|
650 N. First Street
PO Box 96 Woodburn, OR 97071 Phone:
503.981.3441 |
|
|
| Authors in their own right |
|---|
| A group of Spanish language students at Woodburn High School finished up their school year by writing and illustrating their own children's books |
|---|
 | | Photo By Michelle Te | | This group of Spanish composition students at Woodburn High School spent an intensive two-week period researching, writing and illustrating children's books -- all written in Spanish. |
|
By Michelle Te
The words and pictures of a children's story inspired a class of Spanish students at Woodburn High School to create their own pieces of literature.
The students were taking Spanish composition to improve their Spanish literacy and teacher Julia Vera-Courtney saw the project as a way for her students to make connections.
She had the students create original stories and art and bind them together into books, which they will read to elementary school children.
"My intention is for my students to become good writers and use their Spanish writing for a better future," said Vera-Courtney. "Some of the students are very good writers and some of them will go very far in their education."
Most of her students are native Spanish speakers who either were born in the United States or came from Mexico as preschoolers.
"Spanish Composition 1 is for students that speak Spanish but their writing skills are not good enough," said Vera-Courtney. "So in the class they have to learn how to write very well."
But they also need to prove that they are learning to read the Spanish language by doing projects.
During the school year, Vera-Courtney had the students read two books in Spanish: "Esperanza renace (Esperanza racing)" and "Una sombra en el camino."
She also brought in many elementary-level Spanish books and had each of her students choose a book to read.
"Later, we talked about how fun it was to read a book for little kids," she said. "Because I saw that everybody enjoyed it, I decided that was the right moment to write books and I told them that we were going to go to the elementary school to read them to the little kids."
At first, students were hesitant about taking on this type of project, especially when they had to come up with a theme for their books.
"But as soon as I asked them, they had an answer," Vera-Courtney said. "They said, 'I am going to write about my little brother, I am going to write about my family,' etc."
And, in fact, the students became very creative in their use of words, pictures and ideas.
Manuel Gonzalex wrote about two kids who wanted to learn to play sports but at the same time they didn't know which sport to chose.
Jose Andrade wrote about how important it is to take care of the planet and he used animal pictures to do it.
Some of the students wrote about their little brothers, ugly girls, and about the kinds of food that they eat.
For two weeks, the students composed and created artwork by hand to make the books.
"I am very happy to see that the books are very well done and I will like to have them to use the experience that they are getting in the classroom for the future," Vera-Courtney said.
In fact, she knows that two of her students -- Victoria Ocegueda and Jorge Garcia -- want to become journalists.
Elizabeth Robles, Cristal Alvarado, Nidia Hernandez and Joana Zamora are planning to go into medical careers.
"And something that makes me very happy is that Alma Barajas will become a teacher," she said. "The rest of my students are not sure what they are going to become in their future, but are very good writers too." |
| Go to top. |
|
|
