IRA award winner helps Hmong immigrant families in California use computer technology to master English

Huddled in a corner of their house in south Sacramento, California, their faces awash in the blue glow of the computer screen, the Yang family is learning the intricacies of English grammar. Seven siblings—ages 5 through 18—read in chorus the sentence on the screen: “Magnetic storms create cool, dark patches on the Sun’s surface. They are sunspots.”

For these Hmong children, in the United States just three years this month, this is a slow yet steady lesson in a new language they must master to succeed. It is a lesson they can practice to perfection in the comfort of their home, learning in unison with squirmy siblings and without the pressure of the regular classroom. Their journey to learn English no longer stops when the school day ends, thanks to an innovative program designed by Luther Burbank High School teacher Larry Ferlazzo, who is the grand prize winner of the International Reading Association’s 2007 Presidential Award for Reading and Technology.

Ferlazzo has provided home computers to these children in hopes that the lessons will reach family members as well. The Yang family was one of the first to pilot a project crafted by Ferlazzo a year and a half ago. The program has since expanded, with computers now in the homes of almost 50 families—including more than 80 Burbank students and nearly 150 students within the Sacramento City Unified School District. The project also provides high-speed Internet access for the families, allowing them to visit a Web site Ferlazzo has created. Read more in The Sacramento Bee.