This is our poster on a project involving young ELLs with refugee status to develop reading materials for their pre- and low-literate mothers. It's a pdf from ppt. file, so you'll have to adjust the view percentage.

1. Young ELLs as Adult ESL Materials Designers:
Imagine That! Karen Marsh
University of Utah
marsh.karen@comcast.net
Raichle Farrelly
University of Utah
railiz@yahoo.com
Background A Partnership for Materials Design: Benefits & Challenges of Youth
Teaching Reading to Pre- and Low Literate Adults Collaboration Project
•Reading materials for teaching pre- and low literate adult English Language Learners (ELLs) to
read are scarce. Benefits
•Some useful texts that focus on bottom-up reading skills are Laubach Way to English, Sam
and Pat and Talk of the Block.
Children
•Reading materials for teaching pre- and low-literate adult ELLs
•The content of many readers often targets life skills (getting around, family, transportation,
are connected to their lives and experiences.
workplace, health) – which is beneficial. Some rely on texts that are not relevant to ELLs, such
•Mothers are empowered through literacy to be increasingly
as stories on duck hunting.
engaged in their children’s education – they will become more
•Language Experience Approach (LEA) methods for developing texts are an excellent
confident to see their children’s homework, read notes from the
alternative to texts that lack meaning or relevance to students.
•However, when students don’t have the oral language proficiency to generate a story or text to Collaborative teacher, ask questions about school.
Materials •Likewise, the children become invested in their parents’
teach from, are we only left with inauthentic texts?
Design education and encourage their mothers to read, while serving as
their resource.
•This poster presents an alternative which incorporates relevant cultural information about the
•The youth are given additional language learning
students and taps into their interests.
opportunities during book workshop sessions.
•We explore the benefits and challenges of working with youth to create materials for their pre-
Teachers Parents •The youth are empowered as assets within a project that was
and low-literate mothers.
clearly important in the community.
•They are given the chance to collaborate with one another
*Pre-literate refers to a learner who has not yet been afforded the opportunity to develop literacy
creatively and academically with a shared goal for their mothers’
in any language – not even her first language.
education in mind.
•They are challenged to think critically about their mother’s
Sample Story Books -Youth Generated Texts needs and interests and ways in which these topics could promote
her literacy development.
The Project Page Book 1 – My Story
Page Book 3 – The Kitchen
Challenges
The Young ELLs My Story – About Me (title) 1 My Story – The Kitchen (title) • They are not trained reading teachers, so the vocabulary for the
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stories was not always at the appropriate level.
My name is _____________. 2 The kitchen is a big place to cook.
•We chose youth groups who have pre- and low-literate mothers. 2 •It is difficult to know if the stories accurately represent the
•In our location - Salt Lake City, Utah - these youth groups primarily mothers’ interests or rather the children’s perception of their
I am from Somalia. 3 The kitchen is the heart of the home.
comprise Burundi, Somali Bantu and Sudanese youth who came to Utah 3 mothers’ interests.
with refugee status. •The youth already have several demands on their time.
I left Somalia because of the war. 4 You have your ingredients in the fridge.
•All of the young ELLs we worked with were girls. Their involvement 4 •They are less interested in academic related activities after school
was voluntary and the girls were more willing to participate consistently. than games and having free time; this makes finding willing youth
I came to the US for freedom. 5 You can bake a cake in the oven.
5 collaborators a challenge.
The Process I came to the United States to become a citizen. 6 Use a lot of healthy vegetables.
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Step One – Gauge Interest; Needs Assessment I came to the United States for a new bright life. 7 After you cook you can clean up.
•We met with the youth several times to develop the materials. 7 Collaborative Materials Design:
•Our initial meeting was to give them background into the project and This is how I got a better life. 8 There is love in the kitchen. Considerations and Future Directions
see if they were interested. 8
•They all attested to their mothers’ varying levels of experience with Page Book 2 – Life in Kenya 9 We love sitting and eating with family.
literacy, which ranged from none whatsoever to knowing the alphabet
Considerations
and being able to write their names. In most cases, the mothers of our 1 My Story – Life in Kenya (title)
youth were pre-literate. Page Book 4 – My Family •It would be useful to investigate what topics the mothers care
Step Two – Generate Ideas 2 I lived in Kenya. most about – i.e. which topics they actually talk about with their
•With the girls, we brainstormed on topics that would be most relevant 1 My Story – My Family (title) friends and family at home in the native language. (The young
and interesting to their mothers (see adjacent panel for their ideas). 3 My house was made of mud. collaborators might be taking creative liberties.)
•Some of their ideas were unexpected. 2 My name is Mageney. •More follow-up should be done to see if the mothers enjoy the
Step Three – Create Story Boards 4 Our beds were made of mud. books created by their children.
•With these ideas, we created story boards or outlines for what the 3 I have six children. •Explore ways to motivate the youth to be involved and invested.
5 We had a kitchen outside.
books would be about within several topics.
Step Four – Write and Print Stories 4 I have 4 brothers and 5 sisters. Future Directions
6 We cooked pasta and meat on the fire.
•Then, the girls supplied the sentences for the stories.
•We took these sentences and compiled them into Word documents to 5 I have 5 daughters and 1 son. •Each booklet should be accompanied by a series of activities that
7 The children played games.
print and produce as booklets. promote reading comprehension and extension.
Step Five – Illustrate Books 8 We prayed at the mosque. 6 I love my family. •Activities that target both top-down and bottom-up reading
•Next, we returned with the small books so that the girls could illustrate strategies should be incorporated into the materials design
the books. 9 I liked Kakuma. 7 We live close to our cousins. process.
Step Five – Share Stories with Mothers •Young boys and men should be invited to contribute to the project
•The next step of the process is to engage the mothers in learning to 10 I miss my parents and sisters. 8 My children’s names are Zainabu, Mariamo, Isha, Nuhriya,
to broaden the topics and perspectives.
read the stories written by their children. Turkana and Mohamed.
11 I want to visit one day. 9 My kids are beautiful. Thank you to the girls at University Neighborhood Partners and BHFLU Church.
Thank you Ellen Knell for the insight and templates. Thank you to Abdul, Lul and
Danielle for coordinating our time with the girls.