Welcome to my sixth and maybe the last post.

In this case, I would like to talk about the bilingualism and what a child of a bilingual school thinks. As some or most of you, I am giving some private classes to some students from different courses. Last day, I was with one of them, Lorena (from sixth course), and I thought: “I can create some questions about bilingualism to know what she thinks or does”. So, I started preparing the questions and I provided the child with some language scaffolding because at the same time, she was reviewing the writing skill.

The idea came to my mind because we completed some questions some days ago about our own experience with the bilingual program at the university.

Now, I would like to share with you the student answers to be aware of the strong effort we should make in schools.

1. Is your school bilingual?

“Yes, because some subjects are in English“.

2. Which subjects do you study in English?

     “Science, English, Arts, Computing and Skills“.

3. Which of them is your favorite? Why?

   “My favorite is science because I like learning about fauna, flora, etc”.

4. Can you describe one science class?

“First, we read the paragraph that we need to read that day. We talk about it           (*the paragraph) a lot of times. Next day, our teacher says: “Close your books, I am going to ask you some questions, but if you don’t know them, don’t worry, it is only a review”. Then, we do some exercises and we correct  them. Sometimes, she puts us a video about the page we write but I would like  to do a game sometimes“.

5. Can you remember one fun activity? In which subject was it?

        “Yes, I liked one of the activities that you need to complete with words in the             song. It was very good because sometimes I didn’t know what word I needed             to complete.”

6. Do you have language assistants? What do they do?

     “Yes, in English. She is called Ariana and is from EEUU and we do a lot of activities related with English. We like them a lot! It is very fun!”

7. Do you like learning in English? Why?

“Yes, because I would like to know more of this country (*She is referring to England) and I like speaking in English because I think it is very interesting”.

Maybe now, you are thinking the same than me. As you can see in the answers, her favorite subject is Science, but not because of the activities she does or the way she learns, is only because she likes the topics.

Another interesting aspect is the way the teacher develops the classes. The student needs to do games in class, as she said, because we can’t forget that they are children and children, need to play.  The description of the science class is only a reflection of the current situation in schools.

When she is talking about one fun activity, she talks about a different subject; she does this kind of activities in English, but not in Science which is her favorite one.

Also, when she is talking about what they do with the language assistant, the enthusiasm and the expressions change: she likes the way native assistants develop their classes.  Why? I have my own ideas but we should think about it.

Finally, I hope you like this post because even though there are just a few questions, they are very useful to reflect about education in Spain nowadays and also to know what children think about their classes. Starting from children opinions and thoughts, for me, is the best way to start improving education and we have to be aware of the importance we, as teachers, have in the society.

Well, if most of your answers are “yes”, you need to continue reading this post.

As most of you, I started going to theaters when I was in the school. The school always promoted some outings to the theater with the rest of the classes of our course. In my case, I loved going there because it was out of the routine and we could have fun there. But…did you remember something that you have learnt in one of them? How can we use theaters to learn contents?

Theater is one of the most meaningful artistic manifestations that combines literature works with performances. Even though not all of them mix these two elements, for instance mimic theater, both are very important in most of them.

In Egypt and Mesopotamia, there were also some performances of gods in which people used mimic and gestures to express abstract emotions, such as happiness, sadness or hope. This religious current changed throughout history and some new branches appeared, such as comedies, tragedies or satires.  Then, the theater was spread all over the world and nowadays there are some types of them in which adults and children can enjoy at the same time.

Now… close your eyes and imagine one theater. Probably you are imaging a place with a stage and some stands for the audience.

In the last seminar, we saw something related with theaters (you will enjoy it) and that class inspired me something. I would like to change your mind and show you a new branch of this amazing art: MICRO THEATER.

Micro theaters were originated in Spain and they consist on performing short plays in small places with a reduced audience that lasts a short period of time. It is very interesting because the atmosphere that is produced contributes to increment the understanding of the play and the motivation and passion for this art.

Now, you should watch  this video that explains to you better and visually what Micro Theaters are and how they are developed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXcsaycGLLY

What do you think? Do you like them? Are they new for you? Could they be useful for students? Can they develop their creativity? Can they use multiple intelligences? Will they promote HOTS? Will they develop their language skills? How can we implement them in classrooms?

These are the questions that came to my mind when I thought about this possibility.

Mostly, the answers are “of course, why not?”. The idea could be very efficient in classrooms. What we can do is to teach/learn contents through this type of theater. We can choose a topic, for example: the water cycle. The water cycle consists on different steps so we can divide the students into different groups. Each group will have to create a document with a dialogue of each step. Then, they will rehearse and finally, they will create a good performance by linking each step. Of course, they will need some scaffolding but this is something implicit in the creation of the activities.

To end with, I would like to say that, for me, this type of theaters give us the opportunity to work on many different skills and competences, at the same time the students are learning contents. If we want to be innovative in order to improve the students’ level of learning, we can take everything around us, and of course, adapt it to make it efficient.

