¡Fántastico! Honoring Students’ Spiritual, Cultural, and Linguistic Knowledge in a First-Grade Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Multicultural Perspectives in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines the ways students' cultural and linguistic knowledge supported their learning across content areas in a first grade Spanish/ English bilingual classroom. Three preliminary findings emerged showing how instructional practices supported students sharing of their home knowledge: “God Day!”: Spirituality and social studies; “¡Qué buena estrategia!”Valuing family knowledge in math and science; and “Imaginé a la Llorona”: Cultural knowledge in the language arts. These findings add to bilingual education research by highlighting the relationship between students' knowledge from home and their engagement across content areas and the meaning this holds for students learning two linguistic codes in school.

Author

• Christina P. Denicolo, Wayne State University