Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass

I am in love with this book,Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass.
Our  third grader has a poster report this month. It was not easy to find a non-fiction story at his ready level. We were in the library for 3 hours!!! We picked  books on Gandhi and Einstein  because let's be honest, I did not want to go there...I really tried to avoid slavery!!However this book is so well written and the illustrations are amazing. The author and illustrator did perfectly delivered this story with grace, compassion and pride.
So we  really loved  the story of young Frederick Douglas. First, it is a true and beautiful story.  Second,  it  did encourage our son to write and believe that "words can set him free". Finally,  as parents we had to confront our discomforts about slavery and race discrimination. I wished we had access to story like that when I was a kid...
I also love this story because it is an eloquent and subtle way to teach children that nothing in life comes easily. Finally, it is encouraging me to write children books one day about being immigrant, specially when our son asks if he is African, African American, or French American or just American...
Thousands of thanks to the author Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrator James E Ransome for this book.
Thank you!!!
It is a perfect gift for African American History Month...
Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Gilbert, the Surfer Dude by Diane Degroat (Author, Illustrator)

I really want to thank Diane Degroat for this book!!! We are working on reading fluency with out loud reading. While reading this book my second grader was happy and laughing.Priceless...
His verdict: "Awesome!! Reading is so fun!"
Yeah....Yeah..Mission accomplished.
Thank you Diane Degroat for "Gilbert,the Surfer Dude"
Even at the age of DS,XBOX and Ipod, nothing can replace a good book.

"This I Can Read Book in the Gilbert and Friends series does its job. It’s short, amusing, and will keep kids reading. Gilbert and family are on their way to the beach when Gilbert remembers that he forgot something—his bathing suit. He insists on wearing his new trunks that say Surfer Dude, even though they’re too big. Surfing and oversize trunks can only lead to one thing. Adults will see it coming, but new readers probably won’t. They’ll enjoy looking at the seaside doings in the friendly art while they sharpen their reading skills. Grades K-2."

Reading fluency norms for linguistically diverse

  Once again it is about the struggle between "diversity", "norms" and "standards". It is obvious that  linguistic diversity  impacts the practice of speech ,articulation, language, and fluency. While I was reading on "linguistically diverse populations". I finally understood why, US born children can be labeled as English Language Learners(ELL)!!!Well here it is: "Frequently linguistically diverse individuals/public school students are classified or referred to as “Limited English Proficient”(LEP)/English Language Learners (ELL). These are individuals who are learning or have learned to speak, understand, read, and/or write English as a second or other language, even though they may have spent a number of years in an English speaking environment."  here.  So your LEP child is a ELL only when you disclose that he has learned to speak and understand another language.Voila..disclosing or not a reading gap will expose any exposure to foreign languages. And it is emotional for every children, LEP or ELL...

As a current simultaneous, sequential bilingual parent and  ELLish/LEPish student; I understand the pain  that comes with  non-fluency  and fluency norms. I was that child that would stare and just do instead of talking. I was that child  mixing languages and dialects while reciting a poem in front of the class. I would fight by not answering in the correct language to my parents so they would understand my pain. Linguistically diversity is a blessing that comes with a curse at the beginning!! Fluency building strategies are out there but the secret is patience. Be patient, everybody makes it  regardless of the norms.Here a comforting article for bringing up bilingual children.

Bilingualism is normal. Millions of children are growing with more than one language.However having to perform accordingly to the norm is not normal for linguistically diverse. It is normally intimidating. We are reading slow but reading, and speed will come along. Diversity is good, fluent or not.

Below the famous chart...so fluid...oh yeah...Reading is fun!

