I had asked Deena for more frequent reports from the field because she is new and describes the process of being new really well. Here is her third report and thank you Deena:
Wow…I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve checked in…Last week was pretty great, as far as teaching weeks go. Kids are getting really excited about having jobs in class. We worked on character development for the first couple days of class and then got into a story that I found here on the blog. We called the story, “The Love Triangle” and the target structures were sees, wants to be the boy/girlfriend of, and hits. We described each character in depth, working with a poster with about 20 different adjectives, mostly opposites. Then we talked about what each character liked to do, which is something that we had discussed early on (le gusta, te gusta, etc…). Then we told the story with all kinds of jobs being filled…counters, notetaker, quiz writer, actors were all filled enthusiastically.
Here is an example of one class’s story:
Hay una chica. Se llama Sasha Fierce. Sasha Fierce es baja, atlética, rica, gorda, antipática, estúpida, aburrida y bonita. A Sasha Fierce le gusta comer palomitas,beber ponche, bailar, y jugar pickleball.
Hay un chico, se llama Moe. Moe es guapo, antipático, delgado, alto, estúpido, pobre, interesante y débil. No es atlético, pero no es perezoso. A Moe le gusta jugar golf virtual, pintar, hacer batidos, cantar y comprar zapatos deportivos.
Hay un chico. Se llama Jabba. Jabba es muy antipático, estúpido, grande, gordo, feo, pobre, perezoso y aburrido. A Jabba le gusta jugar videojuegos, cocinar,comer, ser un blanco y cazar leones.
Sasha Fierce es bonita. Jabba mira a Sasha Fierce. Jabba ama a Sasha Fierce. Jabba quiere ser el novio de Sasha Fierce. Hay un problema. Jabba ama a Sasha Fierce, pero Sasha Fierce no ama a Jabba.
Sasha Fierce mira a Moe. Sasha Fierce ama a Moe. Sasha Fierce quiere ser la novia de Moe. Moe mira a Sasha Fierce. Moe ama a Sasha Fierce. Moe quiere ser el novio de Sasha Fierce. Sasha Fierce quiere ser la novia de Moe. Moe ama a Sasha Fierce y Sasha Fierce ama a Moe.
Hay un problema grande. Jabba mira a Moe. Jabba pega a Moe. Jabba pega y pega y pega a Moe. Sasha Fierce mira a Jabba. Sasha Fierce pega a Jabba. Sasha Fierce pega y pega a Jabba. Sasha Fierce ama a Moe y Moe ama a Sasha Fierce. Jabba llora. Sasha Fierce es la novia de Moe. Moe es el novio de Sasha Fierce. Jabba no tiene novia. Jabba no tiene nadie. Jabba llora.
After performing the story, I typed up what you see above and presented it to the class. I projected the story in small pieces that they had to translate with their small group. Then we translated the story as a whole group.
My students were so proud of themselves and I was also really proud. When I showed the classes their stories on one sheet of paper, they were amazed that their stories were so long…six paragraphs. No matter that that so much of it was repetition. They were so excited that they were able to read their entire story.
Where do I go with this? Today we are looking at each story and answering the same sorts of questions that I asked during class when we were developing the characters and telling the stories. New story? Revisit something we’ve done? I don’t want to lose my groove!
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!!
Deena