Ms. Glenda´s ESL teaching Blog.

Ms. Glenda´s ESL teaching Blog.

LINGUSTIC COMPETENCIES AT THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES.

IMPROVE YOUR READING SKILLS AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE 2013

Specifically, this Seminar will provide returning students the opportunity to review various strategies when reading an academic text in order to become effective readers and thinkers. 

Regading the numerous problems ESL students can encounter when reading academic texts,  strategies become very important  because they provide the means to tackle severe problems in more efficient ways and with extra practice these errors will  become easy to correct.
In the reading comprehension domain, there is abundant evidence that reading strategies improve reading comprehension . Indeed, strategy instruction is particularly needed and effective for those students who are struggling most. 

This Seminar was held at the School of Languages, by the approval of the new Dean.

Some of the topics were Fast reading, skimming, scanning, reading by context, exploring new vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes).

Very glad to have an extraordinary group of hard-working, respectful and friendly students.!!

SEMINARIO DE COMPETENCIAS LINGUISTICAS - FOCUSED ON READING STRATEGIES AND READING COMPREHENSION.

Students w returned to school after some years of a long break or because they started to work and taking classes to obtain their B.S (degree) was not necessary. According to the Ministry of Education in Ecuador, teachers are responsible in becoming more proficiency in English (B2 EFC)

Implementation of Multiple Intelligences Supported Project-Based Learning in EFL/ESL Classrooms

 

 by Gokhan Bas

Karatli Sehit Sahin Yilmaz Secondary School, Nigde, Turkey

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Introduction

For over 100 years, educators such as John Dewey have reported on the benefits of experiential, hands-on, student-directed learning. Most teachers, knowing the value of engaging, challenging projects for students, have planned field trips, laboratory investigations, and interdisciplinary activities that enrich and extend the curriculum. "Doing projects" is a long-standing tradition in education (Grant, 2002; Merkham, et al. 2003).

The world has changed. Nearly all teachers understand how our industrial culture has shaped the organisation and methods of schools in the 19th and 20th centuries, and they recognise that schools must now adapt to a new century. It is clear that children need both knowledge and skills to succeed. This need is driven not only by workforce demands for high-performance employees who can plan, collaborate, and communicate, but also by the need to help all young people learn civic responsibility and master their new roles as global citizens (Merkham, et al. 2003: 3).

Project-based learning is an instructional method centered on the learner. Instead of using a rigid lesson plan that directs a learner down a specific path of learning outcomes or objectives, project-based learning allows in-depth investigation of a topic worth learning more about (Erdem, 2002; Harris & Katz, 2001).

The basis of project-based approaches is hardly new. Early in the 1920s, William Heard Kilpatrick, a professor at Columbia University Teachers College and colleague of John Dewey, advocated project-based instruction. His notion was that such instruction should include four components: purposing, planning, executing, and judging (Foshay, 1999).

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What is Project Based Learning?

In a sense, the need for education to adapt to a changing world is the primary reason that project-based learning (PBL) is increasingly popular. PBL is an attempt to create new instructional practices that reflect the environment in which children now live and learn. And, as the world continues to change, so does our definition of PBL. The most important recent shift in education has been the increased emphasis on standards, clear outcomes, and accountability. PBL is a field that you, as a practitioner, will help create by your actions and leadership in the classroom (Merkham et al. 2003: 4). 

Project-based learning approaches are based on constructivist theory (Henze & Nejdl, 1997). Project-based learning has to be used to rebuild real-world complexity. Also, abstraction in project-based learning is necessary and small exercise can be used to discuss specific issues (Henze & Nejdl, 1997). The global project context determines the learners’ perspective on a given task, while subtasks in a smaller context provide guidance of the learning process. The ability to develop multiple and alternative perspectives on a problem is also a central skill for performing tasks. Collaborative learning promotes the exchange and reflection on different views. As project work is often done in teams, learners train their capabilities for team-work and collaboration (Henze & Nejdl, 1997).

Project-based learning places demands on learners and instructors that challenge the traditional practices and support structures of schools. Learning from doing complex, challenging, and authentic projects requires resourcefulness and planning by the student, new forms of knowledge representation in school, expanded mechanisms for collaboration and communication, and support for reflection and authentic assessment (Laffey et al. 1998).

