Courtesy of Donna Pham

Students from seventh through twelfth grade at the school where I teach are interested in comics. Actually, I have recently learned that the correct term for these books is graphic novels. I see them reading during lunch, on the school bus, and sometimes they even try to sneak reading them during class. I love when I see the kids so excited to read.

Learning Spanish can be challenging and tedious for teenagers. Older students often have to struggle to acquire the language. As a teacher, I have always tried to tap into my students’ interests in order to make learning fun. The comics that they so love to read were perfect for the Spanish classroom.

I started by introducing my students to the iconic Malfalda character from Argentina and found other comics on-line that were easy to understand due to the illustrations that accompany the dialogue. I wanted to give the students the opportunity to not just read comics in Spanish, but encouraged their creativity by having them write and illustrate their own works.

The library technician at our school, Tommy Kovac, is a talented and published graphic novelist. He has experience both in writing and illustrating some amazing stories. His graphic novel “Wonderland” was published by Disney and selected by the American Library Association’s “Great Graphic Novels For Teens” list. Tommy took the time to teach my students about the creative process of writing and drawing graphic novels. The students were enthralled and intrigued to learn the process involved with writing and illustrating in one their favorite genres.

Courtesy of Janet Doan

I assigned a project that had the kids take what they learned to create their own comics in Spanish. They were enthusiastic and eager to get started, and spent the next couple of days in class working. The work that the students produced was absolutely incredible! My efforts to teach Spanish benefit enormously when I take a creative and artistic approach for engaging the learners.

So much that I do in the classroom interests my own bilingual children. The activities that we do in class, the books that we read or the songs that we sing can all be adapted to further the linguistic abilities of my own bilingual children. My young sons loved looking at and having me read them the projects of my students. They too were inspired to create their own stories, draw their own characters and tell me their tales in Spanish.

Sometimes tapping into our children’s creative and artistic natures fosters learning and imagination beyond our expectations. Introduce your children to comics in Spanish, encourage them to write their own, and wait to be amazed by the results.

–Andrea

Hola/Hi Andrea ~

These challenges of getting bored during class occur often with children, and as a classroom teacher I hope my suggestions and real-life experiences will provide you, your daughter’s teacher and your daughter with some fun and practical solutions.  Five is such a fun year, full of exploring and learning and sharing!  The ideas below will take into account various learning styles:

1.   Ask your daughter’s teacher to allow your daughter to be a co-teacher on a particular finger play, song or activity that she is doing each class.  The communication for the co-teaching can take place via e-mail between you and the teacher so that excuses of missed phone calls do not interrupt accomplishing this goal.  Allowing your daughter to become part of the teaching will make her cool to the other kids, boost her self-esteem while speaking her native language, and allow the other children to learn right along with a peer.  Stress that you are asking for only one song or one activity – not for your daughter to co-teach the entire time!

2.    Encourage the use of music during the Spanish teacher’s class without telling her what or how to teach. At this age of 5 (and through the early elementary school years) children love learning with music, and the retention of concepts introduced through music is for the long term.  Perhaps even pull some things off the internet prior to speaking with her that incorporate teaching math with music and both languages or weather with a song in Spanish.  Kindergarten students LOVE learning with music, and your daughter will find herself more engaged with movement as part of a class where before she had been bored.

3.    Offer to volunteer in your daughter’s Spanish class once a month (or if you are unable, your husband or friend who speaks Spanish could volunteer).  The goal here is to incorporate other styles of introducing Spanish as a second language – be it a new visual approach with an engaging bilingual big book, a cool puppet show with two of you introducing Spanish through the characters, or even a finger play that you grew up enjoying with your Spanish-speaking family.  When parents offer to volunteer to help in a class where their child is challenged with a situation it shows the teacher and your child that you have a vested interest in making things terrific.

On a side note, I would suggest not going to the Principal of the school until you have approached the teacher with a willingness to help.  Make certain you express your need for help from her to maintain your daughter’s love of her native language (which could easily be diminished should she continue dreading going to Spanish class).  Again, it’s all about the way in which you approach the teacher.  Try to keep her on the offensive by asking her for help and offering the above suggestions in a non-threatening manner.

