#reading lesson

LEÇON DE APRÈS LIRE: GRENOUILLE

Project Day: The Stereotypes of California 

So I did kind of “project day” with a very small local school near the city I’m living in in Italy. Because many of the people in this area have never met an American before they were really excited. I brought in my passport, California driver’s license and some American money. I also managed to pretend that I didn’t speak Italian so that they would feel more encouraged to speak only in English. It worked great! I taught for 80 minute lessons, 1st group: 6-7 y.o., 2nd: 10-13 y.o., 3rd: mix adults and teens, 4th: two 18 y.o. 

In honor of this project day I created my own reading lesson with an article I wrote myself about the (often false) stereotypes in California. I used the reading only for the last two groups, because an at least high elem/low pre-int level is required for the reading. 

1. Start with writing “stereotype” on the board. Ask what the students think it means. Discuss some stereotypes people may have of the country they’re from. Then ask what the stereotypes are of a place like California. Make notes on the board. 

2. Tell the students they’re going to read an article about the stereotypes in California. Distribute a handout with the following true/false questions. Let the students make predictions about the answers before reading the article

California is always sunny. (F)

Snowboarding isn’t possible in California because it doesn’t snow (F)

 All Californians are blonde with blue eyes (F)

Every Californian knows a famous celebrity (F)

Many Californians come from immigrant families (T) 

In California, there are only beaches (F)

California is a very conservative state (F)

 Californians eat a lot of fast food, and have a lot of obese people just like the rest of the USA (F) 

3. Now for this step depending on your students’ level and time constraints, you can either give each student the entire article or put the students into groups of 2-4 and give them parts of the article to read and tell their partners about to answer the questions. 

4. Follow up with some questions about the article (i.e. what surprised them the most etc.) 

To foster an interest in reading chapter books, I've been reading a few chapters a day of The Tale of Desperaux with the kiddos each day. We're only a little ways into it, but they ADORE that little mouse and get so excited when I say "...well, we have five minutes to spare, so let's knock out a chapter in Desperaux." They snap to attention like little soldiers and no one makes a peep. It's magical. 

So today we did a review of making connections (text to self, text to text, text to world) with this book. I made a big chart on the whiteboard and had volunteers come up and tell me about their connections, and then I'd write them on the board. So Student E (who has Autism) jumps up out of his seat when I ask if anyone has a good text to self connection. Grab a box of tissues real quick.

Desperaux was born "different." His ears are too big, he doesn't want to act like other mice, he can read, and he's always sick because he had his eyes open when he was born and that affected his health negatively. His name literally means "despair" in French, and his family is so disappointed in how he came out. 

Student E goes "I was born different like Desperaux and some people think I'm strange, but I'm just like Desperaux because I have different talents that are really cool." I swear, my heart was in a puddle on the floor. He said all this with the biggest grin on his face and this fiery little pride behind him. The story's hero resonated with Student E, and he's got this ally now in the form of Desperaux. And then of course all my other students are nodding in agreement and chiming in with talents that Student E has. Like... how could I ever ask for a better group of kids? As much as I snap at them and they make me wanna tear my hair out sometimes, they rally together as this little family who fiercely defend and care for one another.