Assisting Latino American Students in School: Strategies for Learning English and Incorporating Latino History and Culture in the Classroom

Kylie Santivansky

About the Author

My name is Kylie Santivansky and I am a sophomore History Secondary Education Major and Spanish Minor. I am passionate about history, geography, and Spanish language and culture. I hope to assist my future Latino English Language Learner (ELL) students in their academic performance by encouraging them to embrace their history, language, and culture.

Summary/Teaching Strategies:

Written by a high school teacher in Oakland, California with over 95% Latino students, this article discusses the ways he taught his students in response to HB 2281. This bill in Arizona bans classes that discuss ethnic studies, specifically Mexican American history classes. Devin Carberry and his students were concerned about the effects this would have on students in Arizona and beyond. Carberry’s students were passionate about defending Latino history and becoming a part of student movements.

Carberry taught a class on contemporary social movements that was connected to historical organizations, such as the Zapatistas in Mexico. He showed his class a film about students protesting HB 2281 by chaining themselves to the chairs in a Tucson Unified School Board meeting. Students also read articles about the ethnic studies ban. They watched Precious Knowledge, a documentary about the defense of the Mexican American Studies program in Arizona. Students engaged in a Socratic Seminar about ethnic studies bans and their implications. Carberry even had his students talk to a member of UNIDOS, a youth-led movement challenging HB 2281. Students prepared questions and learned about UNIDOS’s methods, which included teaching ethnic studies outside of the classroom at their headquarters.

Precious Knowledge: Teaching Solidarity with Tucson

By Devin Carberry

Published in Rethinking Schools: Reinventing Teachers' Unions: Volume 27, No. 2: Winter 2012/2013

How I Will Incorporate These Strategies in My Future Classroom:

In my future classroom, I can connect past historical events to present issues like Carberry did with his class. I can show my students films and articles about these social movements and have them do assignments like response posts to reflect on their findings. I also would like to have my students talk to people who are part of a social movement, such as UNIDOS. They can prepare questions for the volunteer and learn about the movement and what they can do to help. I will make sure that my students learn about diverse history and I will challenge attempts to restrict ethnic studies. I will make sure that classes like Latin American studies are not erased.

Summary/Teaching Strategies:

This article discusses the actions that immigrant students have taken to access higher education. Undocumented students in Wisconsin have to pay an out-of-state tuition when they attend college and are not granted financial aid. Many students gathered in support of AB-95, a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates. The group Voces de la Frontera, who works with the education of immigrant youth, also showed support for the bill.

In a class about Latino-American history, students learned about the history of immigration in the United States and the ways immigrants have been exploited by the American government. Students have taken various trips that boost their political activism. One teacher took their students to attend a hearing about AB-95. Another teacher took his students to visit a nearby stop of the Immigrant Freedom Ride, which educates people on the challenges immigrants face. He also had his students follow AB-95 to learn about how a bill becomes a law. Another teacher had his students read a newspaper article that challenged the protest movements of undocumented immigrants. Students had a discussion about the article and were able to write letters to the newspaper in response to it.

Action Education: Immigrant Students Demand Higher Education

By Catherine Capellaro

Published in Rethinking Schools: Getting the Lead Out: Volume 18, No. 2: Winter 2003/2004

How I Will Incorporate These Strategies in My Future Classroom:

In my classroom, I will make all my students feel welcome and make sure they know that their immigration status does not define their worth and their right to access education. I will incorporate the history of immigrants into the classroom, specifically Latino immigrants, and highlight their accomplishments and benefits to the country. For example, we can highlight the significance of the United Farm Workers Union and their demand for labor rights. We will learn about current legislation in regards to immigrants and the efforts to support or challenge it. I can connect the past and the present to allow students to understand the evolving history of immigration rights.

Summary/Teaching Strategies:

This article is about the incorporation of culture into classrooms to aid Latino students. Only 73% of Latino students obtain a high school diploma. This percentage can be elevated by increasing the cultural connections made in classrooms. It is important for teachers to view having Spanish as a first language as a benefit instead of a drawback. It can be extremely beneficial to have bilingual teachers who can communicate with students to better understand their needs. Providing instructions to assignments in Spanish and having classroom decor that is not all American-centric can also help Latino students feel more welcome. A program called Encuentros: Hombre a Hombre was created specifically for Latino male youth, and focuses on developing their confidence in classrooms. Students read literature about being Latino, such as Buried Onions by Gary Soto and La Línea by Ana Jaramillo. Reading literature can help students develop their reading skills while being surrounded by a culture they are familiar with. Another teaching method was the Home Town Project, where students researched their town of origin and prepared a presentation about it. This helped students feel like their teachers were making an effort to get to know them.

Using Cultural Assets to Enhance Assessment of Latino Students

By: Joaquin S. Aganza, Armando Godinez, Deidra Smith, Liliana G. Gonzalez, and Carol Robinson-Zañartu

Published in Contemporary School Psychology, November 12, 2014

How I Will Incorporate These Strategies in My Future Classroom:

In my classroom, I can refer to students as Emerging Bilinguals or English-Language Learners rather than English Second Language students. I feel that the former two are more inclusive. Emerging Bilinguals recognizes that students will be fluent in at least two languages by the end of their program, and English Language Learners is inclusive to students who may be learning English as a third or even fourth language. In my classroom, I will utilize my fluency in Spanish to communicate with Spanish-speaking students. I can provide them translated resources. I can also have my students read books by Latino authors so they consume literature that represents them. Some examples are In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, They Call Me Güero by David Bowles, and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez. I can also incorporate a Home Town Project, where students can develop their research skills and learn more about the history of their birthplace and country of origin. It will also allow me to learn more about my students and understand the struggles they may have gone through.

