Christie Hamilton

Lesson Plan 2 Comparing and contrasting languages

Topic: Comparing and contrasting three languages and seeing the beauty in multiple languages.

Standards:

Common Core State Standards

1) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words

and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.

2) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4c Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with
the same root (e.g., addition, additional).

3) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.2 Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or
information presented orally or through other media.

South Carolina Standards

4) Standard 2-5 The student will write for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Rationale:

Students should know the relationships and rules that are the same and also differ from language to
language. It can benefit a student to know how to translate from one language to another and cause
them to use cognitive function that will benefit them throughout their educational career. Delpit and
Dowdy state, “…all children regardless of language background, need to develop bi/plural lingual
abilities to meet the communicative challenges of the 21st century.” Students should see the beauty
and uniqueness of different languages such as Spanish and AAL and see how they have contributed to
English. We as educators also want to work WITH a student’s home language instead of against it. As
Delpit and Dowdy notes, “Since language is one of the most intimate expressions of identity, indeed,
‘the skin we speak.’ Then to reject a person’s language can only feel as if we are rejecting him.” (Chapter
3.) Academic achievement is our ultimate goal and if incorporating their home language into the
classroom, then that is what needs to happen. Delpit and Dowdy also note, “Researches have
consistently found that there is a cross-linguistic relationship between the student’s home and
additional language, and proficiency in the home language is related to academic achievement in an
additional language.”

What you should know: As a teacher, it is important to understand the positives students gain from
knowing more than one language. Besides being able to communicate in more than one language,
knowing two languages is also beneficial cognitively. Some “brain facts” can be found at this following
website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-
language-Benefits-of-bilingualism.htm
Learning about another language is also a creative way for students to learn new things. Take a look at
this quote from the book “Emergent Bilinguals” “There is not a more creative and innovative human
activity than learning how to make meaning through another language. Research has shown that there
is a relationship between bilingualism and creativity, meaning cognitive and linguistic production that is
both original and valuable.” (Location 1749 on Kindle)

Lastly, it is important for you to know that African American language is a real language with rules and
grammar. To read about these rules, you may find the following article helpful:
https://blackboard.sc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-7087042-dt-content-rid-8801593_2/courses/EDEC344-001-
FALL-2013/School%20Talk%20issue-

I hope you find these resources helpful as you teach this lesson!

Concepts to be taught:

I want children to know that all languages have rules.

I want children to know that AAL is a real language.

I want children to know all languages are beautiful and unique in their own way.

I want children to see the similarities between AAL and Spanish.

Lesson Step by Step

1) Hello boys and girls! Today we are going to talk about different languages. We will talk about how
different languages are beautiful and we will talk about how they are similar and different.

2) Before we begin, I am going to read this book to you. It’s called My family and I / Mi familia y yo.
*Read the book to the students.

3) What are some things you noticed about this book? *Write everything the students say on the board.
What did you like about this book? *Write answers on the board.

4) Does anyone here know Spanish? (If they do, ask them to say something in Spanish.) If you know
Spanish, you know more languages than I do. Miss Hamilton only knows one language, and you know
two languages! Did you know that if you know more than one language you will grow up to be smarter
than Miss Hamilton?! And, you are already smarter than me! I want you to know that I think it is very
cool that you know two languages and I hope to know another language one day!

5) Remember that week when we learned about languages that come from Africa? Well, one of those
languages is called African American Language, also known as AAL. You may have also heard people call
this language “Ebonics.” Did you know that if you speak AAL AND Standard English, you speak two
languages as well? Isn’t that awesome, friends? If you know how to speak two languages, you are
bilingual. You will also know more than Miss Hamilton as you grow up because I only know Standard
English and a few words from different languages. Does anyone have anything to say before we move
on?

6) Today, we are going to learn a few different ways to translate from AAL to Standard English and from
Spanish to English. We are going to learn to spot different patterns we see in languages and how that
will help us to be smart readers and writers!

7) (Slide 1 from PP) Today we are going to compare and contrast the three languages AAL, Standard
English, and Spanish.

8) (Slide 2) Everyone look at these sentences with me. I am going to read the sentence, then I want you
to say it/read it after me. *Read the three sentences. Now let’s talk about what we just read. First we
read a sentence that was AAL, and then we read a sentence that was Standard English. Lastly, we read a
sentence that was Spanish.

9) Before we talk about the rules of these three sentences, lets read three more sentences and I want
you to see if you notice something similar about the first three and the second three sentences we are
about to read. See if you can see a pattern in these languages. *read the next three sentences with the
students.