2006 Hasbrouck & Tindal Oral Reading Fluency Data

Grade	Percentile	Fall WCPM*	Winter WCPM*	Spring WCPM*	Avg. Weekly Improvement**
1	90 75		81 47	111 82	1.9 2.2
	50		23	53	1.9
	25 10		12 6	28 15	1.0 0.6
2	90 75	106 79	125 100	142 117	1.1 1.2
	50	51	72	89	1.2
	25 10	25 11	42 18	61 31	1.1 0.6
3	90 75	128 99	146 120	162 137	1.1 1.2
	50	71	92	107	1.1
	25 10	44 21	62 36	78 48	1.1 0.8
4	90 75	145 119	166 139	180 152	1.1 1.0
	50	94	112	123	0.9
	25 10	68 45	87 61	98 72	0.9 0.8
5	90 75	166 139	182 156	194 168	0.9 0.9
	50	110	127	139	0.9
	25 10	85 61	99 74	109 83	0.8 0.7
6	90 75	177 153	195 167	204 177	0.8 0.8
	50	127	140	150	0.7
	25 10	98 68	111 82	122 93	0.8 0.8
7	90 75	180 156	195 165	202 177	0.7 0.7
	50	128	136	150	0.7
	25 10	102 79	109 88	123 98	0.7 0.6
8	90 75	185 161	199 177	199 177	0.4 0.5
	50	133	151	151	0.6
	25 10	106 77	124 97	124 97	0.6 0.6

Book of the week: Devine Combien Je t'aime -Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Just cute and adorable!! It is about love between father and son.
A perfect book for bilingual children.Or a great way to introduce a new language or just to say I love you just one more time. 
English or French

Unspoken sacrifices in proficiency and fluency battles

Language fluency is defined as a high level of language proficiency. Proficiency and fluency are related but composed of distinct skills, such as reading, writing, comprehension, and speaking. Well, we are in the middle of reading for a first grader.  I remember my mother teaching me how to read. It was difficult and frustrating at time. And it is frustrating for our son. Everybody praises the benefit of bilingualism but few talks about the suffering before the blooming.  It is not easy when reading fluency becomes the Holy Grail. It requires a lot of patience, and encouragement. Personally I do not like the timer. Instead of telling children that reading is like a beautiful cross running trail. We condition them to sprint to the finish line. They will eventually enjoy the scenery but they have to sprint first. I know that fluency does not meaning proficiency. How fluid is fluid enough, fluent or proficient enough?

This reading journey awaked a lot of my memories. So I called my mother. I was wondering how difficult it was for her to teach us French. To my surprise, she confessed restraining herself to speak Kirundi at home. She knew that we were overwhelmed and frustrated. And it sadly helped us. Speaking less Kirundi was a difficult choice for her. After the first three years in France my mother reinforced Kirundi at home. Our parents exposed us to our community and many cultural events. However the lack of fluency made communication exhausting intellectually and emotionally. I know that my mother did it for us. Back then I did not understand why she would talk to any random compatriot but us. Kirundi became a background melody that I had to tune out in order to reach proficiency and reading fluency in French. And when I was trying to tune in, I was lost, confused, and frustrated again. It was a constant battle that affected my self esteem, and my identity. I realized the unspoken sacrifices made by our parents to ensure our success. It is like letting go a piece of your soul. That’s why I am holding on to teaching him French. I want him to know me. So he will never have to tune out.  English reading proficiency will take time  because he was rocked to sleep with Kirundi, Wolof and French lullabies.

The Simpsons are going Green

The Simpsons: The Squirt and the Whale
I did learn academic English in classroom. However I have to give credit to the Simpsons. In order to improve my speaking skills, I watched four episodes a day my first month in the USA.  And thanks to Lisa Simpsons I could distinguish proper English from slang.

So I had to share this episode, a little cheesy but a funny critic of eco-activism. The crazy part is that I did learn the lyrics of the French song “La mer”(it is played at the end) my first year in France when I was nine years old. I do remember this poem because I was homesick. And I realized that I could not replace my beloved Indian Ocean but the Mediterranean Sea had its charm.
And I grew to love her.

La mer  de Charles Trenet (1913 – 2001).

