Cultural Proficiency

I assign students based on data in homogenous and heterogeneous groups depending on the task. I highlight culturally appropriate communication skills I observe my students using. When we read Sandra Cisneros or Shakespeare or August Wilson, students bring their own experiences to the people in the books and they understand how characters and forces of governments and systems are helping and harming individuals. I check for understanding and adjust instructions so that all students are able to access texts. I provide exemplars of work and guide students in their practice so that they can gradually do the work independently. 

With my middle school ESL students on the Monday after the Superbowl, we watched and analyzed Bad Bunny's halftime show. We then read I, Too by Langston Hughes and compared and contrasted the messages and effectiveness of each artist. Students then wrote an ode to something that they love and believe in. I had written a poem about my sweatshirt (that I was wearing that day) as an example and my ode was to the fact that my mother had given it to my daughter and now I was wearing it to think of them both. Students were able to hear and read my poem and then write odes to what they believed in. These lessons were over the arc of a week and culminated in read alouds with the Company One theater teacher and BPE volunteer who are caring and trusted adults whom the students love to work with.