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Children Reading
Children Reading

1. Case Study of a Struggling Writer in the Classroom

Pseudo-name: Nathalie

Personal Details of the Learner Age: 10 years old Grade: 5th Grade

Introduction

Although writing is a fundamental language arts ability, many students struggle to master it. This blog describes an intervention create to meet the unique needs of a young writer in a primary school classroom and analyzes their challenges. The intervention is designed to enhance the students writing confidence and proficiency by utilizing resources from a variety of cultural backgrounds and modern language arts approaches. By considering this experience, we hope to offer guidance to teachers dealing with similar issues in their classroom.

Background: Nathalie comes from a multicultural family with roots in the Caribbean. Her parents work long hours, leaving limited time for home-based learning support. Nathalie enjoys outdoor activities, storytelling, and visual arts but finds reading and writing tasks challenging. She speaks both English and her family’s native dialect at home, causing minor language switching issues.

Interests: Drawing, sports, storytelling, video games with interactive narratives.

Description of the Learner’s Weaknesses

Nathalie struggles with writing due to several challenges: Spelling and Vocabulary Gaps: She consistently uses a limited range of words and has difficulty spelling, which impacts her fluency in writing longer pieces.

Low Motivation: Nathalie often avoids writing assignments, citing boredom and claiming she is “not good at it.”

Organization and Structure: Her writing lacks clear structure. Sentences are often incomplete, and her narrative flow is difficult to follow.

Language Switching: Nathalie occasionally mixes informal language or phrases from her family’s native dialect with standard English, affecting coherence and grammar.

2. Intervention Plan Using the Constructivist Approach

Goals of the Intervention

Intervention Plan

Interactive Story Creation Workshop:

Activity Description: Nathalie will collaborate with peers to create a visual storybook using a mix of written text and illustrations, a medium aligned with her interest in storytelling and art.

Step-by-step Process: Brainstorming Sessions: Group-based discussions to generate story ideas. Character Development Activity: Nathalie will create profiles for her story’s characters, emphasizing descriptive words and building vocabulary.

Story Mapping: Using a story map, Nathalie will outline the plot, focusing on a clear beginning, middle, and end to improve narrative structure.

Collaborative Drafting and Peer Review: She will draft her story in stages, receive constructive feedback, and revise accordingly.

Language Exchange Activities: Culturally Diverse Journaling: Nathalie will maintain a journal that allows her to blend personal experiences with culturally relevant prompts (e.g., folktales or cultural practices), enhancing her engagement while bridging her language background with English expression.

Word and Sentence Games: Spelling and vocabulary games, such as word scrambles and sentence construction activities, using culturally diverse materials to strengthen her writing skills through play.

Justification for selecting this theoretical Assumption

The intervention is grounded in constructivist theory, which emphasizes that learners construct knowledge through active engagement and experiences. By integrating Nathalie interests (storytelling and art) and incorporating peer collaboration, this approach leverages social interaction and personalized learning experiences to build her confidence and writing proficiency. The intervention also aligns with Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism, which underscores the importance of scaffolding—guidance and structured support until the learner can accomplish the task independently.

The culturally diverse content fosters inclusivity, making writing relevant and meaningful to Nathalie identity, while games and hands-on activities maintain her motivation.

The Communicative Approach is especially Competent for a pupil like Nathalie because it emphasizes real conversation over rote memorization. In conformity with this approach, language learning is most effective when it is relevant and takes place in authentic circumstances. Nathalie’s grammar, vocabulary, and writing confidence issues will be addressed through a series of activities that incorporate speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities. According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, exposure to intelligible input that is somewhat higher than Nathalie’s current level will aid language acquisition.

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) emphasizes the need of scaffolding learning through social interaction, which Nathalie encounters in peer collaborations. Sociocultural Theory emphasizes the significance of cultural context in language learning, which this intervention capitalizes on by incorporating culturally diverse content and narrative. Theoretical assumptions are elaborated as follows:

Krashen’s input hypothesis: We hope to encourage language acquisition by providing Nathalie with intelligible input that is slightly beyond her current level. This is accomplished through activities such as group reading, storytelling, and guided writing. The emphasis is on meaning over form, which allows Nathalie’s to learn language spontaneously rather than through rigorous grammatical teaching.

Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD): Nathalie’s ZPD is established through collaborative activities such as peer feedback sessions and group storytelling. She can broaden her skills in a supportive environment with the help of her peers and teachers.

Nathalie can benefit from her more experienced colleagues’ knowledge and methods by collaborating with them.

Nathalie’s cultural background is incorporated into the intervention through multilingual storybooks and culturally relevant activities, in line with sociocultural theory.

Collaborative interactions with various students will help her develop a sense of belonging and increase Intercultural understanding, enhancing Nathalie’s language learning experience.

Culturally diverse materials, activities, and resources that can be used to enhance Nathalie’s writing/ language barriers.

Bilingual Storybooks: Books in both Spanish and English can help Nathalie transcend the language barrier and reconnect with her ancestry.

Examples of materials: “Abuela’s Weavings” by Omar Castañeda- ‘

  • “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Spanish and English versions)
  • “Frida Kahlo: Viva la Vida” by Yuyi Morales

Cultural storytelling sessions: Sharing stories from various cultures, including Latin American folktales, can inspire creativity and raise cultural awareness.

Examples of materials: Mexican folk art, such as colorful masks or papel picado

  • Latin American music instruments (e.g., maracas, güiro)
  • Photos or postcards of famous Latin American landmarks (e.g., Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza)

Activities: Share personal stories about family traditions, holidays, or cultural experiences.

