Final Inquiry Project

Inquiry Project: ED 4272

HOW TO INCORPORATE MULTICULTUALISM IN YOUR CLASS: 3 Daily ways & 4 yearly ways

By Sarah Bowman 001194061 March 18, 2019

Introduction: My name is Sarah Bowman and I am an Education student at the U of L. This inquiry project is very important to me because I believe that Canada is going through a major transition period in our population. Communities are becoming

more accepting and open, as new people from other cultures arrive and this is diversifying the schools. I think teachers need to be prepared for these changes and so require strategies for how to create a safe accepting environment for all students, especially students who face language barriers like English language learners. The following daily activities and yearly goals are meant to create an accepting atmosphere for all students in the class and the school. This will give students the opportunity to feel accepted and connected to one another. Using language and culture to peak students’ interests about one another, may also help them find meaningful connections with each other. This is beneficial for ELL students because they are able to take pride in their own culture, which they may not able to find anywhere else other than at home, as well, it encourages them to continue learning their first language rather than losing it. ELL’s will require more supports to be successful than

just these strategies. By incorporating these into your classroom, you will help them feel accepted and included by setting up a foundation for success that can make all the difference for a student.

Daily 1. Morning Routine

You can incorporate language in many ways, and the best way to make it a part of your routine is in the morning. Take the time at the beginning of the year to find all the ways your students usually say hello/good morning even goodbye/ goodnight in public and at home. For English language learners, this can allow students to feel welcome and learn more about each other by greeting each other and building relationships. Be sure to add new students’ languages if they arrive part way into the year to help them feel more at home. As teacher’s we can also incorporate languages into the whole schools regular routine. You can do this for example with the national anthem: English/French English/Cree or alternating which language is used each week. The school itself can also get bilingual signs so languages surround their students and they have the opportunity to learn them, both the English speakers and English language learners.

Site: Canada’s National Anthem in Unofficial Languages http:// www.cadvision.com/blanchas/OhCanada/

Daily 2. Displays

A weekly activity that you can do with your class is learn a phrase. These phrases can be in other languages and they should also be easy for students to use everyday to practice. Ex. Thank you/Merci, How are you/Wie geht es dir, please/ Por favor. With each week you can add the phrase and its meaning to a wall so that students can reference back to it in case they forget. If your multilingual students/ELL’s feel comfortable they could even teach phrases they know to the class, sharing what

they are knowledgeable about with their peers. Another display could be centered around students’ roots. The display, centers around a map on which, you can put students picture/name tags around it. Students can then show the different countries they feel connected to whether ancestrally, with relatives and/or where they used to live. They are attached to each student with string creating a web of connections. Students can also write a biography about themselves and their connections, explaining their importance to their classmates.

Daily 3. Multicultural/ Bilingual Texts

These texts can be weekly or daily read alouds, that include stories from different countries, their pop culture, nature, or schooling. Breaking away from mainstream westernized books gives our diverse classrooms the chance to relate to diverse characters which students like ELL’s are more likely to engage and relate with. It also allows students to learn, be empowered and create an empathetic knowledgeable perspective so they can live their life without stereotypical judgements. Bilingual texts are also great to bring into the classroom, especially if there are students who are ELLs. Choosing books that are written in their first language can be refreshing and also encourage their first languages’ development. Students’ familiarity with their first language can help them relate to

English words they are just learning. It also opens up other students worlds allowing them to be able to experience languages that they may have not ever heard before.

Year 1. Culture Day

Creating a Culture Day at your school can really help in

developing a multicultural, accepting, atmosphere throughout the whole school. Setting up booths about different cultures with examples of food, music, crafts and traditions can really get students engaged and actively learning. It is great to get a broad map of all or at least the most common cultural connections in your school to be able to properly display a meaningful representation of their culture. This is also a great opportunity to get parents involved, helping create, and explain cultures as students rotate through the booths. This can provide openings for ELL students and their parents to get involved and build connections in the community while showing the talents and knowledge they have to offer. Site: For specifics on how to host a Culture Day or Night https://www.edutopia.org/blog/celebrating-your-schoolscultural-diversity-clare-roach

Year 2. Celebrating Traditions

In Canada we tend to have more focus on Western Traditions like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter and St. Patrick’s Day. However, with increasingly diverse classrooms there are many other traditions that students celebrate but are not recognized by schools. As a teacher making an effort to acknowledge and celebrate these traditions can make students feel included and connected in class. By giving them the chance to showcase what their families do traditionally, they feel more connected. It is impossible to celebrate everyone but you can get students to tell you at the beginning of the year which celebrations and traditions are important to them and account for them in your plans for the rest of the year. Some celebrations could include, Chinese New Year, Buddha Day, Mardi Gras. Teachers can include activities about the celebrations but to save time they can also make a special announcement to tell them about the tradition and why its celebrated on that day.

