Playing with Poems: Rules, Tools, and Games

Teaching on the Navajo Reservation

Kayenta Elementary School is located in the remote corner of the North Eastern Arizona on the Navajo reservation. Our school is part of the Kayenta Unified School District that serves about 1500 students. The school district serves the community of Kayenta, and also serves the surrounding communities of Rough Rock, Chilchinbeto, Denehotso, Monument Valley, Keams Canyon, Shonto, Cowsprings, and Black Mesa. Sometimes, it takes more than an hour to bus these students to the school, and another hour to transport them back home.

This year, I will be teaching in a self-contained English Language Development class, which means students who are identified as English Language Learners will be taught in my classroom. An Arizona State Mandate was passed through the legislative and voted in by the voters which rendered Arizona an English Only state. English Only entails English is the national public language for the state of Arizona. Children in government and public schools are taught English rapidly and effectively to become literate productive members of society. English Learners are taught in Sheltered English Immersion or Structured English Immersion classrooms where nearly all instruction is in English. English Learners are placed with other students that have the same degree of English proficiency. Subject matter including reading and writing are taught solely in English, with minimal use of the child's Native language. Native language is used only when necessary. ¹⁴

According to the mandate, public schools have to provide English Language learners a minimum of four hours of intensive English Language Arts instruction. The four hours are divided into one hour each for reading, grammar, writing, and vocabulary for fourth graders using Arizona State ELL Standards as guidance. The fourth grade English Language Learners will benefit from developing oral reading proficiency using the Listening and Speaking portion of the Arizona State ELL standards by performing, developing, and utilizing poems and prose with the Navajo Culture. My plan to teach this unit is intended for fourth grade English Language Learners (ELL). The Structured English Immersion (SEI) for ELL requires me to use English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards to guide my instruction. The four domains in the ELP standards include listening and speaking, reading, writing, and language. Using the domains, I want students to recognize that poetry exists in Navajo culture.