Wednesday 27 August 2014

A poem: Canción tonta

This summer holiday I am thinking about how to fit in poetry and "great literature"(new PoS) with my teaching. So far I have shared ideas on  two poems: Doña Pita Piturra by Gloria Fuertes and La plaza tiene una torre by Antonio Machado. This week I have chosen Canción tonta,  a poem by Federico García Lorca, because a blog comment by Carmen (who always says nice words:-) made me look into Lorca's work for children.
The poem is easy to understand and learn, and because it's a "silly one", it will give us the chance to play around and use our imagination (and the dictionary, of course). I am planning to read it to everybody around Mother's Day.
 
 
The song:
 
 
Previously I mentioned the following activities that could work well with this poem, too:
 
Find the rhymes!
Draw the poem!
Change the poem!
Choose the right word!
Mix it all up!
Run, read and recite!
Make a movie! 
Guess the emotion!
Steal a vowel/consonant!
Add/change a word!
Create a song!

Quiero....
Quiero is a very important verb to learn, so after presenting the poem, the pupils will have the chance to become what they want to be with "Quiero ser..". In Year 3 they could all become their favourite colours and say "Quiero ser verde, azul, etc..". Invite a volunteer to pick a "Quiero ser..." figure from the mystery bag (full of colour people), and the class will have to guess who he/she wants to be. The one to guess the colour right (in a sentence) can come out next.
  • Quieres ser (de color) rojo?
    -No, no quiero ser (de color) rojo.
  • Quieres ser (de color)verde?
    -Sí, quiero ser (de color) verde.

Alternatively, the pupils will have to become a noun they really like. Just like in the poem!They will already know most words on the slide in Year 3 , but can add own suggestions after checking in the dictionary.

 


I have cut out shapes(the template is here) but there are ready made people shapes in Poundland.
Our dream jobs
 
The Y5/6 pupils can choose their dream jobs from the list, they are already aware of genders and changes they have to make to the words. We will play vocabulary games like "charades", "mystery voice" and "red herring".

 

 A dialogue

The pupils can make up a silly poem between child and mum: they can say what they want to be (nouns from the dictionary, jobs from the previous slide)  and the worrying mum can react with the following expressions. They can perform their lines in front of the class and show some drama. Because it is a silly poem, it doesn't have to make much sense, in fact, the more unusual, the better! Surprise and change are good for us:-)
 

A Mother's Day gift

A shape to put on mum's pillow: the pupils can decorate it with their favourite noun and write a sentence on it in Spanish.


 



Mine is being made and hopefully it will say: Mamá, yo quiero ser chocolate.:-)
 
There are more ideas on my blog for Mother's Day.
 
And finally:  another recommendation from Lorca: La Tarara! I am sure you have all heard it before!
 

 
 
 

 

2 comments:

  1. ¡Como no podía ser menos...unas ideas geniales! Olé, olé y olé! ¡Ay como me gustaría de vez en cuando estar en tu cabeza pa coger alguna de esas ideas! ja,ja,ja :-)

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  2. Erzsi!
    Thank you for the great idea for integrating authentic literature into lesson for our littlest learners.

    Un fuerte abrazo,
    Alejandro

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