DEAR to Me: Fostering biliteracy through middle school mentors
Brenda Burgherr, Monett Early Childhood Center
Introduction
DEAR to Me stands for Drop Everything and Read to Me and that is exactly what happened at the Monett Early Childhood Center.
DEAR to Me is a special time for Middle School students to come and read in small groups. Our kindergarten students got to hear books read to them in English, Spanish and Karen. My main goal was for students to know that we value their home languages. DEAR to Me allows positive peer role models to be established, opportunities for exposure to multiple languages and a celebration of cultures.
Step-by-Step Plan
Approval of Administration
I planned a brief meeting with my principal to make sure I had her approval and support before I began any planning. I pitched the idea of DEAR to Me along with the details. When I knew I had my principal’s support I began making my phone calls and sending out emails.
Transportation
I placed a phone call to the bus barn and reserved three dates for the Middle School students to be picked up. If the weather was favorable, then the students would walk to the early childhood center.
Reaching out to Administration
The middle school principal loved the idea that students were going to have the opportunity to be positive role models. I coordinated three dates with the administration of both schools and found partners to collaborate with at the middle school.
Banners and Posters
All advertising materials were made locally. I found an image to use on all banners, posters, and yard signs. I had removable stickers made for the dates, that way the banners, posters, and signs could all be reused in years to come.
Language Lizard
I contacted Language Lizard https://www.languagelizard.com/ to place my book order. Language Lizard provides bilingual children’s books in over 50 languages. These books can be read in English and the students' home languages with the use of the PENpal.
Technology
I confirmed all dates with the Technology Department. I wanted to make sure all technology would work, and a tech person would be present.
Celebration
The final round of DEAR to Me was a celebration of all languages. All kindergarten students gathered in the gym and middle school students read books aloud in English, Spanish, and Karen. In the gym, there is a big drop-down screen so the students can see the pictures. Before the books were read, the students had the opportunity to practice saying hello in English, Spanish, and Karen. I had these words spelled out on a large poster paper. Following the assembly, middle school and early childhood students had a time of celebration outside with bubbles.
Timeline
January
- Present project to the board and wait for approval.
- Order books from Language Lizard.
February
- Secure bus transportation for middle school students.
- Confirm dates with all administration and middle school teachers.
- Order banners and posters.
- Coordinate dates with tech dept.
March
- Hang banners and posters.
- Round #1—Middle school students walk over and read to kindergarteners in small groups in English, Spanish, and Karen.
- Update banners and posters with the new date.
- Confirm future dates with administration.
April
- Round #2—Middle school students walk over and read to kindergarteners in small groups in English, Spanish, and Karen.
- Update banners and posters with the new date.
- Confirm future dates with administration.
May
- Round #3— Kindergarteners and middle school students gather in the gym for an assembly.
- Students practice saying hello in multiple languages.
- Choose middle school students to read a book aloud in English, Spanish, or Karen during the assembly. Project illustrations on screen.
- Celebrate with a bubble party outside.
Budget
| The Biscuit Moon (Bilingual Children's Book) - BurmeseEnglish |
$15.50 | |
| Errol's Garden (Bilingual Multicultural Book) - Burmese-English |
$15.50 | |
| The Biscuit Moon (Bilingual Children's Book) - Karen (Sgaw) -English |
$15.50 | |
| Lima's Red Hot Chilli (Bilingual Children's Book) - Karen (Sgaw) -English |
$15.50 | |
| 3 Living In Harmony Books Set (Bilingual Diverse Children's Books) - Karen (Sgaw) -English |
$43.47 | |
| The Three Little Howlers (Bilingual Multicultural Book) - Karen (Sgaw) -English |
$15.95 |
|
| The Three Little Sun Bears (Bilingual Multicultural Book) - Karen (Sgaw) -English |
$15.95 |
|
| Lima's Red Hot Chilli (Bilingual Children's Book) - Hmong-English |
$15.50 | |
| Yum! Let's Eat! (Bilingual Diverse Children's Book) - Hmong-English |
$15.50 |
|
| Amazing Sports from Around the World - Hmong-English |
$15.95 |
|
| 3 Living In Harmony Books Set (Bilingual Diverse Children's Books) - HmongEnglish |
$43.47 | |
| The Three Little Howlers (Bilingual Multicultural Book) - Hmong-English |
$15.95 |
|
| The Three Little Sun Bears (Bilingual Multicultural Book) - Hmong-English |
$15.95 |
|
| 10 Book PENPal Enhanced Set (No Dictionary) - Spanish/English |
$279.97 |
|
| Fox Fables (Bilingual Book) - Spanish-English |
$15.50 |
|
| The Wild Washerwomen (Bilingual Book) - SpanishEnglish |
$15.50 |
|
| Aliens Love Underpants (Bilingual Children's Book) - Spanish-English |
$15.50 |
|
| Keeping Up With Cheetah (Bilingual Children's Book) - Spanish-English |
$15.50 | |
| 3 Living In Harmony Books Set (Bilingual Diverse Children's Books) - Spanish-English |
$43.47 |
|
| 3 Habitat Books Set (Bilingual Children's Book) - Spanish-English |
$45.97 |
|
| 3 Living In Harmony Books Set (Bilingual Diverse Children's Books) - BurmeseEnglish |
$43.47 |
|