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EFL / ESL Teaching and Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning functions as a bridge between using English in class and using English in real life situations outside of class (Fried-Booth, 1997). According to Stein (1995), It does this by placing learners in situations that require authentic use of language in order to communicate (e.g., being part of a team or interviewing others). When learners work in pairs or in teams, they find they need skills to plan, organise, negotiate, make their points, and arrive at a consensus about issues such as what tasks to perform, who will be responsible for each task, and how information will be researched and presented. These skills have been identified by learners as important for living successful lives. Because of the collaborative nature of project work, development of these skills occurs even among learners at low levels of language proficiency. Within the group work integral to projects, individuals' strengths and preferred ways of learning (e.g., by reading, writing, listening, or speaking) strengthen the work of the team as a whole (Lawrence, 1997).

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Features of Project Based Learning Instruction

Let's take a closer look at four features that facilitate use of project-based instruction in K-12 classrooms (Blumenfeld et al. 1991):

1. A "driving question" that is anchored in a real-world problem and ideally uses multiple content areas.

2. Opportunities for students to make active investigations that enable them to learn concepts, apply information, and represent their knowledge in a variety of ways.

3. Collaboration among students, teachers, and others in the community so that knowledge can be shared and distributed between the members of the "learning community".

4. The use of cognitive tools in learning environments that support students in the representation of their ideas: cognitive tools such as computer-based laboratories, hypermedia, graphing applications, and telecommunications.

With Project Based Learning, children learn to plan and research, ask questions, make choices within alternatives, and apply knowledge gained within their regular classes.  A project is an in-depth investigation of a real world topic worthy of children's attention and effort. Projects can be undertaken with children of any age and they do not constitute the whole educational program. Younger children will play and explore as well as engage in projects. Older children's project work will complement the systematic instruction in their program. Projects enrich young children's dramatic play, construction, painting and drawing by relating these activities to life outside school.

Project work offers older children opportunities to do first hand research in science and social studies and to represent their findings in a variety of ways. Children also have many occasions in the course of their project work to apply basic language skills and knowledge. There is more opportunity to relate home and school learning. There is concern for memorable learning as well as memorised learning. Children are expected to work cooperatively on complex and open-ended tasks as well as follow instructions in step by step learning. The project approach provides a way to introduce a such wide range of learning opportunities into the classroom.

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Project Based Learning and Multiple Intelligences

Once teachers feel comfortable with PBL, they usually find teaching with projects to be more fulfilling and enjoyable. PBL is a way of working with students as they discover more about themselves and the world, and that brings job satisfaction. However, in addition to strong instructional and organisational skills, PBL requires that teachers facilitate and manage the process of learning. Rather than rely on the model of the child as an empty vessel to be filled, PBL teachers must create tasks and conditions under which student thinking can be revealed–a co creative process that involves inquiry, dialogue, and skill building as the project proceeds (Markham et al. 2003: 8-9).

Students help choose their own projects and create learning opportunities based upon their individual interests and strengths. Projects assist students in succeeding within the classroom and beyond, because they allow learners to apply multiple intelligences in completing a project they can be proud of. Our society values individuals who can solve problems creatively, using multiple strengths, so why shouldn't we encourage students to do the same? However, traditional teaching strategies tend to focus on verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical intelligences alone. This can create frustration for people who are comfortable with less traditional learning modalities, such as kinaesthetic, visual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, or naturalist. Project based learning allows the teacher to incorporate numerous teaching and learning strategies into project planning and implementation. Assisting learners in developing all of their intelligences will make learning a part of living, not just a preparation for it. The theory of Multiple Intelligences offers eight ways of teaching and learning styles. In this regard, armed with the knowledge and application of the multiple intelligences, teachers can ensure they provide enough variety in the activities they use so that as much of their pupils’ learning potential can be tapped as possible (Bas, 2008; Berman, 1998).

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Application Process of Project Based Learning with Teachers’ and Students’ Roles 

The basic phases found in most projects include selecting a topic, making plans, researching, developing products, and sharing results with others (Wrigley, 1998). Information gap activities, learner-to-learner interviews, role plays, simulations, field trips, contact assignments outside of class and process writing with peers prepare learners for project work.

