I got the email below from Skip today. I know that Robert and maybe others in this group have done work in this area. The first place to go, Skip, is to the Robert Harrell category here – find it here among blog posts from about two years ago. I value this inquiry because it sounds like a great way to work with upper level kids and CI anyway – the potential is enormous. Remember, Skip, it’s not what the CI is about, it’s about the CI itself, and how compelling it is. That one kid sounds like you have the compelling part covered already! Anybody besides Robert who has worked in this area please comment also – we have to help our brother Skip out up there in the great state of Maine!
Hey Ben (all):
I need some help thinking thru something….
I have a very unique situation where 5 students that I have taught for 3 years in a row are taking my spanish 4 class this year. We know each other very well and they know each other even better.
One of them is an AVID soccer fan/player. He has asked me for 3 years straight to do a unit/lesson on soccer (vocabulary, culture, etc.) and I have put it off.
I have put it off because:
1. I am not athletic and I have NO confidence in this area.
2. I know NOTHING about soccer – period.
3. I don’t know how to honor his request and keep faithful to CI.
4. I am afraid that if I honor his request I will have more (field hockey, football, basketball etc.) though I do think I might be able to make an argument for doing just soccer given its cultural significance.
I wonder if you could put this out on your blog to see if anyone has some ideas on what I might be able to do with this?
Thanks so much… I still have another week before we start and would like to start planning this…
Skip
[And Skip, let’s not add to the pressure of starting school by trying to pull all this together too fast. Let’s keep it here on the blog, take what we can find if anything, and slowly built a sports approach together that we can make a blog category and then all of us can have that lesson plan at our fingertips if any of us find ourselves in a similar situation, which, somehow, I think, is a very strong probability.]