Today we moved on to Chapter 4 with a focus on the witches' market. We read the first part of the chapter with pictures so the kids could see what the witches' market is like. The students voted whether the ladies in the market were real witches or if it was just a legend. They liked the bright colors of the textiles and the kiosks with the talismans (talismen?). They DID NOT like the llama fetuses. I had a feeling they wouldn't, but it sparked what I think was a good discussion.
Yes, we broke into English for 5-8 minutes. However, I think that learning not to react so strongly and so negatively to cultural differences is perhaps an even more essential skill than vocabulary acquisition. If my students can learn to accept other cultures and not judge them, I know they'll learn more vocabulary later because they'll be able to have real conversations with native speakers. I think this is especially important with my particular population; many of my students are planning to become missionaries, and I don't want them to judge other cultures harshly.
So, again, I posed the question, "But we would never do anything like THAT, right?"
One student pointed out that dying Easter egg is kind of like using a baby animal for decoration. Another pointed out that many people eat lamb and veal, which are baby animals. Still, students pushed back, saying that they personally do not eat veal. Then, a student pointed out that all the students dissected lambs' brains in science this year, and that they're likely to dissect fetal pigs in high school. Bingo. Suddenly, what had seemed so bizarre felt much closer to home.
Looks a lot like Standard 4.2 (Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the culture studied and their own).
After reading and discussing for about 20-25 minutes, I passed out a play of the dialogue from Chapter 4. Students had a ball imitating Nicolas's bully voice and the witch's old lady voice. I think the repetition of reading the play 3-4 times helped cement this part of the chapter in their minds.
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