Advanced ELL Students

Having my class participate in the ELL-Art project was an enriching experience for me. Teaching adults, I like to give students a wide variety of topic choices so that they can write to their strengths. For this assignment, students chose to write about a person they admire, a time they experienced culture shock, or comparing their culture, country, or neighborhood with their current one. I received such an amazing range of stories that I knew my class was perfect for this collaboration. Their observations are poignant, and their writing is often witty, using the power of description effectively to express their points of view. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did. I learned so much about their cultural values, family history, their struggles, and mainly, their perseverance. These are all written by people whose English is their second, third, or even fifth language. They wrote to their strengths, which are plentiful. Finally, I’d like to express my thanks to the students of the art department for providing wonderful art to visually represent these stories.
Sam P. Brann, English Language Learner Instructor