Averting war is the work of politicians, establishing peace is the work of education.
Maria Montessori
Without
context, it's very difficult to learn another language. In order to
acquire language, we need to struggle with negotiating meaning...in
context. Thinking about my own language learning, I faintly remember
the many textbooks my teachers used that laid out units that jumped from
topic to topic-travel, school, clothing, weather, food-all without much
cultural context that ever veered off the beaten path of tacos and
tapas.
In
6th grade Spanish we are wrapping up a unit on food. Well, not on food
exactly. At the beginning of the unit, students were asked the
question, "Qué come el mundo?" What does the world eat? We starting by considering the book Hungry Planet
which documents families from around the world and a week's worth of
groceries. After describing and comparing photos, it became clear that
not all families have access to the same quantities or quality of food.
Later in the unit, we considered the work of the Spanish aid
organization Acción contra el hambre which explores some of the
reasons for hunger in our world, and solutions to it. Finally, the
children reflected on their work with Common Pantry, and how they can
support the hungry in Chicago. What resulted was using Spanish language
to create a campaign to build support for Common Pantry in our
community. Sure, the children learned food words during the unit, but
the enduring understanding is about increasing justice, peace and
equality in our community and world. It's all about shifting the
context.
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