Korkmaz & Kaptan (2000) evaluated the Project-based learning in context of six steps. The processes and roles in these steps have been shown below:

Application Process	Things that will be done	Teachers’ role	Students’ role
1. Stating the subject and sub-subjects, organising the groups	Students explore the resources and in order to create a frame for the project they state questions	He/she presents the general subject of the research and they guidance the explorations of the subjects and sub-subjects in groups.	They create interesting questions and categorise the problems. Also, they help creating project groups.
2. Groups create projects	Group members make a project plan. They ask questions as “Where are we going?”, “What will we learn?”, vs. They choose their roles in the project.	He/she helps to formulate the students’ projects and makes meetings with group members. They also help pupils to find the necessary materials and equipment.	They plan what they work on, select the roles and define the contents of these roles.
3. Application of the project	Group members are organised and analyse the data and information.	He/she helps the students develop necessary working qualifications and also control controls the groups.	They explore questions for answers. Also, they organise the information and synthesise the findings and summarise them.
4. Planning of the presentation	The members define the essential points in their presentation and then decide on how to present the project.	He/she makes the students debate on the lesson plans and also they make them organise the presentations.	They make decisions on the key points and concepts of the project and make a project preparation plan. Also, they develop materials for the project.
5. Making the presentation	Presentations can be made in any (in different schools, classes, vs.) places.	He/she coordinates the students’ presentations.	Students present their project and give feedback to their classmates.
6. Evaluation	Students share the feedback of everyone on their project. Both the students and the teacher share the project(s) with everyone.	He/she evaluate the project summaries and the students.	With the group members the students reflect what they learnt in the project process. They also join in the evaluation process of their own project.

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Sample Project-Based Learning Activity in EFL/ESL Classrooms

Introduction

We live in a big world. Every nation has its own unique life-styles or living styles. For example, we live in a different culture, Indians, Germans or Mexicans, vs. live in different cultures so that they have their own living styles.

Purposes

-         Present different life-styles and different cultures and countries.

-         Use the knowledge on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

Exercises

The teacher comes to classroom without his/her own clothes because he/she is wearing a different costume which belongs to a different nation or country. He/she begins singing a song which reflects the culture and music style of the target country and also he/she brings some materials that show the culture of the target culture or country.  

Necessary Materials

-         Different clothes (hats, scarves, parkas, vs.) that belong to some of the nations in the world.

-         Materials that will be used in the presentation of different countries (CDs, pictures, manuscripts, photographs, coloured pencils, papers, vs. (with some scissors and glue).

-         Internet / computer access

Process of the Project

-         Introduction, group sharing, explanation of the project.

-         Small group investigations.

-         Presentation: Depending on the total number of each group.

Application

1. The group leader presents a map of the target country.
2. Students share their knowledge and beliefs, vs. of the target country and / or on some of its cities with group members.
3. The leader creates small groups on the personal preferences of the group members. They explore the target country and then prepare the necessary materials and get information about it.
4. Each group uses their own materials and the teacher presents 8-10 different preferences to use the materials to the students.
5. Small groups explore the target country in books and on the Internet.
6. Each group prepares a presentation by using at least four / five intelligences (in Multiple Intelligences Theory) and develops their project under the guidance of these intelligences.
7. All of the students present their projects to the students in the classroom and also share their feedback with them.

Evaluation

In the evaluation process the teacher asks these questions to him/herself? 

-         Did the students explore information on the target country in books and on the Internet?

-         Did the students study together in the project making process? (Were they cooperative?)

-         Did the students think on possible / impossible conditions and the other things in the project making process?

-         Did the students present an original project by using the stated intelligences? 

Also, in Project-based learning activities students evaluate each other in the group (group assessment), project maker students are also evaluated by their classmates (peer assessment). Plus, students exhibit their project in necessary parts of their school and get the evaluation of the other students in the school. If possible parents can also evaluate their children’s projects and give feedback to the projects (Williams, 1998).

Project-based work lends itself well to evaluation of both employability skills and language skills. Introducing learners to self-evaluation and peer evaluation prior to embarking on a large project is advisable. Learners can evaluate themselves and each other through role plays, learner-to-learner interviews, and writing activities. They can become familiar with completing evaluation forms related to general class activities (Lawrence, 1997). Multiple-choice and true-false tests may be inappropriate to judge the quality of learning that has occurred. Two suggested options include portfolios and rubrics. Portfolios offer the opportunity to employ multiple forms of assessment through different types of works and allow the learner some choice over which items will be included (Levstik & Barton, 2001).

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Possible Multiple Intelligences Projects Dealing with the Target Subject

Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence: Write a letter to a friend that tells about the target country. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence: Create a graph or chart that shows the highest mountains, rivers, vs. and the biggest cities, vs. to the target culture.

Spatial Intelligence: Prepare a journey brochure that shows the tourist destinations in the target country.

Interpersonal-Social Intelligence: Act out a play that presents a daily life in the target country.

