A Transnational, Translingual Lens on Curriculum: Supporting Children Who Are Immigrants and Refugees

One quarter of children in the United States live with at least one parent who is an immigrant. Immigrants have a variety of backgrounds and situations including families who are refugees from war-torn countries, families living in the country for graduate school, and families who have lived in the US for multiple years. Immigrants' diversity of experiences makes getting to know their backgrounds and incorporating them into instruction critical. In this article, we share our experiences and provide reflection questions and suggestions to help educators embrace and incorporate home languages, explain and expand educational practices, and consider literacy curriculum and instructional practices.