To
integrate with their social studies unit on Heroes, the first graders have been
learning the Spanish vocabulary for some community helpers. The students have been studying the community of people they associate as being
heroes, someone they look up to and/or admire.
In a
large group during Spanish class, we began the conversation about héroes and how they are not just people
who lived long ago or far away. Some héroes
live in our own comunidad that we can
refer to as Ayudantes de la comunidad
(Community Helpers). There are many different ayudantes de la comunidad and each play an important and helpful
role in each town and city.
We
first read Roger Priddy’s book, “ABC of Jobs.” This was an introduction to the
Spanish vocabulary for some of our ayudantes
de la comunidad. Because in Spanish all nouns have either masculine or
feminine gender for grammatical purposes, the students practiced using the
definite article to distinguish between genders. For example:
el bombero, la bomera – fireman, firewoman
el veterinario,
la veterinaria – male veterinarian,
female veterinarian
el cocinero, la cocinera – male cook, female cook
el maestro, la maestra – male teacher, female
teacher
el cartero,
la cartera – male mail carrier,
female mail carrier
We
also discussed that the nouns that end with –o are usually masculine and those that end in –a are often feminine. But, there are times when this rule does not
apply and only the definite article (el,
la) is our clue whether a noun is masculine or feminine. For example:
el policía, la policía – policeman, policewoman
el dentista, la
dentista – male, female dentist
el artista, la artista – male, female artist
After
the read aloud, the first graders explored with large sized clip arts
representing some of the professions that impact the lives of others. The faces
of the characters in the props were cut out and a mirror was taped in its
space. This way when the students looked at the characters, they could “see”
themselves in the role.
As a culminating project for the study, the
first graders designed their very own flashcard. The question was posed, “What ayudante de la comunidad would you like
to be when you grow up?"Each student chose a profession and posed for a photo
in that role.
The photograph was then printed and the background cut out so as
only the ayudane de la comunidada was
exposed. That print was then glued unto a cardstock and each student designed
their own flashcard with props pertaining to their profession of choice.
Once
done, their card was laminated and hung up for all to enjoy. Please stop by and
admire the amazing array of our future ayudantes
de la comunidad displayed outside the first grade classrooms. Ask your
child how their profession of choice is said in español.
