#4 Building Background for ELL Students

One major part of reading is that we use our background knowledge to make connections. We all have different backgrounds and experiences to bring to our reading. When introducing a picture book, it is important to attempt to "level the playing field" so that all children have the background needed to comprehend. There are children who have a vast background of experiences that they can pull from to help them comprehend text. There are also children who don’t have as many life experiences, and because of this they are not able to make meaning when reading certain things. Whether it is for an ELL student, or a struggling reader, we need to give background before introducing a text to assure student success. 

On Call Back Mountain                 
by Eve Bunting 

               Living in the mountains is a different type of culture. In the book On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting, there are many things you need to know in order to understand this beautiful story. The story is about a family that lives on a farm at the base of a mountain. Each summer their friend Bosco stops by the farm before heading up the mountain to his lookout station. A couple of years ago there had been a terrible forest fire, and ever since there have been no wolves in the area. The forest is finally growing back, and the family and Bosco were hoping that they would see wolves again soon. Bosco heads up the mountain to his lookout station. Each night of the summer the two young boys that live on the farm go out to shine their lanterns up at the lookout station to say good night to Bosco. Bosco always responds back, with a flickering light, until one night when the light doesn’t shine back. The next day, the parents go up to the lookout station to find that Bosco has passed away. The next evening, the boys go out to say goodnight to Bosco. Although, they don’t see a light, they do see a lone wolf, howling in the moonlight. The author gives us clues to believe that the wolf is Bosco coming back to the mountain. 

Background to Build:

Setting-Students need to understand what it would be like to live in this area and how it is similar and different from where we live. Do a double bubble to compare the two places. Show pictures of similar settings. Jane Hill and Kathleen Flynn explain in their book Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners, "When students identify similarities and differences in the content they are learning, they make new connections, experience new insights, and correct misconception" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.12).

Wildfires in the West- A child that hasn't lived near the mountains would not know about wildfires. Certain things happen with in different settings. It is important to read the book Wildfires by Seymour Simon, read articles about forest fires, show pictures of damage from fires, and have a lot of discussion about what happens during and after wildfires. 

Lookout Stations- Talk about what a lookout station is and why we have them. Show pictures.

Wolves in the West- Share the book The Wolves are Back by Jean Craighead George, Wolves by Seymour Simon. Children need to know how rare wolves are now, and that they flee when there has been a fire...but they also might come back after the forest area starts to grow back.

Building this background will help all readers understand the story better, but it will also give our ELL students new learning to add to their schema. Showing the pictures is a non-linguistic representation which "Enhances students' ability to represent and elaborate on knowledge using mental images" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.7).

       Every Living Thing- Papa's Parrot    
                       by Cynthia Rylant

               Every Living Thing is a book of short stories by Cynthia Rylant. Papa’s Parrot is one of the stories in this book. In the story Harry’s father owns a candy store. Harry and his friends enjoy going to the candy store to pick out penny candy. Harry soon grows up and is going other places with his friends. His father gets a pet parrot for the store. Papa talks to the pet parrot, and Harry is embarrassed by his father and stops all visits to the store. One day the father becomes ill and has to go to the hospital. Harry goes to load the bins at the candy store for his father and the parrot starts saying “Where’s Harry? Where’s Harry? Miss him…miss him.” The boy starts crying and goes to visit his papa at the hospital. Children are left to infer why he was crying. 

Background to Build

Setting- Students need to understand that this story takes place in a small town culture, in a candy store. It is the type of store with lots of different bins of candies and a long glass counter with many candy selections. In the story the father has a heart attack and the bins get turned over as he falls…creating quite a mess that Harry later goes to clean up. Pictures of a candy store would help students understand where the story is taking place.

Candies- Bring in peppermints, caramels, jawbreakers, and other candies that are mentioned in the story for students to get a feel for they types of candies. This is not like picking a candy bar from the King Soopers line.

Vocabulary- The word mimic is not in the story but the concept is. This is a concept that a number of ELL students may not understand. This concept is crucial to the story. Teach the word mimic. Model this for the students by having one child mimic another. Have all kids practice doing this with a partner.

Parrots-Parrots are not an animal that many kids know about because they are not a regular pet in many cultures. Read the book Parrots by Linda Jacobs Altman. Read the section on "Choosing Parrots as Pets." This will explain to students that parrots are great pets for people who are lonely. This section will also explain how parrots mimic what they hear. 

This background knowledge is crucial to understanding the story. Harry cries in the end because  he understands that his father has been telling the parrot that he misses Harry. He then runs to the hospital to see his sick father. This story has a strong message about what is important in life.

                                                                 References

Hill, J. and Flynn, K. (2006) Classroom instruction that works with english language learners.

            Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.