  • Read aloud folktales or legends from Latin American cultures.
  • Create a class mural depicting important cultural symbols and figures.

Collaborative Activities with Different Classmates: Group initiatives with varied perspectives, such as developing a multicultural magazine, can promote understanding and respect.

Multicultural Children’s Literature: Reading books from different cultures helps broaden Nathalie’s perspective and give relevant characters.

Examples of materials: “The Storyteller” by Kevin Henkes

  • “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” by Kate DiCamillo
  • “The Year of the Dog” by Grace Lin

Activities: Simulate real-life situations, such as ordering food in a restaurant or shopping at a market.

  • Act out scenes from favorite books or movies.
  • Create dialogues in Spanish and English to practice language skills.

Language Exchange Activities: Collaborating with Spanish-speaking classmates can provide for language practice and cultural exchange.

Examples of materials: Language learning apps like Duolingo or Memrise

  • Online cultural resources like National Geographic Kids or BrainPOP

Activities: Partner with Spanish-speaking classmates to practice language skills.

  • Create bilingual presentations or skits.

We can establish a nurturing and stimulating learning environment that fosters Nathalie’s language development and cultural identity by integrating these theoretical frameworks and culturally diverse components into her intervention plan.

3. Reflective Piece (Poem)

Reflective Piece (Song/Poetry) Title: “Nathalie’s Words Unfold” (Poem)

Once silent, her thoughts in shadows hid, Afraid to pen the stories she bid. Words tangled tight, ideas not clear, She longed for her voice to conquer fear.

With stories told and roles to play, She found her voice in each new day. Friends beside her, feedback to share, Nathalie grew stronger, learning to care.

Through stories and words, her confidence soared, With culture, with heart, her mind explored. Nathalie’s words now brightly unfold, A story of courage, resilient and bold.

By incorporating these culturally diverse materials, activities, and resources into Maria’s intervention, we can create a rich and engaging learning environment that promotes her language development, cultural identity, and academic success.

Nathalie comes from a bilingual household where Spanish is the primary language spoken at home. Her parents recently immigrated to the Guyana, and they are supportive of her education but face challenges assisting her due to limited English proficiency. Nathalie is passionate about storytelling and enjoys listening to family stories but struggles with writing in English. Nathalie hails from a bilingual family where Spanish is the major language spoken at home. Her parents recently came to Guyana and are supportive of her schooling despite their weak English ability. Nathalie is interested about storytelling and enjoys hearing family stories, but she struggles to write in English.

Weaknesses:

Grammar and Syntax Issues: Nathalie frequently utilises incorrect verb tenses and issues with sentence construction in English. Limited vocabulary: She relies largely on basic language and frequently repeats words, which limits her capacity to explain concepts clearly. Nathalie is scared to share her writing for fear of receiving bad feedback and edits. Difficulty with Organisation: Her work lacks structure and clarity, frequently deviating from primary issues with unclear links.

2. Intervention Design

Approach: Communicative Approach

The Communicative Approach emphasizes using language in real-life contexts to improve proficiency. This approach will help Nathalie build her writing skills through meaningful, interactive, and engaging activities, improving her ability to communicate ideas effectively.

Intervention Plan:

Week 1-2: Building Confidence Through Oral Storytelling

Activity: Nathalie will narrate short stories from her family background or personal experiences to a small group of peers. Purpose: Encourages Nathalie to express herself in a supportive environment, building confidence and reinforcing vocabulary usage. Resources: Culturally diverse storytelling prompts, visual aids, and story dice.

Week 3-4: Vocabulary Expansion Through Contextual Activities

Activity: Nathalie will participate in role-playing games where she uses newly introduced vocabulary in different scenarios (e.g., shopping, school settings). Purpose: Reinforces vocabulary in meaningful contexts, helping her incorporate it naturally into her writing. Resources: Flashcards, word banks, and culturally relevant scenarios.

Week 5-6: Guided Writing Sessions with Peer Feedback

Activity: Nathalie will work on short narrative essays with a focus on a clear beginning, middle, and end. Peers will provide constructive feedback based on a simple rubric.

Purpose: Develops organizational skills, promotes peer collaboration, and normalizes feedback in the writing process.

Resources: Rubrics, mentor texts from diverse cultural authors, and visual story maps.

Week 7-8: Revising and Publishing

Activity: Nathalie will revise her narrative and, with teacher support, create a final draft to be published in a class anthology.

Purpose: Emphasizes the writing process, fosters a sense of accomplishment, and builds self-efficacy.

Resources: Access to a classroom laptop for editing, culturally diverse writing exemplars, and publishing templates.

Conclusion

Endorsing struggling writer requires a tailor approach that fulfil their unique needs while fostering a positive relationship with writing. By executing the writer workshop model and integrating culturally diverse resources, we empower to develop struggling writers’ skills and grow they confidence. In order to ensure that every learner can find their voice and flourish in language arts, this intervention emphasises the value of approaching students’ obstacles with creativity, patience, and culturally relevant solutions.

References

Theoretical Framework References:

  1. Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Pergamon Press.
  2. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
  3. Cummins, J. (1981). Bilingualism, biliteracy, and language minority children. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

General References for Language Teaching and Learning:

  1. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
  2. Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. Pearson Education.
  3. Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. Longman.

Additional Resources for Culturally Responsive Teaching:

  1. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Teachers College Press.
  2. Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.