More than three鈥憅uarters of students from low鈥慽ncome households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education.
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All students deserve access to novels in their first language at school. I teach in a Title 1 high school where one of my classes is specifically for heritage Spanish speaking students. Heritage Spanish speakers lack access to books in Spanish at my school because our school library has limited offerings. 50% percent of our school is on free and reduced lunch. Many of our students cannot afford to purchase books on their own. Heritage Spanish Speakers spend most of their school day speaking, listening, reading, and writing in English.
If their mother tongue is not nurtured and maintained, subtractive bilingualism occurs. Many of our students are fluent in speaking and listening, but cannot read or write very well. My aim is to support the mother tongue of my students so they can achieve complete bilingualism which will serve them greatly in their future careers. Free voluntary reading is fundamental in my approach. By increasing the desire to read, students will read more. By reading more, students will be able to write more.
My school has acknowledged the need to offer heritage Spanish courses for students. Students deserve the chance to learn about their culture and learn the academic components of their mother tongue. Unfortunately, although our school has acknowledged the need for an equitable learning experience, building a classroom library is expensive. I hope to provide a rich learning environment for our Spanish speaking population by obtaining funding for a classroom library.
About my class
All students deserve access to novels in their first language at school. I teach in a Title 1 high school where one of my classes is specifically for heritage Spanish speaking students. Heritage Spanish speakers lack access to books in Spanish at my school because our school library has limited offerings. 50% percent of our school is on free and reduced lunch. Many of our students cannot afford to purchase books on their own. Heritage Spanish Speakers spend most of their school day speaking, listening, reading, and writing in English.
If their mother tongue is not nurtured and maintained, subtractive bilingualism occurs. Many of our students are fluent in speaking and listening, but cannot read or write very well. My aim is to support the mother tongue of my students so they can achieve complete bilingualism which will serve them greatly in their future careers. Free voluntary reading is fundamental in my approach. By increasing the desire to read, students will read more. By reading more, students will be able to write more.
My school has acknowledged the need to offer heritage Spanish courses for students. Students deserve the chance to learn about their culture and learn the academic components of their mother tongue. Unfortunately, although our school has acknowledged the need for an equitable learning experience, building a classroom library is expensive. I hope to provide a rich learning environment for our Spanish speaking population by obtaining funding for a classroom library.