| Keeping Up With Cheetah (Bilingual Children's Book) - Nepali-English |
$15.50 |
|
| Farmer Duck (Bilingual Children's Book) - NepaliEnglish |
$15.50 |
|
| Mungo Makes New Friends (Bilingual Children's Book) - Nepali-English |
$15.50 |
|
| Let's Go to the Farm (Bilingual Multicultural Book) - Nepali-English |
$12.99 | |
| Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Bilingual Children's Book) - Spanish-English |
$15.50 | |
| Language Lizard - Shipping & Handling | $69.95 | |
| Banners | $257.00 | |
| TOTAL: | $1,136.51 |
What did it look like?
Sustainability
DEAR to Me is a worthwhile project that will continue into the future. First, when I researched the books, I went with a company that could provide bilingual books. With the use of the PENpal the teacher can read the book in English and the PENpal can read the book in the child’s home language. Kindergarteners can independently re-read the PENpal books after the middle school visits. Next, I wanted quality vinyl banners without a date so they could be reused. Last, I had conversations with the administration to plan our Dear to Me events for the following school year. We all agreed it was a successful project and students benefited from it.
What did it look like?
Reflections
Reflecting on my project, one of the main challenges was finding three dates that were mutually agreeable for both schools. In the future, holding DEAR to Me in the months of January, February, and March would be better than scheduling events at the end of school. I am very happy with the outcome of DEAR to Me. Kindergartners explored books in multiple languages and middle school students were able to serve as multilingual role models.
What did it look like?
See Examples of Winning Demonstration Projects
Multilingual Language Games:
Many times, families do not have access to language and education-based resources. The multilingual board game lending library is designed to celebrate bilingualism and help bridge the gap between home and school. Games encourage growth in the areas of English language acquisition as well as each…
Read, Speak, Succeed: Empowering Future Global Communicators
The primary objectives of this project are twofold: to enhance literacy and language proficiency by reading Spanish-language books and materials. Given that my students are studying Spanish with the ultimate aim of effective communication, it is essential for them to excel in both understanding…
Using Bilingual Texts to Support Translanguaging for English Learners
English Learners (ELs) face unique challenges in the classroom. In order for them to access grade-level curricula in their second language (L2), educators—both English Language Development (ELD) teachers and classroom teachers—provide many types of scaffolds to support students' understanding. Some…
Reading Artwork: Using Family Dialogue to Aid Meaning-Making for English Learners
Visual literacy and peer conversations are critical components of early language learning. This project creates new interactions for English Learners (ELs) between their peers and family. First, by engaging in classroom conversations while “reading” art, followed by sending wordless…
Illuminating Diversity: A Mural to Share Stories through a Multicultural Lens
This project included a 10-Day Artists-in-Residency with Rodrigo Alvarez and Isaac Tapia. These artists worked with students in our English Language Development (ELD) Program to design and paint a 10’x40’ mural, emphasizing the cultural and linguistic diversity of Parkview students both past and…
World Fest: Showcasing Cultural and Linguistic Backgrounds
World Fest was a beautiful and successful event! The event was a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity, filled with excitement and enthusiasm. For our Creekmoor English Learners (ELs), World Fest was a wonderful opportunity to showcase their rich cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It was a…
Global Welcome: Bridging Cultures in High School
Given the community's ties to the tourism industry, Branson High School serves a student population with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This project advocates for multiliteracy through the creation of welcome banners and custom lanyard badges. By creating welcome banners for the school…
The Language Bus: Bringing Early Literacy Skills to the Community
In our community we recently had an increase in students who speak Burmese or Karen. As an Early Childhood Special Education teacher watching the referrals come through, I began to notice that home language literacy needed to be strengthened to develop age-appropriate communication skills. Many of…
LEADing Internationally: Annual Spotlight Night to Support Learning in Any Language
LEADing Internationally emphasizes a strengths-based approach which values learning in any language (Regional Educational Laboratory Program, 2015). This project seeks to provide materials in students’ home languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, Somali & Spanish) for student project work, required…
Culturally Aware Comets: Experiencing Different Cultures through Books, Food, and Games
Mark Twain Elementary has a diverse population of students and staff, many of whom come from different backgrounds. Our school's diversity needed to be celebrated and recognized. Many students come from low-income families. These students have yet to have the opportunity to travel or gain…
Heritage Voices: Empowering & Celebrating Biliteracy
