Ekeko - Day 14

We tackled Chapter 8 of the text today. Since it was the first day of Alasitas in the novel, I played this song as an introduction. We did a little bit of Movie Talk with the video, but I didn't pause as often as I typically do because I wanted the students to enjoy the song as well. I gave them permission to giggle at the guy's over-the-top enthusiasm and 70's hair, as long as they didn't make fun of the festival itself.

Next, we looked at the picture at the beginning of Chapter 8 and used it to review what Paco drew in Chapter 7 and to predict what would happen in the morning.

Then, students were allowed to work in partners or alone to read the text of Chapter 8 and to write a comic strip of the events in Chapter 8. I used the comic strip provided in the Teacher's Guide with a couple of small changes. Students had to write two sentences per picture instead of one, and I replaced one of the Chapter 8 pictures with the picture of Paco and Pepe from Chapter 7. Some students copied sentences right out of the text, and I feel like that's fine - it actually makes writing into more of an input activity than an output activity. What do you guys think?

Today I noticed numerous kids reading more actively than before. I have a group of reluctant readers this year, and typically they read only what is required. However, today I had several groups ask if they were allowed to read ahead to find out what's going to happen next (um, of course), one kid tell me that this is "a really cool book" and lots and lots of students getting involved in the plot. They thought the idea of a magical, wish-granting statue was great. "This kid (Paco)'s a genius!" a student informed me. "He's going to get a sweet gaming system!" "I wonder if Paco could use the Ekeko to make more Ekekos," another wondered. "I would just make tons of bacon," a third commented to his friend. One girl wasn't so sure. "I don't think everything will keep going right for Paco," she said. "It feels too easy. I think something bad is going to happen, I'm just not sure what."

I have a sneaking suspicion she's right. :-)