Where the Sun Breezes Don't Stop Shining. Teachers' Journals and Students' Writings on First-Time Homebuying from the New American Homeowners Project, February-June 1997.

The writings of both teachers and students participating in the New Americans Homeowners Project, a project combining English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and information on first-time home-buying for immigrants in language minority groups are presented. The project provided training and technical assistance to ESL teachers, and reached over 200 students of widely varying linguistic backgrounds in the Boston (Massachusetts) area. Teachers' journal entries address these topics: teaching first-time home-buying; exploring content through language; expanding the curriculum and creating new materials; consumer awareness; learning how to stop moving and paying rent; exploring the conflicts of home-owning and home-buying; the consumer culture; using instructional materials; and the project itself. Students' writings discuss: using real estate ads to imagine a dream house; students' imaginings about home-ownership in the United States; the advantages and disadvantages of home-ownership; homesickness; and writing about buying a home. Notes on interviews with students and materials developed for the project are also included. A list of resource organizations is appended. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)