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It's Friday. Just show a video.
November 7, 2008
Students learn history, culture, poetry through “Guantanamera”
Spanish Native Language Arts Class at High School for Arts and Business from Diana Scalera on Vimeo.
Here’s a rare peek into an actual classroom at the High School for Arts and Business, where Spanish-speaking students are learning about the literature and culture of their native language by analyzing the lyrics of the song “Guantanamera,” which were adapted from a poem by Cuban hero Jose Marti.
The video was created by Integrated Curriculum and Instruction, one of the city’s School Support Organizations that provides professional development for teachers and other services for their network of schools.
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November 7th, 2008 11:05 pm
Thank you for sharing this video Kelly! This is exactly what is right about native language/bilingual instruction. Everything that the students are learning about poetry in this class is completely transferable English. The concept is the same whether it is taught in English or Spanish. And the icing on the cake is that the students are learning about and learning to value their own language in the process. Also, this class is equally suitable to students who are bilingual and have been in the country all their lives as it is to a newcomer who doesn’t yet speak a word of English. Just think how much more quickly a student will learn English when he then goes to his ELA class and learns about rhyme, stanzas, symbolism, etc. and has already been exposed to the concept in his native language. Excellent!
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November 8th, 2008 1:14 pm
Excellent presentation. A class of motivated and well behaved students with a teacher with a very well supplied and equipped room that I assume is all her own. All the things I have never had as a teacher.
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