Book Set #1/ PD Session #1: Introduction to Home Language and Code Switching
Say Hello! (Rachel Isadora): Girl-Main Character Yo, Jo! (Rachel Isadora): Boy-Main Character
Say Hello!: This book emphasizes the diversity and languages found in
America’s neighborhoods. In this story Carmelita is on her way to visit her grandmother. As she walks through her neighborhood with her mother and her dog, she greets various people in her community using the language of
the various members of the community saying hello in Spanish, Arabic, French, a host of other languages and using code switching skills to suit the situation when she greets her peers. This book was used with teachers as an introduction tool alongside its companion book, Yo, Jo!, to begin demonstrating the idea of code switching and situation appropriateness.
Yo, Jo!: The common theme in this book continues with neighborhood greetings
as Jomar and his brother sit on their stoop waiting for their Grandpa’s arrival. As they wait, friends and neighbors come by and Jomar has a greeting for everyone— primarily using home language dialect. However, when his Grandpa arrives, Jomar initially greets him using home language dialect. After his Grandpa questions his greeting, Jomar realizes that his Grandpa is requiring him to make a “switch” as he addresses him. This book uses a greater amount of home language dialect and teachers used this book to engage in sentence lifting, role-playing, retelling, and teachable moments.
Book Set #2/ PD Session #2: Exploring the “B e ” Understood Home Language Feature
Within
SentencesHoney Baby Sugar Child (Alice Faye Duncan): Mother-Son Snug in M am a’s Arms (Angela Shelf Medearis): M other-Daughter Honey Baby Sugar Child: This book is a mother’s expression of her
overwhelming love for her son. The author uses home language dialect in this poetic picture book, making the book representative of linguistic responsiveness and the theme of expression of love depicted in this book can transcend culture. The specific home language feature, “Be ”
understood, used within a sentence occurs four times throughout the book.
The use of this book during professional development provides teachers with multiple opportunities for learning how to engage children in code switching activities.
Snug in M am a’s Arm s: Used as a companion book, there are five occurrences of
the academic language ‘version’ of the home language feature, “B e ”
understood, found within sentences. This book also follows the theme of a
mother’s expression of love for her daughter and the security that snuggling in M ama’s arms brings.
Book Set #3/ PD Session #3: Exploring the “B e ” Understood Feature at the
Beginning
of Sentences.Bippity Bop Barbershop (Natasha Anastasia Tarpley): Boy I Love My Hair (Natasha Anastasia Tarpley): Girl
Bippity Bop Barbershop: Barbershops have held a special place in the African
American community for decades. It has been the place where men gather to find out the latest happenings, talk about sports, and ultimately leave feeling better than when they arrived. The main character, Miles, is going to get his first haircut at the barbershop and he will experience all of this and more first hand. The author is able to capture both cultural and linguistic features within this book told from the little boy’s perspective. Specifically, the “B e ” understood feature at the beginning of a sentence is highlighted using this book during the PD session as an opportunity for teachers to see the feature being used in various ways.
I Love My Hair: This is the companion book for Bippity Bop Barbershop as it
is about a little girl’s perspective of the process of taking care o f her hair. This book provides teachers with the opportunity to extend their learning and interaction with the “Be ” understood feature by looking at different ways in which the feature can be used.
Book Set #4/ PD Session #4: Exploring the Multiple Negation Feature
I f The Shoe Fits (Gary Soto): Boy
Red Dancing Shoes (Denise Lewis Patrick): Girl
I f The Shoe Fits: The main character, Rigo, is the youngest of four brothers and
he usually has to wear his brothers’ hand-me-downs but on his birthday his mom gives him a new pair of loafer shoes. Rigo is so excited as he walks through his neighborhood in his new shoes until he has a ‘run-in’ with a neighborhood bully that changes his perception of the shoes and Rigo soon learns a lesson in cherishing gifts. This is also where the multiple negation home language feature is seen in context. This book provides children with the opportunity to see Hispanic characters using their home language features. Teachers interacted with the books using each of the code switching strategies— sentence lifting, retelling, role- playing and teachable moments.
Red Dancing Shoes: The theme of receiving and cherishing a present is revisited
in this story as the main character receives a new pair of red dancing shoes from her grandmother after her grandmother returns from a trip. The young girl walks through her neighborhood with her big sister to show off her new shoes and she soon takes off running and falls into some mud.
There are four sentences within the story that provide opportunities for exploring the academic language ‘version’ of the multiple negation feature using sentence lifting, retelling, role-playing, and teachable moments.