Inside: Resources to teach the novel Frida Kahlo by Kristy Placido.
Hi friends! It feels like I have not written a new post in a while, and I think a lot of that has to do with I had a student teacher this quarter. She is amazing and I wish she could have stayed forever. At the same time, I have not really created or planned much in the classroom lately. Plus I have been taking some much-needed ME time. This means I have read 11 books so far in 2019 for fun, but have not shared much on the blog.
Teaching the novel Frida Kahlo in Spanish Class
When we first talked about Sierra’s student teaching experience she mentioned that she had taken many classes in art history and that was an interest of hers. She jumped at the chance to teach the novel Frida Kahlo by Kristy Placido in Spanish 3. I have a class set and the packed teachers’ guide, but so far have only used it in literature circles. To be honest, art has never been my strong suit and I did not know if I could do the novel justice. I was excited for my students to see it through the lens of someone with a passion for art.
Since this was the big solo unit for my student teacher, I gave her all of the materials and was just the coach on the side. Sierra is the one who planned everything, and I am just sharing what she did, as well as some other possible resources. Since we had 11 snow days prior to starting the book, we decided that this novel would be taught similar to the style of 1 novel in 1 week.
The focus would be on the content of the book, with fewer teachers guide activities mixed in. Each day students read 2-3 chapters in reading club groups, sometimes to be finished outside of class. In my novice classes, we almost always read in class. But, with this level 3 class, they can handle some outside reading if needed. The flow of most days was review, reading new content, and optional extension.
Here is a rough outline of what we did with the novel Frida.
Frida Kahlo Day 1
Discussion
With a posted picture of Frida, students wrote everything they knew or assumed about her on the board in Spanish. They then discussed these predictions.
Read Chapters 1-2 in Novel groups
See this post for more information on using these differentiated reading clubs (idea Carrie Toth)
Create Smash Doodle
Students created a smash doodle with 5 important quotes and pictures to represent the first two chapters. These were finished outside of class to be used the next day.
Day 2 of the novel Frida in Spanish Class
Smash Doodle Gallery Walk
Students’ smash doodles were posted around the room. With a clipboard and paper students walked around to take notes on what they saw repeated, scenes they saw, and big moments that stuck out. All while doing this they could chat with each other in Spanish and ask questions about what they say.
Read Chapters 3-5 in Novel Groups
Students finished reading at home if needed.
Optional Extensions to choose from if needed (all done in Spanish)
– Venn Diagram – compare your mom to Frida’s
– Write Chapters 1-5 in 10 sentences total in Spanish
– Compare your childhood and Frida’s.
Frida Day 3
Review – quizizz 1-5
Read Chapters 6-8 in Novel Groups
Students finished reading at home if needed.
Optional Extension if needed (all done in Spanish)
– Quizzes from teachers’ guide with answer keys to self check comprehension are posted on Google Classroom.
Day 4 of Frida
Each student started with a piece of lined paper and writes what happened in the book. When the music plays students walk around until it stops. At the new seat, students read what was written, correct if needed and keep going in the story. This repeats a few times until the desired section is retold. Or you could have students pass a clipboard instead if needed. Then as an extension, students could compare these retells with the book.
Review (this was after the weekend)
Discussion of a few key questions from ch6-8 to check whole class comprehension.
Read Chapters 9-11 in Novel Groups
Students finished reading at home if needed.
Frida Day 5
Discuss Tragedies
Class discussion about what tragedy happened so far and predictions for the other.
As a class, we watched and discussed Frida’s accident using a video clip from the movie.
Review options
Students caught up on reading if needed. If they were done, they had the option to either write about what Frida’s life would have been like without the accident or made a timeline leading up the accident and after.
Day 6 of Frida in Spanish Class
Projected review activities from teacher’s guide
Students wrote down the answers and then discussed them as a class to review.
Read Chapters 12-13 in Novel Groups
Students finished reading at home if needed.
Mi Autorretrato
Students created their own self portrait including symbolism that reflected their lives. They then shared with a partner.
Frida Day 7
Casa azul
Srta. shared her own pictures from visiting Frida’s home, la casa azul, as well as this video.
Epilogue
The epilogue was read and discussed as a class.
Students got to play around with the children’s tour, looking for some specifics.
Day 8 Frida
Work day for Coservador de museo project
Students found two paintings by Frida Kahlo (give a disclaimer about nudity) and wrote in a paragraph why they would include that painting in a museum. In the second paragraph, they made inferences about her life based on the painting they chose. They then explained what the paintings represent using analysis. To exceed expectations, students needed proper citations in research, a variety of vocabulary, and include opinions, not just facts with a total of 250-500 words in Spanish. These were turned in on Google Classroom including images of the paintings.
Students loved working in “Starbucks Mode” using her playlist and the projected expectations below.
Frida Day 9
Museo – speaking
To help set the mood students got to bring a mug and make hot chocolate or tea and grab a cookie. (As you can see below). Half of the class spread out around the room with their paintings pulled up on their computers. (If you could print in color having them printed would be even better).
Everyone came with prepared general questions that could be used to talk about any painting. The other half of the class walked around asking questions about the painting chosen by others. We then rotated. Since this was an assessment, the teachers had small rubrics and walked around scoring everyone.
Overall many students really enjoyed this novel, as well as how we mixed up the assessment style. Thank you again to Sierra for planning and executing this novel!
Update! This bulletin board & unit would make a great addition! From Mister Senor
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| credit Mister Senor |
More Novel Resources for Spanish Class
- Literature Circles for Spanish Class Novels Lit Circle
- Spanish Novel Conversation Cards
- How to Teach Comprehensible Spanish Books
