I found the task of choosing two books that would be difficult for ESL students to understand because of cultural differences difficult. I went to my schools designated ELL teacher and asked for some assisstance. She lead me in the direction of folktales and fairy tales.
The first book I chose was "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears," by Verna Aardema. Some of the concepts I felt the ESL students might struggle with were the concept of folktales, morals. make-believe, and the origin of a folktale. To make this story comprehendible, I would begin by introducing what a folktale is and how folktales come about. I would explain that every folktale contains a moral and most folktales are make-make believe and are not true. I would explain that a "moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or an event," (Wikipedia). I would ask the students to think back to time when they got in trouble for doing something. After they had told me their story, I would ask what they learned from it and then explain that that is what a moral is. By tying the story to their own past experiences, they are more likely able to understand the point of the story. After we read the story, I would ask guiding questions about the characters to lead the students toward the moral of the story. One way I might do this is through a graphic organizer. Now that they are familiar with it, I would then ask them what some folktales in their culture are. What are stories they have heard that had a moral at the end. By listening to other students stories, they may be able to come up with some of their own.
The second book I chose was "Wizard of Wind and Rock," by Pamela f. Service. The components in this book that I saw as being a challenge for ESL students were the concepts of wizards, magic and magical powers, the concept of what a legend is, and the differences between noble people and commoners. To begin the story, I would talk about wizards and ask bring up the Harry Potter books and movies. Many children are familiar with them and would be able to relate what they have learned from them to this story. We would talk about what a wizard is and what makes them special. This would lead into the idea of magic and magical powers. We would discuss that magic is something special that happens and cannot always be explained. I would have them tell stories about times when they have seen a magician or have had something happen to them that they could not explain. I would then let them know that this story is a legend and that a legend is a story that has been passed down from people through the years. It is very much like a folktale or fairy tale and is also usually make-believe. The last thing we would discuss before reading the story would be noble people and commoners. I would have students make a two column list. They would write "Important" in one column and "Less Important" in the other. The "important" column would list traits of noble people, such as rich, big houses, lots of money, and knows a lot of people. The "less important" column would list traits of commoners such as not as much money, simple houses, only knows friends and family. We would then discuss as a class which column we feel like we fit into best and why. We would also discuss which person we would rather be and why. The students will then read the story and decide if they still would prefer to be a commoner or a noble person. They will write notes in their two column notes as they go.
This task was very difficult for me, because I was trying to focus more on the language piece and not as much on the cultural piece. I think it would be a lot fun to complete a lesson these books. I really enjoyed bothe of them.
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