This unit is designed for fourth-grade bilingual students (with origin from Latin American countries) who receive Language Transitional Support Services in English in the mainstream classroom. It focuses on teaching how to find a distinctive writer's voice through appealing to one's cultural background. Along with this, reading Latin American authors is incorporated to bring students to identify themselves with the narrators who speak very explicitly about their Latino culture. The ultimate goal of the unit is for each student to be able to communicate his or her cultural experience to the audience through pieces of writing portraying his or her own unique image. This goal is based on the fact that one's voice serves as a vital part of his or her identity, so one obviously cannot conceal his or her cultural and family belonging when he or she has a chance to use voice. The unit guides students to realize that when they speak passionately, they reveal something about their family and their culture. As writers, they should capitalize on this fact and learn how to make
their
voice an integral part of their writing.
(Developed for Elementary Literacy Program, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Language Transitional Support Services, grade 4; recommended for Elementary-Reading Comprehension and Writing, grade 4, bilingual in the mainstream classroom)
