Helping ELLs Relate to Foreign Ideas Presented in Text

Students are used to being given text to read. We teach students to read and comprehend all genres of text. Think back to high school. Most likely your were required to read one of these classics: Romeo and Juliet, The Iliad, or perhaps The Canterbury Tales. Was it difficult for you to relate to the story? The context of the language and setting might have become a hindrance to comprehension of the text. This scenario is similar when students from diverse backgrounds read certain texts. Their comprehension may see a barrier when they cannot connect to the culture of the characters in the book. Teachers must help students access these texts by increasing their background knowledge about the culture or topic.

The Snowy Day by: Ezra Jack Keats

Excellent Read Aloud with Sound Effects

This book may be difficult to connect to for students from areas with no snow. They cannot perceive what playing in the snow feels like. They have no schema of the crunch beneath your feet, or layering your clothing, or sledding. The vocabulary might be difficult for students because there are words with multiple meanings which particularly pertain to snow--angel, snow suit, snowball, snow man.  Teachers could build student's schema for this book by showing them a quick video about snow. Also, a teacher could be more hand on to bring shaved ice into the classroom to let students feel it, make a snowball, and experience the cold. A small concept students from other cultures might be confused about would be where the book says, "...yelled to his friend across the hall." Students might now realize the family lives in an apartment and the lives close to his friends.

The Book Without Pictures  by: B.J. Novak

This book may be difficult for students to comprehend (and enjoy) because there are no picture clues to help them make meaning. This book could be helpful for students who can have polite conversations about everyday life, but if someone was a newcomer with English, this book would make little sense. Especially since there is a lot of sarcasm and irony in this book, students would not be able to pick up on it due to the lack of pictures to help assist in vocabulary understanding.  Students who are from more modest can quiet cultures may find this book offensive due to the loud sound effects this book is aiming to produce. Teachers may introduce the concept of onomatopoeia and its' literary effect for visualizing.