Past projects 2
Operation: "Novels" for Secret Spanish Agents
Funded Nov 30, 2021What an AMAZING surprise in my inbox today! Thank you so very much for this class set of novels for our Spanish program. Our students will be able to USE their language skills through reading and discussing a novel that contains so much culture and history. I cannot wait to break the good news to our classes. You are a blessing to us all. ¡Muchas gracias!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Reid
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor."Don't Worry, Be Capy!": Reading in Spanish
Funded Jul 20, 2021I don't have the words to express the enormous impact your donations made to our classroom this semester. The change in my teaching and our students' learning is paramount.
We were able to begin our novel in our 3rd & 4th week of Spanish 1. It was so exciting to hand each student a book and introduce students to the Amazon rain forest and Ecuador. The astonished look on their faces as they flipped through pages and pages of Spanish being able to see and understand basic words was unparalleled.
We read a chapter or two every week and complete questions as bell ringers. As we are learning grammar and vocabulary in our class units, we are able to read "Capibara" quicker and easier. I have a few students who will look ahead because they cannot wait to see what happens in the next chapter!
In one lesson, we highlighted the various verbs and talked about their uses. "Why did the author use this verb?" "What key word in this sentences tells us the conjugation?" Our students were able to quickly identify verb and grammar concepts weeks ahead of our normal schedule.
The students are loving the story and can relate to the characters. We use different voice tones for when different characters speak. There is a father in the story who is "cruel" and the main character, Carlos, who can't quite live up to Dad's expectations. Most of the students have picked up on this theme and will share their thoughts and feelings. It has created a family out of our class.
Teaching something new in a new way (in a pandemic!) can be scary. It takes some courage, some confusion and a few mistakes, but it has been so worth it! I shake my head now and wonder why I didn't try something like this sooner. Without YOUR donations, this would not have been possible.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Reid
This classroom project was brought to life by Emerson Collective and one other donor.