"When teachers shed their role of teacher and expert and, instead, take on a new role as learner, they can come to know their students and the families of their students in new and distinct ways. With this new knowledge, they can begin to see that the households of their students contain rich cultural and cognitive resources and that these resources can and should be used in their classroom in order to provide culturally responsive and meaningful lessons that tap students’ prior knowledge."
-UNC School of Education
Rationale:
As a current and future educator, I recognize the importance of knowing each of my students individually. Just as every child is unique, every child has a unique way of learning. Through my experience working with elementary students this year, I have learned first hand how acquiring students' funds of knowledge works and why it is successful.
Most of my students qualify for free lunch, many are raised by single parents or grandparents, and several of them have learning disabilities. In addition to these factors, each of my students has their own individual interests and hobbies. Some like to play sports or play with board games, while others enjoy playing with legos or coloring. I've spent the past year learning about my students. I know when they've had a bad day, and because I know them and their situations, I usually can figure out the problem before they even say it themselves. When it comes to doing lesson plans or activities together, I've learned to adapt to my students based on their interests and their needs.
Ever since Funds of Knowledge was introduced to me last semester, it has transformed my outlook on teaching. I believe that learning students' funds of knowledge should not just be an option in some classrooms, but that it should play a significant role in every classroom. It is important for current and future educators to learn about and do research on Funds of Knowledge so that they themselves can begin to be learners in their classrooms.
Classroom
Applications:
Books
on FOK for Students:
Color of Home
by Mary Hoffman
by Mary Hoffman
The Keeping Quilt
by Patricia Polacco
by Patricia Polacco
Grandfather’s Journey
by Allen Say
by Allen Say
The Wall (Reading Rainbow Books)
by Eve Bunting
by Eve Bunting
Mrs. Katz and Tush (Reading Rainbow Book)
by Patricia Polacco
by Patricia Polacco
Mini-Lesson
Ideas:
1. Using Writing as a Window into our Students’ Funds of Knowledge
- "Simply offering my students the chance to choose their own writing topics allowed me to weave my students’ experience into my educational practice. In order to learn more about my students, their lives, their cultural resources, and their families, my new writing curriculum was based solely around their areas of expertise, their funds of knowledge. I called this approach the Funds of Knowledge Writing Project." -Chris Street
2. Show and Tell
- Show and Tell is a way to bring in an artifact of choice from a student's home to share with the class. This activity can help promote appreciation for one another's home life and background.
3. Creating a Funds of Knowledge Video
- Students can work on a project in which they incorporate all of their funds of knowledge into some form of multimedia presentation. This is a way for students to feel confident and proud of who they are while giving the teacher and other students a chance to get to know them.
Blogs about Funds of Knowledge:
- http://blog.tesol.org/tap-into-funds-of-knowledge/
- http://www.fundsofknowledge.com/
- http://wowlit.org/blog/2012/12/10/inviting-cultural-stereotypes-as-readers-funds-of-knowledge/
Digital Applications:
Community Outreach:
The more a teacher is involved with their students' families, the more willingness the family will have to be involved with their child's learning. Bringing parents into the classroom and giving them tools to work with their children at home is an excellent way of engaging both parents and students. This creates a more comfortable school environment for parents to feel welcome.
"Family literacy is a way of viewing teaching that builds on the communities in which you teach. Family literacy is a way of describing how parents and children read and write together or alone during everyday interactions." - Larry Swartz
Resources for Teachers:
Resources:
Lopez, Janet Kier. "Funds of Knowledge." Funds of Knowledge. UNC School of Education, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D. and Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a
qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, XXXI, 2, 132-141.
Rowsell, Jennifer. Family Literacy Experiences: Creating Reading and Writing Opportunties That Support Classroom Learning. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2006. 36-37. Print.
Street, Chris. "Funds of Knowledge at Work in the Writing Classroom." Multicultural Education 13.2 (2005): 22-25.
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