Year 3. Multiculturalism & Google Earth

Google Earth has been a beneficial technology for schools for numerous academic curriculums and now cultures can be included. Teachers have many options with the online version of Google Earth. Teachers can create a tour, a scavenger hunt of a city’s culture, finding specific sites to show students the geography and famous land marks, even common streets and people with the new street mode. Students can create their own tour depending on how much has been mapped. This is a great way for ELL’s to show their peers where they came from and share stories. Another new feature that has been added, is Voyager, which has pre-created tours with images and information about destinations. There are many different kinds of tours, including schools around the world, even about residential schools in Canada There are also specific tours of numerous cities from all over the world. These are already created ready for teachers and students can use. It is not for daily use because it is quite easy to get sidetracked so teachers will have to be very vigilant and have a plan for what they will do. Site: Google Earth (on Google Chrome) https://www.google.com/earth/

Year 4. Creation of Group Texts

Teaching diverse classrooms gives teachers a rare opportunity to create unique and original books. Giving students the

opportunity to work in groups full of diversity allows them to all bring their talents to the table. One specific example is a school in the York Region District School Board in Canada. Which had a group of 3 girls write a story together who all had varying levels of English from fluent to very little. They wrote the story together and then all translated it into their native language and English. Allowing them to be the proud authors of a lovely story. Another option for teachers with the creation of texts is a online site called Skribjab. This site allows students to create their own bilingual book and share their masterpiece world wide once it has been completed. They can even read other students stories that have been published on the site. Site: http://www.scribjab.com/

Conclusion This project was very important to me. I was striving to create feasible activities that could be done either daily or sometimes throughout the year. What I found was easily applicable activities that I would like to implement into my own classroom once I become a teacher. They are beneficial to all students in the classroom. Which was my other focus. I wanted to be able to find ways to allow ELL students to feel welcome and included in the classroom community, while enriching others students education as well. I hope that you are able to find that these strategies are beneficial to your classroom community’s inclusivity. Allowing ELL students to shine and feel at home, as well as teaching your other students about other cultures. Opening their minds to learn in an open and engaging manner so that they will have

the basis and curiosity to someday learn more. Thank you for taking the time to read my inquiry project! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Sincerely, Sarah Bowman

References and Resources 1. Morning Routine Coelho, E. (2004a). Creating an inclusive classroom. In adding English: A guide to teaching in multilingual classrooms (pp. 36-49). Don Mills, ON: Pippin Publishing page 43 Schwarzer, David, et al. “Fostering Multiliteracy in a Linguistically Diverse Class room.” Language Arts, vol. 80, no. 6, 2003, pp. 453–460. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41484158.

2. Display Coelho, E. (2004a). Creating an inclusive classroom. In adding English: A guide to teaching in multilingual classrooms (pp. 36-49). Don Mills, ON: Pippin Pub lishing page-39-40 Photo: SlidePlayer. Hello to all the children of the world. http:// slideplayer.com/slide/246254/ Photo: VectorStock. Thank you modern calligraphy vector image. https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/thank-you modern-calligraphy-vector-18205034

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3. Multicultural/Bilingual Texts Boles, Maria. (2006). The Effects of Multicultural Literature in the

Classroom. Eastern Michigan University, Seniors Honors Theses pages 6-11 Coelho, E. (2004a). Creating an inclusive classroom. In adding English: A guide to teaching in multilingual classrooms (pp. 36-49). Don Mills, ON: Pippin Pub lishing page 40,43) Cummins, J. (2006). Identity texts: The imaginative construction of self through mul tiliteracies pedagogy. In O. Garcia, T. S ketnabb-Kangas, & M. E. TorresGuzman (eds.), Imagining multilingual schools: Languages in education and

glocalization page 52 Photo: StudentSavvy: Engaging teaching ideas and resources. Integrate Multicultural fun into the classroom https://www.teachstudentsavvy.com/2014/12/I ntegrate-multicultural-fun-into-the-classroom.html

1. Culture Days Edutopia. Celebrating Your School’s Cultural Diversity: To plan and manage a vibrant Culture Night, anchor the ideas in social studies curriculum, involve the community, and make sure there’s food!. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/ celebrating-your-schools-cultural-diversity-clare-roach Photo: Daily Herald. Lincolnshire school celebrates diversity with special activities.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180914/lincolnshire-school-celebrates -diversity-with-special-activities Photo: Daily Herald. Stevenson students showcase diversity at World’s Fair https:// www.dailyherald.com/article/20160127/submitted/160129019/

2. Celebrating Tradition Learning at the Primary Pond. 4 (non-Religious) Ways to celebrate the holidays in our classroom. https://learningattheprimarypond.com/blog/5-non-religious -ways-to-celebrate-the-holidays-in-your-classroom/ Photo: https://bendigopc.org.au/2015/11/pplaygroup-and-sunday-schoolend-of-year-celebration/picture1-3/

3. Multiculturalism & Google Maps Google Earth. https://www.google.com/earth/

4. Creation of Group Texts Cummins, J. (2006). Identity texts: The imaginative construction of self through multiliteracies pedagogy. In O. Garcia, T. SketnabbKangas, & M. E. Torres-Guzman (eds.), Imagining multilingual

schools: Languages in education and glocalization page 60-62 Photo: Skribjab. http://www.scribjab.com/