Personal Intelligence: Listen to a cassette and then reflect some of the parts of daily lives in the target country by writing on a piece of paper.

Kinaesthetic Intelligence: Create a map and then show important cultural and historical buildings in the target country.

Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence: Sing a popular song by using an instrument and then present some of the popular singers in the target country to the class.

Naturalistic Intelligence: Explore the plants and animals that grow up and live in the target country.

Existential Intelligence: Analyse the cultural traits of the people in the target country by showing daily clothes and materials, which reflects the target culture, people wear and use there.

Differences Make and Do.

IT IS TIME FOR POETRY!! IMPROVING VOCABULARY AND READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH POETRY?

IT IS TIME TO WRITE POETRY!

"Words are our passport to success. The more words we are familiar with, the brighter our chances of success will be. Every language learner is desirous to have a rich and extensive vocabulary."http://www.helium.com/items/1473481-simple-ways-to-improve-your-english-vocabulary

Teaching about  Modernist  and Postmodernist writers and poets in my Americ. Lit. class is  amazingly interesting because we  focus on a variety of writers and poets with different backgrounds, culture and heritage.  Modernism  is about  new  styles of writing, breaking patterns, new roles of women´s in society, poets taking fullest advantage of the new spirit of the time and stretching the possibilities of their craft to lengths not previously imagined. Faulkener, Zora Neal Hurston,  Carl Sandburg, celebrating industrial and agricultural America and  hard-working people;   Langhston Hughes and his pride of African American heritage, etc.

American modernism benefited from the diversity of immigrant cultures. Artists were inspired by African, Caribbean, Asian and European folk cultures and embedded these exotic styles in their works. This  movement is a reflection of American life in the 20th century.  Social boundaries in race, class, sex, wealth, and religion are all being challenged. Blues, jazz, the Great depression. New Orleans, the birthplace of the jazz, is  spread   to New York and Chicago; well-know singers as Sullivan and Armstrong. It is noteworthy to mention,  films, movies, mobility to the North, the modern Ford, frozen foods availability, electricity day and night, electric appliances..radio, and TV everywhere.. 

Postmodernists. Sandra Cisneros poet, short story writer whose work gives voice to working-class Latino and Latino life in America. Her realistic work blends aspects of popular latino culture.  She has also worked as a teacher to high school drop-outs. 

Chinese-American author Amy Tan (Mother Tongue),and  her  prominent roles in American Literature, culture and society.

Todos estos escritores y poetas son identificados como una gran riqueza norteamericana por su entrega literarira y humana y por fortalecer la identidad multicultural. La clase de Lit. Americana no solo enfoca al autor o escritor; sino su valor y su contribucion como cultura y  herencia. Es impresionante encontrar poesia latina que nos identifica por el idioma y por la suavidad de sus palabras en su forma y contenido; asi como también comprender que la literatura e historia norteamericana la forjaron diferentes grupos sociales y culturales. 

Even though my students  were somehow surprised and reluctant  at the very beginning about their new poetry  assignment, but the goal was  to immerse themselves in  free-poetry; that  poetry that you feel from the deep of your heart.  They were asked to write pieces and stanzas similar to Sandburg, using personification as a way to revitalize the hard-working spirit of  the different cities in our Ecuador; interesting and well-done!

At the same time, Hughes and his extraordinary poem "The Negro speaks of rivers" helped my students reflected about their heritage and ancestors. Sandra Cisneros and her  poem "Abuelito Who" guided my students toward an intimate writing about their grandpa, grandma or someone who they know or care about deeply.

The goal of all these assignments was to teach my students how to enjoy writing poetry, their feelings toward their grandparents, life, or ancestors. They wrote extraordinary and original lines full of feelings, love, identity  and passion.

Certainly poetry is a great vehicle for teaching English. It promotes academic English and vocabulary development as it urges to choose precise nouns, adjectives and creates confidence.,It is also a way to retain new vocabulary because they have to use it in a more meaningful way.

http://content-dm.carrollu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/edthesis/id/12/rec/15

http://www.writingforward.com/better-writing/how-to-improve-your-writing-with-poetry

IMPROVING vocabulary through poetry..

