Abstract
This article discusses the results of a study conducted to identify Latino/a children’s perceptions about and responses to culturally relevant books. The findings show that culturally relevant books facilitate culturally responsive teaching in bilingual classrooms. Participants responded positively to children’s literature that was representative of their culture. Children identified themselves with cultural traditions portrayed in the books and with the characters’ identities and personalities. Latino/a children also made connections with the language used in the stories. Some of the themes that were relevant for Latino/a children of Mexican descent included birthday celebrations and interactions with grandparents. Children expressed interest in reading more books that were representative of their realities. Examples of culturally relevant children’s literature for Latino/a children in bilingual classrooms are included.
Highlights
Relevant Books: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Bilingual Classrooms Latino/a children deserve meaningful and relevant experiences with literature to positively influence their academic achievement
When children of immigrants with limited literacy share the reading of culturally relevant books with their parents, the adults increase their levels of literacy
The scores in the rubric indicated that 77% of participants found the book culturally relevant
Summary
Relevant Books: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Bilingual Classrooms Latino/a children deserve meaningful and relevant experiences with literature to positively influence their academic achievement. Bilingual teachers of Latino/a students have a great responsibility to provide meaningful learning experiences to change the subtractive nature of schooling that Valenzuela (1999) identifies as the cause of their low achievement and loss of cultural identity. Relevant books allow students to develop voice in their writing by enabling them to validate their own experiences and empowering them to share them (Alanís, 2007; Keis, 2006). Students are able to connect to culturally relevant texts (Hunsberger, 2007), which results in improved reading comprehension (Alanís, 2007; Ebe, 2010; Freeman, Freeman, & Freeman, 2003). Bilingual teachers can facilitate those connections when they implement culturally responsive teaching (Hunsberger, 2007)
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