Writing for Understanding Instruction
Teacher Plan

Teacher_Rebekah Thomas__Class _3-5 ELL__Date July 2, 2009_Writing genre_Letter/Report_


Topic / Subject / Text
Understanding other people

Parent teacher conferences happen every year in November. Many of the students in our school have parents who don’t speak English and teachers who don’t speak their home language, so that it is not always possible during the short conference time for them to get to know each other very well. Often, a translator is present at the conference to help your teacher and your parents understand each other. In many cases, teachers and parents are unfamiliar with the culture and belief systems of the other, even if they do speak the same language. As an ELL student, you are fortunate enough to be familiar with your own culture, as well as with what it is like to go to school in Burlington, VT. Your task is to make sure that there is an understanding between your parent(s) and your teacher.

CENTRAL IDEAS

Content: Knowing the background of a person helps us understand who they are, fosters empathy, and leads to fewer misunderstandings.
Reading: N/A
Writing: Use information from an interview and/or your own knowledge and experiences to inform in letter format





Focusing Question


Focus (answer to focusing question)
What do you want your teacher to know about your parents? Why is this important? How will it help your teacher understand your parents better?

What are your parents’ beliefs? Why are they important?

Answers will vary



Building and Processing Working Knowledge

• oral processing / guided conversation / think-pair-share
• interviewing parents (with written questions)
• experience
• taking notes (graphic organizers, T-charts, 2 column notes, etc.)





Structures
How will students know how to organize their ideas
and construct the piece of writing?

• graphic organizers
• teacher-written models
• teacher-and-student written models
• various types of templates or frames

Writing / Revising
How will students draft / revise so that their final writing is clearly focused, organized, and developed to show understanding of the central idea

• write section at a time
- paragraphs with focusing questions for each
• write full piece
independently
• revise /share full group
• revise /share partners
• proofreading in partners






Lesson Sequence
What steps will I follow so that students are able to effectively
show their understanding in writing?
Session One
Begin with a conversation about parent teacher conferences. Brainstorm what students already know and post this on chart paper (public notes). This will allow you to address possible misconception that students have. Explain the purpose of the conference and that most parents who attend have been students themselves in an American school and will likely have the background knowledge necessary for them to participate successfully in a conference. Many of their parents, however, have come from very different educational backgrounds and may not understand the purpose of the conference. In addition, their classroom teacher will have little or no understanding of the cultural background of their parents. Therefore, it will be important for the students to not only explain “the conference” to their parents, but also to give their teacher as much of an introduction of their parents’ cultural background as possible, prior to the conference. This will make the conference easier for both their parents and their teacher.

Session Two
Begin with a review of the purpose of the parent teacher conference. Explain that today you are going to draft a letter together that they will share with their parents. The purposes of the letter are:
1. to explain what a parent teacher conference is and what to expect
2. to explain to their parents that they want to share the cultural/educational background of the family with their teacher so that s/he will have a better understanding of where they’re coming from.
3. show and read the example letter: Dear Mom and Dad, from Abdi
4. write a letter together, allowing for individual variations as appropriate
5. homework is to read their letter to their parents

Session Three
Explain that today you are going to think of questions to ask parents in order to gather information for their letters. Give students a 2 column chart labeled What I Already Know and What I Want to Find Out.
Remind students that the purpose of this letter is to introduce their parents to their teacher, paying particular attention to the family’s cultural background and the educational background and beliefs of their parents. Allow students time to work on their own lists of what they know. Then, have them work in small groups to get more ideas about what they know, then begin generating questions to ask in the other column. Ask groups to share their questions with the whole group. Record questions on chart paper (public notes). Next, model asking questions with a student partner. Explain that when gathering information, it is fine to make notes and that complete sentences aren’t necessary. Model this with some of their questions. Then, have students work in pairs to practice asking and answering questions, as well as taking notes that will be helpful in writing their letters.
For homework, students will ‘interview’ their parents and take notes.

Session Four
Post some example notes from an interview on chart paper, along with the questions. Show students how to turn those notes into sentences.
Example: 1. Where did our family live before we moved to Burlington?
Notes: Kenya, ref. camp, Kakuma

2. How many years did you go to school?
Notes: started age 7, went for 5 yrs, had to work on farm

Turning information into sentences:
Before moving to Burlington, my family lived in a refugee camp in Kenya called Kakuma.
My father started school when he was 7 years old. He went until he finished 5th grade and then had to stop going so that he could work on the farm with his parents and older brothers.

Have students work with a partner to talk through their notes and how to say those things in complete sentences. They should write the sentences down when they have some that sound good to them. (Organization of the information is not important at this point).
Homework is finishing with their notes to sentences, as well as writing the information from their 2 column chart “what I already know” (be sure this information is written in complete sentences).