Poetry for English Language Learners

by Carol I. Bearse

Teachers often ask me, “How can ELs write poetry?  They don’t know English.  They aren’t writing yet.  It’s much too difficult.” Indeed, I have found that poetry is the perfect vehicle for teaching English!  Poems are short and concise and create pictures with words.  They don’t have to rhyme!  Moreover, poetry promotes academic English and vocabulary development as the poet needs to choose precise nouns and verbs to create a specific word picture (Bearse, 2005). What I have found is that writing poetry with EL students creates confidence and connects to the background knowledge of their native countries. When students can emotionally connect their families and special places, they will retain the vocabulary used in a more meaningful way (Sousa, 2011). Further, we retain knowledge to a greater degree if the knowledge makes personal connections and can transfer to real world situations (Medina, 2008). Poetry, too, is a nonthreatening way to learn about diverse cultures.  Countries as diverse as China, Iran, Mexico, and Senegal have rich traditions in poetry, both oral and written.

Hearing and reciting poetry also develops oral fluency and intonation at all grade levels. Jazz chants, which reinforce vocabulary and pronunciation through rhythm, rhyme, and repetition (Graham, 2000), are enjoyed at all levels. Reading aloud poems in two voices by Paul Fleischman is another way to incorporate choral reading in the classroom (1998, 1985).

Getting Started: Writing With the Five Senses
I have found that using the five senses in poetry writing is a good way to begin. Using pictures from calendars, travel brochures, family photos, or postcards, students are asked to imagine being in the pictures and then write what they imagine seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting in the scene in front of them. I model several examples and then students can write using this possible template: 

I see
I hear
I touch
I taste
I smell

As students progress in their English, three lines can be added to each stanza creating a fifteen line poem. The first step is talking about the images in very concrete terms, using nouns and verbs that create a picture of someone or some place we remember. We can add similes later in the process. A Word Wall or Word bank can also be used to facilitate choices of vocabulary. The same thing can be done using sentence strips for each line with each strip containing a sentence starter, such as I see.

Special People 
Following these poems using the senses, students are asked to think about a person that they remember vividly. I talk about how the smell of mint always evokes the memory of my grandmother, because she carried a piece of mint in all her pockets, but especially in her old gray sweater. I then show the beginning of a poem that I wrote about my grandmother that uses the five senses:

When I remember my grandmother, 
I see her silver hair tied in braids on the top of her head. 
I see her smile that always greeted me with love. 
I see her black garden shoes that she wore when she dug in 
     the roses. 
I hear her voice calling me “Sugar.”  
I hear her warning , “Prosexi kala” which means “Be careful” in Greek.  
I hear her stories about Greece.
I smell Easter bread baking, chicken soup with lemon…

When we remember things vividly, they come back to us with our strongest senses. I point out the words I have chosen and what they mean to me. I encourage students to use words in their own language so they can draw upon their rich cultural heritage. The following are excerpts from an EL eighth grade student poem about her mom (second year EL student):

When I think of my mom, I see the lovely smile on her face 
     each morning
I see her brown eyes looking at me when she is talking to me
When I think of my mom, I hear her soft voice when she calls me 
     to do her a favor
When I think of my mom, I smell her flowery perfume
I smell the garlic she puts on the Brazilian rice and beans she makes.

I have found that students enjoy writing these poems and reading them to their friends. They then publish their poems on the classroom walls or in small accordion books.

Special Places
It is an easy step from writing about special people to writing about special places using the same format of incorporating the five senses. We read model poems from Nikki Giovanni, Francis Alarcon, and Lori Carlson that speak about special places. Using the five sense imagery making, we remember some of our favorite places from our previous or present homes. I tell students that they need to bring me on a trip to these places with their words. A partial example from another second year EL eighth grader follows:

Come with me to my Puerto Rico where you can find some 
     of the most beautiful beaches in the world, like Luquillo beach
Where you can see people having fun while they are swimming 
     in the blue clear water
Where you can feel the soft white sand in your feet while you 
     are walking on the sand
Where you can feel the heat of the sun in your skin
Where you can hear coconuts falling in the ground
Where you can hear the wind whispering in your ear.

I encourage students to extend their lines by adding prepositional phrases, always asking for more specifics. In working with students I focus on the content and the beauty of the language first, then move on to correcting grammar and usage errors as part of the editing process. Finally, reading and seeing class poems is a huge confidence booster.

So, take a risk, and write a poem this school year!

Resources
Poetry Bibliography

Alarcon, F.X. (1996). Laughing tomatoes and other spring poems. San Francisco: CA: Children’s Book Press.

Carlson, L. (1994). Cool salsa: Bilingual poems on growing up Latino in the United States. New York: Ballentine Books.

Giovanni, N. (1985). Spin a soft black song. New York: Hill & Wang.

