Empire State University Educator Spotlights Multilingual Learners in New Children’s Book

Assistant Professor and TESOL/Bilingual Coordinator Gloria Kramer’s new book “It’s Raining Fish” is challenging perceptions about multilingual education by uniting storytelling, cultural responsiveness, and classroom strategies to aid educators. Kramer, who joined Empire State University in 2022, aimed not only to shed light on the impacts of cultural and linguistic misunderstandings on English language learners, but to provide actionable paths for educators to explore.

The Story

Manuel is a young boy from Honduras attending school in the United States, and he’s an English language learner (ELL). His class is learning about figurative speech—particularly idioms—which are often a challenging area for ELLs. In an attempt to engage with the lesson, Manuel shares a story about fish raining from the sky, which his teacher dismisses.

This narrative is, in part, a cautionary tale not to put all of one’s eggs in the machine translation basket. Manuel tries to decipher his homework assignment by using translation tools and receives an incorrect translation, causing him to misinterpret the assignment. Kramer is not attacking these tools, but rather, pointing out that they can’t always guarantee accurate translations, and figurative language is often translated directly.

The thing is, Manuel’s story about fish raining down is real. In Yoro, Honduras, waterspouts lift fish from their habitats and cause them to drop from the sky during severe storms. When Manuel’s teacher pauses to listen, she is able to understand what her student is trying to convey. Kramer’s story encourages readers—learners and teachers alike—to listen with an open mind, and to dig deeper in service of understanding one another.

Write What You Know

Kramer has amassed years of classroom experience as an English as a second language (ESL) teacher, dual language school principal, department chair, TESOL coordinator, and assistant professor. Her time in education has made her realize that many students are “experiencing exactly what I went through as a child,” she says.

Drawing on a career centered on the needs of multilingual learners, Kramer wrote “It’s Raining Fish,” to raise awareness that “we do have multilingual learners in our classrooms, and they do share such rich cultural knowledge and experiences,” she explains.

The fish-scattering phenomenon isn’t the only element of the story with a real-life counterpart. Kramer’s own upbringing inspired the events of “It’s Raining Fish.” Her own difficulties with figurative language mirror those of many ELL and multilingual students she has taught.

The author had a bilingual upbringing herself. Raised by an Ecuadorian father and Salvadoran mother, Kramer’s first language was Spanish. She later took on English at school. “Figurative language is very difficult for language learners—myself included. That’s why I wrote about this,” she says, explaining how her own story inspired Manuel’s. She adds humorously, “Idioms, to this day, mean absolutely nothing to me.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kramer sat down to write. “I always wanted to write a children’s book, but never had the time,” she says. 24 hours later, she had completed the first draft of her now-published book. Over the following five years, Kramer made edits to ensure the book would be the transformative resource she envisioned. “It was not an easy process, it was a learning experience,” she comments.

Storytelling Aside…

Much to the benefit of educators with ELL and multilingual students, “It’s Raining Fish” is not only a story, but a workbook full of classroom strategies and activities teachers can offer to students in the day to day. “I think this book belongs in everyone’s hands,” says Kramer.

The topics covered in the strategies and activities Kramer included extend beyond language learning and literature. Yes, English language arts are covered, but geography, science, history, and technology also form part of the repertoire.

Kramer explains that an activity might prompt teachers to dedicate class time to exploring idioms, mapping the geography and history of Honduras, studying weather phenomena, or discussing cultural experiences, among others. “It’s Raining Fish” targets pre-K to sixth grade, though Kramer notes that the content can be adapted to serve older students.

Looking beyond Manuel’s story, and activities to base lesson plans on, Kramer’s book aims to propagate the message that education can only be enriched by integrating more cultures and modes of learning. This is why she made her book “culturally responsive”—it reminds educators of the importance of weaving in the lived experiences, cultures, and languages of their students.

For the author, this book is not only the culmination of many years of work as an educator, but also a tribute to the multilingual students that have shaped her career. “It’s Raining Fish” is a reminder that their stories deserve to be heard.