Engage

Planning for YPAR in the classroom is a long-term endeavor. Be sure to leave ample time for each phase:

1. Time for students to reflect on course content and past work such as testimonios, oral histories, and photovoice in order to build background knowledge about current issues in their lives/communities and select the one they want to act upon.

2. Time for students to conduct further specific research about the issue they've chosen and current efforts to address it, including analyzing texts and available data as well as methods such as oral histories and photovoice applied to their specific interest.

3. Time for students to engage in meaningful action (at least a couple weeks) in regard to their chosen issue and collect data about their experiences as historical actors

4. Time for students to prepare for, practice and refine, and deliver their summative reflections

Also, at each step of the process, there will need to be appropriate language scaffolds:

1. Building background knowledge and conducting issue-specific research may require texts in students' home languages, anticipatory guides, graphic organizers, or simplified/annotated texts

2. Engaging in meaningful action and reflection may require connecting students with bilingual peers who can be effective language brokers and/or connecting students to individuals or organizations familiar with students' home languages. Scaffolding their documented reflection and data collection may similarly involve drawing on the home language, sentence frames or discourse templates, and graphic organizers.

3. Preparing for and delivering oral presentations may require the supports described in our language development focus of this module. 

Once you've undertaken YPAR in your classroom, proceed HERE to reflect and share your learning with colleagues.