I don’t know about you but the last quarter of the school year in a Middle School world language class is at the same time the most rewarding and the most challenging of all.
It is the most rewarding because you start sowing the fruits of your teaching. Students speak more, write more, and understand more. They feel empowered by their language growth.
At the same time, after spring break, I usually find my middle school students more active than earlier in the year. So what do I do? I embrace life’s flavors and indulge in the richness of the moment.
Throughout the year and definitely during the last quarter of the school year, I plan tasks that will let me embrace and indulge the flavors and richness of my students. Though not new, let me share four of the many ‘tasks I might use in the last quarter of the school year. They include collaboration, poetry and movement, singing and making connections, and dramatizing a reader’s theater.
Last Quarter: Magnetic Poetry
After reading poems from the book Laughing Tomatoes: And Other Spring Poems / Jitomates Risuenos: Y Otros Poemas de Primavera by Francisco X. Alarcón, students collaborate with students in the same or in other classes or with students in other schools to write a ‘magnetic poem’ together using Build-your-own Online Magnetic Poetry Kit.
The Magnetic Poetry Collaboration Plan explains how to bring out the best flavors and richness of students while having fun creating poems.
Poetry off the Page
Through Poetry off the Page based on Glenis Redmond‘s workshop at the Kennedy Center, students learn how to best recite poems using their whole body through
- positioning themselves to recite by planting their feet on the ground
- projecting their voice to be heard
- personalizing a poem (make it theirs through movement and gestures), and
- doing it with purpose
The poem ‘Paisaje en el tintero’ by Juan Carlos Martín Ramos in Las palabras que se lleva el viento is a wonderful one to implement Poetry off the page successfully. The poem also has an important message for students about their own active role in building their future and that, even if they fail, they can start again.
Last Quarter: Songs and Music
I enjoy teaching the song ‘Mundo agradable’ by David Lebon and I even created a plan in case you want to include it in your curriculum. I also explain the process in a video.
Among other things, students,
- Describe and explain what the phrase “Mundo agradable” means based on individual drawings about their ‘mundo agradable’
- Explain what they like about a song and how it makes them feel
- Give opinions about the artists and/or the song
- Explain which verse is their favorite and why
- Explain how the song connects with what they know
- Connect the song to the Sustainable Development Goals, the Human Rights or other topics or themes
We go deep into the song and we enjoy Latin American rock in the process!
Reader’s Theatre
Jill se pone en forma. It is a reader’s theater I use when doing the unit on ‘Health and Wellbeing’ as the book is about some ‘body parts’ who are concerned about Jill not being fit. The body parts collaborate in making Jill get fit. It is short and sweet but funny at the same time as the story is told from the ‘body parts’ perspective.
Try one or Try them all
Some students shine when collaborating using technology and moving the ‘magnets’ on the virtual fridge. Others embrace the drama of the poetry off the page and their acting transmits energy. Some enjoy the singing and the beat of a song in another language. A bunch indulge in the richness of a reader’s theater that allows them to express themselves in the shoes of a character.
All this while describing, explaining, comparing, giving opinions, and asking questions in the language. I am always at awe to hear the connections students make among the different resources I use in class. Give it a try! It is absolutely worth it to embrace life’s flavors and indulge in the richness of the moment. Moreover during the the last quarter of the school year.