el día internacional del libro

We’ve had a bug going around school, and every day last week three of our students were absent (some days more).  We were pretty much down to two-and-a-half classes out of four.  This was a blessing in many ways.  It gave us time to prepare during the day (I was so thankful for this because I’m going to NJ for my brother’s wedding next week).  It allowed some of the sick teachers time to rest.  It also gave Betsy a chance to visit a school in the town of Orocovis on Friday.  She's been wanting to do this for a while but has been waiting for the opportunity.

Rather than Judy and I trying to cover Betsy’s classes on Friday, we decided to do a special all-day reading activity.  After we planned it, we found out that it was International reading Week.  Perfect!

With our four students, we read a short picture book (Turtle Tale by Frank Asch) and had the kids recreate it with their own words and illustrations.  This tied in well with what we have been learning in art class as the kids used various techniques to create texture in their illustrations.  This took all morning.

After lunch, the kids worked on making a video of the story.  This provided good practice with changing English sentences into ASL.  When each student finished recording their video segment, the two oldest boys put them together and captioned the story.  The two younger students laminated and assembled the book. 

We finished our project with time to spare, and we all felt a great sense of accomplishment.

We will use our new versions of the story next week during the younger kids storytelling time—since most of them were absent for the activity. 

Here is the video for you to enjoy. 

 

Then on Saturday, I went with some friends to a Coffee and Chocolate Expo in San Juan.

After we were all hopped up on free samples of caffeine, we jumped off a bridge nearby!  Don’t worry, I lived to tell.  Unfortunately I don’t have the pictures.  They could possibly be on Facebook soon.