Over the last 3 weeks, my students have been assigned a project in which they were asked to write an original, creative children's story... in Spanish of course. Some of my students were overly excited about this project and some of them moaned and groaned from day one until the due date. I worked with them in class on these books and I gave ample time for the project to be completed. However, I soon noted that the time frame was not the hindrance for most of these students. It was the lack of creativity and story telling that disabled some of them. This story did not have to be a potential award winning book (although some were). Still though, some students had no concept of a story line. I realized after a couple of weeks of focusing on literacy that this was due to the fact that they never read. NEVER. How can I expect them to write a story if they never read any? That would be like expecting someone to write and compose a song who never listens to music. It makes no sense whatsoever. I have read them numerous children's books in Spanish that they were already familiar with: Cat in the hat, Green eggs and ham, Where the Wild Things are, Oh, the places you'll go, etc. But that little bit of reading does not do a bit of good if they never pick up a book themselves, in English OR Spanish!
They do read short stories written by myself and colleagues very often in my class. However, most level appropriate material in Spanish is.. to be blunt... boring. I don't enjoy the reading so why would they? I have started printing out articles and having them read them in class in groups. They are all articles that interest them in one way or another. For example, an article about the Falcons extending Mike Smith's contract (in Spanish), an article about Valentine's Day and how to celebrate if you are single (in Spanish), an article about soccer in Europe (in Spanish), an article about Lindsey Lohan (in Spanish), etc. I let them choose their articles and read them in a group and then they share the most important things they gathered to the class. To keep them accountable, I also ask them questions. I am working out the kinks in this system. And I would LOVE some advice and feedback about how to better this little "mini-book/article club" I have going in my classroom.
I struggle often with what kind of material to offer my students that is both in Spanish, level appropriate, and still interests them. But after pondering and reading all of our material, I have begun to think that maybe it doesn't have to be in Spanish to achieve the literacy I am dreaming for my kids. Maybe if I bring books that I read in highschool leisurely and sit them on my bookshelf so that they are available for them to check out, they will pick one up. So, I did just that. I have a group of girls in particular that very frequently asks me for books to read. I brought a huge pile of books last week and laid them on my desk, visible to all my students. It has already sparked questions and interest from many students. When they ask me why they are sitting there and "Oh my gosh, Mrs. Pope, do you have to read all of those for your masters??", I simply respond that they are my books I have read and would love for them to have an opportunity to read them as well. I have 3 books that have been borrowed from that pile in less than a week so far. They have absolutely nothing to do with Spanish. Or academics. But they are good, enjoyable books that will at least (getting back to where I started with this smorgasbord of a blog entry) give them a foundation next time I ask them to create a story.
I really like your idea of assigning the students a project that allows them to demonstrate their knowledge of Spanish, while also giving them the creative freedom of drafting their own story line. During my field placement, I recall having students who would get "stuck" in a writing project like the project you assigned your students. I tried to spur the students' ideas initially, and encourage them to fill in the details. It is great that they have examples of storylines, such as the books you read to them in class.
ReplyDeleteYour article bookclub seems like a great strategy for combining topics of interest to the students (sports, pop culture, celebrities, etc) and foreign language instruction, plus its up-to-date articles you're having the students read. You said some feedback for the article bookclub would be helpful to you. Maybe one idea you can consider is to ask the students to identify how reading the article helped them in learning Spanish (ie verb conjugation, vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc). This strategy might help the students focus on the benefits of reading an article in Spanish to further develop their Spanish skills.
You are so smart to encourage your students to read by bringing in books they can borrow from you. I am sure the students love reading books that come personally recommended by a teacher they respect. Obviously, you are successful in encouraging them to read for leisure because students are already borrowing books from your pile. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for allowing me to read your blog and make comments.
I really enjoyed reading how you use news articles to teach your kids Spanish. I wish my Spanish teacher had taught us that way, maybe I would be able to speak it more fluently today. It reminded me a little of the Article of the Week from Readicide. The module that I read last week talked about using literature circles to help students read textbooks. One of the strategies that they used was to require students to have different roles. These roles were a little different from the traditional roles for group work. Each group had a summarizer, a vocabulary enricher, discussion director, and webmaster. The summarizer is obvious, but the webmaster was responsible for creating a graphic organizer for the assigned reading. The vocabulary enricher took important and/or unknown words from the text and researched their meaning to share with the group. There was also a peer review at the end of the assignment. Perhaps this is a way you can evaluate student participation because each student is responsible for a product that can be as detailed or simple as you require.
ReplyDeleteI too have trouble getting kids to read…in ENGLISH!! It’s not just Spanish! Before we read something, I have to jump through hoops to get them interested and engaged for what we are about to read. In my English class, I have to teach certain texts, so I really have no choice. However; in my reading class, I am able to pretty much do whatever I want, since I do not have standards to cover. Well granted, these kids have low reading levels, but even when I tell them they can read anything they want, they still do not read! I think someone told them that reading was evil or boring, so they don’t do it, no matter what! Your frustration is not just with Spanish, it’s with reading!
ReplyDeleteHumanity has a long history of storytelling, but our students don’t. It starts when you’re young and someone reads to you. You begin to be interested in the stories around you. This even works with good movies and TV shows. Our students seem to be growing up without any cultural experience. This in turn makes them believe everything is like the overly repetitive music they listen to and the not plot reality shows that dominant entertainment. Teachers have the privilege of being the story teller they see (hear) the most. We should tell our stories with them, about us, our subject and the world around them. Watch they want to know, weave it in the lesson. Then invite them to weave a little. Maybe we can ignite that spirit of questioning what happens next that will make them pick up a book.
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