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All of my 22 wonderful students are from Hispanic descent and come from low socio-economic households. Last month, we launched an unit on poetry to commemorate the National Poetry Month. Because we spent 30 days learning about the structure of different kind of poems, they started to fall in love with the genre. During our poetry unit I was introduced by to this wonderful book by another 4th grade teacher. Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience by Alma Flor Ada present a collection of poems that help the reader understands the different experiences of Latinos that immigrated to the United States from different countries. I immediately fell in love with this pieced of work because it represented the family story of many, if not all, of my students. Research tells us that students' reading comprehension is enhance when students' can activate their fund of knowledge. This simply means that when students are able to connect to the topics that they are reading about they are more successful understanding the text. Therefore, I think that giving them the opportunity to read and have this book as a keepsake will also help them fall in love with reading. Additionally, I think that now a days is more important than ever to teach children about their background, so that they can understand their family's history, stay connected and proud of their roots, and more importantly, learn to accept other's cultures as well. For these reasons, I would like to gift this book to each of my 22 students as they go off to middle school, where they may face challenges and situations that may cause them to doubt their capabilities to succeed academically.
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