Hello, 4th graders! I know we had a three day weekend and we’re all a little overly excited, but let’s settle down. Today isn’t a typical Tuesday- as some of you may have noticed, we have a new student! Farook, come up and introduce yourself!

Hello, my name is Farook and I moved here from Mauritania last week.

Mauritania is a country in Northwest Africa. We just memorized the continents last month, so we should all be able to picture where that is. Thank you Farook, you’re welcome to sit back down.

Why isn’t he eating? I bet Mar-y-tane food is gross and he doesn’t know what to do with good food.

Yeah, he’s probably never seen a burger before.

Farook isn’t eating because today falls on Ramadan, which is a Muslim holiday that involves not eating while the sun is up. Farook is very confused because in Mauritania, nearly everyone is Muslim and he has never had to explain his religion to anyone. He is also confused because he can hear the other children talking about him. Arab cultures are high-context, and one of the things that means is that talking about others without their permission is not usually done.

Farook! My name is Drew! I’m from Indiana and I moved here when I was 4, but then we moved back to Indiana for a couple of years, but not to the same town. I miss Indiana, but not really that much. We had a dog in Indiana. So, I know what it feels like to be new to this school.

Oh, I’m not new to school.

But I’ve been going here for three years and never saw him before...

Drew is sharing a lot of information- Farook isn’t very comfortable with that, as he is used to saying as little as possible to people he meets. Drew thinks Farook is being dishonest when he says that he isn’t new to school when Farook is simply interpreting “new to school” to mean “new to formal education”. Let’s see how these two boys' cultures continue to show up in their communication. 

Anyway, what’s your favorite restaurant? Who’s your favorite ninja turtle? What’s your favorite book? 

Well.. my favorite book is Manjun Layla.

Wow, I’ve never heard of that one before! Is that a new book?

Oh no, it is over a thousand years old.

Well then how can you read it?! When we read the journals from Plymoth Rock I could barely tell those guys were speaking English, and that was only a couple hundred years ago.

The language I read does not change.