La mer The Sea

Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
That one sees dancing along the clear gulfs
A des reflets d'argent  Has silver reflections
La mer  The Sea
Des reflets changeants Changing reflections
Sous la pluie  Under the rain

La mer  The Sea
Au ciel d'été confond  In the summer sky merge
Ses blancs moutons  Its white sheep
Avec les anges si purs  With such pure angels
La mer bergère d'azur  The sea, shepherdess of azure
Infinie  Infinite

Voyez See
Près des étangs  Close to the ponds
Ces grands roseaux mouillés  These large wet reeds
Voyez  See
Ces oiseaux blancs  These white birds
Et ces maisons rouillées  And these rusted houses

La mer  The Sea
Les a bercés  Has rocked them
Le long des golfes clairs  Along the clear gulfs
Et d'une chanson d'amour  And with a song of love
La mer  The Sea
A bercé mon cœur pour la vie  Has soothed my heart for life

First update of Kirundi-French-English Challenge.

According to our dear “Bescherelle, a French grammar book”, a mother tongue is acquired orally, and the graphic transcription is taught several years later. Well it took me only three decades! And all I have to say is that it is HARD!!!!!!! Now that I said it I can pretend that I am in control. French grammar was hard, Spanish was manageable, and English was less complicated but required me to thing differently.I shamefully dropped Spanish because conjugation was overwhelming. Orally I could understand Kirundi until I left home. And being far from home and not speaking Kirundi,I lost a lot of it.
And going over grammar exercises,I am proud to say that I understand plenty of the vocabulary and recognized some of the rules. However the vocalic system, contractions, diphthongs, phonetics, syntax and the vast diversity of articles specific for each group of nouns made me realized that Kirundi is a really rich and complex language.That is probably why it is almost impossible to find an updated book. 

But I find some fabulous links online, even Spanish-Kirundi lessons; I got to love globalization for this. Thank you for the mighty internet!Besides I am currently forced to learn all the English phonetics to teach them to my favorite first grader. To be honest he is teaching me proper English pronunciation. And I love to see him being so proud to correct me. Priceless!My mother is taking the Kirundi-English part of the challenge and she doing great.So I am dedicating  this kirundian love song “Kidumu - Amosozi y'urukundo” to my mother for reading my blogg even in English.

Thank you Maman.

And Thank you Papa.

I promise to write few sentences in Kirundi as soon as possible.

For a start Ndagukunda/ Je t’aime/I love you

Have a great Friday whoever is passing by this page.

Aline

Here below the full pages of Kirundi by Betty Cox:

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi1.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi2.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi3.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi4.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi5.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi6.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi7.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi8.pdf

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi9.pdf

http://www.bescherelle.com/cat_coll.php?coll=000000014394

http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/wiki/index.php/Learning_Kirundi

http://marston.freemethodistchurch.org/Dictionaries/Hi-Res/english-kirundi%20dictionary.pdf

http://marston.freemethodistchurch.org/Dictionaries/Hi-Res/kirundi-english%20dictionary.pdf

My Kirundi-French-English Challenge: Kifrenglish

 

I decided to learn my native language again! It is Kirundi! My parents told me that I started talking really late and I used to stare at people straight in the eyes without talking. Growing up, languages were not the only barriers, but cultures and customs were  too.As a result, I always look into people eyes to make sure I understand the tone, context, intention, real meaning of the words.It is all about interpretations not translations.

I do not even know which one is native or first or second. I know which one I use, do not use, can read and write or not. Growing up, I had a home language, a school language, and outside language. Depending on situations, language was mostly a tool and a concept. It was often a token of my willingness to learn and exchange.  With time my first became my second. And another one became my first. They all shape my identity in many ways I cannot define but they did. Kirundi is a valley where I belong, French is  a plain where I grew up, English is a woodland where I am growing.

So here is my Kirundi-French-English challenge=Kifrenglish.

I will use learn Kirundi from Betty Cox, and update my progress every two weeks. It will be challenging because I never learn how to write and read in Kirundi. And my French writing is slipping away. And at the end of this challenge I will proudly say that my native is Kirundi, my second is French and third is English. And finally make space for Spanish. I hope to be more cohesive in my multilingualism.

Links used:http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/doc/kirundi1.pdf

http://www.flickr.com/people/mynameisbrandon/

Burundi pictures from Brandon Thiessen. On flickr.BЯДЙDΦЙ.Brandon