English Language Arts
The California Common Core Standards state that elementary and secondary schools are responsible for ensuring that all students become broadly literate, which means to engage with a variety of books and texts across a variety of genres, time periods, cultures, perspectives, and topics for multiple purposes, formal and informal texts. To achieve this goal, students need to read regularly and frequently a variety of formal and informal texts as a part of classroom instruction. Instilling the value for reading develops in the children critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration skills. The goal of being literate also includes English Learners (EL)and/or bilingual students. In California, bilingual students are ELs whose primary language is other than English, and native English speakers enrolled in bilingual programs. Educators should view students as active agents in their own learning and create environments in which students have regular opportunities to experience and exercise their growing competence and independence. As for ELs, teachers are encouraged to create a welcoming classroom environment that exudes respect for cultural and linguistic diversity and acknowledge the students’ funds of knowledge as valuable assets to support all students to fully develop the required literacy skills.
I am an adult, Spanish speaker immigrant. My educational pathway begins learning English to become a college graduate. My reading habits are a crucial part in my bilingual journey. As I was learning English, I used to check out children’s book from the public library. As I became more literate in English, I moved up from the kid’s section. I believe that thanks to my reading habits, I managed to graduate college. During my time in CSU Dominguez Hills, I was required to do an enormous amount of reading in all the subjects. One of these subjects brought me back to my English beginnings. English 308, Critical Approaches to Children's Literature, got me back reading children’s books with a twist. We did not just read the stories, we critically analyzed them. We discussed the author’s gender approaches, societal standards during specific times, the targeted audience for specific books, but more importantly, we related the stories with current events and realities. As I mentioned before, I am a native Spanish speaker and one of my favorite things about Dominguez Hills is that professors not only support but encourage students to use the language they feel most comfortable with. During my LBS 301, Schooling in a Multicultural Society, we learned how to adapt instructions to accommodate multicultural students. We explored themes such as social justice, the complexity between education and the US multicultural society, analyzed social identities, and how discrimination based on these factors translated into school structures, policies, and practices. To achieve the required level of critical thinking, we were required to define and analyzed the core elements of our personal identity. Among these elements, I can mention gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, race, and language. I am proud of where my pathways have taken me, I have grown a lot as a bilingual and bi-literate person.
I have learned a lot during my time in Dominguez Hills. I have learned to balance my Spanish background with my new English skills. For my first artifact, I have chosen a poem created in my LBS 301 class, that reflected where I am from. As mentioned, our personal identity involves several categories that make who we are. I chose this poem because it shows the bilingual balance I mentioned earlier. In it, I describe my childhood, values my family instilled in me, and the peculiarity of my upbringing. This artifact reflects my commitment with educate English Learners the same passion I learned English. I have been in their shoes, being in a new place learning an unknown language. I can instill in them the same or bigger passion for reading as the one that helped me become their teacher. As for my second artifact, I have chosen the final essay written in my ENG 308 class. In that class, I learned how gender roles have changed over time, how there are no books for girls and books for boys anymore, and more importantly, the crucial role our young plays in the current society. Using my English skills, I compare the first book of the young adult series Legend by Marie Lu with the tragic school shooting happened in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida that took 17 lives in less than 10 minutes in February 2018. This artifact reflects not only the importance of developing good English skills, it also shows that create connections with the students’ reality can be done.
LBS 301 Mini Bio poem
I Am from…
By Deborah Andrade Giron
I am from shakes and crumbles,
busy dawns, and gente de maiz;
hot winters and warm water,
violent lives, and wonderful sights.
I am from la Fecita,
la mechuda,
Y Carlos,
el pelon.
I am from their love,
and their enmity.
I am from la seiscientos veinte,
in la Magaña,
with closed doors,
and open imagination.
I am from el circo,
with tightrope walking,
and dramatic theatre.
I’m one of the 7 thespians,
the oldest superhero.
I am from walking literature,
pentagrams, paint,
and Verdi having dinner.
