Term
Fall 2019
Capstone
Capstone Project
Degree Name
MAESL
Facilitator(s)
Jana Lo Bello Miller
Content Expert
Sandra Saucedo-Falagan
Abstract
Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning is being implemented in many school districts to better meet the needs of all students. Using culturally authentic literature is equally important. Research demonstrates the need for culturally authentic texts so students can see themselves mirrored and see windows to other cultures during school. English learners (ELs) benefit from seeing their culture in the texts they are exposed to as well as culturally responsive learning strategies, or protocols. According to the CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019), non-majority ethnicities represent a small percentage of all children’s literature published in 2018. My capstone and project address the question: How might culturally responsive teaching (CRT) strategies and reading culturally authentic texts increase student capacity to identify with and engage in learning for small groups of kindergarten and first grade English Learners? The intended participants of the curriculum are primary grade ELs to be implemented in small group settings by the EL teacher. The curriculum components include culturally authentic texts, culturally responsive teaching methods, use of home language, and family connections. Examples of culturally authentic are included in the curriculum unit designed for instructional level and read aloud instruction. The foundation of the curriculum stems from backward design, district standards, WIDA performance objectives, and National Geographic REACH curriculum. The unit answers the district content standard questions: “1. How do you retell a story? What important information should be included when retelling the story? 2. What are key details? How do we identify and use key details to help retell the story? 3. What is the central message/main idea/lesson of the story? It is composed of 20 lessons, to be implemented in the small group EL setting.
Project Type
Curriculum
Keywords
ESL/ ELLs, Literacy, Reading
Recommended Citation
Behrend, Katherine, "Culturally Responsive Curriculum and Literature for Primary Grade English Learners" (2019). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects. 419.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_cp/419
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Education Student Capstone Projects