Module 3: Engaging Newcomers

Picture yourself walking into a school in a country where you can't read a single sign. Everyone is friendly, but you can't tell which door is the bathroom, where lunch is, or what the voice on the loudspeaker just said. That is what the first day can be like for a newcomer. This module is part of Empowering Multilingual Learners: One Strategy At A Time, and it also stands on its own. Its strategy is simple to say and harder to do: support a newcomer without making assumptions about what they need. You'll start by asking who a newcomer is, because the word tells you when a student arrived, not who they are. A seventh grader with strong schooling in two languages and a fifteen-year-old who has missed years of school are both newcomers, and they need very different things. You'll clear away four common myths, including "kids are sponges" and "if they aren't talking, they aren't understanding." You'll follow the newcomer journey, which is a cycle and not a straight line: the honeymoon, the silent period, rejection, regression, and integration. You'll follow one student, Amara, through the school year and think about how it plays out at different grade levels. Then you'll get practical. You'll learn how to find out what a student needs by asking the student and the family. You'll see picture-based supports for the first days: a feelings and needs board, "I feel" and "I need" cards, routine, place, and people boards, and a visual schedule with first/then. You'll learn how to notice signs that a student may be carrying a difficult history without diagnosing or assuming, and you'll practice three scenarios when behavior surprises you: a student who leaves the room on the first day, a student hiding under or jumping on tables, and a student who won't eat. You'll finish with families and belonging. You'll look at how to welcome a newcomer's family and at three layers of belonging in a school: representation, access, and relationships.