Chronicles from the Trenches E1: Authentic Resources, Teaching “Bianca Nieves”, & Self-Reflection AI-Integrated Activity for Students!

Chronicles from the Trenches

An exciting resource has been floating around the website this week. It’s a video with Lupita N’yong’o, being interviewed in English and Spanish. For those of you who are familiar with this amazing African actress, she was born in Mexico, lived in Kenya, and then returned to Mexico for school. During the interview, she shares about an exciting new project, and about her experience in Mexico- in Spanish!

Teaching in the Trenches is Real!

Spoiler alert ❗❗I did not have time to cook up a shiny new activity, so, like most teachers who discover a resource and want to use it right away, I did some things on the fly ✈️.

🎬Prior to showing the film

I asked students if they had recognized the actress. Surprisingly, some students did not recognize her as the actress from Black Panther 👊 at first glance. They had to do a double take!

👉I asked them if they had seen any of her other movies once we established her identity. Unbeknownst to me, a very cultured student told us she won an Emmy for the movie “12 Years A Slave.”

🎬 They watched video and I paused right when they got to the questions in Spanish. I let them listen a few times, and my favorite part was them working together to make sense of what they heard.

👉One of the things I loved about the video (above) is that she is such a great example! She acquired Spanish and has the opportunity to use it. She also spoke Spanish in Black Panther 2.

🎬I talked about a Quiet Place 2 in the TL (trailer below in Spanish) to spark more discussion.

In all, it took about 15 minutes. I didn’t have time to create questions so I had them listen, and wrote 4 things they heard. It went pretty well!

Teaching the novel: Bianca Nieves in my level 3 class

This is my first time teaching level 3 in my 10 years at my school! We’re currently reading Carrie Daniels Toth’s novel “Bianca Nieves .” I’m a first time reader of the story and it’s so darling. Best of all, my students are having a ball with it. One kid has already finished the book!

Admittedly, some of my students were not ready for the book, so we’ve been taking it slowly. I am teaching with several other teachers, and have had to adapt as my students need it. We’ve been reading the chapters, acting out some of the scenes in the book, and having a lot of discussion. During the discussions, I am so impressed by how they use the vocabulary, and their understanding is increasing. It’s a win all around!

Below is a cutesy activity we did after reading the first chapter. This gave them an opportunity to interface more with the vocabulary and one of the prominent bulls in the book.

I found a coloring page of a bull online and had the students write quotes from the book about the bull. We were supposed to color- but we ran out of time- real life!

Interested in learning more about this book? Click the link below

Bianca Nieves Wayside Publishing

Self-Reflection FeedBack Sheet

Can’t Beat Them, Join Them! Using AI As a Learning Tool The WL Classroom! This video chronicles how I allowed students to use AI as a self-reflection feedback tool.

https://bit.ly/3XRl0x1

You can make a copy and edit the resource for ANY LANGUAGE.

However, if you wanted more insights on how I used in class, I made a little video.

Let students do the work!

Let the students do the work!

We are wrapping up our first-quarter novel in Level 3, Bianca Nieves by Carrie Daniels Toth. For chapters 1-5, we read together in class, played vocabulary games, and engaged in discussions. Since this is my first time teaching the novel, I had to make some adjustments along the way, and I’m actually glad I did. I wasn’t always fully prepared, as I’m also teaching two upper-level, content-heavy classes, and it’s impossible to do everything. So, I decided to switch things up, and it turned out to be a great choice.

After each reading, students worked in groups to discuss key events in the chapters. They had to agree on the most important events and justify why each one was pivotal. This approach made them revisit the reading closely rather than just jotting something down to complete the task.

My compromise was to base the formative assessment solely on what students had written on the chart paper, along with a written component. From the initial reading to the rereading, writing, and group discussions, I believe this process significantly improved their ability to write cohesively about the story. Here’s one sample below:

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Click this link to find out more!

Comprehensible Novels for the Classroom

“Kick back and let acquisition do its work!”

Discover the perfect novel for any classroom with our extensive library, tailored for every level and interest. Each book comes with proven teaching materials designed to captivate students through engaging storylines, language use, authentic expressions, and essential grammar structures. Empower your teaching and keep your focus where it matters most: on your students’ learning!

I am currently a Spanish Teacher in Chicago, IL. I have 20 years of cumulative experience as an International Baccalaureate middle school teacher, high school teacher, and adjunct instructor. I hold a Master’s in Latin American

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Literature and Cultures coupled with a Master’s in Educational Leadership. These dual degrees have afforded me a vantage point from both ends of the educational spectrum: instruction and evaluation. I have been sharing my unique perspective on pedagogy and language acquisition for over ten years at national, regional and state conferences. I am also an accomplished author! I have authored several compelling comprehensible novels that allow students to solidify their language skills while experiencing a wide range of different cultures. Check out my resources below. Thanks for stopping by!