgiving day. Even if we didn’t have a turkey.


by Kathy Waldman

A group of students in Mr. Manny Ramos’sclass at Atrisco Elementary work

on a story based on an illustration fromCarmen Lomas Garza’s “Family Pictures.”

In this story, The Suffering Chicken, written cooperatively by asmall group of students, many of the elements of Spanish story

structure can be seen. As teachers conferencing with youngauthors, we have important decisions to make about pointingout differences in organization while respecting the wonderful

visual images and word choices in such a story.

Expanding Story Patterns, Expanding Possiblities...

Spanish story structure

•polemic/struggle•contradictions•digression•group focus•visual image•family unity

•problem/resolution•happy ending•linear logic•individual focus•visual images•family conflict

English story structure


—continued from page 1—represents a different country. Students researchthe culture, resources, language, music, food,etc., and share with other classrooms what theyhave learned. Teachers are encouraged tointegrate this research into content-areacurriculum throughout the year.

The Knowledge Construction Process describeshow students learn to understand, investigate,and determine how biases, frames of reference,and perspectives within the different contentareas influence the ways in which knowledge hasbeen historically constructed. Students learnhow to build self-knowledge and how theiridentities are being socially and institutionallyconstructed. Eugene Field enjoys a biliterate andmulticultural environment. As principal, Iencourage several strategies. Students can dothe following: •identify their historical and cultural origins in the content; •respond through activities and assignments which are accepted as their unique cultural expressions; •receive instruction in Spanish; and •learn in an environment that reflects both Spanish and English, e.g., social studies reports may be written in English, class book reports in Spanish.

Prejudice Reduction occurs through providingstudents with activities and lessons created byteachers and school personnel that help developpositive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic,and cultural groups. When issues of prejudice dooccur, we address them through open dialogueand consciousness-raising and community-building activities with guidance from the schoolcounselor. Teachers implement lessons thatinclude content about various racial and ethnicgroups which help our students to develop morepositive images of all groups.

An Equity Pedagogy is developed when teachersmodify their teaching in ways that will facilitatethe academic achievement of minority anddiverse students. This occurs when teachers shifttheir “traditional” instructional methods toutilizing cooperative learning strategies; whenteachers create an atmosphere where all are

valued and supported; and when teachersencourage students from different racial groupsto work together. Teachers at Eugene Field meeton a weekly basis to collaborate about ways thatthey can transform their instruction. They areredefining learning as a co-construction ofexperiences, knowledge, new learning, andperspectives of both teachers and students. Myrole is to support the teachers by providingstipends to pay for these meetings, constantlygiving feedback and encouragement, and offeringsuggestions to move toward a multiculturalapproach in curriculum and pedagogy foreducating our students.

An Empowering School Culture and SocialStructure is created when the culture andorganization of the school are transformed inways that enable students from diverse racial,ethnic, and gender groups to experience equalityand equal status. When students learn contentthat reflects who they are and who others are,they learn about their world from theperspectives of various groups that have shapedhistorical and contemporary events. Given ourstrong curriculum, we believe that our studentswill become biliterate, competitive, andknowledgeable, thus better able to participate insociety in personal, social, and equitable ways.

Schools are faced with many problems, many ofwhich can be resolved by transforming ourschools in ways that reflect the very studentsthey are supposed to serve. Schools built upon amulticultural curriculum can begin to close theachievement gap; help students growacademically; revitalize faith and trust in thepromises of democracy, equality, and socialjustice; build education systems that reflect thediverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and socialcontributions that forge society; and providebetter opportunities for all students.

ReferencesBanks, J. A. (1995). Multicultural Education: HistoricalDevelopment, Dimensions, and Practice. In J. A. Banks & C.A. Banks (Eds.). Handbook of Research on MulticulturalEducation. (pp. 3-24). New York: Macmillian.

Gay, G. (2004). “The Importance of MulticulturalEducation.” Educational Leadership, December 2003/January2004, pp. 30-35.

