"Playing" in Second Grade

"Playing" in Second Grade:

¡Vámonos familia! Let's go, family!

With second graders I also recently used a play, "Los tres osos" ("The Three Bears") to teach. Unlike with Juan Bobo, though, my goal was not teaching about culture or introducing new vocabulary. My reason for using "The Three Bears" was to reinforce vocabulary and phrases the students had already learned, but in a meaningful context! Prior to the play, students learned about la familia, the rooms of la casa, sizes, emotions and commands so it just made sense to teach through this very familiar play.



Getting Familiar with the Language:

Like with Juan Bobo we retold (and retold and retold) the story until students were able to produce the words themselves.  Each student who wanted to, was able to choose a part (Mamá, Papá,Bebé or the "Chica/Chico Curiosa") as we told the story. Students would wear simple props like an apron for Mamá or a tie for Papá. I would help students with their lines until they could say them without help. Students who chose not to act in the play could be a "stage manager" and help with props.

Practicing and Assessing:

At the end of each class I would ask students to find a place in the classroom and close their eyes. I would say a line from the play and they would act it out (Ex: "La sopa está caliente", "La chica chica toca la puerta", etc.). We also did several games on the Smartboard to practice vocabulary. 

Making Class Books:

 I also had students make a class book of the play. I love doing class books as students always seem to enjoy them so much and take ownership of what they have created. For this project I handed out phrases on sentence strips and had students copy and illustrate their phrase from the play. I also assigned students, who were done, to create the front and back cover. We then met to share and sequence the pages. Students placed them into beginning, middle and end and then we sequenced the individual pages as a class.  I would ask "Cuál es primero--¿La chica corre y corre o duerme y duerme?" (Which is first? Does the girl run and run or sleep and sleep?) Finally, I bound the book and made a copy for students who requested one. I asked them to read their books with their families.

Producing Language and Retelling:

Watch the Nick Jr. Video here!

Now that students have heard the play many, many times, I tried to get them to produce the phrases and eventually retell the story (and hopefully transfer the words and phrases to other situations). To do this we played a lot of games in groups with visuals and phrases, and also played charades. I also read a few book versions of the story and we watched a Nick Jr. video clip of the story. After all of this, I put up a picture version of the story and asked students to retell the story using as much Spanish as possible. Many students surprised themselves with how much Spanish they were able to use!

*Transferring the language:

Recently I burned my arm while making soup. After seeing the bandages my students wanted to know what happened. I said, "Voy a explicar.... ¡en español! I used the familiar words: "preparando" (preparing) "sopa" (soup) "caliente" and students understood exactly what happened, even though I explained only in Spanish :)