LEADing Internationally: Annual Spotlight Night to Support Learning in Any Language

Brenda Stolle, LEAD Innovation Studio, Kansas City, MO 

LEADing Internationally emphasizes a strengths-based approach which values learning in any language (Regional Educational Laboratory Program, 2015). This project seeks to provide materials in students’ home languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, Somali & Spanish) for student project work, required coursework, and for pleasure reading. LEADing Internationally also supports our goal to showcase multilingual/multicultural projects produced by our high school students during our annual Spring Spotlight Night, an evening where we invite our community to witness the culmination of student project work.  

This collaborative effort enhances the professional development work of our school district (Hammond, 2015). It was first endorsed by our Culture and Engagement Committee and builds on our English Department’s professional development emphasis that students have books-in-hand and read for pleasure to build reading stamina (Kittle, 2013). This enhances the work in many departments at LEAD Innovation Studio. 

Goals: 

1. Supports learning in any language  

2. Provides home language materials for student project work, required coursework, and reading for pleasure 

3. Showcases LEAD’s multilingual/multicultural projects during our annual Spotlight Night 

4. Enhances our district’s professional development work  

Step-by-Step Plan & Timeline 

October - Collaboration 

• Discuss “LEADing Internationally” concept at our Building Culture and Engagement Committee meeting for feedback and input. It is well received. 

• Gain administration support. 

• International Club sponsor agrees to collaborate with club activities. 

• Discuss concept with coordinator of Spotlight Night and request event space. 

• Request data from administration regarding district statistics to help write the grant and to identify current and projected languages of our student body. 

November - Research, Identify Materials 

• Attend department meetings to identify materials to purchase. 

• Establish a priority list with four categories:  (1) display materials, (2) books to support academic learning, (3) multilingual books for projects, (4) multilingual books for pleasure reading. 

• Research materials in our targeted languages:  Arabic, Chinese, English, Somali, and Spanish. 

• Reach out for hard-to-find resources. 

December - Purchase Materials 

• Purchase multilingual books to support academic learning, projects, pleasure reading and display materials. 

January – April - Distribute Materials  

• Display materials arrive: a multilingual welcome banner, world map, and international flags to be used to welcome visitors during our Spotlight Night and visibly communicate that multicultural/multilingual learning is valued at our high school. 

• Books arrive. EL students help check the books in. We immediately distribute books to teachers of various departments. Many of these materials are implemented in student projects during second semester. Example:  Child Development classes - high school students read books to elementary students in their home language. 

March – May - Plan for Spotlight Night LEADing Internationally display 

• Meet with International Club Sponsor and members to plan their involvement with our Spotlight Night display. Students develop interactive activities with a cultural emphasis. They develop questions for conversation tents that are placed at tables. For example,  What holiday do you like to celebrate? Explain. They create questions to use as a world map activity. For example, Take a magnet and mark where your family is from. Where in the world would you like to visit? One member creates artwork samples for our LEADing Internationally logo and members vote and decide on the final logo. Club members agree to host our Spotlight Night display and they present their Come Learn About My Culture boards. 

October – May  

• Communicate with individual teachers about their project work display as a part of LEADing Internationally. This is an internationally themed project that students have worked on throughout the year. 

• Communicate with the coordinator of Spotlight Night to establish rooms for this display. 

• LEADing Internationally display debuts during Spotlight Night where our school community is invited to see student project work. The welcome banner in multiple languages greets our visitors. The world map is on display with interactive questions and magnets to encourage participation. Conversation tents encourage participation. Members of the International Club host the room for the evening. Student multicultural/multilingual projects are on display including projects from the International Club and six classes: 

• Design Thinking – Surprise Vacation Design  

• Art – International Themed Art  

• Sociology- Culture Fair  

• Spanish – Day of the Dead  

• English – Reading for Projects & Reading for Pleasure  

• Child Development- Reading to Children  

All Materials are ordered though Amazon 

Budget: 

$100 for Display Materials 

$400 – Academic Class Books 

$800 – English Required Books and Books for Pleasure 

$100 -Display Materials 

Welcome Sign  Amazon.com: TOMPOP Tapestry World Welcome Word Cloud in Different Languages Conceptual Multilingual Home Decor Wall Hanging for Living Room Bedroom Dorm 50x60 Inches : Home & Kitchen 

Flags Amazon.com: Anley 184Ft 200 Countries String Flag - International Bunting Banners for Party Decorations, Bars, Sports Clubs, School Festivals, Celebrations - 8" x 5", 200 Flags, 184 Feet : Home & Kitchen 

Laminated 48 x 80 World Map Amazon.com: Maps International Giant World Map - Mega-Map Of The World - 46 x 80 - Full Lamination : Maps International: Office Products 

Map Book Evan-Moor Educational... by Evan-Moor Educational Publishers (amazon.com) 

$400 - Books for Academic Classes 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey 

Change by Design by Tim Brown 

The Who was? History of the World 

Where Were the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? 

