You’re probably aware that the U.S. Department of Education is trying to ban anything that deals with teaching about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). I’ve been a Star Trek fan since my early teenage years and I’ve always related to its philosophy of IDIC — Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations — so obviously I think DEI is a positive feature and something to be celebrated. I also have a “Vulcan Science Academy” bumper sticker for my car, reflecting my interest in the benefits of scientific exploration and discovery.
Benefits of Diversity
I believe it’s important for all students, not just Multilingual Learners of English, to see themselves reflected in the materials used in their classes. They build students’ self-esteem, keep them engaged in learning, and foster empathy for people who come from different backgrounds, cultures, and religions.
When you use resources that teach students about, for example, Arab American Heritage Month and Passover, students develop a greater understanding of the contributions of Arabs in the U.S. and of Judaism. And when students are given the opportunity to learn about the natural world and how humans impact it, for example by teaching about Earth Day, then they are more likely to become better stewards of the environment.
Using resources about holidays is one way to teach about diversity; source: The ESL Nexus
Arab American Heritage Month Resource
April is Arab American Heritage Month and my resource about Arab American Heritage Month includes 2 reading passages with various types of comprehension questions. One passage offers information about the origins of Arab-American Heritage Month and the other reading passage helps students learn about the contributions 3 men and 3 women have made to U.S. society. They are written in easy-to-understand language to help intermediate language proficiency (and higher) students develop their reading skills. Accompanying questions give students practice in answering different types of questions often found on standardized tests.
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Passover Resource
Passover begins the night of April 12th this year and the reading passages in my Passover resource teach students what the holiday is about and how it is celebrated. There are several versions of the texts, to meet the needs of a wide range of students. Questions accompany the passages and answers keys are provided. A Google Drive version is also included and the text is read aloud in 3 of the digital versions to help your students at lower levels of language proficiency comprehend the material. This resource is useful if you’re teaching world religions, holidays around the world, or a world geography course that includes the Middle East region.
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Earth Day Resources
Another April holiday is Earth Day on April 22nd. It’s one of my favorite holidays because when I was a kid, my family used to go camping every summer and I loved it. I have 2 products for Earth Day that help your students learn vocabulary about the holiday and how it’s celebrated.
This Earth Day poster presents facts about the holiday in kid-friendly language that Multilingual Learners at low intermediate (and up) proficiency can comprehend. It’s great for bulletin board decor. Besides being a poster about the holiday, the text is a model of an acrostic poem so you can use it in a poetry unit. There’s also a template for students to write an acrostic poem about Earth Day so they can practice writing their own poems. The poster also gives students a grammar task, which is to insert the definite article “the” where it needs to be in the sentences.
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This Earth Day puzzles resource includes a crossword with a word bank and 3 word searches. The clues for the 20 words in the crossword are definitions of terms about Earth Day, so students who might not be familiar with the holiday learn relevant vocabulary. The word searches use the same 20 vocab words and there are 3 versions, differentiated into Easy, Intermediate, and Challenging levels of difficulty. Use the word search level(s) that are best for your students to reinforce the vocab words — you can use them with early finishers, at the end of a period if you have extra time available (although that probably doesn’t happen real often!), in a center, as a reward, and/ore for homework.
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Wrap Up about Bringing Diversity Into Your Classroom
These resources are just a sample of how my resources can help you bring diversity into your classroom while still teaching your students academic skills. They’ll help your students develop reading, vocabulary, and grammar skills at the same time you are showing you value their cultural and religious backgrounds. Plus, the Earth Day poster and puzzles help foster in students an appreciation of the world around them and may inspire them to take action to protect the environment — I hope and wish!
