ACT 1: The play director signals the start of the play–but oh my, do interruptions abound! There is a woman who always has an idea, actors who forget their lines, and continuous musical outbursts as key words remind everyone of songs they know.

The play itself begins with Pato (the duck) and Oso (the bear–his best friend) fishing on a lake in Canada. But it is not your ordinary fishing trip. This becomes obvious when a book starts talking. Although honestly, this is not so surprising… I mean, wouldn’t you think books would have a lot to say? They are chock full of words.

Our main characters spring into action when a radio station announces something about a “Hamster in a piano”. This is a complete misunderstanding from the start because IRL, there is a Parry Gripp song that went viral called, “Hamster on a Piano.” But because “en” can mean both “in” and “on” in Spanish, Pato assumes the worst, and sets out on an adventure to save the poor hamster allegedly “trapped inside a piano.”

Complete with enough twists and turns to make you think you’re on a roller coaster, Pato and friends travel the world and meet many new friends along the way. From the Muppets and Cookie Monster to a paper drawing of a dragon that comes to life and a director who is increasingly frustrated by the actors’ constant interruptions, there is no room for boredom in Stuffed Animal Land.

Soundtrack

The “Pato” Play (2024-25)

• Third graders perform a skit in Spanish, saying rhymes and playing a soccer game at recess. Later, they decide to go out to a restaurant to eat, where they see some startling “Breaking News” on TV.
• Second graders pretend to star in this “Breaking News” segment, but the reporters have trouble staying focused and being professional. They do their makeup, drink Cuban coffee, and take personal phone calls on live TV. One call informs the world that Pato Malo has stolen Pato’s sock pajamas.
• Fourth graders take over from this point to theatrically explain how and why this occurred. Play synopsis as follows:

ACT 1: Pato (Duck) does not show up for the first day of school. The narrators try to explain why, but also note that it is “a long story”. This explanation begins with a dramatic entrance by the “Evil Fruit Gang” (including Bad Apple), of which Pato Malo (Bad Duck, aka Pato’s evil twin) is the leader.

ACT 2: Pato Malo is arrested for chewing bubble gum in Singapore (selling gum is illegal there). There is a trial, but he is thrown in jail. His first call is to his brother (Pato) who doesn’t answer the phone. The second phone call is to his “Evil Fruit Gang” buddies. They help him escape, and to get back at his brother for not helping him, Pato Malo steals his brother’s lucky sock pajamas and jets off to Thailand.

ACT 3: Pato (Duck) calls his #BFF Oso (Bear), and the two work together to track down the pjs. They end up recruiting Spain’s Army to assist in the mission. Along the way, and while floating down the Amazon River in Peru, they chance upon the DOOR to EcuaDOR. After that, everything just falls into place. Because in Stuffed Animal Land, it always works out in the end.

In Depth…

The play begins this year in a typical classroom setting. Students notice that their classmate Pato is absent (allusion to the first month of the year, when he was MIA), and inquire about his whereabouts; this murmuring interrupts the lesson, much to the teacher’s frustration. The narrators explain to the audience that in order to answer where Pato is, they need to start from the beginning, as it is a Very Long Story.

You see, one day, Bad Duck (aka “Evil Pato”) is roaming the streets of Singapore with his rotten-to-the-core Fruit Gang, while chewing gum. Unfortunately for him, chewing gum is illegal there (#truestory), and he is arrested and brought before a judge. Despite hiring the best defense attorneys, he is sentenced to jail — or in Stuffed Animal Land, The Dreaded Time-Out Chair.

He makes a call from jail to his identical twin brother [the ‘good’ Pato], but Good Pato is singing in the shower and doesn’t pick up. This makes Bad Duck very angry. “I tried to be good, but it’s no use!” and he goes back to the Fruit Gang. The Fruit Gang is playing MarioKart and Bad Apple is winning when the phone rings. They come up with a plan to get Bad Duck out of jail. At this point, Good Pato has no idea that his brother is mad at him.

We get a feel for the sense of the humor embedded throughout in the Fruit Gang dialogue here: Orange is always making ridiculous knock, knock jokes; everyone looks at their Apple iPhones EXCEPT for Apple when the phone rings; etc.

After Bad Duck escapes from jail, he makes a beeline for Good Duck’s house, for the sole purpose of stealing his sock pajamas. Once they finds the pjs, Bad Duck runs back to the getaway vehicle, while the rest of the gang does a celebratory dance at the scene of the crime. Whoops! A chase scene ensues shortly thereafter, as Pato realizes that his brother is at fault.

NOBODY touches his pajamas, and the rest of the play is about the adventures surrounding how Pato gets them back. His sock pajamas are his lucky charm, and he is very attached to them. What no one knows at this point is that Pato is trying to write a novel, and he needs his pajamas to accomplish said task. Ergo, the task is interrupted as he goes on a whirlwind chase around the globe — mission possible, just not likely — trying to track down the pjs (when all he really wants to do is sit down and write).