Summary/Teaching Strategies:

This article is about the use of performance poetry in classrooms to aid Latino students. Performance poetry, or writing poems specifically to be spoken rather than printed, can help Latino students develop literacy skills, validate their experiences, and understand the power of community engagement. The teachers in this study used a seven-week performance poetry course, where students analyzed poetry and created their own poems. Culturally Responsive Teaching is used to acknowledge students’ heritage and make learning more accessible. Students learned about the history of performance poetry and analyzed famous poems such as “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and “To live in the Borderlands means you” by Gloria Anzaldua. In particular, Anzaldua’s poem was relatable to many Latino students and helped provoke an insightful class discussion. There is an example of a Latino teacher performing their own poem for their class. The teacher handed out a family photo and played traditional Mexican folk music to set the scene. The students were eager to analyze the poem and expressed how they didn’t know how much they could relate to their teacher. Teachers also invited performance poets to come into their classrooms and perform for the students. Students were tasked with creating their own poems that could be performed in a nearby park for their family and friends to hear. This allowed them to express themselves and share their experiences in an educational way.

The Intersectionality of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Performance Poetry: Validating Secondary Latino Youth and Their Community

By: Pablo C. Ramirez and Margarita Jimenez-Silva

Published in: Multicultural Perspectives: Vol. 17 (2): 2015

How I Will Incorporate These Strategies in My Future Classroom:

I would like to incorporate creative writing into my classroom, whether it be through the use of performance poetry or writing short stories. I can use performance poetry to let my students express themselves. I can even connect it to history classes by having students write a poem from the point of view of a historical figure and present it dressed as the figure. This can be a prominent person in Latin American history and culture, such as Simón Bolívar or Frida Kahlo. I can also teach my students about the history of performance poetry, such as how it originated as slam poetry in the 1980’s and was used by Latinos known as Taco Shop poets in California in the 1990’s. I can incorporate multicultural poetry into the curriculum by having students read and analyze a variety of diverse poems. I will encourage my students to be activists through their poetry and to advocate for causes important to them. I will keep in mind the author of this article’s claim that “teaching is a political act.” I will use my teaching to keep students politically aware of their surroundings and ways they can be activists.

Summary/Teaching Strategies:

This article is about the different teaching strategies witnessed by preservice teachers in urban schools to aid Latino English Language Learners. Spanish can be used to help ELL students learn English. Students can use morphemic analysis to break up words into smaller parts that they understand. For example, a student can see the word aquamarine and connect it to water because “aqua” is similar to “agua,” or water in Spanish. Students can also identify cognates to easily translate words between languages. Visual organizers like world maps and concept webs can help students make connections between what they are learning. When doing class readings, Latino ELLs can read the same texts as the rest of the class, but will receive more assistance. They can have a discussion with their teacher/classroom aid where key vocabulary is established. They can speak in Spanish with each other to clarify their ideas, before trying to speak in English with the support teachers. It is beneficial if teachers are able to give these students one-on-one attention so they can understand the student’s comprehension level and help increase their confidence in their work. Students can read and create flip books, or books where English text is on one side and Spanish on the other. Students creating these books can practice their translation skills.

Preservice Teachers' Reflections on Effective Strategies for Teaching Latino ESL Students

By: Lisa Anne Vacca-Rizopoulos and Augustine Nicoletti

Published in: Journal of Latinos and Education: Vol. 8 (1): January 1, 2009

How I Will Incorporate These Teaching Strategies in My Classroom:

I can incorporate these strategies into my classroom to assist my Latino ELL students. I will encourage students to use Spanish to help them learn English. I can use morphemic analysis and cognates to help students see the similarities between English and Spanish. In history classes, we can work with words like la revolución, la independencia, and el gobierno. Students can fill out a chart where they have to provide the definition of the word, a picture that represents the word, a synonym for the word, and a sentence in English using the word. This will help students practice using English with words that sound familiar. I can also meet individually with my ELL students to assess their performance in the class and see what else can be done to help them learn. I will focus on positive feedback and encouragement while guiding students in the right direction if they make a mistake. I can also draw on the idea of the flip book in various ways. I can create a flip book based on textbook readings with English and Spanish on either side, highlighting important vocabulary words. I can also have ELL students do a project where they create their own flip book to explain a particular historical event. We can use this for learning about various types of history, including Latin American history. Learning about Latin American history can be beneficial to students because they will feel more connected to their culture and may already be familiar with some of the history from their prior classes in their home countries (for immigrant students). Finally, I can use my ability to speak Spanish to communicate with parents who may not speak English. It is crucial that parents understand how their student is performing in school, and so many Spanish-speaking parents are unable to do this due to the language barrier. I can help to overcome the barrier by speaking to parents in Spanish and letting them know that their child is being adequately educated.

An important quote to keep in mind:

"As educators, we look at students as real people with stories, strengths, personalities, vulnerabilities, and talents. We learn to love them, care about them, struggle with them, encourage them, stay connected and hope for them. For us, they count. Whether or not they’re documented isn’t relevant to our feelings. Our job is to push them to their potential.”

-Ann Truax, "Documenting the Undocumented: When immigrant students count-and when they don't"

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