Project

Tools and Strategies to Support Latino Newcomers

Abstract In Mexico and Central America, poverty, lack of opportunities, violence, drug cartels, and powerful gangs have created a toxic living environment (Arguelles, 2017; Bejar, & Becerril, 2017; Bridges, 2013), which influences on Latino Newcomers to immigrate to the U. S. (Ibanez, 2015; Ultreras, 2014). With the increase of the Latino Newcomer population, schools in the U. S. are confronted with new challenges to address students’ learning modalities and to adapt instruction and reading materials according to their students’ needs. Often the didactic materials are not age-appropriate and are not culturally responsive to meet students’ interests and needs. Furthermore, Newcomers may present a discrepancy in academic skills and post-traumatic stress as a result of past experiences, and adaptation to a new home and school environment. The purpose of this project is to learn about the reasons why Latino Newcomers immigrate to the United States, how their former experiences can affect their education, what are Latino Newcomers’ strengths and needs, and finally the development of a website to provide teachers with intervention tools during student pull-out programs for Latino Newcomers. Chapter One provides an overview of the project, and the guiding questions driving this project. Chapter Two provides background information about Latino Newcomers, and pedagogical strategies to support students’ English language acquisition and student engagement. Chapter Three outlines the design, participants, instruments and the steps to create the website. Chapter Four presents the layout of the website. Chapter Five addresses the limitations and recommendations for future projects and future research. Keywords: Latino Newcomers, Funds of knowledge, Intervention pull-outs

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