SL Post # 4 in Response to Prompt # 6

 As I have mentioned in a previous blog, there is one child in this third grade classroom who does not speak English.  She has been given essay assignments to write in Spanish, and the caliber of her work clearly demonstrates that she received a solid educational foundation from her country of origin.  She still does not like to try to speak in English in the classroom, reluctant to participate in morning circle time, which does not mean that her grasp of the English language is not improving - she may not feel confident enough yet to participate.  When I am in the classroom, she sits at a desk cluster where I am usually assigned to help out.    I always feel drawn to watch her, because I can’t imagine how she is feeling or what she is thinking.  I am there during math lessons.  The teacher presents the lesson, and then the children work on the assignment supporting the lesson.  I usually try to help her, even though I do not speak a word of Spanish.  The first week they were working on bar graphs; the second week they were working on temperatures.  I have tried to use visuals with her.  The first week, I quickly sketched a graph and pointed to the information on my graph and the corresponding information in the book.  The second week, they had printouts of thermometers and they had to locate the temperature on the printout, and color in the mercury bar in the center of the thermometer.   I jotted down the temperatures that they were looking for on a separate piece of paper, and pointed to the number on my paper, and then to the  column of numbers on the thermometer. The girl who sits next to her is bilingual, and did some translating for me as well.  The teacher also has this other student translate for her.  I did ask the teacher why this student doesn’t spend time in a bi-lingual classroom, and evidently, the girl’s parents did not want her in a bi-lingual classroom, despite the recommendations of educators/administrators.   After observing her in this classroom, I really have to wonder if she would have benefited from a bi-lingual classroom.  How much has she been able to learn?