Session Five
Read the example letter, Dear Mr. Smith, and provide each student with a copy so that they can refer to it for letter formatting. Talk through each paragraph, explaining the organization of ideas in each. This is a session where students will be doing some hands-on cutting and pasting with their own work. The idea is to organize their information into logical paragraphs. (You may want to photocopy their sentences beforehand, although this isn’t necessary). They will cut their sentences apart and physically move them around until they are grouped into paragraphs, based on the focusing questions. This will also allow students to see where they may be missing some information. In pairs, have students read their paragraphs to each other, making changes as necessary. Then students will glue or tape their sentences on a blank piece of paper (to maintain their organization).

Session Six
Students are ready to begin writing their letters. Remind them of proper letter format. They have the example letter to refer to. Depending on their proficiency levels, you may want to create an opening as a group, such as:
Dear Mr. Smith,
I’m writing to you to introduce you to my parents, who will be coming to my conference next month. I think it will be easier for you to understand each other if you know a little about our family’s background. I have already told my parents about why we have conferences and they are looking forward to meeting you.

Confer with students as necessary in this session. Homework is to finish this draft.

Session Seven
Students meet in small groups or partnerships to share their letters. Others ask clarifying questions and give suggestions for revisions. In addition to rewriting with revisions today, students will be sharing their letters with a proofreading partner. The remainder of class time is for writing a final draft. This becomes homework if there isn’t enough class time.

Session Eight
This session is for publishing and reflection. Have students share their letters in small groups. Then, have a whole group discussion. Possible discussion questions:
1. What was this process like for you?
2. What did you learn about yourself? Your family?
3. How will this assignment be helpful?
4. Why is it important to understand another person’s background?
5. What are some of the problems that may occur it we don’t understand each other?
6. What are some ways that we can get to know each other better?

Be sure that students deliver these letters to their teachers. Follow up with classroom teachers after conferences to see if these letters were beneficial.

_____________________________________________________________

Sample One: Dear Mom and Dad, from Abdi

Dear Mom and Dad,
I am writing to tell you about parent teacher conferences. They will be happening next month. A conference is a time for you to meet with my teacher, Mr. Smith and talk with him about how my year is going. Mr. Smith will tell you about what we are learning in his class. He will show you my report card and explain my grades. This will help you know what things I am doing well and also the areas where I need to work harder or where I am still learning how to do things. Conferences are important because it is a time for you to ask questions and talk to Mr. Smith about me and about school. You can tell him things that you are worried about, like maybe how I don’t always do my reading at home. You can tell him about the things I enjoy, like doing science experiments in the kitchen. If you are wondering about something, my conference will be a great time to ask, so start thinking about what you want to say!
I am also writing because I need your help with something. Mr. Smith has never met you and he has no real idea about our culture and where we came from. He doesn’t know what schools were like in our country or even if the schools had conferences. He probably thinks you already know how conferences work. So, I want to write a letter to Mr. Smith and tell him about our family. I want him to know where we came from, what kinds of schools you went to, and what you think is important for me now that we live here. I am also going to tell him about how our family has had some hard times since moving here, but that we are all working hard to have a good life here in Burlington. I will give him the letter before conferences and then it will be like he already knows you when you go to the conference. I hope you’ll help me with my letter.

Love,
Abdi

____________________________________________________________________________________________
Sample Two: Dear Mr. Smith
First Paragraph: Greeting and this question: What was it like in the place where you (your parents/family) lived before and why did you move here? Use descriptive details.

Dear Mr. Smith,
I am writing to you to introduce you to my Mom and Dad, Safia and Abdullahi. They will be coming to my parent teacher conference next week and I want you to know what they have done to get my family here. My parents moved our family here to Burlington three years ago. Before that, we were living in a refugee camp in Kenya called Kakuma. That’s where my brothers, sisters and I were born, but before that, my family came from Somalia. My parents were both born in Mogadishu, which is the capital city. They had to go to Kenya when the war started because they wanted to be safe. There were lots of families in the camp – it was very crowded and we were always looking for firewood and food to eat. My parents lived there for 12 years before we were able to leave. In the camp, my parents worked very hard. They built a small house for us out of scrap pieces of wood so that we would have something stronger than just a tent. It was one open room, but it was better than the tent, which let the rain in during the storms. We also had a very small garden near our house, where we tried to grow some things, like potatoes and onions. We had to guard it all the time so that other people wouldn’t come and take our food. I didn’t know what life was like outside of the camp because I was born there, but my parents told me stories about life in Mogadishu, where they had a real house and real jobs and could get food and clothes when they needed them. They told us about their dreams for us to move out of the camp so that we could go to a real school. In the camp, sometimes there were teachers who came from America and England to teach us English. We didn’t have a real school, so we would sit outside on the ground or under a big blue plastic tarp when it was raining. The teachers never stayed long, so it was hard to learn a lot. Most days we played soccer with a ball we made out of old cloth that was too torn up to use for clothing. My mom and dad did what they could to try to keep us happy and give us food, but I could tell life in the camp made them sad, and I saw how excited they got when they found out that our family was on the list for the next group to move to America.