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students’ work, but equally important to remember thateach individual is unique and brings his own experiencesto literacy learning in school. While the different culturesin our classrooms need to be acknowledged andcelebrated, there is more we need to do.

In Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, PaulineGibbons calls for the explicit teaching of differentpatterns, or text types, for students who are learning in asecond language or who are new to academic language.She believes in analyzing each genre of writing withstudents in order to give them a semantic map forstudying it. In teaching writing, she asks teachers tomodel each type of writing for students, then construct asimilar piece of writing with the group, and only thenwould she ask students to try writing a piece on theirown. Gibbons suggests that models of reports, narratives,letters, etc., be posted in classrooms to help guidestudents’ writing. Graphic organizers to structure writingand help with format are necessary. Rubrics let studentsknow specific qualities of exemplary work and makeexpectations clear. While some teachers worry thatexplicit modeling will limit their students’ imaginationand autonomy, it in fact gives them a wider range oftools to use in making their own decisions about whatform their writing will take.

The idea of cultural story patterns is also important whenlooking at student writing. While we might not know thetraditional story structure for every student, we can beaware that what seems like a divergent story pattern maybe caused by a culturally-influenced semantic map. Wecan point out the pattern in a specific genre of writingassigned, but we should be careful in judging a creativepiece as “wrong” when it may simply reflect culturaldifferences. What if Sandra Sisneros’s teachers hadinsisted she change her style? The wonderful book, AHouse on Mango Street might never have been written.Or Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima withoutcontradictions and digressions...? Different writingpatterns are often what make our lives as readers so rich.

In all that we do, we must be aware of our students —where they began their journey, what experiences haveshaped them, and how we can help them move forward.Culture is part of the mosaic, and many of our studentshave a foot in more than one culture and operate in morethan one language. Part of our responsibility as educatorsis to help all of them live comfortably and productively inmany worlds and cultures.

A Selection of Common CulturalStory Patterns

ENGLISH Linear construction:United States

Topic idea idea ideaBritain

Hint hint hint conclusion

SEMITIC (Old Testament)Parallel construction of stories; thereader makes the connections:

Story…

Story…

Story…

SOME ASIAN LANGUAGESCircular story with eight hints:

SOME ROMANCE LANGUAGESBuild up to a conclusion withdigressions, rich detail, and elaboratelanguage:


SOME AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGESFour major events, rich details, often aformulaic introduction and summaryending: Opening…

EventEvent

EventEvent

Ending

◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ Making Connections—February, ‘04 ◆◆ February, 2004 ◆

Also in this issue...

A publication of the Department of Language and Cultural Equity


❖ Pioneers of the American Southwest... a traveling exhibit❖ Instituto para el desarrollo de la lectoescritura❖ Scaffolding Mathematics for all Learners❖ A Curriculum Alignment Plan in a Dual Language Setting...❖ Expanding Story Patterns, Expanding Possibilities❖ Making More Connections!

Eugene Field Strives for Multicultural Education,Social Action, and Awareness

By James D. Luján, Principal, Eugene Field Elementary

OOOOOVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWVERVIEWOur schools are a reflectionof our society where peoplefrom different ethnic, racial,and cultural groups live inclose physical proximity.However, just because agroup of people coexist, itdoes not mean that theyknow, relate to, and caredeeply about one another.The challenge for educatorsis to teach students tounderstand unfamiliargroups, cultures, traditions,and languages.

Multicultural education isn’tsomething that educators need to add add add add add to existingcurriculum as separate lessons or units. It canand should be an integral part of everything thathappens in the classroom. Almost all aspects ofmulticultural education are interdisciplinary.Curriculum and instruction should always reflect

the learner, their immediatesocial context, and theworld in which they live.

