Culturally Responsive Literacy Lesson

Kara Whitaker

o What makes the students within your classroom unique and diverse?

In my practicum classroom I have a wide array of students based off of physical and life-style
characteristics. I have been at Bluemont Elementary and have both Caucasian and a good
handful of African American students in each class. We also have one student who is new at the
school and moved from Eastern Asia. I also have students who come with different life-style
back grounds. For instance, some come from struggling families who may not be as fortunate as
others. I also have students that come from a healthy home life. The student’s behavior does at
times reflect this with attitude and engagement. However, as student teacher in there I still
continue to put my efforts into treating each student equally and maybe giving those who are
struggling a little more of a watchful eye so I am able to help. Each student has a unique
personality that I try to embrace and give them the opportunity to express themselves.

o What are their linguistic and learning needs?

The student who moved from Eastern Asia did struggle a bit with the language barrier. However,
witnessing how his peers would help him was the sweetest. We had one student who would lean
over his shoulder almost all class and help him with the words in the songs. It has now improved,
and while teaching I can see when he is lost. When this happens I try to go over to him and
assist, or ask a fellow peer to. With the students coming from different backgrounds, I try to
engage each one of them. This is sometimes difficult because I can tell when one of them hasn’t
had enough rest from the night before. When this occurs, I try to get them up and moving and put
as much energy into my lesson that I can.

o What factors did you take into consideration when planning this culturally responsive literacy
lesson?

When thinking of this lesson, I wanted to engage students of all learning types. That’s why I
included pictures in a slide show, so that it doesn’t seem like a history lesson where students
don’t just get lectured at. No one in my practicum is from the Israel area, so I thought it would be
neat to introduce them to the landscape and people there. One thing I had to make sure of was
that during the differences/similarities part, I wanted to emphasize that the people there are the
same as us, even if they may look different in physical appearance or with how they dress.

Reflection:

Zum Gali Gali is a culturally responsive piece of literature due to its background. The actual
words don’t really translate to anything, but were used to give a beat to the workers of Israel.
Students are able to learn about the culture and history in Israel with this lesson. A simplified
hora-styled dance can also be put with this lesson. This dance is used during weddings and
festivals in the Southeastern Europe area. Students can musically put the beat from the song Zum
Gali Gali to dance to this. This demonstrates how the people back in the day would work to this
song as a beat, and allows the students to experience the culture for themselves.