Parents and teachers working together can do wonderful things for the future of our children and our world!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Beth Butler.-Bilingual educator of young children and strives to create better communication within our increasingly diverse society. She is the founder of the internationally acclaimed Boca Beth language learning series which has garnered various parenting awards. Ms. Butler lived in Chile and Mexico where she learned Spanish as her second language and has been bilingual and biliterate for more than 30 years. She has spent over 25 years in the field of preschool and elementary education writing and recording four bilingual music CDs in Spanish and English, as well as producing three bilingual educational movies for children. Read Beth Butler´s answers here.

Photo credit: alamosbasement

School is back in session, and this year I am back in the classroom too.  I was fortunate to have been able to take a couple years off after the birth of my boys, but now I am back to teaching Spanish to junior high and high school students.

Teaching is my passion, and I am fortunate to work at a wonderful school.  Working with teenagers is so much fun.  They are enthusiastic and eager to learn, but unfortunately for students who are learning Spanish for the first time, the memorization of new vocabulary and the study of new grammar concepts can become tedious and boring.  I consider it my job to make learning fun, to find new and effective ways for teaching a second language, and to make the information that we cover in class relevant to their lives.

After the birth of my first son, I started to research methods for raising children bilingually.  After finding this blog and discovering other resources both on the web and in the library, I became confident that I could give my child the gift of a second language.   My search provided me with different strategies to use, and I also discovered great books and music for children in Spanish.

Now that I am back educating older students, I have found that much of what I used with my boys can be used to teach my own students.  Many of the different activities that I would use at home with my young sons really helped facilitate the learning of Spanish with my students.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the enthusiasm with which the kids danced to Juanito sung by José Luis Orozco while learning the vocabulary words for body parts.  They loved watching a cartoon video clip in Spanish that incorporated many of the vocabulary words in the first chapter of our textbook.  Raising bilingual children is definitely giving me a new perspective on how to teach my own students in the language classroom.

Even before having my own children, I had always tried to make language learning fun.  Through the years, there have been a couple activities that have consistently remained popular among my classes.  As my own children grow, I hope to use many of these activities with them.  Different activities and games are a great way to engage our children in meaningful interaction which is key for developing their language abilities.

As a child, I loved to play board games and wondered how today’s child would respond to such games.  I was able to purchase Spanish versions of Monopoly, the game of Life, and Scrabble.  To help the kids play the games completely in Spanish, I provided them with a handout listing key vocabulary terms such as it’s your turn, take a card and move ahead three spaces.  The students loved playing in Spanish and even invented penalties for players that spoke English.  Although my sons are still too young for such games, I definitely plan to have family game nights in a couple of years.  Not only will it be a great way to actually use the language together, but it will also provide for valuable family time.

One year my students suggested that our class have a meal together using foods from Spanish speaking countries.  Working in groups, the students researched recipes on the internet.  Many were amazed at the diversity of dishes available in Spanish speaking countries.  Small groups of students worked together and made a culturally relevant dish at home.  In class we had a grand feast, and enjoyed trying different dishes from all over the Spanish speaking world.  While eating, the kids were required to speak in Spanish, and actually were motivated to do so to keep with the theme of the meal.

At home with my own children, I have started including my elder son in the cooking of our meals.  He likes to stir sauces and mix together ingredients.  It is a fun way to spend time together, and he learns a lot of new words working in the kitchen that he wouldn’t learn in other contexts.

Field trips are always popular with my students, but going on excursions that include the language and culture being studied in the Spanish classroom really makes learning exciting.  Museums in particular are a great way for students to be exposed to culture.  My students always return to school with a deeper appreciation of the language and culture that we are studying in the classroom.

This past summer I took my own sons to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  I wasn’t sure how long a two year old and baby would last looking at art, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they did enjoy the visit.  The Latin American wing particularly intrigued my elder son.  We talked about the different burial masks and ceramic dogs from Mexico.  We had a nice day learning and experiencing art together.

Learning a language can be challenging, but it can also be fun and rewarding.  By using a variety of activities and strategies both with my students and my own young sons, we are able to experience new cultures and enrich our Spanish.  Original and unique ways of learning makes the study of language relevant and meaningful.