EmilyT

Journal Article:__Strategic Teaching:__ __Fostering Communication Skills in Diverse Young Learners__ Communication is a basic concept that we as humans have the ability to experience and express through nonverbal and verbal behavior. It is something that we experience from the start of infancy. But, with the diverse culture in America and different learning abilities, communication is not so easy for students and children in the classroom setting. In the article, __Fostering Communication Skills in Diverse Young Learners__, it explains a good definition of not only what communication is but what its definition is in a classroom setting. It goes on to explain how diverse today’s classrooms are with students varying in linguistic, cultural development and learning characteristics. The article then describes what dual language learners are and children with special needs are in terms of their development in communication skills and how as a teacher today, because of inclusive classrooms, will be faced with many variations and diversities in learning skills. The author gives an example of an inclusive preschool classroom to show and give many examples of how the teacher implements different teaching methods for children with varying communication problems, like visual aids, commands written on paper, and different ways to talk and communicate with those students. At the end of the article, the authors then describe teaching strategies and ways to support dual language learners, children with special needs, and all students in the classroom. This article in conclusion, shows that communication is something that links us all together and is a big part in making a successful classroom work. Its main point was to show that with different strategies and teaching methods to implement you can make any diverse classroom of different skills a successful learning environment.
 * Summary:**

The article, __Fostering Communication Skills in Diverse Young Learners__, connects to Education for Diversity in a variation of ways. Ed 205 is a course that talks about the different diversities that we will experience throughout our teaching years. It shows that diversity does not just come in race or where you are from; it comes in many other different forms. This article shows that a huge diversity with your students will be there learning ability and language deficits. It connects to the class because it gives you examples of students with communication diversities. It shows how the communication level of each of your students will be different in a variety of different ways. Some of the diversity will include children who speak another language other than English, children with special needs, children with communication disability and children who have speech delays. The article explains how to handle these situations and what you as a teacher can do to help your students benefit in a diverse classroom. All of the content that the article discusses is what we have discussed and presented throughout the course. In the course we have discussed different learning disabilities and diversities and then talked and gave examples of different ways to teach students in these environments. That is exactly what the article did also.
 * Reflection:**

While I was searching for an article to do for this assignment, there were thousands of articles I could of chose, but I chose this one for a very specific reason. I believe that dual language learners is something that is increasing significantly in the classroom today because of many Spanish speaking people living in the United States. Also, inclusive classrooms are being implemented more and more throughout the education system today too. This article gave a significant amount of teaching strategies to help with teaching diverse learners. I think this article as taught me a lot about different examples of how to teach communication skills with elementary students. It will definitely have an impact on my classroom because I will take the different strategies talked about in the article with me when I become a teacher. One of the most important aspects I will take with me from this article is making my classroom and students feel respected, comfortable, motivated and knowledgeable no matter what learning diversity each one has. As the article explains making sure your children are comfortable in the classroom will support better learning and make them more eager to do better and succeed.
 * Explanation:**


 * Reference:**

(Spanish). //YC: Young Children//, //66//(2), 20-27.
I read the book //The Name Jar// by Yangsook Choi. Unhei is a young Korean girl who moves to America with her family when she is in elementary school. Attending a new school in America and being the new girl, Unhei was anxious and uncertain about her American peers liking her. But she is even more uncertain about how she is going to introduce herself on the first day of school. On the bus ride to school some older kids were making fun of her name and not saying it correctly. So, knowing that not many kids in her class will be able to pronounce her name, she chooses not to introduce herself on the first day and tells her classmates that she will tell them her name by next week. Being in elementary school most of the children were extremely curious about a girl with no name, they didn’t understand. The next day Unhei finds a jar on her desk full of American names written on pieces of paper. Her classmates decided to help her out with picking a name. Unhei went home that evening and tried out names like Suzy, Amanda, Stella and Daisy, but none of them felt quite right. Her mother explained to her that she was different and that that was a good thing. Then one day a little boy from her class went to her neighborhood and found out Unhei’s real name and that it means something very special in Korea. The next day Unhei arrives at school and the name jar is gone, so she decides she doesn’t mind being different and introduces herself as Unhei. The kids thought it was a neat name and enjoyed trying to pronounce it. In the end, the boy tells Unhei that he removed the jar from her desk because he wanted her to keep her own name because it meant something special to her.

The diverse group being depicted in this book is the Korean culture. I do believe that the author had the intention of making you think about all the different cultures that live in America. It makes you think about how different cultures are unique. It brings it down to a child’s level and what elementary age kids think and feel about the different language and cultures that are brought into the classroom.

Reading //The Name Jar// opened my eyes to the feelings younger children have about being different. My perception of children changed because I did not think that younger kids would be so self conscious about being different. As a child you don’t really worry about a lot of things, however coming from another country you would most likely worry about being different and being made fun of and I never thought about that before reading this book. At first Unhei is made fun of on the bus for telling people her name, so that made her so self conscious that she doesn’t want to say her name in front of her class. It made me think differently about the students I will have and all the different diversities I might have in my classroom. Each student will be different and as a teacher I will have to figure out how to make each student feel comfortable and at ease with the rest of their classmates.

Culture is a huge part of America today. //The Name Jar// really brought to my attention the different cultures and diversities I will have to be aware of with each and every student. It made me realize that you have to make your students feel as comfortable as possible. Also have them embrace being different than one another and enjoy telling background information about their culture. For example, once Unhei knew her name meant something special to her grandmother and family she felt more at ease telling the class her name. And once Unhei told the class her name meant grace, her teacher started sharing how American names can have meanings too. I think that showed a great way to make your students feel comfortable and help them learn about their own culture.

The new insights I have gained from reading this book is that as a teacher you will be faced with many students who might not be comfortable with themselves at first. But it is your job to make them embrace the differences in each and every one of them and to incorporate the different cultures in your classroom so that all students can learn about them. This book is very relevant to any teacher and to the classroom communities. It was written for an elementary grade level to read and understand, so I would most definitely recommend it to an elementary teacher. I believe it would be a great book to read to your students when talking about different cultures or holidays. It has good points on how each and every one of us is different and that is why our country is so diverse. It also points out how younger kids want to know and learn more about cultures. In the book when Unhei tells them what her name means in Korean, the kids are interested in learning more about the language. So, I believe this text is a useful tool in the classroom environment and I will most definitely use this book in my classroom.