Demographics
Hearne Elementary School is located in Hearne, Texas, a town with a population of roughly 5,000 residents. The elementary school, Pre-K through 6th Grade, had 524 students as of the 2017-2018 school year. This campus is 100% free and reduced lunch, 99.8% are considered to be economically disadvantaged, and 64.7% of students being considered at risk of dropping out of school. 21.2% of the students were enrolled in bilingual and English language learning programs. In regards to special programs at the campus, gifted and talented students accounts for 1.7% of the campus (7.9% statewide) while special education accounts for 14.1% (9.1 statewide).
The students who attend school here come from homes that are not traditional in the least. Students come to me two or more grade levels behind and I teach third grade. My students have endured at their ages what some adults have never, and will never experience, which includes but is not limited to: generational poverty and illiteracy, incarceration of one or both parents, absent parents including moms and not just dads, physical/sexual abuse, physical/emotional neglect, and alcohol/substance abuse. Students who receive special education services and their parents did too.
This unit is tailored to serve approximately 50 third grade students who are exposed to code switching all the time, students who will be exposed to mentor texts whose characters parallel their ethnicities, students whose personal experience essays showcase the strengths of code switching.
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