Inside: Planning to teach the novel Cajas de Cartón in Spanish class. Cajas de Cartón lesson plans for Spanish. Teaching the Spanish novel Cajas de Cartón in class.
This day off actually came at the perfect time. I had two days to get back into the swing of school, get ideas flowing again, and get excited to teach my wonderful students this semester, and now have some extra time to plan in between playing with my baby boy. I am excited for Spanish IV to spend this quarter reading the first book I ever taught Cajas de Cartón.
My 1st time teaching Cajas de Cartón in Spanish class
In year one as a teacher, I knew I wanted to try and implement novels in class, but I did not know how or have the resources to do so. I found the original guide generously shared by Sara Elizabeth for Cajas de Cartón, a novel I had read before, so I decided to give it a shot with Spanish IV.
Well, the first year it went alright at best. Considering I was their third new teacher in three years their Spanish level was not exactly where it should have been and they had never read a novel in class before.
It was TOUGH for them and they complained a lot. I do not blame them because I did not really give them all the tools they needed to succeed. I expected them to read and answer the questions, all on their own, and I went way too fast.
At first, I thought we would do a chapter a day! A couple of the high achievers loved it, learned a lot, and did great with the guide, but many just tried to copy the other students’ answers to get by.
2nd try teaching Cajas de Cartón
Year 2 went much better using the original questions. The class was more prepared for the higher level material and we went much slower. I had started learning about Comprehensible Input and spent more time reading the book out loud and using other methods to make the book more understandable.
Planning for the novel Cajas de Cartón
This year I am very excited to use the awesome Cajas E book Guide I got my school to purchase. The chapter-by-chapter vocabulary will be a great resource, as well as the discussion and expansion activities provided. Also, this class has a good foundation and has read novels before including Robo en la Noche and La Calaca Alegre.
Something I started last quarter, that worked out great, was creating a calendar for the whole quarter to share with students. (Update see more about this in a much newer post Sustainable Spanish Lesson Planning)
This rough guide is both a great planning tool for me to see the entire unit, as well as for the students to plan ahead. I am trying to treat this Spanish IV class more like a college course, so providing them the calendar in advance allows them to plan, and be prepared for class. It also makes sure they are ready for the Elementary Lessons and Internado.
Students should read the chapter before the day listed, so they will be ready to discuss it in class. I am roughly planning on two days for each chapter of Cajas, which should provide us with ample time to read as a class, discuss, reflect, and complete expansion activities. We are going to end the unit watching Which Way Home which I blogged about here and will be a nice way to end our unit on immigration.
Update 2023 – I would now pair the migrant farming & Mexican-American experience with the film A Million Miles Away &A Million Miles Away Movie Guide Questions Worksheet
Update Here are all the blog posts for Teaching Cajas de Cartón
- Cajas de Cartón Lit Circle
- Cajas de Cartón short story unit (just using 1 chapter, not the whole book)
What resources do you use to teach Cajas de Cartón or immigration?
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