The Heritage Voices: Empowering & Celebrating Biliteracy project aims to support heritage speakers in developing their bilingual and biliterate abilities. Given the large population of Spanish-speaking students in our district, our primary goal is to provide resources and guidance to heritage…
Cross-Town Pen Pals: Support Multiculturalism in Classrooms
The main objective of this pen pal project was to use diverse books representing cultures around the world to make connections with students in a different classroom in the district. Students used multicultural books to collaborate throughout two reading units that focused on theme, inferring, and…
Culture Cats: Exploring Countries and Cultures
Culture Cats is an after-school club that promotes learning and exploring other countries and cultures. We are called Culture Cats because our school has many English Learners (ELs) that make up our student body and our mascot is a wildcat. We use books, guest speakers, games, crafts, and snacks to…
Activities for English Learners: Supporting ELs in the Classroom
The Monett School District boasts a richly diverse student body, with English Learners (ELs) representing the fastest-growing demographic nationwide, having increased by 60% over the last decade (Breiseth, 2015). Our district welcomes students from various countries, with Spanish being the…
Home-to-School Communication: Connections with Wordless Picture Books
The Monett community has twenty plus different languages or dialects spoken here. Newcomer families from other countries are on the rise, and there is a constant need to help students learn English as a second language. The purpose of this project is for students to practice their language skills at…
Wordless Picture Books: Bring Life to Language
My project’s purpose is to give English Learners (ELs) access to text through wordless picture books. The goal of using these books in our class and school is to engage students who are multilingual in our classrooms. Students may work on their language skills as well as reading and writing skills…
Developing a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive School: Professional Development to Highlight Assets ELs Bring to the Classroom
The Monett R-1 School District serves a large population of English Learner (EL) students; out of 2,346 students, 48% identify as a minority. Many students come from low socio-economic backgrounds and have minimal literacy exposure. About half of the students in each Monett classroom are ELs, and…
Home Language Reading Skills: Creating Routines for Literacy at Home
As many refugee and immigrant families arrive in America, their focus on language and literacy often shifts exclusively to the English language. Multilingualism is a strength, and it is important that our families maintain their home language literacy skills in conjunction with their English…
Biliteracy Breakfast: Promoting Multilingual and Multicultural Literature in a Casual Setting
Many multilingual families forgo maintaining literacy in their heritage language in the pursuit of English. It is important to highlight the value and benefits of continuing the development of home languages. By inviting students and families to read together and explore literature and language, we…
Our Little Library: Using Little Lending Libraries to Meet Multilingual Needs
Many families of English Learners (ELs) are not able to read books from school with their child or help with homework because of the language barrier. Since some families believe they are unable to help their children with English and/or homework, they can become very disconnected from their child…
Rounding Up Resources: Helping Early Childhood Teachers Meet Multilingual Learner Needs
There are many resources available to support educators of English Learners (ELs), however, having access to those materials isn’t always easy. One cannot overstate the value of having resources available for teachers. We know that “without specific knowledge related to language development, even…
Multilingual Listening Library: Using Yoto audio players to support all students
Three second-grade classrooms offered their students access to a multilingual listening library. The main objective of this project was to promote the use of home languages and encourage English language acquisition.This project had two primary goals:To provide students with frequent access to…
Around the World: Family Literacy Night
Around the World Family Literacy night is a project designed to highlight differences in culture and build literacy skills. As an EL teacher in my district, I understand the importance of creating opportunities for our students and families to learn about other cultures within our school community.…
Home-to-School Literacy Project: Increasing family literacy with bilingual resources
Family literacy activities are essential for student academic success in school. The Home-School Literacy Project equips students and parents with bilingual activities, books, and resources to support their literacy skills. Families participate in a literacy night to share their own experiences and…
Many Voices, One School: Using QR codes to give ELs a voice
Many of our students come to us from various countries, backgrounds, and cultural experiences. While some families bring educational experiences from their home countries before relocating to the United States, others, particularly our newcomers, may not have a strong literacy background or history…
A Multicultural Pirate’s Reading Night
