My students need a binding machine to make their creations look more professional, large cushions for flexible seating during silent reading or collaborative storytelling, a magazine/book display rack for the class library, and more mini novels.
I love teaching a diverse group of students with different backgrounds, different reasons for taking Spanish, and different levels of motivation to acquire Spanish. My goal is to help students increase their proficiency in Spanish and their cultural proficiency as well.
Second-language acquisition research shows that if we comprehend what we hear and read, we will acquire the language.
There's no need for memorizing words or grammar rules. That's why I teach using collaborative storytelling with tons of reading.
Our collaborative stories include student actors with dialogue, props, and audience gestures for key words. Students are so focused on the story that they forget they are acquiring Spanish! Later we read our story with student-created artwork or a different story with similar vocabulary. We may also read and discuss a current or historical event, cultural tradition, or issue. We are a classroom of readers. In addition to class reading and discussion, Students read silently three times a week. They select whichever books or stories appeal to them.
We personalize the content by comparing the students' lives to those of the characters and students' cultural traditions to traditions in the Spanish-speaking world.
My Project
The binding machine will make class stories appear more professional and enticing. Particularly first semester of Spanish 1 when the mini novels are too difficult for students, students will be able to select bound versions of our class stories with illustrations for silent reading.
Having bound stories and nonfiction texts will help students take more ownership of the process and feel even more proud of our class creations in Spanish.
Students will also be able bind their individual book projects.
The acrylic rack is for attractively displaying mini novels. There are also some mini novels for our class library and a book by a language teacher who implements a successful silent-reading program. The large cushions will provide flexible seating. We want students to have a cozy reading environment!
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