Bilingual/Multicultural -Classroom Library

Funded Nov 24, 2018

As a dual language teacher, I wanted to expose my students to authentic Spanish literature and experiences. Through the use of the books in my project students were introduced to authors such as Yanette Lantigua, Cuban author, Ana Maria Machado, Brazilian writer of children's books, and Alma Flor Ada, Cuban-American author and poet. Students were provided with a brief background of the authors of the books they were reading allowing them to see that the writers looked like them and had stories to share that they could form connections with and use their schema. Allowing students to also see they can share their stories filled with rich culture and experiences in their own writing.

The Authentic Spanish Language Collection – Grade 2 books from AKJ Education provided books to our library that included stories celebrating American holidays such as Thanksgiving and Mardi Gras. International holidays such as Chinese New Year. In addition, to the celebration of holidays unique to Spanish culture such as Cinco de Mayo and Navidad y Reyes Magos (Christmas and the 3 Kings). These books had two sections each. One section shared a story based on the holiday and the other gave insight to the actual holiday celebrated. These books were used during morning Read Aloud when celebrating the holidays and were part of the classroom library for students to read independently.

When wanting to make connections with students to use their full linguistic repertoire I would introduce the books from the Kaplan collection: Spanish Words Embedded into Stories Book Set. Through translanguaging these stories allowed for students to see how the use of both Spanish and English words throughout the books can create wonderful and rich stories. Students were able to see how translanguaging can aid in expressing feelings which they would in turn expressed in their writing.

Having my project "Bilingual/Multi-cultural Classroom Library" funded was a true asset not only to myself and my current students but for those students in the upcoming years. Seeing the children learning, enjoying the stories and forming connections with these books was a true delight which would not have been possible without the generosity of donors like you.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Rodriguez