10) Did you notice any patterns? What did you notice? Did you see anything that was similar and alike?
Did you see anything that was different? *Let students explain their thinking.

11) Now I am going to explain what we just read. In AAL when something belongs to someone, the noun
goes right after the person who owns it. In English, ownership is shown by an apostrophe followed by an
“s.” And in Spanish, the word “de” “del” or “de la” goes between the owner and the object. It changes
depending on the formality of the sentence and if it’s masculine or feminine. I know that is a little tricky,
but hang in there and we will try our best to understand as we go.

12) (Slide 3) Let’s read these next three sentences together. *Read the sentences and let the students
find the rules. (If they have wrong thinking or can’t find the rules, correct their thinking and help them
find the rules.) Now let’s read the next three sentences and I will call on someone to tell us the rule.

13) We just learned about ownership and the rule for AAL, English, and Spanish. That is amazing,
friends! Y’all are quick learners and I am proud of you! Before we move on, I want 3 people to tell me
the rule for AAL, English, and Spanish. *Call on three students. Student 1, what is the rule for AAL?
Student 2, what is the rule for English? Student 3, what is the rule for Spanish.

14) (Slide 4) Now, we are going to look at another rule. In AAL this rule is called “Habitual Be.” And it
means that what is being said happens regularly, often, or all the time. In other words, the thing or
event happens “habitually” which means “Commonly used or followed.”

15) Let’s look at these next six sentences. *Read the sentences together. Ask the students, what do you
notice about the Spanish word that is used in both sentences? That’s right! The word, “Siempre” means
“always.” What is the word in AAL that means “always?” That’s right, it’s the word “be.” And of course,
the word, we use in English is “always.”

16) (Slide 5) Now let’s look at the next six sentences. I will read the sentence and you will tell me what
language I am speaking. *Read the sentences. Wow students!! Do you know what you are learning to
do? You are learning to translate! Being able to translate is a skill you can use for the rest of your life!

17) (Slide 6) The last rule we are going to look at is negatives. Let’s look at/read these sentences
together. *Read the sentences with the students. What do you notice about AAL and Spanish? That’s
right! Both languages use double negatives. Let’s read three more sentences. *Read the sentences with
the students.

18) Now let’s watch this video together and see if we can hear/notice the pattern in the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esoAG_7RHrY

19) I want to have a little discussion about the beauty you see in other languages. I want everyone to
give me one thing they think is beautiful about your language, or another language. *write all the
answers on the board.

20) Let’s read this story about a boy in California:

I'm proud to be bilingual by. Christopher Ramo, Minnie Gant Elementary School, Long Beach, CA

My name is Christopher and I'm six years old. I am proud to know how to read, write, and talk in two
languages because when I go to Mexico I can speak in Spanish with my family. Also when I go to
museums, archaeological ruins and historical places I can learn and understand anything without
problems. And when I go back to the United States I can tell everyone in Spanish and English all the
wonders that I saw of the Mexican culture like "Teotihuacan" and "Chichen-Itza".

When I grow up I am going to help the people of my country to be bilingual, so they can learn more
about the countries of the world, and everybody can understand why people have different customs
and celebrate the holiday’s different ways like the Day of the Dead in Mexico, Christmas and the four
seasons of the year, etc. If I were the president of the nation I would write a law asking for the bilingual
education for everybody, so that all the people would love and feel proud of their country and respect
the others. Also it would help their jobs because they could help more people. If you know two
languages you count for two.

21) The last thing I want to show you today is this book called, “Sing to the Stars.” Be looking for beauty
in the language of this book. *Read book to students.

21) Now that we have all these great things we think are beautiful about other languages, and also a
personal story from a little boy who speaks two languages, I want everyone to get a piece of paper out. I
want everyone to write down one thing they learned today. One thing you want to know more about.
And one thing you are going to tell your family tonight when you get home. Ready, set, write!
Resources:

Barrett, M.(1994) Sing to the Starts. Little Brown & Co.

Delpit, L., & Dowdy, J. The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom.
New York: New, 2002. Print.

Garcia, O., Kleifgen, J. (2010). Emergent Bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English
language learners. New York. Teachers College Press.

Jingle Bilingual Una Papa - Spanish/English Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=esoAG_7RHrY

Merritt, A. (2013). Why learn a foreign language? Benefits of bilingualism. Retrieved from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-language-
Benefits-of-bilingualism.html

Proud to be bilingual (kids' essays) Retrieved from: Blackboard

Rickford, J. & Rickford, R. Spoken Soul. New York. John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Rosa-Mendoza, G. (2001) My family and I / Mi familia y yo.