Children's Books

When teaching English language learners, it is important to realize that cultural differences can impact a student's comprehension.  The following books are read alouds for primary students.  I have noted a few cultural differences and ways to develop schema for English language learners.  My current assignment is as a Kindergarten teacher so my focus is on that grade level. 

Careful, Santa by Julie Sykes 
 This picture book is about a very clumsy Santa who loses his bag of presents.  He searches for them and with the help of some animals finds all the lost gifts.

Christmas and Santa are both parts of our culture that may not be familiar to ELL students.  The concept of a night where gifts are brought by a man with a white beard may seem strange to students from other cultures.  In addition, younger students from areas closer to the equator may not be familiar snow or snowmen.  Even the animals depicted in the story may not be familiar to students from different parts of the world. 

In order to build background knowledge for students about the topic of Christmas and Santa, I would complete a unit on holidays around the world. I would become familiar with the cultures and holidays of the students in my class and share the similarities and differences between them all.  Identifying similarities and differences helps students make connections in their learning (Hill, 2006). 
To build schema for snow and unfamiliar animals I might teach a unit on weather or precipitation and/or animal habitats.  While doing this I would be sure to include those that would be familiar to the English language learners in my class. 

Arthur Meets the President by Marc Brown
In this book, from the popular series, Arthur and his classmates write essays for a competition. Their topic is "How to Make America Great!"  Arthur wins the contest and goes to Washington D.C. to meet the president. 
One cultural aspects that might be unfamiliar to an English language learner is the idea of a president.  Not all countries have presidents so this may be an unfamiliar idea.  As well, students may be unfamiliar with Washington D.C, the capital, monuments, and the White House.  All of these are distinctive to the United States. 
I think that the book itself does a great job explaining and picturing most of these ideas.  In order to enhance learning for students who are unfamiliar with these terms and ideas, I would associate them with the culture(s) of the students in class.  I would point out terms that are similar to president like Prime Minister or Head of State.  In addition, I would use a non linguistic representation or picture of monuments and the White House to explain these terms.  I would also include pictures of similar places in the countries of my English Language learners. 

All students enjoy  making connections with their reading.  It is important to include texts that ELL students can identify with. The following website includes titles of texts for different cultures!  I encourage you to utilize texts of all cultures but especially of those who are in your classrooms!

 www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com