You have to look closely, but today was such a good "product" day (meaning their finished product wowed me) that I had to document it. Not too shabby for first graders, huh?
This unit was over toys and colors. In the US, I usually do animals and colors. And it takes over a month, but at the end it was totally worth the boredom that sometimes strikes a teacher who has to do the same thing for over a month! Insanity! Things here are a little more shallow and fast paced since the books will repeat and review a lot of the same vocabulary of the course
of 6 years.
My strategy in Kindergarten at least is to hit them hard on the 9 or 10 topics that we hit and save the shallow and review for the later years. Who knows who's right. (I do, however, see way more automaticity in my Kindergarteners (first years) than I see in the 1st graders here. I'm just sayin'.)
Today we reviewed. I began by walking them through the format of the test. I do like the 1st grade tests (they have a different newly adopted book) since they seem to have more listening and less reading and writing. They still need some sort of speaking aspect on these tests!
At any rate, I think they're getting more comfortable with the concept of a test. They easily could tell me which were the options for question #1, and for the most part, they got the vocabulary right.
For further review, I had them work in their homework books. Mind you, I had to give directions sometimes in Spanish. BUT- these kids multi-tasked. That's not really the word I mean. I have pictures that should help explain. They had to use their student book to look for the words to spell correctly in the blanks. The blanks were to tell which toys they had colored in the picture. The coloring was based on which of the pictured toys they actually owned.
You'll notice how well they did. I have several pictures of them with both books open. Granted, in a sense this is copying, which in Mexican curriculum is a survival skill. However, they understood and knew what to copy (it wasn't just copying every word they saw). Even some of the students who must have wax build-ups in their ears because they never hear my instructions got it. There were still a few (the bookless) who were drawing, etc.
Two hard workers, finding the toys that they own, coloring them, and writing about them.
Ximena and Michel work together.
Michel (pronounced me-CHELL) and Ximena (he-MAINE-uh) were the reason I started taking pictures today. Their work is showcased above. They seemed to really understand what was going on, and their work was flawless (which is not the point- mistakes are always okay, but I was impressed)!
Liliana has one of the most precious smiles I've seen. It's not showcased in this picture, but I hope to catch it on camera one day. Her brother Luis, in 4th grade, has the same smile. She was another impressive student today, though she typically is a do-gooder.
Juan Luis is one I can almost always count on to be doing the wrong thing. It's nothing big usually. But things seem to fall more often from his table than the other children's. He can't ever seem to find the page or doesn't seem aware that it's English class time and not math. And he has that goofy grin. I saw him using both books and actually accomplishing something without help. Some days are full of surprises!
Victor is one of my slowest students. His mom is the one who has the tiendita (little store) across the street. That's where I get my Coca Lights when I need them early in the day. (I typically try to wait and buy one at the Oxxo on my way home from school; they're cheaper and who wants to get in the early morning caffeine habit?) Victor constantly needs redirection and repetition of instructions. He often nods like a foreigner (like me!) and fools me into thinking he understands, until two minutes later he's out of his seat again asking me (for the fifth time) what it is exactly that they're supposed to be doing! He needed a lot of Spanish instructions, but he continues to learn, and he seems happy with the class. That is, after all, my goal.
Maria Fernanda and Maria Paula are working together. Maria Fernanda is likely my strongest student. I don't know if she's being kind and "letting" Maria Paula do all the work or if she was being lazy. That seems out of character (in what I've made her character out to be in my mind!), but who knows.
"Group work" is popular in Mexico. At home, we would often call it cheating...
Since half the kids don't have books, if they want to get involved, I usually let them!
Pictured here are Carmen, Mariela, and Raul with his back to us.
Sweet Christian, who doesn't have a book, loves to participate. He's a lot like PK claims he was as a kid and I often have a hard time getting his airplanes to stop flying and shooting, but he learns quickly and enjoys it. He's the one whose mom is currently going through a separation.
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