|1||This term, students in second grade sat wherever their password card appeared each day. For review purposes, they began the year earning money for correct responses to translation questions (Spanish to English). This money was then used to buy items from the Art Center. If the activity they desired to pursue was ‘more expensive’, second graders collected extra cash by learning their peers’ passwords. A bilingual web of communication, or information exchange, was thereby established, gently encouraging students not only to learn from the teacher, but also from one another. Later on, students presented mini-dialogues in the target language (public speaking skills). Students will focus on building and honing their conversational skills from this point onward. ¡Hasta la próxima!/Until next time!|
|2||This term, students in second grade continued working on their conversational skills via class games and activity days; listened to familiar children’s songs in the target language; and made new password cards for their birthday months. They also illustrated a class book, in which each second grader is mentioned on a different page in the context of a short story. Later, second graders were introduced to the Spanish, world-renowned, literary masterpiece Don Quijote de La Mancha by Cervantes. They learned that the main character, Don Quijote, is an old man who loves to read about knights in shining armor. However, he gets so involved with this fictitious world that he decides to become an actual knight, and right all of the wrongs in the real world, which, naturally, causes some problems. Nine-hundred pages of problems, to be precise…|
|3||This term, students in second grade began a storytelling unit. Instead of multiple, unrelated mini-stories each class, however, second graders ended up creating a quarter-long tale about a red Martian and a purple Martian. Essentially, the red Martian steals all of the purple Martian’s money, and tries to escape in his getaway vehicle, but the car breaks down, and he has to buy a new one. The new one is too small, so he goes to a witch for some shrinking powder, but the witch is evil and the powder turns him into a bat. When the witch is chasing after the bat, she raises her magic wand to cast a spell, but drops her bag of potions in the process; the magic dust falls down, down, down… and lands in the Spanish Cave. To be continued…|
When they were not talking about magic potions and the like, students learned the basic dance steps to the Tango, Salsa, and Merengue; practiced saying, “Voy en segundo grado” (I’m in second grade) for their speeches (public speaking); participated in a scripted class conversation with their peers; played a game called, “Busca el murciélago” (Look for the Bat); read their action commands on the SMART board, instead of hearing them aloud; enjoyed watching several episodes of Pocoyó; and chose new passwords based on if they were an el word or a la word. Gracias for a great term.
|4||This term, students in second grade continued with their storytelling unit. Here, they learned that their beloved murciélago/bat had disappeared over Spring Break. This was the catalyst for a frantic search until, when interrogated, the witch handed over a post card addressed to the class from the bat… with a post mark from España/Spain! After traveling via Google Earth to a street level view of Madrid, Spain, second graders ‘explored’ the city and found the building from the post card. Students received another card not long after, but the third one took a while to arrive and had a different postmark—evidently, their dear friend had flown from España all the way to México, and was staying at a hotel near the famous volcano Popocatépetl. |
Pronouncing the multi-syllable Nahuatl word proved to be quite the challenge. For a change of pace, students also learned the basic step to the Cumbia; played Hide and Go Seek and Red Light, Green Light in the target language outside; made miniature password books for all of their passwords from the entire year; read two e-books in Spanish (Los gatos garabatos; Daniel quiere un dinosaurio); and finally, circled back around to a mini-story about a monster that liked to eat stinky socks. Gracias for a wonderful year!