I had the honor and the privilege to attend and present at the 2022 Immigrants Student Success Virtual Conference. 
If you can, check out the many different recorded sessions that can help you provided support to your immigrant students. 
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The conference covered:

• How to foster belonging, identity and self-efficacy in your students
• How to incorporate culturally relevant pedagogies
• How more diverse books can improve student outcomes
• How to strengthen teacher-student relationships
• The impact of immigration on school safety
• Using theater to build student confidence in ESOL classrooms
• New immigration lesson plans from The ILC Public Education Institute
• And much more!

You can find the agenda and ALL the recorded sessions HERE 

In May, I was thrilled to share with you the amazing cover of my book If You Only Knew: Letters from an Immigrant Teacher, soon to be published by Seidlitz Education Publishing. 

During the month of June, advanced readers' copies (ARCs) were sent out to selected readers. I don't have the words to describe the feeling when I opened the package and saw my book for the first time. It was an excitement that words cannot explain. Holding the book in my hand brought tears to my eyes. I can't wait for the world to read it.

Some readers received a hard copy of the ARC, others received an e-book. Some readers I selected just because I've followed their work and knew they would enjoy the book and provide great feedback. Other readers were selected by the publishing company or the our marketing company.
I'd have to say that PR by Books is doing an amazing job helping me promote the book and making sure the world know about this great book. Just look at this great Author's Page and the NetGalley page where you can read some reviews. 

I am honored and humbled to read these great reviews. All these authors are highly respected and are authors I personally admire and have learned from. I appreciate them taking time to read and review my book.

If you are a NetGalley member, you can request an e-book the book and provide your review. If you're on Goodreads, please, add this book to your "to-read" list! Click here to read more. 

It feels my heart with so much joy to see my friends and network tweeps reading my book and providing such heartfelt reviews and comments. I was thrilled to see THE Valentina Gonzalez ,author, speaker, and professional development facilitator, make time to read my book. Thank you to all my friends and family for your support. 

As always, thank you for reading and staying connected. Be sure co add your name to this book launch form so you are informed when you can order the book!!

Click HERE! 

​I have to be transparent and share that poetry is not one of my favorite genres to read or to choose as a mentor text to teach my students. Of course, once in a while, I come across some amazing poems that shake me to my core - like "My Name is Jorge: on Both Sides of the River" by Jane Medina

I LOVE using this book towards the end of April to celebrate Poetry month but also to begin introducing our last unit of the school year - Moving Stories. I cannot remember how I came across this book, but what I do remember is turning every page and finding myself reflected in every word. I'd say that this is one of the first books I came across in my first year of teaching and it impacted so much in the material and resources I began using to teach my multilingual students.

What fascinates me about Jorge's story is that each poem is a window for the reader to learn about an event and experience in Jorge's life. Each poem is at a kid-friendly level that children can understand and learn from Jorge and his family. 

Unfortunately, I only own two copies of this book so I had to get creative to have students read the book.
I started by analyzing the book first and deciding which poems are the core of Jorge's story. Even though all the poems are fantastic, I knew that reading the whole book would've been overwhelming for my newcomers since there are 27 poems.  

The poems I chose are: 
My Name is Jorge
Invisible
Why Am I Dumb?
The Busy Street
Dirty Words 
Mexican Dummy Tine
The King of the United States
Ants-On-A-Log 
My Paper
Suspended
Men Don't Cry
The Test
Packing 
​
Once I had selected the poems I wanted to have students analyze, I made a list of themes I noticed were highlighted by each poem.
The themes I came up with were Language, Food, Representation, School, Immigration, Name, Family Divided, Unfairness, and Back to Mexico. 

I made a copy of the poems I selected (along with the Spanish translation) and I placed them all around our classroom. The idea was to have students get up and go around the room reading the poems. The assignment was to read each poem and think about what the poem was mostly about. Each student was given a sticky notepad to share how each poem is related to one of the themes listed by the teacher. I had placed the themes on chart paper on the board so students knew what each theme was. Many of the themes were topics we had discussed during previous lessons. I also left a chart paper with a question mark for students who wanted to brainstorm their theme.

After students created a cover for their story about Jorge, they were instructed to retell Jorge's story using the sentences they created from each poem and for each theme. 

We talked about how a story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end - so as they picked the order of their sentences, they were to consider what might've happened when and in what order.
For example, the poem about Jorge's name is. a great poem to introduce Jorge. Next, poems that share about this childhood, migration, school, family, etc. 
All books were different since everyone had a different perspective of the poems and added their perspective.
Each student's book about Jorge had at least 10 pages and was in chronological order. 

Once the story drafts were ready, students took turns to meet with me to make sure the book was in the correct order. We also discussed ways to make the book interesting and with our perspective and connections added to it to make it interesting. 

You heard it say...and I'll say it again - Teachers, work smarter NOT harder!!!

After my newcomers finished creating sentences based on their sketches of the story "Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah", (SEE LESSON HERE), I wanted my students to do something with their hard work. 

THIS lesson here gave me a GREAT idea for our next lessons!

This lesson extension lead us to  discuss "Big Ideas" found in the story, analyze visible and invisible traits, and compare and contrast ourselves to Emmanuel. 

