¿Qué hiciste durante el descanso?
Emerald Connection, January 10th, 2022
?Que hiciste durante el descanso? As part of his immersion teaching method, last week Josh guided the first graders in building their Spanish vocabulary by recalling highlights of their Winter Break. First, each Dragonfly divided a sheet of paper into quadrants, onto which they wrote ‘yo fue,’ ‘yo comi,’ ‘yo mire,’ and ‘yo jugue.’ After discussion of meanings and practice with pronunciation, they each returned to their seats to draw their answers. As results came in, it turned out that some went out of the state to visit relatives, one ate pancakes, another bacon and eggs, some saw football games or favorite shows, and others played with Legos or friends who pretended to be cheetahs. Josh helped them individually as they worked, including any needed conjugations or the occasional preposition and article. Then, they regathered as a group to share-out their memories. Josh used lots of repetition and careful pronunciation to ensure that every student correctly spoke and heard the four phrases multiple times, and the Dragonflies added their unique answers in English to keep the multi-linguistic activity lively and engaging. They practiced the skills of being a good audience, too, listening attentively to each classmate, who explained details as they showed their artwork. True to form, they were all happy to share their productions with me, in turn, and not one of them let their mask (a bit more important this week, alas) deter them from offering a big smile. I always learn a lot from the first graders.