English Version

CHAPTER 1: There is a bug. His name is Bob the Beetle. The bug lives in a forest in Spain. His house is bigger than five red cars. Bob the Beetle has a [yellow] pickup truck. He doesn’t have a car; he has a pickup truck. He likes to eat chocolate. He says, “I don’t like chocolate. I LOVE chocolate.”

One night, there is a storm. Bob the Beetle is scared, very scared. Bob the Beetle runs and hides. He waits and waits and waits. Poor little guy! He says, “I’m cold. What can I do?” But class, Bob the Beetle doesn’t have his jacket. What a problem! The monster Fluphball has his jacket. In fact, the monster has a collection of jackets.

Bob the Beetle sees the monster in the darkness. The monster has his jacket. Bob says, “It’s not fair! I want my jacket!” Bob the Beetle sings, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I’m thinking–and now I know!” [this is from a cartoon] Bob says, “I have a plan”. Bob the Beetle runs. He runs very fast. But Fluphball yells, “I believe I can fly”. Fluphball uses the jacket to fly. Oh no!

Fluphball the monster flies higher and higher in the air, like a balloon. Bob sings, “Let it go, let it go!” and then he says, “Let it go, let it go, please, Fluphy, let it go!” [let the jacket go]

Fluphball flies to the planet Mars. Why? Because his family lives there. Fluphball sees his family and says, “I don’t care about this jacket.” Fluphball sends the entire collection to Bob the Beetle. Bob is happy, but he doesn’t need that many jackets. He sells the collection on Amazon.

CHAPTER 2 (NEW): Now Bob the Beetle says, “I’m rich.” Bob goes to the bank. He takes out a lot of money. Bob goes to the supermarket. He buys a lot of food. Bob says, “I want to buy a Volkswagen Beetle.” Bob buys a Volkswagen Beetle.

Class Story

**FINISHED STORY (we told and acted this out aurally in class, so the end of the story was not written out). See THIS POST for the full lesson plan and ending.

• Fluphball uses the jacket to fly, goes up and up. Bob says, “LET IT GO!” (Frozen reference), but he doesn’t and flies all the way to Mars.
  • I blew up a red balloon so they would say, “LET IT GO….!!!” and then the first class said the red balloon was like Mars, so… we found an AMAZING ending to our class story!!!!!!!
• On the planet Mars, Fluphball sees his monster family and doesn’t care about the jacket anymore; so the jacket collection gets sucked through a portal and goes directly to Bob’s door, so when he opens the door a bunch of jackets fly in, and he doesn’t need all of them, so he sells the rest on Amazon and becomes very rich. THE END.

Spanish Version

Hay un insecto. Se llama Bob the Beetle (el escarabajo). El insecto vive en un bosque en España. Su casa es más grande que cinco coches rojos. Bob the Beetle tiene una camioneta [amarilla]. No tiene un coche; tiene una camioneta. Le gusta comer chocolate. Dice, “No me gusta el chocolate. ¡ME ENCANTA el chocolate!” 

Una noche, hay una tormenta. Bob the Beetle tiene miedo, mucho miedo. Bob the Beetle (el escarabajo) corre y se esconde. Espera y espera y espera. ¡¡¡Pobrecito!!! Él dice, “Tengo frío. ¿Qué puedo hacer?” Pero clase, Bob el escarabajo no tiene su chaqueta. ¡Qué problema! El monstruo Fluphball tiene su chaqueta. De hecho, el monstruo tiene una colección de chaquetas.

Bob el escarabajo ve al monstruo en la oscuridad. El monstruo tiene su chaqueta. Bob dice, “¡No es justo! ¡Quiero mi chaqueta!” Bob el escarabajo canta: “Pienso, pienso, pienso, pienso– y ahora lo sé.” Bob dice, “Tengo un plan”. Bob el escarabajo corre. Corre muy rápido. Pero Fluphball grita, “Sé que puedo volar”. Fluphball usa la chaqueta para volar. Oh no!

Fluphball el monstruo vuela más y más alto en el aire, como un globo. Bob canta, “¡Suéltalo, suéltalo!” y luego dice, “¡Suéltala, suéltala, por fa-vor, Fluphy, suéltala!”

Fluphball vuela hasta el planeta Marte. ¿Por qué? Porque su familia vive ahí. Fluphball ve a su familia y dice, “No me importa esta chaqueta”. A Fluphball le manda toda la colección a Bob el escarabajo. Bob está feliz, pero no necesita tantas chaquetas. Vende la colección en Amazon.

CAPÍTULO 2: Ahora Bob the Beetle dice, “Soy rico”. Bob va al banco. Él saca mucho dinero. Bob va al supermercado. Él compra mucha comida. Bob dice, “Quiero comprar un Volkswagen Escarabajo”. Bob compra un Volkswagen Beetle.