The "Big Ideas" were not a difficult process to explain since I presented them through a Jamboard, so my students quickly translated the ideas and were able to understand them. We sure practiced reading them in English and found sentences we had created to match each "Big Idea". 
The list of "Big Ideas is in the lessons shared above on page #4.  The handout is to compare and contrast, but I only had them complete the "Emmanuel" part. 
The matching details supporting each idea had to come from the sentences students had already created; so, there wasn't any extra work to do besides analyzing the sentences and placing them on the corresponding "Big Idea". 

One of my favorite and most impactful picture books I enjoy using to teach my newcomers is - "Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah" by Laurie Ann Thompson

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah's inspiring true story and the fantastic illustrations in the book are a great tool to not only teach English as a second language but also encourage our students to embrace who they are and believe in their abilities and potential. 

The first thing I did was check with my public library to see how many books were available to check them out and use in our class. Eventually, I'll buy my own class set!!!

I LOVE highlighting and posting on Twitter and Instagram my students' work. Just like they are proud of their work, I'm proud of it too.  So, last week, right after posting about my newcomers' fantastic writing, I received a question from a follower. She asked: "How are you able to get newcomers to produce that much written language? I am super curious!" 
This question surprised me because I've worked with newcomers for years, and I don't have a problem getting my newcomers to produce written work - unless, the student is a SLIFE (students with limited formal education). -- But even like that, I've figured out ways for newcomers to produce written work that demonstrates their learning...see this lesson here.

Anyway, I thought I'd share here how my newcomers' written work was scaffolded so they demonstrate their full potential.

In my opinion, picture books are the best text we could use with newcomers that will provide the understanding and the language they need to be able to retell the story. 

I started by sharing with my newcomers a list of guiding questions we were to use to help us understand and retell the story. 

How much do you appreciate literacy? How do you encourage literacy in your family or with students? How do you demonstrate your love and passion for literacy?

These are questions that I would have not been able to answer during the first 15 years of my life. I attended school while living in Guatemala but I didn't appreciate how much the literacy I was learning in my home country was going to be the core and foundation to everything I have accomplished here in the USA. Read more about my journey here!

From the year I started working as a teacher assistant in 2004 to today -- Literacy has been something I've learned to embrace and enjoy. The foundations of the English language I learned sitting in a first-grade classroom as a teacher's assistance helped me understand how language works to make sense of words and use them to comprehend text and to write our own story. 

As a friend, parent, teacher, sister, and aunt, I'm always looking for ways to encourage young children to read and write. One way I do this is by celebrating literacy on days that are nationally or internationally recognized - For example, there is National Multicultural Books Day (1/29), World Read Aloud (2/3), Library Lovers Day (2/14), National Write Your Story Day (3/14), Childre's Book Day (4/2), Día de los libros (4/30), National Book Lovers Day (8/9), National Read a Book Day (9/6), International Literacy Day (9/9), I Love to Write Day (11/15), etc!! 

That's why tomorrow, September 8th, 2021 we are celebrating literacy in our English as a Second language classroom. 

National Hispanic Heritage Month is by far a favorite time of  year in the USA. From September 15th - October 15th this country honors, celebrates, and recognizes the contribution and influence of Hispanic Americans to USA culture, history and more!

This year, I decided to share a video challenging my #PLN and followers to do the following:

1. Learn something new about a Hispanic friend, a colleague, or a neighbor and share it.
2. Double check your bookshelf and make sure Hispanic culture is represented in books & share away! 

After sharing my challenge, I had a few friends sending me messages accepting the challenge and sharing their findings.  It was wonderful to see friends embracing this wonderful celebration.

I also began sharing all my Hispanic Heritage Books (at least the ones I had at home). Every day from September 15th to October 15th I shared a 30 second video of a book that highlights and honors Hispanic culture. I shared picture books, middle grades books, young adult books. I shared my books on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. All of these videos were curated and uploaded it to my Youtube channel. 
If you have read any of these books, share with me how you're using them with your students. If you are adding any of these books to your booklist/bookshelf let me know. I'd love to connect and discuss how to use the book with your students. 

• Picture books
• MG & YA
• More Hispanic Heritage books 

If you are on Instagram and would like to check out the curated stories, check it out HERE! 

Thank you for reading! 

This post is featured on the Re-Imagening Migration website. Find article here: 

I was 15 years old when I was asked to pack-up a backpack with a couple of outfits and whatever else I could fit in and carry with me on a journey from Guatemala to the USA.
I remember looking around the room and packing a few photographs and recuerditos (keepsakes) I didn't want to leave behind.

I do not doubt that many immigrants experience this moment when they have to decide what to pack and bring along their migration journey. Besides packing the essentials, many of us pack something that will remind us of the world we are leaving behind, representing our country, homeland, and believes.
​
Just like we pack-up objects, we also pack-up our identity within us and hold on to it as tight as possible because we know it is what makes us who we are. The things we pack-up within us are experiences, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, family, foods, music, culture, heritage, and more. All this builds our individuality. 
​
Yuyi Morales narrates this personal experience perfectly in this image. We see how her backpack includes a jatana, a pencil, nature items, and Señor Calavera. If you follow Yuyi's Instagram account, you'd see how these objects represent her identity.  Objects that she carried with her as she crossed over the Mexican border to come to the USA. And just like we see in her book, the objects that represented her identity were kept safe and packed up because they were being protected or perhaps they stayed packed up because she didn't feel like her individuality would fit in the new culture.
In Dreamers, we see the characters trying to blend in and function in a new country and culture but with a substantial struggle to be who they are. 

