Hannah Stinson

2/25/18
Assignment 1: Commenting on Teaching and Learning

I chose the lesson titled “Fruits of America.” This was a Spanish lesson for fourth graders,
focusing on fruits of Latin America.

1. Explain how your instruction engaged students in developing essential knowledge

and/or requisite skills.
A unique part about my lesson is that it was taught entirely in Spanish. From the beginning to
the end, the students were immersed completely in the language. My instruction began with a
five minute mini lesson, defining the fruits by connecting the written vocabulary, representative
pictures, and my own voice pronouncing the words. Using all these (Using all this media?
Sounds off as ‘these’) media at once engaged students differently based on their learning style,
and increased familiarity with the concept in reading, listening and speaking. They were given a
chance to identify the fruits they could remember before moving on to the hands-on portion of
the lesson. The students were exposed to fruits they were already familiar with, such as fresas
(What are fresas? They are strawberries, but maybe you should include the English
translation for the reader!) and bananas, but some of the fruits were new to them. Thus, they
were engaged by the familiar experience of seeing and eating strawberries and enticed by the
exotic unfamiliarity of the starfruit. Even if the students did not understand what was going on at
every moment, they were engaged the whole time. (I really like this line, students don’t always
have to understand to be engaged. Brilliant!) One little boy’s hand shot up before a question
had been asked. The next activity catered more toward students who preferred tactile learning.
They used their sense of touch to determine which fruits were in the mystery bags, and used
writing and speaking to record and review the answers. Tactile learners benefitted because they
were able to connect the word with the feel of the fruit on their fingers, strengthening the
memory significantly. The fruit salad activity at the end utilized all five senses and many
learning styles, and the students were deeply engrossed in the activity. (I like how you brought
the reader through each activity and showed how the students were engaged throughout. I
especially like how you included the final activity to demonstrate the culmination of the
lesson)

2. Describe how, if at all, the instruction draws upon students’ prior academic learning
and personal, cultural, and community assets with new learning.
The students clearly already had background knowledge in this subject area. They knew
certain words and phrases that made the lesson go smoother, such as key greetings and
responses, basic colors, and certain questions that indicated what was being asked of them (for
example, “Qué es ______?”) As I enter the classroom, I say “Hola clase, como estan?” and the
students know to answer “bien.” As the lesson proceeds, it is clear that the students know enough
basics (basic knowledge) to make the lesson run smoothly. Some words I know I have not
taught them previously, even though they are not necessarily part of the lesson’s official vocab.
(write out the full word vocabulary, it is obvious that vocab means vocabulary, but still) I
deal with these words by pausing after saying the word in context and asking if anyone can guess
what the word means. By a combination of context clues and my hand motions, as student was
eventually able to offer that “pelicula” meant “slideshow.” In this case, the students drew from
context clues of what was being discussed, as well as their experience with hand gestures I was
showing. This kept them caught up for the time being, and some students were sure to remember.
Prior knowledge of Spanish phrases are not the only assets these fourth graders bring to the
lesson. They are also adept at taking cues from tone, body language, facial expressions, and
visual stimulus. (Great! Would this be a personal asset? Maybe say that it is.) If I am
pointing to the picture of oranges on the screen and speaking in a questioning tone, even if the
students don’t know the words I am saying, they can deduce the meaning of my question and
connect that to the words, thus making a learning connection. Some of the fruits taught in the
lesson, such as apples, bananas, and strawberries, were already familiar to the students. Others,
such as star fruit and pomegranate (granada) were completely new to the students. They had no
personal experience, and no English language experience with these fruits. For this reason, It (it)
was important for me to allow the students to taste and touch the fruits, as well as evaluate
whether they liked them, so they would construct this knowledge through concrete experience
with the new vocabulary.

3. Explain how you elicited student responses and provided feedback to promote
critical thinking and use requisite knowledge and/or skills to comprehend or
complete a task.
Since the lesson was conducted entirely in Spanish, I had to choose my questions wisely and
make sure enough context clues were provided. Context clues included visual cues, tone, body
language, and accessible vocab. For example, after the mystery bag activity, I asked, “Cual fruta
esta en bolso numero uno?” (Again, I’m not sure what this question is asking haha! I think
you should put the English translation. Remember, you’re writing for the reader and they
may not know Spanish) The students had just completed the activity writing down what fruits
they thought were in the bag, so they could assume that we were reviewing these answers.
Volunteers answered aloud in Spanish, and I provided immediate feedback (Nice!) If the answer
was incorrect, I said “No,” and repeated the question. When they said the correct answer, I
repeated the answer to correct any improper pronunciation, and added an “excelente,” to
reinforce their correct response. For example, a girl pronounced pomegranate “grAnada,” with
the accent on the first ‘a.’ My correction came with a praise, when I said “Si, GranAda, muy
bien.”In the geography portion of the lesson, students had to first remember the new vocabulary,
then comprehend what was being asked, then apply previous background knowledge to
synthesize which fruits grew in which countries of the world. Most of the students answered in
English, locating growing regions on the map at the front of the classroom by saying “Riiight
here.” I did not correct them or make them speak in Spanish, because their responses showed that
they were functioning at a high level of understanding, but I provided feedback in Spanish, either
gently correcting or reinforcing their answer.

4. Explain how you supported students‟ application of content area knowledge,

vocabulary, and skills in a meaningful way.
I made sure to provide an activity that catered to every learning preference and many
different multiple intelligences. Visual and audio learners benefitted from the introductory
multimedia activity, while tactile learners connected to the mystery bags. Children with strong
spatial intelligence shone during the geography portion of the lesson. Applying the detached
concept of fruit types to their real life growing regions helped the students place these fruits into
their concept of the world. (I think it was effective for you to address the ways you supported
each kind of learner -the tactile, the spatial, etc.). The greatest application came in when the
students were able to taste test the unfamiliar fruits, and build their own fruit salad. Every child
was able to participate in the preparation of the salad, giving meaning to each fruit in the form of
an action that led to a product. When each child took his or her turn, they said their action aloud:
“Pongo las uvas en el bol,” or “corto la banana.” They could now use the vocab in complete
sentences in a very useful applied setting.
To make the lesson as meaningful as possible, I like to allow my students to express
themselves using the language. I had already allowed them to interact with the vocab though
seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, and hearing. Because of this, they could base their evaluation
of food on true familiarity. I prompted students to say whether they liked or dislike the fruit they
had tasted. After I passed around the Pomegranate, a new experience for most of the students, I
asked, “te gusta la Granada? Decimos: me gusta, o no me gusta.” The students were able to reply
in Spanish with emotional emphasis, since they had strong reactions to the flavor of the fruit.
This demonstrated that the students had mastered the use of that part of language. One girl who
enjoyed the pomegranate said, “me gusta,” and repeated herself for emphasis, with eyebrows
raised.

Overall, I think this assignment was done very well. I felt in each question you
addressed how you accommodated every student, provided interest and made the lesson
meaningful. I am in adolescent education and I could tell that a major part of early
childhood education is the concrete experiences, the tactile activities, and the
accommodation of the children’s multiple intelligences! The one thing I would alter is
added English translations, maybe in parentheses, next to the Spanish phrases you
included. I didn’t know what they meant, but it is stylistic and up to you!
- Gabrielle Vega