What about culture?



picture from: lewes5.wikispaces.com

Throughout my graduate school classes, and even when I was an undergraduate I always heard that culture plays a huge role in every student's education.  The question is, how do we know about the culture of every student, because culture can encompass so many things.  Many people immediately associate culture with the food or langauge of a particular country, but the truth is that it is much deeper than that.

A fantastic starting point that I have found is the CultureGrams series.  It gives you information such as how children from a certain country greet adults, their feelings about personal appearance, the country's educational system (is school mandatory or not), and gestures.  These are just a few examples of the many insights this resources can offer into your students' behaviors, attitudes and beliefs.

Where can I locate this resouce?

• The ISBN number for the 4-volume set is 978-0-9778091-4-1.
• In addition, they can be found on the internet as an online subscription. Unfortunately, there is a cost involved to be able to use the database, but I used them often (both for myself and to give information to my colleagues).     http://www.culturegrams.com/

The WIDA Can-Do Descriptors: what can I expect from my ELL students?

Content teachers face many challenges, one of them being expectations for their ELL students.  "What can they do?" and "How much can I expect from them?" are questions I often hear from teachers who have ELLs in their classes.

In Pennsylvania, all ELL students take the WIDA ACCESS test each year to measure their English proficiency.  The ELL teacher in your building receives a detailed report that can help you to see the students strengths and weaknesses in their English Proficiency (for example, maybe their listening comprehension is a weakness while their oral production skills are a strength). 

Also, WIDA has produced the Can-Do Descriptors that accompany the student's score.  Very easily, the teacher can see what a certain student is capable of based on their WIDA score in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening.

**It is important to note that the Can-Do Descriptors are a  great starting point, but nothing can replace knowing your students.  Though the WIDA ACCESS score is a great place to begin, as with all assessments, multiple measures are the best judge of student ability**

If you click on the link below, you can find the Can-Do Descriptors mentioned in this post.

WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for All Grade Levels