Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Silent Period Grigor is in my 4th grade classroom. He came to the US last year with his family from Bulgaria. He was in 4th grade at our school last year as well. He was retained in 4th grade because he did not develop his English language skills. I learned about a "silent period" that children go through when they learn a new language. My guess is that Grigor is in the silent period. But it does not make sense to me that he would be in the silent period for almost two years. He does not say anything in class. He does not socialize with his classmates either. He can read and write in simple English though. His parents tell me that he acts completely normal at home and he is able to communicate with English speaking people at home when they have guests. This is really puzzling. I have to find a way to communicate with Grigor and discover what is holding him back from communicating with people at school. I need some help. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) Perhaps a culture unit that incorporates other cultures as well would be a good way to focus on his culture and have him create a project that can be shared with his classmates. It could be a video or PowerPoint that he can record audio for or simply a picture book that tells about Bulgarian culture. Other students would also be working on a cultural assignment to share so Gregor would not be singled out. This might help him get to know his classmates and understand where they come from as well. Making sure that there is not pressure to orally report on the project would be important though, as you would not want Gregor to be uncomfortable about presenting to his peers.