For my final project, I created and led a lesson on pet vocabulary with my two first grade classes. This was the first lesson of the unit and I created it with the intention of familiarizing the students to the unit vocabulary which centered on the names of ten animals: Dog, cat, guinea pig, rabbit, mouse, snake, fish, spider, parrot, and tortoise. I started each lesson by asking the class a couple of questions about pets to gauge their knowledge and interest. To my surprise, most of the students knew what pets were and were already familiar with some of the animals. I then took the students through a simple PowerPoint I had created that showed pictures of each animal and I would ask the class at each slide if they knew the corresponding English name. While almost everyone knew the simpler words such as dog or cat, other animals like guinea pig or snake proved a bit more challenging. At the end of the PowerPoint we took a class poll too see which pets the students had.

Once the students were familiar with the vocabulary, we played a game to reiterate the newly learned words . The game was loosely based on pin the tail on the donkey but with a fun twist. Firstly, instead of tails we used noses but more importantly the students were also divided into two teams and lined up in front of the chalk board. In front of each team were pictures of the ten animals we had just learned. Each student was handed a circular piece of paper to act as their “nose”. The teacher stood in front of one team and I stood in front of the other. Once we said “go” both the teacher and I would tell the student at the front of each of our lines to “pin the nose on the _____” and we would change the animal for each student. Once the student identified the correct animal they would run to the back of the line. Whichever line was able to finish first would win a point. We played 3 rounds of this in each class and we told the students that whoever won after 3 rounds would get a positive in ClassDojo, which is their points system for good behavior.

In both classes the game went pretty well. Each time, the students were very invested and they remained engaged for the entire lesson. However, one thing that could have been improved was timing. When I was planning the lesson I was apprehensive about planning too much and not being able to get to the game. Having worked with these classes almost everyday I knew that sometimes it could take longer to do simple tasks depending on their moods and behaviors. However, in the first class I was lucky. The kids were well behaved and attentive and so we ended the game with time to spare. As a result, I filled the time with a listening exercise in the book so they could continue to focus on the key vocabulary. Unfortunately, the same was not did not happen in the second class. The teacher gave an important announcement at the beginning of class which took around 10 minutes and so we were unable to do the book exercise at the end. However, there was still plenty of time to go through the PowerPoint and the game.

In general, I was pleased with how the lesson went and I think it met its objective of teaching the new vocabulary in a fun and unique way. Below, I have attached my lesson plan as a well as the power point I used at the beginning of class.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that usually goes unnoticed in Spain. As an American, this can be disappointing as we are used to a little extra fanfare and family time during this part of the holiday season. However, I was lucky, and this year my school decided to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time ever. Compared to other bilingual primary schools, this was not normal practice. Usually, a school will pick one American holiday to celebrate each semester, and because Halloween is more popular, it is usually chosen.

But, this year my school decided to go all out. Each grade made a poster that was hung outside of their classrooms, the kids dressed up in formal attire, and there was even a photo booth. Each grade was given a different Thanksgiving topic to focus on. For example, fifth grade focused on Native Americans, first grade did the foods of Thanksgiving, and third grade concentrated on thankfulness. In addition, each class made a different Thanksgiving themed craft, such as creating a turkey hat.

As the resident Americans, the Auxiliars were in charge of teaching the kids about Thanksgiving history and traditions. To do so, we made and gave a Thanksgiving presentation in each class. We also created a giant turkey and had the students trace their hands and write what they are thankful for to make the feathers. On the day of Thanksgiving, it was our job to take small groups around the school and explain each of the posters to the kids.

Overall, I think Thanksgiving went really well. The students enjoyed celebrating a new holiday and learned a bit more about American culture. If I were to do this again, I think I would try to do less at once. There were a lot of moving pieces and it made communication a bit confusing between the teachers and Auxiliars. Despite the challenges, I loved being able to share Thanksgiving with my school and I hope they make this a yearly tradition.

Walking into my first day of school, I was really nervous. Before this, my contact with my bilingual coordinator and fellow LA’s had been minimal. As a result, I had no idea what to expect from my school or what my school was expecting from me. One thing that helped me deal with my anxiety was to arrive on the first day with something prepared. It wasn’t long or complication, just a simple power point presentation. But, by having something ready I felt like I was able to get to know the students better and make a good first impression with my teachers. I know many other Auxiliars also made books, posters, or played ice breaker games. Regardless of the presentation, having something ready is a great way to start off the year and show your co-workers that you are ready to take on this position.