What Was the Age of Exploration? 

What is Climate Change? 

What is the Supreme Court? 

What is Congress? 

What is the Constitution? 

What is the Declaration of Independence?  

$800 - Books for English Required Work and Reading for Pleasure  

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter 

The House on Mango Street 

The Hunger Games 

Of Mice & Men 

Speak 

Tuesdays with Morrie 

Llama Llama Red Pajama 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar  

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  

Educated 

The Hate You Give 

The Kite Runner 

The Great Gatsby 

The DaVinci Code 

The Alchemist 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 

Long Way Down:  The Graphic Novel 

Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey 

Barefoot Heart:  Stories of a Migrant Child 

This is What America Looks Like:  My Journey from Refuge to Congresswoman  

The Little Prince 

The Moon and the Sixpence 

Art That Changed the World 

Sustainability 

LEADing Internationally is starting our process of providing multilingual reading materials to many departments in our school and making multicultural/multilingual projects more visible. We will continue this effort. The materials purchased this year are available for future student project work. Teachers have been very supportive in making these materials available to students and I’ll continue working with teachers to encourage project work with an international theme. For example, I’m talking with our art teachers about developing an art project that allows students to visually describe their homeland. 

There’s a very good chance that I will provide professional development to our staff next year regarding working with English learners. I’ll explain the benefits of multilingual learning and encourage our teachers to continue identifying multicultural projects within their curriculum and multilingual materials that will support existing projects. I’ll continue partnering with them to find resources to support that work. 

The LEADing Internationally display as a part of our Spotlight Night is well supported. This display, along with the social studies and language departments’ displays, was combined to emphasize international-themed student projects in an entire wing of our building. That has never been done before at our school and it created a cohesiveness that improved this event. We will do this in future years. The welcome sign in multiple languages, the banner with various country flags, and the world map interactive activities greeted all of our families. 

An English teacher and I plan to attend our county library’s used book sale to search for additional reading materials. We are watching our current enrollment to determine the home languages of our families so we can target those languages. 

Reflections  

The best part about this project is collaborating with my counterparts. They have been onboard from the beginning and continue to support this effort. Their involvement and support are key. Their input on selecting materials so they can use them within their curriculum is the most significant factor to the success of this project. During our Spotlight Night, many teachers came through the room and participated in the map activities and the student projects. One teacher brought in her young daughter and practiced her language skills. Their support is most important to the future of this effort. 

Our English Learners were involved in several steps of this process. They made  recommendations for some reading for pleasure books. They opened up the boxes of books and checked them in and showed delight, grabbing the books and reading some of them out loud.  Including these students is a step I would certainly repeat in the future.   

Another important collaborative effort is working with the International Club sponsor.  She and her club students brought imaginative ideas and an energy to develop interactive activities that made the LEADing Internationally display more fun for the participants. Students hosted the room and were directly involved in this evening. This club’s involvement was significant in establishing the components of the Spotlight Night LEADing Internationally event. Because the International Club is an after-school activity (determined by student interest), there is no guarantee that it will be offered next year. Our club leader graduated, and our adult sponsor will not be at our school next year, so that is a foreseeable challenge. 

Other challenges include finding materials in specific languages such as Somali. All materials are ordered through Amazon and the prices and availability change day-to-day making it difficult to estimate and order. 

The Spotlight Night is open to our community but rarely do the parents of our English learners attend. This year was no different. That continues to be a challenge – how to better engage our parents and help them to feel comfortable in our building. This is something that we hope to improve. 

Overall, this project is a solid start to emphasizing multilingual learning in our school and it has established an annual event for us to showcase student multicultural project work. 

References 

Hammond, Z. L. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Corwin Press. 

Kittle, P. (2013). Book love: Developing depth, stamina, and passion in adolescent readers. Heinemann. 

Regional Educational Laboratory Program (2021). Culturally sustaining teaching practices for multilingual students. [Infographic]. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/Products/Region/pacific/Resource/70106