I experienced this as well, and so do many immigrant students and individuals who come to the United States. While many of us love our home culture, our language, and everything about our heritage, society tells us that to function successfully, we must keep our background packed up and blend in the American culture and master the English language to be successful.
For many of us, it'll be years and years till we realize that our culture, language, and heritage are valuable and core to who we are. 
For others, this realization will never happen - and heritage, language, and culture will be lost. To me, this is a sad reality that will hinder many generations. 

Amá's deportation hurt the entire family - and we see how every one of them kept on pushing and functioning and planning regardless of how they were feeling. 

• We see Efrén struggling in school and trying to perform to the best of his ability regardless of what he was going through. 
• We see Apá working non-stop to be able to get extra money to be able to bring Amá back home.

• We see Max and Mía, two little kids, missing Amá's love and care (and cooking).

​
It is a story that many students will identify with - whether is because they are separated from their parents or maybe because they are carrying on the same responsibilities and obligations Efrén is having to do. 
This is a story all teachers, principals, social workers and guidance counselors need to read. I was able to connect with the story because I experienced a lot of the things the family goes through - but if you have NEVER experienced anything like this, it would give you a needed perspective to better understand your students. 

I do not doubt in my mind that a lot of students in our classrooms are experiencing things at home that do not feel comfortable sharing with anyone at school; hence knowing about these topics would give teachers that understanding and the knowledge they need to advocate for students.

Because I believe this book needs to be used in schools - whether is for bookclubs or guided/strategy reading groups or school group discussions, I made these chapter notes and questions as I read the book.

Feel free to use them! If you create any more resources for this book, I'd love to hear from you. So far all I have are questions and topics for discussion but I would love to see educators creating an entire book study with activities for the book. 
Here's a great identity heart graphic organizer a book study participant created.
Amy Sherman took the challenge in creating an identity map on Efrén Nava and it is just fabulous. 
This would be something amazing to have our students create too. 
​You can find a printable version of the graphic organizer here. 

These are the questions we used for discussion during our book study on #ELLchat_bkClub. If you need an editable version of the questions pdf documents above, you can access them here. 

This book is without a doubt a 5 starts book that middle schoolers and HS students would love.

I'd love to hear from you if you have read it or if you decide to read it. There are many topics to discuss and I'd love to engage in conversation with you about this book. Author Ernesto Cisneros is very active on Twitter so connect with him and ask any questions you may have.


Thank you for reading! 

I was so excited to read this book that I pre-ordered it and received it 2 days after it was released. As soon as I found out that this story was about 3 Guatemalan teenagers - I knew I had to read it. 

Of  course the story does not disappoint! We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez is a hard book to read just because the journey Pulga, Chico, and Pulga (3 main characters) go through are  VERY difficult. This book tells the raw journey of 3 teens who ride La Bestia (a monster train) to immigrate to the USA and their journey will stay with you long after you finish the book.

As a Guatemalan and immigrant myself -  I was able to identify with the characters which is something I long for my students to do when reading our class books. I am going to be so excited to share this book with my students...especially when the Spanish version is released!!!

You can find my full booktalk/review of this 5-Star book here on my YouTube channel! 

I read this book over a weekend! I usually take much longer to read books because I read in between errands, parenting, cleaning, cooking, etc. THIS book, however, was a book I couldn't put down. 
Laurie Halse Anderson's book  SHOUT - is a book that that will make you want to shout and stand up for those who have experienced or are experiencing sexual abuse, rape, and/or harassment of any type.  
I would not even think twice about having this book on my class bookshelf for HS students to read.  Not only will this book encourage and empower readers to stand up and speak up agains sexual assaults, but also will ignite the desire to want to know more about this topic and advocate for those who are hurt.

Check out my review on my YouTube channel here! 

I was super excited when the author Laurie Halse Anderson shared my BookTalk - see it below!! 

If you read any of these books, please share with me on the comments below. I'd love to hear from you and your thoughts on any of these books or other books written by these authors. 

Thank you for reading and keep on reading!! 

The Bilingual/ESL Department at Region 10  ESC in North TX holds an annual symposium for their 500+ educators. This year, due to the COVID pandemic, the event was help virtually.

I was honored and humbled to be invited as their 2020 Symposium 'Power Of Unity' keynote speaker. I was so excited to connect and meet so many passionate educators who are working hard to provide their very best for all students. 

The keynote presentation was on June 23rd and it was a way to kick-off the symposium - teachers had a long day of sessions to attend right after the keynote. 
My presentation title was 'Shifting from Statistics to Stories'

The presentation was streamed LIVE so you can find the recorded version on my YouTube channel below. 

