Term

Spring 2022

Capstone

Capstone Project

Degree Name

MA-TESOL

Facilitator(s)

Julia Reimer

Content Expert

Laura Byard

Abstract

Research has highlighted a variety of lived experiences, special assets, and unique needs that newcomer students and English Learners (ELs) bring to our schools and communities. The United States K-12 public education system largely focuses on academic needs, failing to honor students’ strengths or address their social-emotional learning and identity development. This project is an extracurricular program model for secondary newcomer students and their peers who want to engage in community and multicultural learning, encouraging positive social, emotional, and academic growth. The project is presented in the form of a handbook. In the handbook, program leaders can find introductory lesson plans emphasizing communication strategies for students with different skill-sets, community-building activities, strategies for constructive conversations, and materials for activity implementation. The program is built around students’ interests and community partnerships, so it can be used in any school setting and tailored to any group of students. The goal of the project is for students to gain positive, shared experiences in their community where they can grow socially, emotionally, and academically. Through program implementation and evaluation, the work can be extended to serve diverse students now and in the future.

Project Type

Program Handbook

Keywords

Community Building, ESL/ ELLs, Social Justice, Extracurriculars

dc_type

text

dc_publisher

DigitalCommons@Hamline

dc_format

application/pdf

dc_source

School of Education Student Capstone Projects

Included in

Education Commons

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