English 308: Young Adult Literature Essay
Walking in Light
A person reaching adulthood in the 21st Century is called a Millennial. This generation is mostly known for their dependence to technology and social media, developing new words and phrases that make it into the English language, and their self-centered way to behave. Millennial young adults seem not to care about the government, social problems, or anything that does not affect them directly, and can be completely oblivious to their reality. Still, when they do get affected, they are capable of taking action and changes begin to happen. A recent example of such behavior are the young adults from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, whom after surviving a shooting that killed 17 classmates and teachers, began a nation-wide movement advocating for gun control. The survivors have taken upon themselves the responsibility to make a statement and change the laws that allowed an 18-year-old boy to legally acquire the semiautomatic riffle he used on his former classmates (CBS News). They are living proof that young adults are capable of generate social change. Author Marie Lu seems to be aware of the power, commitment, and force that youngsters possess when they decide to assail the ruling system. In Legend, Lu encourages young adults to be agents of change by setting Day and June on the quest to discover the Republic’s darkest secret, transferring onto them the leadership necessary to fight against the ruling system, implying that cleverness would take you farther than violence. She also discourages any reckless or impulsive behavior, implying that the mission can only be accomplished with careful planning, clear goals, and uncanny instincts. Additionally, Lu promotes empathy by forcing the characters to have different points of view regarding the system and those affected by it.
Lu suggests that young adults have the energy and passion necessary to create and generate social changes. The willingness, however, raises when they get directly affected. She makes Day and June encounter tasks that seem too mature for a fifteen-year-old. However, by crossing their paths, she shows them that reality can have multiple points of view. Being born in the “good” part of society, June has a very narrow view of what actual reality is. Despite being told by Metias to “never judge the poor;” it is until her brother gets murdered and a “poor” gets blamed for it that June gets a reality check. Also, Day and Tess’s company also create a significant impact in June’s rebellion process. She experienced the Republic’s doings from a different point of view, broadening her perspective of what reality is. On the other hand, Day’s vision of reality is clearer than June’s. At just fifteen-years-old, Day is the Republic’s “most wanted criminal” … “not the most dangerous.” His rebellion is like Robin Hood’s, stealing and fighting for those in need. Failing his Trials and almost gotten killed for it were Day’s motivation to face the Republic. Day and June are not typical teenagers; they are young adults with a big responsibility and having a childish behavior would compromise their goals.
Young adults are on the verge between adolescence and adulthood. Lu suggests that they should not act recklessly like a teenager, neither too mature as an adult, which is reflected in June’s analytical personality. Catching Day is crucial for June, she believes he killer her brother, so he must pay for it. However, she does not do this impulsively. She takes her time preparing, studying his criminal record and analyzing the pendant she believes is his. Even when she (unknowingly) has him face to face, she “observe[s] [Day] all day… [taking] note of everything [he does], no matter how small the detail.” Her observations, careful analysis, and her ability to not jump into conclusions, set the path to capture him, specially since they are falling for each other. In a dystopian society, falling in love is considered a step back and an inconvenience. The main reason is that love drifts the attention away from the goal. In Legend, Marie Lu draws June and Day together, romantically, almost jeopardizing their missions. As Day explains, “nothing good can come out of falling for someone…that’s the worst weakness you can have.” However, Lu suggests that June’s affection for Day is the trigger needed to develop her own opinion regarding the Republic, which is reflected when June saves him from being executed.
Young adults are on the verge between adolescence and adulthood. In the eyes of society, they should not act recklessly like a teenager, neither too mature as an adult. However, society pressures them into maturing by setting the responsibility of the future in their shoulders. Set in a dystopian Los Angeles, Legend does not fail in setting a major responsibility in its main protagonists. Throughout the novel, Marie Lu constantly suggests that young adults can make significant changes in their reality, which eventually will shape their future according to their necessities. She also insists that careful planning and clear goals are crucial to achieve anything. Additionally, she encourages young adults to broaden their perspective of reality by trying to set themselves in someone else’s shoes. This experience can be significantly rewarding if that someone else comes from a different economic status and/or social class.
Works Cited
“Florida School Shooting”. CBS News. 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/feature/parkland-florida-school-shooting/8/ Accessed May 2018.
Lu, Marie. Legend. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2011.