Sometimes… is just the book we need right now. Ibarra and Seidlitz share with us a story in which immigrants’ experiences are legitimized, one that opens doors for connections and much-needed conversations. It is a story that made me think about how experiences and family stories don’t have to be forgotten. And about how significant it is when stories are shared, because they validate what is core in our existence and our hopes for what is to come.
Sometimes… is a story of hope. A story of courage and strength. A story of a family who worked together through difficult circumstances to make their dreams come true. And even though sometimes things don’t go as planned and changes need to happen along the way, we see the characters rising through it all. We see Andrés and Clara holding tight to the hope offered by their mother and teachers. A hope that helps them get through every situation that comes their way.
The International Children’s Book Day theme for 2020 was “A Hunger for Words”, and as much as I identify with this phrase, I also believe there’s a hunger for cultural understanding — a hunger for identity and individual acceptance. 

In Stories That Sparkle Powerful Conversations blog post, I shared a lesson I started with our SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Educations) ELs. This lesson led to another wonderful week where students created a wonderful presentation to show the rest of the class. 
All our newcomer ELs are expected to present their learning in our ESL class, of course, the bar remains high for SIFEs.  Just like Kanako Suwa says,
"Simplifying is GIVING UP, Scaffolding is BELIEVING. 
Simplifying is dumbing down/lowering expectations.
Scaffold = same expectations and content + supports put in place to help Ss meet the expectations."

Here's Abril's book: DREAMERS 

On August 15, I was supposed to attend and present at the Annual Global Education Summit in which by the way was in Concord, NC for the first time. This summit is organized by UNC World View department at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. 
Unfortunately, and disappointingly, I missed it!! I had to go to TX to drop my son off and the day of my return to NC, my flights were canceled due to bad weather. What a bummer!!

Anyway, I already had my presentation ready so I thought I would post it here for those who might be interested in using picture books to encourage and nurture a global mindset on students in K-12 education. Picture books are powerful pathways to learn, understand and embrace the world around us.

My presentation description was as follows: 
Picture books are powerful pathways to learn, understand, and embrace the world around us. Characters’ experiences found in picture books can serve as mirrors that reflect and reaffirm students’ culture and experiences. Picture books serve as windows to an unknown world that nurtures empathy and passion for a global mindset. Incorporate picture books in lessons to support reading, writing, listening and academic discourse. 

I wanted to share our class experience for our second visit ​to W.M. Irvin elementary school. A couple of days before our visit, we discussed how important it is to be prepared when presenting, or teaching something new. I asked my students to reflect on my lesson delivery. I asked them to share how they know a teacher is well prepared or not so prepared for a lesson. Some were very honest and shared how they can tell when the teacher is thinking on an assignment and expects students to do what it's asked but there's very little support. However, when a teacher has everything printed out, written on slide or board, supports with clarity what's expected, then they perform much better. 
After this conversation, I told them how they are becoming teachers when going to the elementary school because the little ones are learning from them. That being said, preparation to even read and ask questions is important. We then brainstormed what we could do to show up to the elementary school and be very well prepared. 

Here is what they came up with:

• Read the book and know the story.
• Brainstorm and write great questions to ask about the story.
• Use sticky notes to mark where they wanted to stop to discuss or ask questions.
• Have another book as a back-up should we have extra time to read.

​
I was so proud of my students because they thinking as educators. They understood that preparation is key to not only feel prepared and ready but also to ensure that the student is supported enough to understand the story. 

So, our first step was to choose our book of choice. These are the books my students picked: 

• Brian: ​El Árbol Generoso by Shel Silverstein (Image #1 'left')
• Brandon: From North to South/Del Norte al Sur by Rene Colato Lainez (Image #1 'right')
• Oliver: Vamos, Hugo! by Angela Dominguez  (Image #2)
• Ani: La Frontera/The Border: El viaje con papá/ My Journey With Papa by Deborah Mills (image #3)
• Melissa: 3,585 Miles to be an American Girl by Nury Castillo Crowford (Image #4) 
• Yanet: Perez y Martina/Perez and Martina by  Marjorie Herrmann  (Image #5)
• Marlon: Chiquita Y Pepita: Dos Ratoncitas/The City Mouse and the Country Mouse  by  Dorothy Sword Bishop (Image #6)

Personal experiences are powerful. My journey as a first-generation immigrant and a former English learner is now central to what I do. My personal experiences, coupled with my responsibilities as an educator, have helped me to embrace the role of an advocate and to create and establish a sense of culture that values students’ greatest gifts: identity and individuality.
When ILA launched Children’s Rights to Read campaign last fall, I immediately saw connections to my teaching philosophy and the role I can play in advocating for those rights.

Children’s Rights to Read—10 fundamental rights ILA asserts every child deserves—is a campaign in which ILA aims to activate educators around the world to ensure every child, everywhere, receives access to the education, opportunities, and resources needed to read.
As a high school teacher of English as a second language (ESL), my job is to analyze my students’ needs and to develop their linguistic and communicative competence in English in all language domains.
However, my goal as an educator is to create meaningful learning experiences that serve as pathways for connection. I can create those experiences through the framework of Children’s Rights to Read

During the summer of 2017, Refugee book by Alan Gratz was released. There was a huge buzz about this awesome book that I decided to get it. I even ordered several copies and shared with colleagues so we could all read it together. However, I had to stop reading it and put it away. I didn't stop reading it because I didn't like it; I stopped reading it because I found myself disoriented while reading it. 