Our school mascot is a pirate. My project, A Multicultural Pirate’s Reading Night, was an event in which multicultural families who have children enrolled in Preschool or Kindergarten were invited to learn about the importance of promoting literacy in their first language as well as English. The…
Promoting Family Conversations in Multiple Languages
There is a need for deep conversation, even at a first-grade level. The purpose of the project is to promote conversations between students and their families via play, read-alouds, and everyday activities through literacy kits that students can check out. The kits include books, phonics games,…
Celebrating Multilingual Magic: Nurturing the Social and Emotional Well-being of ELs
Wanda Gray Elementary stands as a cornerstone for education in Springfield, Missouri, providing a nurturing space for a diverse student population. Currently hosting 483 students weekly, with 29 benefiting from English Language Development (ELD) services and speaking languages other than English at…
A World of Languages in Our Classroom: Celebrating cultural diversity with guest readers
As a model language-rich classroom in my district, it is my goal to provide a comfortable, interactive environment for our multilingual students and their families. When students see their native language in books, posters, and through multimedia presentations they feel valued and have a sense of…
DEAR to Me: Fostering biliteracy through middle school mentors
DEAR to Me stands for Drop Everything and Read to Me and that is exactly what happened at the Monett Early Childhood Center.DEAR to Me is a special time for Middle School students to come and read in small groups. Our kindergarten students got to hear books read to them in English, Spanish and…
Dig Into Reading: Promoting students reading 15 minutes daily in school and at home
Through the Dig Into Reading multiliteracy project, we have created a culture of reading within our school and are continuing to promote reading engagement at home. We have been able to provide multilingual literacy resources and encouragement to enhance students' reading in their preferred…
HELLO! HOLA! XIN CHÁO! BONJOU! HALO! Connecting high school and elementary ELs
As the population of English learners (ELs) continues to grow in our community, students can utilize their home language as a means to develop second language skills. The ELL Outreach Program brings together students of different ages yet similar cultures and languages to improve their English…
Many Languages, One Shelf: The Building Bilingual Book Section Project
This project allows English learners the opportunity to check out materials that represent diverse cultures and languages. Most materials are bilingual and include English translations on the same page. These resources promote and maintain ELs’ home languages and build English proficiency. As a…
Our Cultural Heritage: Students create a bilingual alphabet book of their home country with family assistance
Our Cultural Heritage is a project designed for students and families to work, share, and learn together. This project is designed for students to practice various reading, writing, and speaking skills to create an alphabet book about their families’ home countries. Using a digital online book…
Language Clubs: Promoting cultural diversity and biliteracy
The students in our school come to us from many different backgrounds and cultural experiences. As educators, it’s our job to make all students feel welcomed and safe at our school and in our classrooms. Promoting and valuing the first language helps English learners and bilingual children feel more…
Welcome to Our Language Lab
How can we make our schools more welcoming, accepting, and engaging for our students and families joining us from other places around the world? With a Language Lab!
Multilingual Garden Unit
A community garden not only adds beauty to a school but also instills pride in the students that help build it. By utilizing best practices that teach English Learners (ELs), students explored how to design a garden.
Multilingual Story Garden
A community garden not only adds beauty to a school but also instills pride in the students that help build it. By utilizing best practices for English learners (ELs), students visited a local community garden in the city to learn about gardening and sustainability. They also participated in a story…
Multicultural Newsletter
The multicultural newsletter aims build connections with multilingual families by getting to know them and by introducing them to the school community. Amber Troye shares her protocol and experiences that can help educators deepen their knowledge about multilingual learners’ home cultures,…
Family Literacy Night
The Family Literacy Night project involves caregivers in the life of an elementary school. In preparation for the event, reading buddies in kindergarten and 4th grade partner to read multicultural books; they also learn to tell wordless picture books and author their own.
Read the full blueprint.
Better Together Unit in Nixa Public Schools
Kara Griffin at Summit Intermediate in Nixa Public Schools presents the blueprint of a project that aimed to welcome new families and unite the school around exploring the home cultures and languages of the students who attend. The project contributed a multilingual collection to the school library…
Newcomer Welcome Kits
Sarah Reeves at Bayless School District in St. Louis, Missouri describes her school's activities that aimed at creating a welcoming environment for newcomer refugee families by supplying them with useful items in a thoughtfully assembled backpack.
Read the full blueprint.