1. Cultural and Linguistic Students By: Chaundra Burkes

2. Disclosure Statement  To uphold the privacy of the English Language Learner that will be featured in this presentation, this student will be referred to as “Maria.”

3. Maria  Maria is a nine year old female Hispanic student who is in my fourth grade homeroom class. Maria is a very sweet girl. She is very quiet with a soft voice, but does socialize with her peers.

4. Home Life  Maria is the youngest child of three children. She comes from a single-parent home and lives with her mother, older sister (middle school), and older brother (high school). Maria’s family is considered to be of low socio- economic status.  During the school day when I interact with Maria and observe her interacting with her peers she is speaking in English and she speaks English pretty fluent. I have worked one-on-one with Maria on several occasions. We talk about her home life, school, her interests, hobbies, etc. Maria has told me that she speaks Spanish (her native language) at home.

5. Academic Challenges  I teach Maria Social Studies and English Language Arts/Reading. At my school fourth grade is departmentalized and Maria rotates to other teachers for Science and Math. For math, Maria rotates to a teacher that teaches EIP Math. EIP stands for Early Intervention Program. The Early Intervention Program (EIP) is designed to serve students who are at risk of not reaching or maintaining academic grade level. The purpose of the Early Intervention Program is to provide additional instructional resources to help students who are performing below grade level obtain the necessary academic skills to reach grade level performance in the shortest possible time (www.gadoe.org).www.gadoe.org  I teach Maria Social Studies and English Language Arts/Reading. At my school fourth grade is departmentalized and Maria rotates to other teachers for Science and Math. For math, Maria rotates to a teacher that teaches EIP Math. EIP stands for Early Intervention Program. The Early Intervention Program (EIP) is designed to serve students who are at risk of not reaching or maintaining academic grade level. The purpose of the Early Intervention Program is to provide additional instructional resources to help students who are performing below grade level obtain the necessary academic skills to reach grade level performance in the shortest possible time (www.gadoe.org).www.gadoe.org

6. Academic Challenges Cont’d  Maria struggles in Math and Reading. Last year in third grade she had to take the state assessment (CRCT). The CRCT consisted of all four content areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) plus Reading. In Georgia, third grade students only had to pass Reading. Maria only passed the Reading portion of the test with a score of an 800; which is barely passing. According to the STAR assessment Maria reads below grade level at a 2.4. She has shown growth throughout the school year, because when we first took the test at the beginning of the year, she read at an 1.8 grade level.

7. Funds of Knowledge  Linguistic- Maria speaks English fluently at school. At home, Maria speaks her native language of Spanish.

8. Funds of Knowledge  Cultural- Maria is a native of Spain. Maria visits Spain every summer. Maria still has family in Spain that she likes to go and visit. Maria’s favorite thing to do in Spain is to eat the authentic food there.

9. Funds of Knowledge  Family- Most of Maria’s family is in Spain. She lives in Georgia with her mother and two older siblings. At home, the family speaks their native language. Maria’s family is very close-knit family. They spend a lot of time together.

10. Funds of Knowledge  Experiences- Maria attends the afterschool program at my school. This is where I can observe her interact with her peers as well as speak and work with her outside of the classroom setting.

11. Strengths in Literacy  Some strengths in literacy that Maria has are:  Speaks English fluently  Aware and working to improve literacy skills  Reading comprehension skills have improved  When reading aloud, she checks herself when a word has been skipped and attempts to correct the error (Self-corrects)  Very confident in reading and when reading aloud  Some strengths in literacy that Maria has are:  Speaks English fluently  Aware and working to improve literacy skills  Reading comprehension skills have improved  When reading aloud, she checks herself when a word has been skipped and attempts to correct the error (Self-corrects)  Very confident in reading and when reading aloud

12. Challenges in Literacy  Some challenges in literacy that Maria has are:  Maria reads two grade levels below  Her phonetic knowledge is not good  Struggles with reading comprehension when reading to herself  Some challenges in literacy that Maria has are:  Maria reads two grade levels below  Her phonetic knowledge is not good  Struggles with reading comprehension when reading to herself