Are you ready to carry the workshop out? I hope so because I am so excited with that.  To introduce a little bit the topic, I would like to say how the project is going to be developed.

First of all, it is important to mention that we are going to do a real project with real students, thanks to Raquel’s involvement ;).  We know that we have to work hard and make it as fun as possible for children meanwhile they are learning important contents, but I am sure that the results will be really great.

Today, we have had to organize ourselves in groups of four to six people and then, choose one of the topics that Raquel (our bilingual lecturer) has purposed to us. The topics were: The Lord of the Rings, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and so on. In groups of three, we have selected by voting, the one we would like to work with and finally, it was ALADDIN!!!

As you already know, fairy tales and traditional stories have changed along the time. In class, we had the opportunity to work with the example of Cinderella in which we could find a lot of different versions since it was created. Raquel gave us some internet resources in which we could find the original versions of children’s literature and films.

Surprisingly, Aladdin is one of the stories taken from The Arabian Nights, created around 1709. Its origin is not reliable enough but it is said that the source has not an Arabic origin.  It is believed that the first European translator of The Arabian Nights was Antoine Galland who heard the story from a Syrian storyteller.

Even though the common story is set in an Islamic world, there are a lot of evidences of its Oriental origin.

Some versions were created a long time ago, such as the one you can find in this website: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20916/20916-h/20916-h.htm written by Charles Scribner’s sons in 1909 or the one by The Brothers Grimm, that you can find it here: http://fiction.eserver.org/short/aladdin.html

One of the most impressive aspects for me has been that Aladdin comes from China instead of being an Arabic child, the one we used to know. But…I would like to invite you to comment here some differences and similarities between the Walt Disney version and one of the others. I think you have here enough information of this controversial character.

In my opinion, it is very important to know the origins of the stories we deal with because, that way, we can teach with a wider range of possibilities with our students. I hope our works will be cross-curricular and will be based on multiple intelligences, considering that this topic gives us this enriching opportunity.

I will see you in the Arabian Nights!!

For the third post, I would like to talk about the classroom library work that all of us have to do.  In this case, I considered the blog a useful tool to analyze the difficulties we are having during the process.

The first thing I thought when Raquel explained to us the project was: “Ok, hallelujah! This work seems easier than the rest. “

But…what happened? When I met with my peers and we started, we realized that this project was more difficult than we thought. For people who do not know it, the project consists on creating an imaginary classroom library for children in the first cycle of Primary. We have a reduced budget and we have to show our proposal for our Head Department to convince them about our idea. So, even though the project is intangible, we have to use real data.

And…Get on with it! We brainstormed and then, we agreed with the best idea. Well! Thinking the idea was not very difficult! (“the same feeling, again”). Let’s make the presentation.

When we thought we could start doing it, we could not yet. Firstly, we had to reflect on all the areas we needed to include. We had to organize the classroom, the shelvin,etc. with a little money. How were we going to achieve everything? Then, the books:  the most difficult task. Should the books be written in English? What kind of literature were we going to include in our library? How can we organize the different sections? Creativity and reflection were the most important tools we used.

Finally, after a long period of thinking, we got it. I am not going to uncover our project because it is a surprise for you and we hope you like it.

As a conclusion, on one hand, I would like to say that for me, this project has so much sense. We have to take real data, real furniture, real prizes and real literature and then, adapt it to a classroom. This kind of proposal is the one we are probably going to use in our school. First of all, we have to create a good one in order to convince our supervisors. If we do not have a well-structured project, our project will not be carried out. On the other hand, to create  it, we needed a lot of creativity and reflection.  This is what we should do with our students, not only completing the activities but also, challenging their high order thinking skills.

We are Carolina and Miguel Ángel and as you know, last week was the Medieval Market in Alcalá de Henares. We love these days since Alcalá, for people who don’t know the city, dressed up to commemorate the baptism of Cervantes. We recommend you to visit it next year because there is a very friendly atmosphere and it is possible to learn many things about long time ago. In this market, you can find different handmade stands, animals such as predatory birds, donkeys or horses, troubadours or many different spectacles set in those times.

Making the most of the occasion, we would like to show you an interesting material we found there.  There was a stand in which we realized there were a huge variety of puppets, all of them inspired in fantastic and real animals. But, what is our point of view of this material? Obviously, they can be used as a didactic source.

As all of you know, some weeks ago, we have talked about storytelling and how to do it successfully. These puppets can help us to carry it out and it is a fun resource for children.

These handcrafted animals do not cost a lot of money, however, we can make them in our own so they are even cheaper and have a personalized design. As we know, on the internet there are a lot of interesting webpages to make materials guided with really good scaffolding. So, why aren’t we creative and drive an initiative for our classrooms as teachers?

If you are interest on this, we were talking with the clerk and he explained to us how to do it by ourselves. Firstly and of course, we need the materials: they are made with foam rubber, a glove and paint cans or sprays. Then, the most important element they require is: CREATIVITY.