​You see, I am an English Learner (EL). English is my second language. As matter of fact, I've only had 3 years of high school and my college education here in the USA. Read here if you want to learn more. 

Even though I was compelled and excited to read this story, I found myself struggling to make sense of what was happening. I was getting frustrated. I was getting caught in small details, I couldn't remember the most important events, I was forgetting what I had just read and was unable to make connections between events. I TRIED! I KEPT READING! But I felt like I was wasting my time. So I gave up and put the book away. 

All year went by and I kept seeing posts about how awesome this book was and how everyone should be reading it. I felt bad and kind of embarrassed that I had not been able to read this wonderful book. However, reading 'Más Allá del Invierno' by Isabel Allende, entirely en Español, was super easy and refreshing to my mind. 

So, why did I have trouble reading Refugee, you might ask? Well, allow me to shed some light on the book's NARRATIVE STRUCTURE (text structure is the overall organization of the text).
The novel alternates among three narratives that  explore the lives of refugees in different decades and parts of the world.
​
The book is beautifully written, and its narrative structure is brilliantly constructed...but, it threw me off and confused me as an English language learner.
Isn't comprehension the purpose of reading? If so, if you can't read it, you can't comprehend it!  Comprehension is the process of extracting or constructing MEANING!! ​

The #ELLchat_BkClub voted on reading Refugee over the summer of 2018. As matter of fact, I also voted on this book because I was still intrigued by everything I've heard about the story and I really wanted to read it. 

Guess what?!? I read it ALL in just 4 weeks! 

However, the only reason I was successful in completing the book was that I had support.  
​
You see, participating in a book club not only provided the accountability for my reading but also facilitated weekly discussions with other participants reading the same story. 
Dr. Katie Toppel, the book club moderator, provided weekly questions based on a given number of pages read, and that in itself, gave me the purpose for reading I needed to pause and reflect on what I had read. 

I was not just reading the words! I was making sense of the information and ideas. I was constructing meaning, and also retaining information.  So this experience led me thinking about my ELs and thought about gathering some resources about this topic. 

The question should be, 'why wouldn't you teach narrative structures?'. If you want students to make sense of the text and build on ideas to construct meaning and to retain the information they're reading, then you MUST intentionally teach its structure. 
​
Students NEED a purpose for reading! The purpose of reading is COMPREHENSION.
Again, if students are finding themselves disoriented while reading a narrative, they WILL NOT comprehend, construct meaning, and/or retain information. 

ELs, and all students in general, NEED explicit text structure lessons; they need tools to support them as they move throughout their reading whether is non-fiction or narrative text.
I find this blog post on Cultofpedagogy.com by Jennifer Gonzalez loaded with resources on ways to teach text structures for non-fiction text. 
​
This "20 Strategies to Teach Text"  is fabulous. It actually gives a great perspective as to why and how to teach text structures. 

Some key elements our students need to focus on while reading narratives are:

• Settings: Help students have a clear understanding of where the story is happening. Time period is also important. Provide setting frames such as: This story takes place ___________. I know this because the author uses the words _____________. Other clues that show when and where the story takes place are ________________. 
• Characters: Students need support identifying personalities, character traits, character behaviors, and languages. Have students make a list of all the main characters and a list of all characters found in the story. 
• Obstacles: What problems are the characters encountering? How might the problems be solved?
• Plot: Have students keep a timeline as they read the story. This will help them maintain their thoughts and events in order. 
• Point of View: Who is telling the story? If its the narrator, students should know that he/she and him/her will be used. If the story is being told by the character, then "I, and me" will be used.

Focusing on these key elements scaffolds their readings and empowers them to comprehend stories. ​The use of graphic organizers its great...but please don't overuse them! Graphic organizers are diagrams or any other visual that helps students identify concepts, ideas, and information found within the text. 
Here's an excellent list of printable graphic organizers provided by Fountas and Pinnell. 

The most important strategy we can teach our students is to PAUSE AND DISCUSS the text! 

MODEL, MODEL, MODEL how to think aloud while reading! Here's a great video that teaches how to model thinking aloud to increase comprehension.  

This "Think Aloud Checklist" is a great resource our students can have with them as they read and think about their reading. 

Introducing Fiction Text Structure with STORY ​looks like a fun way to teach this topic! Click here for more. 

S – SETTING
T – TALKING CHARACTERS
O – OOPS! A PROBLEM!
R – ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM
Y – YES, THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED!

In conclusion, the method you choose to teach your students 'Narrative Text Structure' doesn't really matter. What matters is to make sure students know how to navigate through challenging text formats to comprehend stories.  Having the tools described above will increase reading speed, help retain content, and support with connections with incoming new information. 

I would love to know if you use any of these resources or if you have any others I need to learn about. Please share comments below! 


Happy reading and thanks for reading my post! 

Do you know the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme? I'm sure you do! But, just in case you don't, this is how it goes:

1. Embrace Failure 
2. Know Your Purpose
3. Enjoy the Moment
4. Set Small Goals
5. Celebrate Small Accomplishments
6. Determination

1. Embrace Failure
The first lesson we can learn from Humpty is to embrace failure. He understands that everyone knows about him because of his "great fall".  However, he doesn't define himself based on our perspective of him, but on what he believes of himself. He sees "the great fall" as an accident...and as an opportunity that changed his life. Can you say growth mindset?!?

