Deeper Learning and Culturally Relevant Teaching

"Perspective" Word Scroll My teaching philosophy is grounded in being culturally relevant and constantly pushing students toward deeper learning. I did this through a “Word Scroll” vocabulary activity centered around the word “perspective,” the key topic in the poem my students were reading. Students worked actively in groups to unpack the abstract concept by defining the term in their own words, giving examples from life, and drawing evidence from the text. The poem “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears” by Mohja Kahf is told from the perspective of a Muslim granddaughter judged and chastised by midwestern white women when her immigrant grandmother partakes in the religious ritual "Wudu." I intentionally grounded the vocabulary lesson in a culturally relevant text that sheds light on the sociocultural/ sociopolitical context of US/Western society. By basing the vocabulary lesson on a poem written by an author of color, who my students could relate to, they came away with a deeper understanding of the word. Since they can associate the word with a relatable story, it will stick longer.