Service in Spanish Class

Service Learning is the Best Kind of Learning

I have been at my current school for two years and we keep talking about making the world better and more peaceful. We talk about community and we believe our students are capable of great compassion and being kind. I know my students will change the world... but why not start now?

I tasked my eighth graders to use whatever Spanish they have to make our community better. For some, they use Spanish daily and others are just starting to find their groove. All language has purpose and the focus is communication, not perfection. 

Defining Community

When told they have to make our community better, my students asked many great questions and we had deep and meaningful conversations. Many chose to impact our school community, others are being risk-takers and creating opportunities within our school district and within our city.

Very special someone

Our school has more than 750 students from all sorts of backgrounds, abilities, talents, and strengths. We have one student who is a native speaker of Spanish and is blind and hard of hearing, I will name her Sara. Finding resources for her in any class can be changeling. It is especially hard to find Spanish materials that she can interact with.

I have two, very special and endearing, students who know Sara and wanted to do something so she could enjoy Spanish class as well.

Stories connect people and representation matters

This summer, I did a quick book review of the FVR favorite, Juliana by Rosana Navarro and Margarita Perez Garcia.

This book was not only fun to read and a FVR favorite in all my classes (heritage, L2+ novice-low to intermediate low), but it talks about a little bat who is different from the other bats. She is kind of small and doesn't see like the rest of her community. This is the first FVR book I have encountered that has a main character of different ability. This is the first book that a student like Sara could comprehend and relate to a main character.

My two eighth graders decided to record an audio version of this book for Sara. They read and reread the book, understanding the feelings, knowing when to pause, and how to conquer all the sound effects. I could hear their speech become more comfortable and fluid. My two students were so proud of their progress as story tellers and thrilled to be of service to someone in a positive way.

Both of these students came to class and ask, "Did Sara start the book? Does she like it?!" They want to know her thoughts about the book and if she can understand their Spanish.

With permission from Margarita and both of the girls' parents, here is a short clip of them with their audio recording on a service-project work day.

Language is meant to be social

If we continue to use stories, PQA, MovieTalks, and other CI methods to engage students and build their vocabularies to be functional... what is the purpose if we don't encourage students to be social?

I am not supporting the idea of forced output; not at all. I am saying that students need to feel loved, valued, connected, and represented in their learning environments. They value their peers more than adults, that just comes with teaching middle-schoolers. We need to use this to foster an environment where students want to engage in the language with each other. Then they see even if it isn't perfect, their attempts to genuinely reach another person are meaningful. 

Many of my students in this class are likely somewhere between novice-high and intermediate-low unless they are my heritage students. They are using their language to make a positive impact in their community. It is never too early to start fostering these ideas and concepts of interconnection. 

P.S.

Sara loves the audiobook. She listens and re-listens and giggles.