Finally, as we are imagination engineers, we can use this beautiful material as inspiration to create innovative ones, and after that, to use them not just in storytelling, but performances to develop different multiple intelligences, language skills, teamwork and cooperation, or every activity you imagine.

We hope you like it! Thank you

Last session was very interesting for me. We had the opportunity to know some children’s literature authors that I have never seen before. Some of them had really famous works but I did not know the writers.

All of them are very good at their jobs and they have won important literature awards, but now, I would like to talk about the one I researched, specially, about her most important book: The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson).

The Gruffalo was published in 1999 and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It was written in verse, as most of the Julia’s works. The story is about a mouse that is going to be eaten by some dangerous animals (a fox, an owl and a snake). The mouse uses his intelligence by inventing an imaginary monster, called Gruffalo, to scare the rest of the animals and…as an element of surprise, the Gruffalo becomes real. I am not going to disclose the end because you need to read it! :).

The Gruffalo also has his own website, that I recommend you to know more about this interesting story: www.gruffalo.com

This website is a good bidirectional resource: our students can use it by their selves and also it is very useful for teachers. In this website it is possible to find lots of interesting resources, but I am going to show some of them:

This section is called “Play and Explore” and  it includes some games in which it is possible to interact with the characters of the book by assembling puzzles, guessing the footprints of the animals, etc. It is very useful cause we can use it before, during and after reading. If we start doing this kind of activities before reading the book, our students can have a general idea about the story. We can also play during, since we can intrigue our students and after, to review what we have read.

Furthermore, this website has some news, not also about The Gruffalo, but about some other books of this charming author. This kind of news can inspire teachers to create similar activities with the students.

Moreover, it contains a rich variety of resources, but not just for students because we have a specific section only for teachers. It also includes an area in which it is possible to sing the songs with Julia Donaldson.

Finally, I would like to say that there are plenty of activities in this website that can be very useful for teachers and students. If we use them correctly in classrooms, our students can develop a lot of competences and intelligences, such as the spatial by assembling puzzles, the musical by singing the songs or the linguistic one, by reading.

I hope you visit this website! I am going to let you the link of the “The Gruffalo’s film” in case you want to watch it:

http://cinefox.tv/ver2666/the-gruffalo_pelicula-completa.html

(This is the only free web I found to watch the film and it has spanish subtitles). I recommend you!!

Nursery rhymes were created during the middle ages. They were focused on expressing popular traditions, political ideas, social critiques or historical events. They were changing along the time and nowadays, they can be used in our classrooms.

There are a lot of popular nursery rhymes created, specially, for education. Moreover, there are some of them that are specifically related with some courses such as Science or Mathematics. However, all of us are able to modify and refine these rhymes to achieve better ones or to deal with the contents we want.

Furthermore, nursery rhymes are implicitly working on multiple intelligences. Most of these poems, are carried out through a kind of choreographies or gestures. What does it mean? Rhymes are dealing with kinesthetic, musical or linguistic intelligences, and this is an aspect really productive for teachers, since they need to adapt their way of teaching to the characteristics of the group.

Nevertheless, it is important to underline that nursery rhymes are part of children’s literature so they are not focused just in teaching contents. According to Scott-Tennent “the interest of this literature resides in its qualities”.  This kind of poems contain catchy characters, motivating arguments and easy and repetitive structures. All of these features can make the students be involved in the lessons and they also facilitate the learning.

In conclusion, literature is more than novels and authors. We can stimulate our students to be interested on reading and writing since they are young. There are a lot of different ways to encourage children in this subject and, nursery rhymes can be a good one.  We should know how to manage the classroom, taking into account our pupils individually because, all of them are different. So, the most important aspect is that we have to be aware of the amount of different resources we have at our disposal and how and why we use them.

Now, It is your time!! Let me challenge you!! You have to create a short nursery rhyme that includes any content of Primary. As all the challenges, I have created the first. I hope you like it. (Rhythm: “London bridge is falling down”):

“Moon is our satellite, satellite, satellite

Moon is our satellite..in Solar System.

Sun is our main star, main star, main star

Sun is our main star, in Solar System.

Earth is the planet we live, where we live, where we live

Earth is the planet we live, in Solar System.”

Here you can find a collection of nursery rhymes and how to develop them in a classroom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IP1YcAdG4&list=PL6B76736EE0EBA544

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtYnT0786SQ

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. I am Carolina Buil and I am studying a bilingual degree for Primary Education  at Cardenal Cisneros University.

Secondly, as all of you know, this blog is created for the subject “Exploring  Children’s literature in English” and it is going to be used for posting some reflections, resources, materials, experiences, thoughts or everything can be useful for everybody.

Thirdly, I hope all of you would be involved in this part of the course because we can learn a lot from each other and there are people who have brilliant and really creative ideas.

So, finally, I hope all of us would be motivated to start with this interesting iniciative.

Welcome everybody and thank you in advance.