This was the one after that which Elka observed. I tried to build in a lot more breaks and the kids loved them and didn’t want to get back to other stuff. Once again I realized how little they know of what the book is presenting, and I don’t know if that’s the fault of the book or of their previous training.
My goal was to keep them engaged. But if you have even one second of gear-changing, they’re already squirming. The boy, who is usually a model student, and Lupita, who isn’t, were having a sort of spitball fight but with fingernails full of eraser. I had carefully prepared a collection of google images for them to stick on the human figure I’d made for them. I wanted to reinforce body parts and use that as a tool for reviewing all the safety and health shite they’d covered before. But the printer at the office wouldn’t print that time-consumingly produced document, so ahead of class I went upstairs and drew a bunch of things on the board: aspirin and helmet and stretching… Amazingly, they seemed to recognized them, and were engaged in the activity of running up to the board to find the thing that answered my question. Afterwards, I started to erase everything and then saw another opportunity. I asked each kid, “erase the kneedpad,” etc. and they liked that. They still didn’t understand the story about the people falling into the ice and being rescued. I had them act it out and they liked that. But when I read the story and had them mark words they don’t know, I saw they still were confounded by most of it.
Then there was this really stupid fake white person rap song about health. Terribly stupid. And I know there will be questions about it on the test. The class was almost over but I played it a second time. They said they understood it. Who knows. When they don’t, they usually tell me. I had no time to check
We hadn’t had a good break for a while. I told them class was almost over and Lupita practically jumped for joy. I made a face of sorrow, and she amused me by retracting her enthusiasm and pretending to be sad. Explaining only two key words and given them a handout with lyrics and pictures of the animals in question, I played Old Woman who swallowed a fly. I felt they were confused by having this all of a sudden, without a tie to something else. They were ready to be out of there, because I had made the mistake of pointing out that we were almost out of time. Lupita tried to sing along and the others seemed engaged in looking at the lyrics and listening. Then they left.
I’ve noticed one developing problem: since the children know I speak a tiny bit of Spanish and I let them speak it to each other when they have a question — and I’ll use a word to explain a concept that’s difficult for them, like “life,” which I can’t show them or describe circularly very well. So now little Luz is speaking Spanish all the time. I’ve told her many times, “English, please” but their knowledge of my willingness to let them use their native tongue a little and my slight knowledge of same, things are a little out of hand. Luz, who has the hardest time with speaking, is most “guilty” but ALL of the others have followed suit. I need to figure out how to control that.
Everybody left. I make them shake my hand when they leave, which they do with a “Goodbye, Teacher,” or “Goodbye, Miss,” which I find very touching. Tiny Luz started to leave and then started saying something complicated to me in Spanish. “In English, please.” But she couldn’t. So I was able to figure out that she was trying to give me the gymnastics drawing she had made (pictured on my wormlips blog) as a present. I was profoundly touched.
Here’s my lesson plan:
Lesson Plan T/T Children: February 2, 2010
Supplies: CD, CUED tape, handouts (new-body, self, homework, Old Lady lyrics), stickum, WB markers & eraser, pen, texts
| Time | Teacher | Students | Notes |
| GENERAL |
|
||
| 10:00 | Hand out new body drawing. Choral: what words to you see on the paper? | Fill in missing words on your paper. You can ask your friends or me for help. | |
| 10:00 | Matching game. Hand out stickum. What do you do to stay safe in the sun? What do you wear to be take care of yourself on a bike. What do you to get enough rest? What do you eat to stay healthy? What do you do to get enough exercise? | All respond IN PAIRS to questions. Be the first to find image and stick it on. Just one set of images. | Ask opposite questions:
|
| 5:00 | Stretch: Be a tree. Be a frog. Etc. | Let them pick one thing to be. | |
| 5:00 | “Did you know” p 44. Verify comprehension. Ask questions: Did you ever fall from your bike? Did you ever get hurt? What did you do? | Choral reading. Discussion. | |
| 5:00 | Remember what you should do when you have a: headache? Cold, sore throat, earache, stomachache, toothache. Throw the chipmunk. | Answer in full sentences. Refer to body chart. | |
| 5:00 | It’s a Fact (p 45) | ||
| 5:00 | Play TAPE: Listen & write the number | Write & review answers. | |
| 5:00 | Listen to Old Lady (explain swallowed & catch) | Try to sing along. | |
| 5:00 | Ice story: explain vocab (write on board) with opposites (opuestos) (act fast/slow) & acting (life/death, life/lives, save lives); scared to death; calm v. nerviouso; fall (caer). | Choral interaction. | |
| 5:00 | Listen to tape. Tell them they can still learn about the story even if they don’t understand every word. | Write words you know. | |
| 5:00 | Discuss what they recognized. Turn the floor into a pond. Get three actors. | Act out (interpretar) the story. | |
| 10:00 | Wh- questions on board: Who was in the story, What happened, When did it happen, Where did it happen, How did S save his bro & pa. | Come up and stand next to the question you want to answer. | |
| 5:00 | Breathe and stretch | ||
| 10:00 | Joke Corner: What’s a joke called in Spanish? Is it serious or funny? (Write on board.) [serio/divertido/chiste] | Randomly pick kid to be A & B in joke. Come to front. Discuss. | |
| 5:00 | Turn to Who’s Sorry Now? Write their predictions on the board. | Say what is happening in the picture. PREDICT the words you might hear in the song. | |
| 10:00 | ID key words: sorry.
PLAY tape several time Lead comprehension questions. |
|
|
| 5:00 | Review & assign homework: Answer all the questions on page 49. |