Creating Learning Environments that Invite All Students to Learn through Multicultural Literature and Information Technology: The Intermingling of Cultures, Religions, and Languages across the United States Enriches Classrooms, while Presenting New Challenges to Teaching and Learning
Author(s):
Moore-hart, Peggy
Format:
Journal article
Publisher:
2004.
Language:
English
Abstract:
The following article describes how Mrs. Mansfield (Mary), Ms. Bortz (Elaine), and the author combined their talents in order to promote students' literacy learning through the integration of multicultural literature and information technology with a reading/writing curriculum. The students in Mary's and Elaine's classrooms, who come from diverse backgrounds, include a large number of African American and European American students and a few Native American, Chinese, Japanese, Latino, Hmong, and Indian children. The economic backgrounds of the students in their classes are also varied, with numerous students receiving free and reduced lunches, as are their academic abilities, with a large number of students receiving additional support through learning resource centers and special education teachers. The article begins with a description of their literacy curriculum, and then describes how Mary and Elaine integrated technology with their reading/ writing curriculum to increase students' cultural awareness and appreciation of diversity. The article concludes with classroom implications in order that other teachers may see how to adapt these ideas to their own classroom settings and with other electronic contexts.