FEAR - the feeling Humpty had to embrace after the fall - and he embraced it like a hero. He began taking small steps in order to face his biggest obstacle...heights!  

2. Know Your Purpose
​Humpty had a very clear picture of what his purpose was and who he was meant to be. He made sure he was always surrounded by what he was passionate about. His room décor shows what was in his heart and mind. And even though he knew that height was his weakness, he also understood that it was the very thing that was keeping him away from what he loved most - being where he belonged! 
Humpty walked by the wall every day! It was a daily reminder of his failure. But he wanted to be as close as possible to where he knew he was supposed to be. And every day he would think about climbing...perhaps planning his next steps...perhaps, thinking about what he would do once he gets back up where he belongs.  

5. Celebrate Small Accomplishments 
Accomplishing a small goal made Humpty happy. In fact, it gave him back the happiness he hadn't felt for a long time. Why? Simply because he understood the power of small goals. He celebrated the fact that he believed in himself. He knew what he was capable of. He knew it was close enough to his ultimate goal. 
It is so important for us to realize that it is OK to feel scared when drafting small goals. In fact, this is a good kind of fear! A fear of the unknown. However, it is exciting to know that reaching our goals will without a doubt give us a sense of accomplishment and a level of self-confidence that only we can give ourselves! 
Make sure to share your accomplishments with your loved ones. Use social media to share your accomplishments. Let your friends and family celebrate with you when you reach a goal. It's not about bragging...it's about the opportunity to inspire those who might need a little encouragement.

6. Determination
Once again - Humpty is face-to-face with FEAR! The opportunity came for him to finally climb the wall and be where he belonged. He knew he had to climb that wall but he wasn't just afraid, he was TERRIFIED! At this very moment he has two choices: Walk away or step into an uncomfortable situation to finally be who he was meant to be. 

Humpty stepped forward!

What made him stay and encouraged him, you might ask? Well, he started thinking about how hard he had worked to accomplish his small goals. He made a choice because he was empowered by his small goals and the sense of accomplishment he celebrated before. 

 He didn't have to see the whole staircase - All he had to do was to take the first step! Halfway up he realized he was no longer afraid! 
What a powerful lesson we learn from Humpty; Progress is found outside our comfort zone, and it is through our uncomfortableness that we grow and develop the skills we need to be efficient where we belong.  

Making it to the top - where he always belonged, is where he became what he was meant to be! 
He made it so you and I can have a different perspective on him. He made it so that he can inspire us to reach our goals and celebrate where we belong. He made it so we can change our expectations of failures and those who fail. 
Humpty's grit and determinations are admirable! Let him be a hero to you and your students. 

Thank you for reading! 

   

During the summer of 2017, I had the opportunity to travel to Germany with Go Global NC. I had an unforgettable experience!  The biggest impact I had during this experience was the cultural differences and similarities I experienced in 10 days. Culture shock is not new to me! I came to the USA at the age of 15 and experienced as much culture shock as you can imagine. However, the sad thing was that I felt like as a newcomer student, I was somehow forced to put aside my own culture, beliefs, and values, in order to acculturate to the USA. Once I started school I stop reading and learning in Spanish; and I never had the opportunity to share my values and my Guatemalan culture with teachers and peers. I had the thought that my culture was not worth talking or reading about.
While visiting Germany's schools, I noticed as much diversity as we see in USA schools today. What shocked me, however, was how comfortable diverse students were sharing own culture and speaking their home language. Students would have book talks and you can hear 3-4 different language spoken at one time. Wow!  What an eye-opening moment for me! I loved how students embrace who they are and how they value knowing and speaking different languages!! 

So I decided to take action. I want my English learners to not fall into the trap replacing culture while acculturating in the USA. Just because they are learning the language and living the USA doesn't mean they need to completely forget their roots and who they are. They need to know that their culture, language, and family beliefs are valued and matter.

So I wrote two grants and both were funded: 

• DonorsChoose grant to obtain  a variety of diverse books to utilize as mentor texts for lessons
• Local county grant foundation Cabarrus County Education Foundation to obtain bilingual books for students to take home and read with their parents.

The following lessons can be for elementary grades K-5 and adjusted/extended as needed.

• Whoever You Are by  Mem Fox 

This is a great book to begin conversations about our similarities and differences. In this book, students get a clear picture of the little things that we all have in common and begin to embrace and celebrate our differences. 
After reading the book out loud, students turned and shared with partners all the details the author mentions about similarities and differences. I had students create a T-chart with illustrations and labels as an anchor to share what we've learned. I could've created this chart myself, however, I believe in student empowerment...and having student created charts are just epic! 

We used this chart as we introduced the next book. Connections are very important when introducing a new book or topic. This chart helped us predict and have discussions about the characters in our next book: Same, Same but Different. 

• Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

We started our lesson by discussing the cover of the book. The illustrations alone are so powerful to ignite discussions about diversity. Using the T-chart above, students were able to create sentences like: "Their heart is the same, but their houses are different." "Their skin color is different, but their smile is the same." They also wondered if their language was different since they live in different places. 
These conversations that students were having was perfect since it prepared them to compare the two characters which are exactly what this book is about. The book is about Elliot who lives in America and Kailash who lives in India. They are pen pals who write to each other sharing their differences and similarities. 
After reading the book out loud, students turned and shared with partners all the wonderful things that the two characters have in common as well as their differences. At this point, students had so much language that they could've to continue sharing all morning long. Students also created a T-chart comparing the two characters: 

As students were creating this chart, I asked to begin thinking about themselves and to come up with some things they had in common with one or both of the characters. 
They were also asked to appreciate differences they had with one of the characters and share that as well. 

• I'm New Here by Anne Sibley O'Brien 

If there is a book you must have as part of your classroom library, it should be I'm New Here. This book highlights exactly what students go through as newcomers in USA classrooms. In this book, you'll learn the struggles, the confusions, and the feelings that our language learners experience as they begin to acculturate in USA schools. However, what I love the most about this book, is the fact that it teaches us to highlight students' strengths and create a comfortable environment where students show their abilities. Maria, Jin, and Fatimah teach us a valuable lesson for all to learn...not just students...but educators as well. 

Before we started reading I'm New Here, we discussed what it would be like to leave the USA and moved to India where Kailash lives and why? This image shows my first graders' responses using illustrations. This chart ignited a great discussion as we have already learned all about Kailash and his way of living. This was a great activity to activate background knowledge and make text to text connection. It was a great way to introduce our new book and begin predicting how the characters in our new story might feel because they had to leave their home countries to come to the USA. 

Another great activity we did before we started our book was learning where our characters were from. We pulled out our world map and circled the three countries our characters were from. This is a great opportunity for students to learn a little more about different cultures. An extension to this map activity would be to learn all about: Guatemala, Korea, and Somalia. 

It is always a great idea to read the book aloud the first time without any interruptions. This is a strategy that teaches students to carefully pay attention to the story from beginning to end.
​After hearing the story, students turn and share with a partner all and everything they want to share the text. From character information to details - no specifics - just TALK about the text! 

For the second reading, students were told to pay very close attention to character change at feelings. They are told to observe how characters feel in the beginning of the story, in the middle, and how they feel once the story ends. Though this book is excellent to teach story sequencing, my focus was on understanding the character using the details found in the text. 
Students also had a written response assignment. They chose one of the characters and explained how he/she felt in the beginning of the story and compared to their feeling at the end of the story. 

I was amazed how empathetic my students felt about each character. They were able to explain why students felt the way they felt and what made them change the way they each felt. 
As students were sharing their individual written response, we created a classroom chart with all the details we learned about each character. 
I divided our chart paper into three parts to help students visualize the information need for each character. 

While we were creating our chart I can tell some students were more into one character than others. I believe it was because they identified with the character's abilities or perhaps they felt a  connection with the character's background and language. 

This led us to begin analyzing the character of our choice. We cut our chart along the lines and made 3 groups.  Students grouped according to their favorite character. The objective was to discuss all the details learned about their character and write a personal story about him/her using transitioning words - First, Next, Then, Last and to include details from the text as to how the character's feelings changed throughout the story and why. 
It was amazing how students engaged in this assignment and how enthusiastic they were to write all about the character of their choice. 

If you want to read our students' books, follow this link and search the character of your choice: Maria/Jin/Fatimah. You won't be disappointed with their fantastic work! 

• One World One Day  By Barbara Kerley

I absolutely adore this book! From cover to cover one can see beautiful images of kids from so many different places in the world. In this images, all we see are smiles of children sharing the everyday routines we all do no matter where in the world we live. 
The fascinating thing about this book is the ability to serve as a mirror for our students since they can identify with what the kids are doing; but also, as a window to expose our students the way of life in other parts of the world. 

We read the book the first time just to enjoy the rich text and the illustrations. But the second time, I had my students to think as they were listening, how they could make personal connections with the text. We also discussed analyzing the text structure  - (sequencing of the story).

After reading the book students turned and shared with a partner the connections they made with the actions that students perform in other parts of the world. Students also discussed the differences they observed comparing to their personal daily life.
​ 
As a written response students were asked to illustrate or write what they do every day in the morning - at school - after school - and in the evening. This prompt follows the sequence students heard from the text.  

Students shared with one another and grouped themselves according to similarities in what they do every day. So this gave me the idea to have them publish another book about what they do in a day!

If you want to read our students' books, follow this link and search One World One Day.
​You won't be disappointed with their fantastic work! 

I have shared our students' stories using my class twitter and facebook account and it is amazing the response we are getting. My students are so excited to learn more and write more! These are just some of the feedback we are getting and has empowered my students in so many ways:

Stay tuned for our next book... The Last Stop in Market Street by Matt de la Peña

Thank you for reading! 

This post is featured on Confianza's website: Honoring Students' Stories: Identity Texts to Write and Diverse Texts to Read

We all know what a mirror is. We all have them and we all need them. Collins dictionary defines a mirror as a flat piece of glass which reflects light so that when you look at it you can see YOURSELF reflected in it. 
Sometimes we like what we see, sometimes we don't.  Perhaps you remember the mantra of Snow White's evil stepmother: 
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? 
This evil queen had a mirror that will always reflect what she wanted to see...but on many occasions, it revealed things she didn't want to see so she'd do something about it. 

