My students possess a strong desire to be challenged. In language arts, they want to know what every word means, and when we play educational games, they want rules that make the games trickier. Many of them love to read fiction and nonfiction in English. They like to share their favorite parts of stories with each other. For the majority of the class, their English skills have far surpassed their Spanish language skills. Even so, they walk in everyday greeting each other in Spanish with a smile and answering questions in the best complete sentences they can form.
My students come from all over the district to attend our international magnet program, and they are very motivated to become bi-literate and bi-cultural.
Learning in two languages is part of the challenge of our program. While my students are eager readers, many of them struggle to find those "just-right" reads in Spanish that are both interesting and comprehensible. Based on Utah's model of dual immersion, 4th grade is when students make the transition from primarily English Language Arts to Spanish Language Arts. This year will be full of challenges for them, and we are determined to succeed.
My Project
Our language arts curriculum and our school library primarily include fiction texts. Many of my students are interested in sports, entertainments, science, and culture. ¿Qué Tal? magazines present articles about sports competitions, scientific discoveries, cultural events, and popular music and movies.
With a broad range of relevant articles, these magazines will enhance our nonfiction reading curriculum by providing student-friendly articles at a beginning-proficiency level.
Articles on these topics and at this level will challenge and keep my students engaged. In addition, I hope to use the articles as a launching pad for academic discussions about current events. If students are discussing current events then they are participating and developing vocabulary about the world, which is a foundation for cultural exchange.
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