References
Bearse, C.I. (2005). The sky in my hands: Accelerating academic English through process writing. Cambridge, MA: Language Teaching Innovations, Inc.

Fleischman, P. (1998). Joyful noise: poems in two voices. New York: Harper & Row.

Fleischman, P. (1985). I am phoenix: poems in two voices. New York: Harper & Row.

Graham, C. (2000). Jazz chants old and new: Student book. New York: Oxford University Press.

Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.

Sousa, D. ( 2011). How the ELL brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

_____________________________

Carol I. Bearse is an associate professor of educational leadership and literacy at Touro College in Manhattan. In this capacity, she has taught courses in both literacy and English language acquisition. With more than 25 years of experience in the public schools, including urban areas, Carol brings to her research the seasoned leadership of a teacher practitioner in the areas of literacy and ELs. She has designed the curriculum for OELA funded Language in the Context of the Disciplines program, working intensively with New York City high school teachers in the content areas.

Here are some pieces of writing my students created from the bottom of their hearts. Even though my students  do not want to become  poets or writers, as much as they like drawing, dancing or painting; but amazingly their writings pieces were remarkable!!! Thanks for your contributions!!!

POEMS FROM STUDENTS. SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES. AMERIC. LIT INTRODU. CLASS.

ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT

by Sandra Borja

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have watched some stars in the dark night,

I have felt both sadness and happiness.

I have watched people sleeping in the streets,

and children asking money until midnight,

I have walked for a long time to think about life.

I have gone for a walk to forget my problems,

but, I have recognized problems are everywhere, 

so, I have decided love the life that God has given us.          

A summer night

By Yuri BAzurto

I have been a witness of a story of love in a summer night.

I have seen a man kneeling for love

I have heard hundred times, the word love.

While I was going for a walk

I looked him again and again

I realized that love makes me cry and laugh.

There was a branch of roses for his beloved

There were people watching this scene of love

I understood that love has no limits.

My cold nightly walk

by Nathalie Saénz 

Now and then that my soul is willing to .

I  have  felt that I blow up in weeping,

I have felt that I need to release this grief.

In my cold nightly walk so cold,

With my hands in the pockets of my coat

I used to gaze at moon and the

shining stars instead of shiny stars.

I can only imagine to flight and vanish,

Is later and I must go back home,

Now my burden is lighter.

ABUELITA WHO

Clara García

Abuelita who calls me her little girl

who is a bag of candies and lollipops

whose wheelchair is her throne

‘cause she’s my Queen at home

who is a fire alarm when my mom is on the phone

and her hands are always ready to make the best clothes

whose body is a pillow to take the perfect nap

and who is a book of tales when the sky gets dark

who is the salt and pepper of my plain days

but a police officer when I try to run and hide

Abuelita who is no longer a walk around the block

but she’s still the best doctor I’ve ever met

who is looking down now to take care of me

whose pretty smile is from ear to ear

‘cause she can see now who her little girl is.

Daddy who

                                           

                                                    By Marizol Diaz

Daddy you were as a treasure box,

That when I opened it

I found hope, love, advice, and care

Although with your strength consumed

which I could see in your wonderful eyes

Daddy you was always by my side

And I felt very happy

And now,

You are gone with my God

You are in heaven,

I can´t live without your love

My heart is broken

I can´t say good bye,

It´s only a so long.

I´m thankful of my God,

For giving me a daddy like you.

Abuelita Who

By Sandra Castillo

Abuelita who gives advices like none

And I am certain there is always a good one

Who is soft like silk and fragile like a wild flower

Who is humble like a lamb but strong like lion

Whose little eyes are made of brilliant suns

Is too hard to think life is short

Who will tell me my little honey

Who will tell me my piece of heart

If she weren’t in this world

Here nothing will be the same

Kindness is beyond all understanding

And delicacy illuminates everywhere

Nothing compares to her

What can I do, Abuelita

Who makes you feel better? me first.

Abuelito Dear  by Teresa Medina

You  was  my treasure

I remember you  like it was yesterday

with your white hair as cotton

your fragile face and your smile bright

 every day you filled me with joy  love and happiness

You were for me the best of all

Because you teach me with your wise words and

I became to be an good  woman

I remember my childhood when you told me  stories

And you taking me by the hand to school

beautiful moments I will never forget

and  always be in my heart forever

I love you so much Abuelito

 and though you're gone you have

You  always will be a special person to me

Although I have  a hope to see you again

Sincerely your grand daughter who loves you very much