Second Paragraph: How did you get here? What was it like when you first arrived compared to the place you were coming from?

Coming to America was scary and exciting. We went on a very long plane ride and when we stopped, we were in New York City! It was a huge place and there were so many lights in the night time that it made it seem like the day. In that airport we found out we were going on another plane. This plane was very small and loud and felt bumpy in the sky. It made me feel sick to be on that plane. When we stopped we were in Burlington, Vermont. We didn’t see any people who looked like us. For the first time in America, we got to go outside. It was so cold! There was snow and ice on the ground. My family had never seen those things before. Mohamed, who was helping us, gave us coats, mittens and hats and told us to put them on to get warm. Then we got into a big car and they took us to stay with a family. The family was very nice to us, but they didn’t know our language and we didn’t know theirs. We were happy to have Mohamed to help us, but then he said he was leaving. He would come back the next day to help us find a place to live, sign us up for school, and help my parents find work. I was so scared when he left! This place was very different from the camp. But the family smiled at us and tried to help us – they gave us food, something called pizza. It was hot and very salty and not like our food in the camp at all. Now I love to eat pizza! It makes me remember our first night in America and our host family. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t talk to each other. We used our hands and made pictures to show each other what we wanted.

Third Paragraph: What roles did others play during those first days?

From that day, our life changed so much. We found a place to live in Burlington called Franklin Square. We had our own house and I only had to share a room with my two brothers, instead of my whole family. There were many people who helped us those first days. They brought us furniture and helped us go to the store to buy food and took us to school. They helped my dad find a job and went with us to the doctor to get some shots and make sure none of us were sick. We met some of our neighbors and were happy when we found out there were other families from Kakuma there, too!

Fourth Paragraph: What is life like for your family now? What can you say about your parents as they live in these new surroundings? What struggles and challenges do you face?

My mom and dad don’t speak English very well. My dad works a lot and doesn’t have time to learn English, just the things he learns at work and from his friends. My mom has to stay home because I have two younger sisters and a baby brother and she needs to take care of them. My dad works really hard. He is saving money so we can get a car, and also saving money so that he can go on the Haj. This is a really big deal for Muslim people. Every Muslim tries to go on the Haj to Mecca before he dies. It is part of our religion and my parents both tell us how important our religion and culture are for us to hold on to. I like that we can speak Maay Maay at home, because my brain gets tired trying to think in English all day. It is easier now, but at first, it was very hard. The problem with this for me and my parents is that they can’t help me with homework. They don’t know how to read and they have a hard time filling out papers that come in the mail. Sometimes people tell me they are stupid because they don’t speak English. It used to make me sad and angry, but now I know my parents are really smart and they teach us things every day, things that those kids will never get to know. For example, my mom is an awesome cook. She makes all the foods that she used to tell us about when we lived in the camp. She told us how her grandmother taught her how to make all those Somali foods, and now she is teaching us. I still love pizza, but mom’s food is the best! And my dad is teaching us how to read the Koran. This is our religious book that we use when we pray. It is written in Arabic, which is so, so different from English. So even though my Dad can’t read English, he is a good teacher. He teaches me about our prayers and both of my parents pray 5 times a day. We pray with them in the morning and at night. My dad’s boss has a small office that he lets my dad use to pray when he is at work. My parents work really hard to help us keep our culture.

Fifth Paragraph: What does your teacher need to keep in mind in order to make your parents feel welcome in the school? What are some helpful tips for him?

There are many things that are hard for my parents. Number one is not knowing English. My brothers and sisters and I help them with things when we can, so I know they will get it someday, but it takes a long time. Also, it is hard for them when people don’t understand them, the way they talk and the way they dress. Sometimes people laugh and say, “Go back to Africa!” My parents might not know those words, but they understand that those words are mean. It isn’t their fault that our country was at war. I wish people would take more time to understand why we are here and why some things are strange for us. So, Mr. Smith, here are some things to remember when you talk to my Mom and Dad. They love us very much and will do whatever it takes to keep us healthy and safe. They won’t understand your words in English, but they know what a smile means and it’s OK to shake their hands. Mohamed will come with them to translate. School is very important to them. They have big dreams for us and they really want us to go to school all the way to college and maybe more! Teachers are very important people in our culture, so they trust you to do your job and teach me well. They will agree to most things that you say. They will say, “thank you” a lot. They probably won’t ask you any questions, so make sure you tell them all the important stuff about school.

Closing thoughts:
I hope this letter helped you find out a little more about my family. My mom and dad will be glad that you know where we came form and what our lives were like before. They are happy we are here in Burlington and are looking forward to meeting with you at my conference.


Sincerely,
Abdi