LLLLLEADERSHIPEADERSHIPEADERSHIPEADERSHIPEADERSHIP INININININ M M M M MULTICULTURALULTICULTURALULTICULTURALULTICULTURALULTICULTURAL

EEEEEDUCATIONDUCATIONDUCATIONDUCATIONDUCATION,,,,,SSSSSOCIALOCIALOCIALOCIALOCIAL A A A A ACTIONCTIONCTIONCTIONCTION, , , , , ANDANDANDANDAND

AAAAAWARENESSWARENESSWARENESSWARENESSWARENESSJames A. Banks hasidentified five dimensionsof multicultural education.They are contentintegration, the knowledgeconstruction process,prejudice reduction, an

equity pedagogy, and an empowering school cultureand social structure. As an instructional leader, itis essential that I facilitate these dimensions invarious ways, such as setting an example in myown work; ensuring that Eugene Field is a sitewhere empowering and anti-discriminatoryeducation occurs; and encouraging teachers andstudents to demonstrate their own social andcultural uniqueness. At Eugene Field we strive ona daily basis to create lived experiences thatreflect the five dimensions which I describethrough examples below.

Content Integration deals with the involvementof teachers using examples and content from avariety of cultures and groups to illustrate keyconcepts, generalizations, and issues within thesubject area or disciplines. During literacy block,students read literature which reflects theircultures and write about their own lives. On alarger scale, I support activities like InternationalWeek Celebration, where each classroom

Principal Luján works with studentson their writing during literacy block.

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.

Making more connections!

❖ Southwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageSouthwest Conference on LanguageTeaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,Teaching—Chile Tres: Languages, Literacy,LeadershipLeadershipLeadershipLeadershipLeadership: March 25-27, 2004, Hyatt RegencyDowntown, Albuquerque. For more information,contact Nancy Oakes at [email protected].

❖ TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:TESOL 2004—Soaring Far, Catching Dreams:March 31-April 3, 2004; Long Beach ConventionCenter, Long Beach, California. For more information,go to the TESOL website at http://www.tesol.org andclick on “2004 TESOL Convention.”

Cross CulturalResource Library

Important announcement regardingImportant announcement regardingImportant announcement regardingImportant announcement regardingImportant announcement regardinglibrary hours...library hours...library hours...library hours...library hours...

Department of Language and Cultural EquityCity Centre, 6400 Uptown NE, Suite 601 West, Albuquerque, NM 87110

Phone—505.881.9429; Fax—505.872.8859; Web—www.lcequity.com

Director: Lynne RosenALS Coordinators: Nana Almers,

Doddie Espinosa, and Jesús RevelesALS/Special Education/LAS Coordinator:

Yvette MontoyaMulticultural Education Coordinator:

Joycelyn JacksonTitle VII Project Coordinator:

Rosa OsbornTranslation and Interpretation Services Coordinators:

Tomás Butchart and Jason Yuen

Making Connections is a publication of theDepartment of Language and Cultural Equity,Albuquerque Public Schools; it is distributed tothe Board of Education, district administratorsand departments, and all schools. Please directquestions and comments to the editors:Dee McMann and Nancy Lawrence, 881.9429.

Making Connections is printed byAPS Office Services.

Special thanks for their expert help!

Lina Friedenstein has begun a study group atEugene Field Elementary for teachers to

improve speaking, reading, and writing skills inSpanish. As a bilingual teacher and president of theHispano Educators Association, Ms. Friedensteinheard of teachers’ desire to improve their academicSpanish. Study group participants learn strategies forteaching students in their native language. The goalof the group is to accelerate the learning of Spanish-speaking students in their first language while theylearn English.

This opportunity was open to all schools, and schoolsstipended their teachers through professionaldevelopment funds. Participants are from EugeneField, La Mesa, and Alamosa elementary schools.

The Library Specialist will be on maternityleave from March 8 until May 3.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to finda temporary replacement. Therefore, duringthat time, the library will be open Monday,Monday,Monday,Monday,Monday,Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 5:00

p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. for patrons to access the collection. Thedrop box is always available for material

being returned. Oversized material can beleft at the Unified Library near the east

entrance to Montgomery Complex.Thank you!

FYIBack issues of Making Connections are nowarchived and may be downloaded from theLanguage and Cultural Equity website,www.lcequity.com. Check it out!

Lina Friedenstein works with participants onacademic literacy skills in Spanish.

Coming Events

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