Marin Oaks High School , Novato CA
Become immersed in Spanish language learning and Latin American culture through CPI Costa Rica, while also studying the origins of Latin American folktales and myths on site in Monteverde and Guanacaste, to acquire material for creating engaging lessons that encourage reluctant students to talk, share and have pride in their heritage.
My Costa Rican Spanish teacher and I were honored on Mother's Day by the immersion school. This teacher taught me through conversation and through Costa Rican legends.
One of the wonderful assignments in my Spanish class was to interview the people I met and ask them to tell me a legend that was important to them. This young man worked in the kitchen in my hotel and told me about legends he heard as a child.
Our school took students on a field trip to see Yaga. Before the trip I taught lessons on the history of witches in literature in different cultures including legends I learned about on my fellowship
I was trying to both amplify student expertise (prior knowledge they were not always aware of) and help them to connect this to knew knowledge, especially about other cultures. I was also pursuing Spanish instruction and knowledge about Latin American legends to be able to connect with my students, understand their culture and share some of their language.
The Spanish instruction was excellent and actually used legends to teach during the classes so it equipped me with material and knowledge to create lessons. Discussions of Costa Rican culture and comparisons of Latin Americana culture during instruction were also enlightening.
I decided to use graphic novels as a less threatening literary starting point for students who are reluctant readers. I was thrilled to discover there were so many options that really visually brought to life different cultures. After teaching my first graphic novel whole class, I decided to create a unit where students can choose a novel that is culture -based (with many choices of cultures) and they would compare it to short comics written by Latino immigrants.
I think it will given students more confidence in their own bank of knowledge and a greater understanding and empathy for other cultures. I also think they will feel positive about independently reading, as this is not a skill they feel confident in.
I am particularly creating a unit with a lot of choice so that students take more ownership over their own learning. They will work with others to analyze a novel of their choice and hopefully the element of choice will encourage them to stretch their understanding because they have greater interest.
It gave me more cultural understanding so that I can find ways to access student prior knowledge. It gave me Spanish skills to connect with students. It gave me several new ideas for lessons and units using Latin American themes.
Interviewing Costa Ricans about the legends that were important to them was very surprising and delightful. Every person immediately could tell a legend from their childhood and this made it clear to me that this cultural knowledge I was trying to access in my students was very real and strong.