We can apply this same concept to books. 
Books as mirrors is not a new concept. The idea that a book reflects readers' identity and experiences was presented to us a few years ago. The problem I see is the lack of access to diverse books for students to actually see themselves reflected in books. This is worrisome because "when children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about who they are devalued in the society of which they are a part of." (Read more)  This is how the danger of a single story begins! 

So now that we know how detrimental it is for our students to not see themselves reflected in text, our job is to make it tangible. Stand in front of your classroom bookshelf and ask:

• Mirror, mirror, on the shelf, would these books make my students be seen and understood?
• Mirror, mirror, on the shelf, would these books honor and validate my students' culture?
• Mirror, mirror, on the shelf, would these books reflect my students' story?
• Mirror, mirror, on the shelf, would these books inspire them to be the authors of their own story?
• Mirror, mirror, on the shelf, would these books reflect my students' experiences?
• Mirror, mirror, on the shelf, would these books redefine who and what my students can be?

You see, I wholeheartedly believe that in order to make our students be passionate readers, it is imperative for them to make connections with the text. Our classrooms are more diverse today than they have ever been. Our classrooms and the books available for students need to be as diverse as they are.  Here is a great poster with 10 reasons to read diversity! 

The books you choose as a mentor text for your lessons are very important as well. I understand that we have a standard we need to cover. However, there are books out there available for us to not only teach the necessary content but also validate and represent students sitting in our classrooms who long to be seen and understand for who they are. 

Here you have a few resources to help you find diverse books to use as mentor texts:

• The Ultimate Guide to a Multicultural Library
• Diverse Mentor Text by Genre and Grade Level: K-1 Band;  2-3 Band;  4-5 Band
• No Longer Invisible: Resources for teachers seeking to use more diverse texts
• Link to Twitter moment with a lot of resources

This is my sixth year in the classroom; Every year I try different methods to make sure I have diverse books available for my ESL students. It is my responsibility to empower them with the tools to know that they matter. Perhaps, they'll be inspired to be the author of their own personal story because now they know that they are worth being the main character in a story.

This is our ESL classroom library with diverse books. Every day my students take a book home...I tell them that they can borrow a book but they get to keep the ideas...but if they keep my book...

I rather lose a book than a reader ~ Donalyn Miller 

If you have any resources or ideas you'd like to share with me, please let me know in the comments! 

Thank you for reading!

My life as a reader was sad and pitiful. I didn’t realize it until I read this quote by Pernille Ripp’s: “...if reading is merely something we teach, and not something we live, then why should students take us seriously when we tell them how important reading is to future success.”

Now, if you are a teacher, you probably own hundreds of children’s books...at least I do. I’m always on the lookout for the latest and best books to use in lessons and to encourage my students to read more. Our job as educators is to grow readers and instill how import reading is to their academic success. In reality, I was not living what I was teaching my students. The expectation I had for them, I didn’t have it for myself. I realized that I was being a hypocrite. I was trying to inspire my students to do something I wasn’t passionate about.

Pernille Ripp’s words hit me so hard that I started looking for ways to change my reading habits. Of course, to make such drastic change, I realized I couldn’t do it alone and that my readings needed to be intentional to be able to grow as a reader.
So I’d like to highlight the platforms that helped me become a Passionate Reader:

1. Book Study via Twitter: #ELLchat_BkClub is the hashtag for a slow-chat book study initiated by  Dr. Katie Toppel and Tan Huynh. I started dipping my toes in this book study without participating and without having the books until I realized that participants were so passionate about sharing their learning. When I noticed I was missing out just by observing, I ordered my first book and joined the conversations. Now, I am hooked! I am in my fourth round and looking forward to continuing joining future selections. I love and enjoy reading other’s perspectives on the same text I am reading. I’ve learned so much and I have added so many tools to my ESL toolbox to better support my language learners.

             Follow this link to learn more about this fantastic reading club.

1. Twitter Chats: Over the summer, I discovered #BookCampPD. BookcampPD is a weekly Saturday morning chat where participants passionately share their readings. This group chat is moderated by Teresa ( @teresagross625) and Meredith (@mjjohnson1216).                         Let me be honest and share with you what inspired me to join this group chat...Badges!! Yes, you read that correctly; badges!! I noticed that the chat moderators were giving away badges to participants. The inner child in me wanted a badge...I’m being honest! Somehow I felt like I needed to be rewarded for all my readings. I was new to this reading life...I was starting to discover the passion for reading and sharing my learning. I was empowered by my previous readings to participate in a group of passionate readers. It made me feel so good to have a place and an opportunity to share what I’ve learned through my Twitter book study. ​

Now, #BookcampPD is offering even more opportunities of engagement by adding the VOXER PD version of book chat!! I learned to use this new app and love hearing other’s books recommendations and perspectives on their readings.

You see, the platforms, the tools, and passionate readers are out there ready for you to join their passion!! I would love for you to check out these two hashtags and join the fun conversations; however, my intention is to ignite in you the passion for reading. The passion for starting and finishing a book to happily find someone to share it with. The passion to get lost in a book. Perhaps these inspirational reading quotes can also inspire you!
​
I feel very confident encouraging you to read because I am now a PASSIONATE READER!

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” ~ R. G. Collingwood


Happy reading!  

Thank you for reading!!