Playing with Poems: Rules, Tools, and Games

Rationale

The role of culture is important in bilingual education and ESL in developing and enabling student success. Language, racial background, names, clothing, and food are commonly associated with cultural traits. These traits are relevant contributions to cultural identity. Cultural identity is important in establishing emotional support and self-esteem. Often, schools are important arenas in shaping a child's formation of ethnic identity. Strong ethnic identity is especially important beyond primary grades, when the amount of English information that a student has to absorb becomes particularly evident.

Navajo students are facing an identity crisis because of the influence of western society on the Navajo Reservation. More and more young parents are not teaching the Navajo way of life. Navajo language and traditional ceremonies have become less significant. Elders see the changes in the younger generation, but they have hope of maintaining and sustaining the Navajo culture. Wilson Aronilth, a renowned elderly Navajo Medicine man and a cultural specialist who teaches at Diné College supports the Navajo Educational philosophy by stating;

Finally our great forefathers (hinizází dóó nihichóoni) said "Our language, philosophies, cultural education, and art work will never fade out or fade away. As long as we still have four parts of the day and four seasons, as long as we still have sunshine, rain, and snow and as long as the grass still grows, our education will remain. But if we ever begin to imitate and copy from someone else, then as humans, we will begin to fade away from our true image." There is always love and hope. If you and I have hope and understanding, we can all still maintain and protect our values. Let us hold on to our education, our true image, and true identity, while looking for the true principle of life. ¹⁵

Not many teachers and parents are aware that poetry can create and establish a bridge between cultural identity and learning English. Poetry written by Navajo poets and some Native American Poets are stories about being a Navajo and experiencing events as a Navajo. The Navajo term for poetry is hane' which means a story or narrative that is meant to be shared publicly. The narratives are intended to tell a story that link poetry to Navajo oral traditions, other traditions, history, and culture through the Navajo perspective. Most poets write to express and create identity.

English has become the prevalent language on the Navajo reservation due to influence of the western society through multimedia including movies, television, music, and magazines that promote "pop" culture. Many young adults and children have grown up speaking English as their primary Language. However, the English spoken at home is not fluent; rather "playground" English that encompasses slang and broken English (Code switching.) Some Navajo children use both the Navajo and English language simultaneously, but both words mean the same thing for example: aoo', meaning yes, ti' meaning let's go….When children speak informal English using the Navajo language patterns and parts of speech, it sounds incoherent in English. A majority of the students at elementary school fall into this category where their first language is English, yet they are not fluent speakers. These are the students who are often identified as English Language Learners.

Most of the English Language Learners in my class have been in the Structured English Immersion classes since Kindergarten. All students who are identified as English Language Learners are assessed for English language proficiency using a standard –based assessment called Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA). The assessment is designed to test in the domain of listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Students in the program are assessed every year until they test proficient. Most student instruction is based on the proficiency skills using the AZELLA results. In most cases, students usually fall short in reading and writing.

The problem that most ELL students have with reading is vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. According to Koch, "in the excitement of reading the poems, the children were glad to learn the meanings of strange words, of old forms like thee and thine, and of strange conceptions like symmetry and sublunary." ¹⁶ Creating excitement for reading poetry will automatically entice children to learn the meaning of words. Reading fluency needs to be established before reading comprehension can develop. Reading fluency is the ability of a child to read text without any noticeable cognitive or mental effort. A student has to be able to demonstrate reading fluency by reading accurately, applying reliable components skills for reading, strategies for decoding, and vocabulary. When they start focusing more on constructing meaning from print, then the students are ready for comprehension. ¹⁷