Sharing Good Practice nearly stopped in the middle . Over the last few years , however , I ’ ve learned that choosing texts with themes that students can relate to , or those that reflect ideas and beliefs that students understand greatly , changed the classroom environment . As an English teacher in an American curriculum school , I have a significant amount of choice in what I teach , as long as I cover the common core standards . One text that I found great success with was The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri . Teaching this text was successful because the theme of “ what makes an identity ”, resonated with all students in the classroom . Students related to the struggle Gogol ( the main character ) had as he attempted to forge his own identity in the shadow of his parents while in a new country . Additionally , this text lent itself to be paired with other texts . I actually chose it because it shared similar themes and ideas as several early American texts ( specifically early colonial literature ), which I was required to teach .
painting as a class . This activity not only allowed students to reflect on the essential questions and skills we learned throughout the unit , but it allowed them to see themselves within each painting . This activity could be adapted for any classroom , which is what makes it so great .
Conclusion
Flip through any textbook within a western curriculum school , and you ’ ll most likely find that they lack a significant amount of diversity ( Applebee , 1992 ). Classrooms that solely rely on these types of texts will undoubtedly face behavioural issues as well as issues with student motivation . However , by taking the time to truly understand the culture and ultimately incorporating it into your classroom , you can narrow the impact the cultural gap has in your classroom .
References
Applebee , A . ( 1992 ). Stability and change in the high-school canon . The English Journal , 81 ( 5 ),
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Diallo , I ., ( 2014 ). Emirati students encounter western teachers : Tensions and identity resistance .
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education : Gulf Perspectives , 11 ( 2 ), 1-14 .
Garinger , D . ( 2002 ). Textbook Selection for the ESL Classroom . ERIC Clearinghouse on
Languages and Linguistics . Retrieved from : http :// materialsdesign . pbworks . com / f / Analysing + material s + - + Garinger + Unit + 1 . pdf
Mahmoud , M . M ., ( 2015 ). Culture and English language teaching in the Arab world . Adult
Learning , 66-72 . DOI : 10.1177 / 1045159515573020 .
Towell , J . and Smilan , C . ( 2009 ). Teaching literacy through the visual arts in a multicultural world . Journal of Reading Education , 35 ( 1 ), 12- 20 , https :// eds-b-ebscohostcom . proxy . library . ohio . edu / eds / pdfviewer / pdfviewer ? vid = 15 & sid = 25e81bf7-6f5a-42d3b87fa80da5307e58 % 40sessionmgr102 .
If you are not able to choose an entire novel , to relate to your kids , then try pairing additional texts to your required ones . One of my favourite ways to do this is through a visual analysis activity derived from one created by Janet Towell and Cath Smillan , members of the Trinidad and Tobago Reading Association . Towell and Smillan ( 2009 ) suggest that “ visual literacy ” is the “ ability to find meaning in images ” and should be taught to all students . The beauty of using visual texts ( anything from paintings , to advertisements , to YouTube ) is that they can be paired with any text . For The Namesake , I created a PowerPoint containing a series of paintings and political cartoons by Middle Eastern artists , which I thought reflected the texts we had read in our unit . No other information appeared on the slide except the painting . Students were then shown each painting ( one at a time ) and given a few minutes to just look at the painting and write down what they noticed . Then , students discussed the painting in pairs . I asked them to explain which essential question they thought the painting related to and why . Then , after two to three minutes , we discussed the
Christina has a master ' s in English from Ohio University and a master ' s in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education . She currently teaches AP English in Al Ain .
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