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Honoring student voices and creating authentic audiences are pivotal learning moments for our multilingual learners.
Our Grade 5 Mizzou Elementary students at Centro Educacional Leonardo da Vinci (Vitória, ES) completed a comprehensive writing project where story topics ranged from friendship, standing up to bullying, keeping the environment clean, and playing soccer. Genres included realistic fiction, fantasy, and fables. Story characters were students, like themselves, and imaginary ones like Sir Tomato, Mr. Cucumber, and a horse named Scar. What began as a learning journey about communities concluded with a celebration of stories and community voices.
Grade 5 Mizzou Elementary teacher Tatiana Pereira da Cunha shares that the students studied communities and the role of people in them, such as in schools, neighborhoods where they live, cities, and countries. For the end of the unit project, students wrote short stories to teach younger children important values, like keeping the city clean, showing respect, and taking care of nature. To bring these stories to life, they created posters, boxes, visual materials, and even puppets, and presented them to Grade 3 students.
Writing projects like this one are valuable because multilingual learners naturally integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening in authentic ways. Tatiana says, “The project challenged students to use English creatively and in real communication. They had to think of ways to explain values in a simple and clear way for younger children. They also had to work in groups, organize their ideas, and practice presenting in front of an audience.”
Lisa DeCastro, Mizzou Elementary Coordinator, says the project invited students to take an active role in their learning, incorporating a lot of student choice and autonomy: “This is the kind of project that makes my heart sing! All the details of the project allowed students to engage independent of their levels in English proficiency. Students chose their small groups and story topics. Each group had to figure out their presentation – who would speak and who would move the puppets or props. They all developed more collaboration and communication skills to bring their stories to life.”
The student groups recorded their stories on video. Please enjoy three of these stories here:
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Cross-grade collaboration was an important component of this project. Writers had a real-life audience for their work, while highlighting the leadership of the older students teaching lessons to younger students. Finding deeper learning extensions that impacted the DaVinci school community was another project success.
After completing the project, Tatiana shared that the students felt proud and motivated: “Students learned how important it is to share values with others and to be responsible members of a community. They grew in confidence, teamwork, and creativity. Their English improved because they used it to write stories, prepare materials, and communicate with a real audience in a meaningful way.”
DaVinci was part of the Mizzou Elementary pilot program that launched in 2020, and currently has students enrolled in Grades 2-5. Program Coordinator Lorena Rassele Croce shares, “As the coordinator of the Mizzou Elementary program, I’ve observed students’ growth in meaningful ways, both academically and personally. No doubt, the students have shown increased confidence in using English. They have also developed a solid understanding of the language, demonstrated through their ability to express ideas clearly. When they come to the MGS (Mizzou Global Scholars) program, they find the transition very smooth.”