“Interdisciplinary Connections” is a column of Language Teaching Lab to show specific examples of connections between world language teaching and other subjects at school
by Vicky Masson
Interdisciplinary connections
Long-lasting learning happens when students’ minds and hearts are involved and invested in their own growth, when what is being taught sparks their curiosity, and when they make connections. The more senses involved, the better. Interdisciplinary connections are powerful experiences for student learning.
What is Olivia y el violin
Olivia y el violín by Silvina Rocha and illustrated by Vanessa Zorn is a picture book in Spanish about a girl named Olivia who is in search of creating beautiful melodies using her violin. She experiments with different sounds and tries new ways of playing music with her violin. At times she is frustrated, at times she is sad, and at times she wants to give up. However, Olivia persists. She persists till she succeeds in creating music.
Idea on how to integrate it with music
When I read the book, I absolutely loved it! At that time I was teaching Spanish in elementary and middle school. The music teacher also taught strings in elementary to second and third graders, and to middle school students. It sparked an idea in me. We got together and looked at the book illustrations. Then, we talked about the content of the book and how it would be a novel way of introducing her second and third graders to violin lessons, so we gave it a try.
Impromptu performance to students starting with violin lessons
We arranged a time that would work with our schedules and off we went! I started reading the book in Spanish and she started playing the violin following what I was reading. The second and third graders’ Spanish proficiency was limited and the book had what we would consider ‘big’ words.
I used all possible body language to make it comprehensible to the students and to the music teacher. She was creating music, sounds, and melodies with her violin at the words’ rhythm.
There is a part in the book that says that violins can jump, scream, mumble, complain, sing in whispers, and stomp on the floor. Well, the music teacher made the violin perform all those actions full of emotion, as if the violin were sort of speaking. The students broke into a loud applause and cheered us wholeheartedly. We were both humbled by our students’ reaction to the experience.
Book becomes part of my classroom Spanish library
The next class, the students asked me to read the story again. I added the book to our classroom library and each time we had independent reading, students reread Olivia y el violin and recalled the experience.
What are some interdisciplinary connections experiences that you have to share?
Syncretic Press: Get 10% discount when you use the code LANGTECH99 at checkout