Cultural and Linguistic Opportunities a Student Brings to the Classroom

Female Student Age - 10 Grade – 4th

Home Language - Spanish SpanishEnglish StudentXX FatherXX MotherXX StepfatherX SiblingsXX Student speaks fluent English. The family primarily speaks Spanish in the home.

Socioeconomic Status Middle class Father owns a local Mexican restaurant Mother is a maid

Academic Challenges Reading Accuracy – checking for meaning; strategies for attacking unfamiliar words Fluency – not using punctuation Contractions Spelling Fails all tests Lacks phonemic awareness Writing Vocabulary – lacks variety Conventions – poor spelling strategies; infrequent use of sentence and paragraph format/structure

Funds of Knowledge Student’s

Student’s family mostly speaks Spanish in the home. Her father speaks English in the restaurant with customers, but Spanish with the Mexican employees. The stepfather only speaks Spanish, but knows a little English. Student shared that she “kind of” can read and write Spanish.

Cultural The parents are from Mexico. Student talks about grandma who lives in Mexico, but she has never visited there. When the student is with her father, they primarily eat Mexican food, but her mother cooks American foods. They celebrate both American and Mexican holidays. Student specifically mentioned Cinco de Mayo and Holy Week. She said the Mexican celebrations are much larger and longer than the American celebrations.

Student primarily lives with her father, but is with her mother at some point each week. She has three siblings. Two are with her father, and one is with her mother. Her brothers are 11 and 13. The baby lives with her mother. Student has adult-like tendencies. She is comfortable with a baby on her hip and a toddler holding her hand.

Experiences Student loves to play video games. She is happy to play, or watch little children. Most time is spent in her community. The town has everything for basic needs, and the restaurant business keeps her family busy. Student is familiar with how the business runs, but does not work there yet. She plans to work beside her aunt at the counter when she is thirteen.

Strengths and Challenges Related to Literacy Expectations of the CCSS Motivation – No matter how rigorous the work, Student is intrinsically motivated. She never appears frustrated with the work, and continues to try. Student scored Below Basic on third grade state test in Reading and Writing Benchmark results show that Student is below grade level in all standards. Thinking critically and analyzing are difficult due to below grade level reading and writing skills.