Our librarian, Ms Ilana, helped us celebrate World Read Aloud Day. As we are reading A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ilana chose to read us Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. My high school ELLs often think they are too cool for a story. However, they sat quietly and heard the uplifting story of a young boy from Ghana who overcomes his deformity, realizes his dream and fights for the rights of the disabled in his country.
I had begun our lesson by showing the moving Nike ad: ‘RE2SPECT’, in celebration of Derek Jeter’s career.
I wonder if my students got the connection?