viernes, septiembre 16, 2005

 

viva mexico!

i love days when you throw curriculum guidelines to the wind and just let the kids immerse themselves in something culturally relevant and fun.

the bilingual teacher next door and i began switching groups for language arts based on reading ability. i've got the high group and we've been doing a lot of writing practice since all of my students are on if not above and beyond the appropriate reading level. yesterday, we practiced doing interviews in class... i modeled it with a student, then they did guided practice in class. last night's homework was to conduct an interview with a family member or friend in order to learn about 16 de septiembre. every single student brought their work, and every single student did a perfect job. did they retain any of the information this morning? not so much, but for just 5 weeks of first grade under their belt, i can't complain. anyways, we talked about their interviews this morning and summarized what they learned. i had to get pretty in-depth about why the mexicans wanted freedom since oppression isn't a concept they're familiar with (lucky them), but eventually it seemed to at least make sense if not stick. SO... after an Hidalgo book-making and mexican flag-coloring break, we used our BILINGUAL skills in ESL to make a presentation about diez y seis to the two English monolingual classes. it was like pulling teeth at first, but soon we got things summarized and broken down into individually-presentable parts. after 30 minutes of rehearsing, we presented... and they were GREAT! they even led a grito at the end.

throw in perfumed paper flowers, red, white, and green polvorones, and 95% passing on today's spelling test... i couldn't dream up a better way to celebrate today.

Comments:
that is an awesome entry.
I have a question. Your students who are at more advanced reading levels...why do you think this is?
Is it reading at home?
 
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