CRP PRACTICES FOR THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM
As a large, vital component of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is making your activities and lessons relevant to your classroom, the strategies here are meant to serve as a foundation that the teacher can build upon/customise for their classroom. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, merely where I would suggest teachers begin.
A PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
This activity is appropriate for all elementary grades, and would ideally be given to parents as part of an Open House, and/or emailed to parents before school begins. This is a simple questionnaire that will allow parents to, well, talk about their kids. This will allow parents to let the teacher know more information about their students, is a great way to encourage parent involvement from day one, and possibly give the teacher “entry points” to build relationships with the students. It is important to include questions about the student’s interests, hobbies, if there are any cultural notes parents would like students to be aware of, and a student’s likes and dislikes.
Click Here for a Parent Questionnaire, created by Hilary Lewis (Price: Free)
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS
Consider crafting the classroom expectations with the students. This can be a great way to give students some agency in how their classroom is run. Students will also have a personal stake in their classroom, and the teacher will be able to see what values the students really value. One possible way to do this in a lower elementary school setting, is to create an alphabet chart. The students will then have to think of a rule or maxim for each letter. The teacher should be prepared to scaffold appropriately. The chart should be posted somewhere prominent in the classroom so that students can refer to it when necessary. For upper elementary students, a teacher could have a large piece of paper and have each student write a rule, maxim, or suggestion. To connect it to literacy further, the teacher could have students write in their journals (or just a piece of paper) the reasoning/rationale behind their choice.
DIVERSIFYING CLASSROOM LIBRARY
Diversifying your classroom library is a great way for students to both see themselves in literature, and to see people from cultures that are different than their own in literature. This list, created by a woman named Charnaie, has compiled an incredibly large selection of diverse books spanning a multitude of genres. Books can be quite expensive, but checking out Scholastic Book Club (which has programs that can help teachers get books for their classrooms) or by requesting donations from Half Price Books, teachers can take steps to diversify their classroom library in an affordable fashion.
MAKING LESSONS AUTHENTIC
Making lessons authentic means tailoring your lessons to the interests of and current events surrounding your students. It is the “relevant” part of “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.” This will require the teacher get to know their students, communities, and the interests and issues that they possess. The goal of making your lessons authentic should be to take the educational targets and finding creative and relevant ways to engage the class with those targets. It incorporates a “real world” application to the knowledge. Authentic lessons let students see why the educational targets are important to learn and how they apply to situations outside of school. I found this article by Lexia to be a great resource for really delving in to what making authentic lessons looks like.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Having guest speakers come into your classroom or school can be a great way to engage with the community as a whole. Reaching out to different cultural centres, community organisations, and even parents can be an excellent way to acknowledge the many cultures and backgrounds that make up a community. This also allows students that belong to those communities a chance to provide knowledge to their classmates, and to see their community being represented in the school’s environment. This blog post by Isla Murphy succinctly summarises some of the benefits that can be gained by incorporating guest speakers into your classroom.
COOPERATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Cooperative Problem-Solving activities are activities where students work together in small groups to solve a problem. This is a great opportunity to also incorporate authentic lesson planning into your activity. Groups could work on a problem that is going on in society or the community, and try to come to a solution. This might work best with older elementary school students. Younger elementary students could work on more tactile and concrete activities such as trying to build a bridge out of toothpicks and marshmallows, trying to build boats out of materials to see what design will hold the most coins, etc. Students will be able to work together and create connections with students they might not necessarily interact with very much. Teachers should pick the groups to make sure that groups are made up students who might not always interact. I really found this article by David W Johnson and Roger T Johnson to be very helpful in explaining the benefits and mechanics of cooperative problem solving.
JOURNALING
Journaling allows students to write freely about what is going on in their lives, either by responding to a prompt, or allowing students to free write. It allows students to reflect on their thoughts, and fosters a sense of introspection, while also developing their literacy skills. Authentic learning can also be incorporated into this activity by selecting prompts that ask students to reflect on current events. Another idea is to have a prompt suggestion box somewhere in the classroom, where students can submit ideas for journaling prompts. I found this article by TeacherVision to be great for giving a lot of information and tips about using journaling in the classroom
SEESAW
Seesaw is a great product that has been becoming more popular in classrooms. It is a classroom “social media” application/website that allows teachers and students to share what is going on in the classroom with parents. Students can do presentations, interviews, and so much more with the app. Each student has their own “profile” that allows them to post to the classroom page. Classrooms have a password so that only parents, students, and the teacher can see posts. I included this app as a CRP practice because it allows for great community building opportunities. Here is a link to Seesaw!