Cultural Enhancement of Spanish Language Curriculum with the goal of creating Global Citizens with open minds to experience different cultural activities in the classroom.

We shared with many students in Stafford High School and we created a global feeling of acceptance and a desire to be a part of our activities. The funds that I received were used to accomplish the following activities:

Collaboration with Culinary - The students in Spanish III and IV classes learned about Dia de los Muertos, a celebration principally celebrated in Mexico and Latin America. This holiday is celebrated in memory of people in their lives/families who have passed on. The main idea is that they are always remembered and loved, even if they are not physically present anymore. This is related in some ways to All Saints Day here in the US and the comparison was made. We studied the traditions, decorations and sentiments about this holiday. With the fund from the grant I had the culinary students make skull shaped cookies so the students could decorate them with candy. The skulls had to represent someone who has moved on or passed in their lives. They shared with the class who they were remembering with this cookie and then ate the cookie! The culinary class joined in on the fun with the baking and the eating!

Collaboration with Social Studies- In Spanish IV we read the story La Guerra Sucia which takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One of the traditions of their everyday life is to drink Mate in the afternoons. As we studied the culture of the country, we discussed how the country incorporates this mate into their daily lives. We then learned how to make it, we drank it and we discussed the difference between this custom and our regular American custom of having coffee or tea with friends. What a difference it is in the manner that the mate is drunk. The same cup goes from person to person, same straw and you just want until everyone is done with their drink before you have your turn. We did not get to do this with a social studies class due to SOL testing but we did discuss the culture of mate with the other Hispanics in the class. We discussed their culture with tea/coffee and how it differed with the culture in the United States and Argentina. This was really interesting, the Argentine way to drink mate was not a favorite of those not from Argentina because  you shared the same cup and straw. Also there is no fence mate, it is just mate and could not be made into a latte!

Collaboration with Art -In Spanish III we studied a handicraft. It is called a Mola. A mola is a design created by the indigenous peoples of Panama. Many different stories can be present on the Mola, but the fact is the mola has a meaning. It can represent a group of people, a story of someone's life or be just a design. After learning about the mola in the story “La Mola,”the students created a mola of their lives. They then shared it with the class in the target language.This opened up a lot of conversation about families, lifestyles, choices that had to be made, hopes, struggles and goals. It was really neat how they shared ideas, compared it to their personal lives with the others in the class and how creative the students were in their drawings. 

As you can see, sharing our differences, communicating about the important things in our individual lives, created a feeling of belonging and understanding with their classmates. What a life skill accomplished here, sharing with others things that are not always easy to share. It created a sense of community in each one of my classes.

Pen Pals - Wow! This was the most exciting activity. My Spanish IV class started the year off with a pen pal in Badajoz, Spain. In the middle of the year they decided not to continue with the exchange. My students were very upset because they were enjoying the exchange. Thinking about what to do I reached out to Katie Sokoly to see if her Spanish IV class would like to continue the exchange. What an exciting event! We paired the students up and created prompts for letters every other week. The students worked on their communication skills and got to know their pan friends through letters. Topics discussed in the target language, Spanish, were topics that were of interest to the students such as classes, jobs, families, prom, school spirit, music, a struggle they wanted to share, goals for their futures and then they were able to add any topic they wanted. We shared the letters through common students in the Governor's School Program. What a fun activity! They were so excited to get their letters, exchange ideas, talk on instagram, they truly made friends. Communication is a key skill and the students worked past any fear of communicating with someone they did not know and pushing to open up. It was beautiful to watch. We ended the year with a school field trip where the students met and got to talk to each other in Spanish. They introduced each other to the class in the target language and made a quilt piece that I will put together this summer. It was an amazing experience and the funds from the grant help us to accomplish all the different parts of this activity. The most exciting thing is that we are going to continue this next year with a new set of Spanish IV students and we will begin in August! 

Words can not express the depth of communication and learning that accompanied these activities. To see the students learn, get out of their comfort zone and be a part of each activity was so rewarding. We probably reached at least 300 students in different ways and the experiences were new for all. This project really changed the way we could reach the students and we all benefited from the exchanges, including myself and the teachers. Most of these activities will continue next year as they were so successful!