When she expressed concern that only two students had volunteered, I immediately enrolled my entire sixth period ESL-English II class. I saw the Meyer Readers project as an ideal opportunity for these ESL students to continue their development as readers in an authentic and nurturing environment. In addition, their visits to Meyer would provide for increased interaction with native speakers of English and promote cultural exchange and understanding. The Cardozo Book Project proposes that these language minority students and mainstream classmates become writers as well as readers for 10 Meyer Elementary classrooms of an average enrollment of 22 students. The Cardozo Book Project proposes that the Meyer Readers conceptualize, develop, and finally publish series of books for their younger audiences on Wednesdays.
Students are our greatest resource.
Their experiences provide instruction for all of us. The ESL student has traditionally had little venue for relating his or her experience to the mainstream. The Cardozo Book Project is a form of empowerment. Students have stories to tell, and voices to make them heard. Cardozo ESL students and their mainstream Elementary counterparts model the multicultural exchange which our urban centers desperately need to continue into the 21st Century.