Class Story

Some days, we educators plan our lessons down to the minute. We have an excellent grasp of students’ abilities and how much content can reasonably be covered in a single class period. We have researched our subject, know it backwards and forwards, can predict potential tangents and plans gone awry, jump out of bed with excitement for the day…

And yet somehow, it still falls apart. A first grader loses a wiggly tooth in class and everyone gets excited and starts shrieking. I am interrupted 47 times in a row and can’t remember what our lesson is about. There is a fire drill. An unexpected and sudden thunderstorm causes waterfall tears amongst my most sensitive students. Note that this invariably falls on the first day of the workweek. Oh, Monday, you capricious fool! What is a teacher to do with you?

However, these days fall to the wayside–gently sliding off the cliff of Memories We’d Rather Forget–when a Bright Star appears in the night sky, aligning itself with the Constellation of Awesomeness, and makes everything okay again. In fact, better than okay! What was the magic ingredient? The spice that had the chef exclaiming, “¡Magnífico!”? Let’s find out.

For starters, I have always had the freedom to create my own curriculum. This has had a bag of mixed results: creativity abounds in my classroom, but in years’ past, there wasn’t always a thread holding everything together, and I wanted to fix that.

My classes meet somewhat irregularly–not every day–and when you start canceling them due to holidays or scheduling conflicts, well, there has to be something that connects everything and ties up the metaphorical gift called Spanish Class with a nice, neat bow. Or else, it feels random, too pixelated. What could hold it together?

Enter Storytelling, with a capital “S”.

IT BEGAN ONE SUNNY AFTERNOON, when a second grade boy started telling me all about a rhinoceros beetle. He was so enthusiastic, the passion just oozed out of him. He lit up when he talked about this, well, bug. I had wanted to make a connection with the student so that he would be more engaged in class, and here was my chance. Over time, this tiny character morphed into the hero of a Spanish class saga.

Read the English version below first to get a general idea of the plot–because it gets loco fast–and then check out the commentary farther down for lesson ideas. You can find the Spanish version of this story at the bottom of this post.

BOB THE BEETLE (English Version)

CHAPTER 1: There is a bug. His name is Bob the Beetle. The bug lives in a forest in Spain. His house is bigger than five red cars. Bob the Beetle has a [yellow] pickup truck. He doesn’t have a car; he has a pickup truck. He likes to eat chocolate. He says, “I don’t like chocolate. I LOVE chocolate.”

One night, there is a storm. Bob the Beetle is scared, very scared. Bob the Beetle runs and hides. He waits and waits and waits. Poor little guy! He says, “I’m cold. What can I do?” But class, Bob the Beetle doesn’t have his jacket. What a problem! The monster Fluphball has his jacket. In fact, the monster has a collection of jackets.

Bob the Beetle sees the monster in the darkness. The monster has his jacket. Bob says, “It’s not fair! I want my jacket!” Bob the Beetle sings, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I’m thinking–and now I know!” [this is from a cartoon] Bob says, “I have a plan”. Bob the Beetle runs. He runs very fast. But Fluphball yells, “I believe I can fly”. Fluphball uses the jacket to fly. Oh no!

Fluphball the monster flies higher and higher in the air, like a balloon. Bob sings, “Let it go, let it go!” and then he says, “Let it go, let it go, please, Fluphy, let it go!” [let the jacket go]

Fluphball flies to the planet Mars. Why? Because his family lives there. Fluphball sees his family and says, “I don’t care about this jacket.” Fluphball sends the entire collection to Bob the Beetle. Bob is happy, but he doesn’t need that many jackets. He sells the collection on Amazon.

CHAPTER 2 (NEW): Now Bob the Beetle says, “I’m rich.” Bob goes to the bank. He takes out a lot of money. Bob goes to the supermarket. He buys a lot of food. Bob says, “I want to buy a Volkswagen Beetle.” Bob buys a Volkswagen Beetle.

Class Story

Commentary

CHAPTER 1: There is a bug. His name is Bob the Beetle. The bug lives in a forest in Spain. His house is bigger than five red cars. Bob the Beetle has a [yellow] pickup truck. He doesn’t have a car; he has a pickup truck. He likes to eat chocolate. He says, “I don’t like chocolate. I LOVE chocolate.”

• We spent the first 3-5 minutes of class on this each day (or a new sentence or two each lesson), and incorporated whatever projects and vocabulary we happened to be working on. We started off very slowly. Where does Bob the Beetle live? (in Spain, obviously) What does his house look like? (It’s massive) What does he like to eat? (Chocolate, also obvious) Remember, this was 95% in the target language.
• For instance, when we decided that he didn’t just like chocolate, he LOVED it, I taught students a chocolate clapping rhyme and showed them a video about beautifully carved molinillos in Mexico.

One night, there is a storm. Bob the Beetle is scared, very scared. Bob the Beetle runs and hides. He waits and waits and waits. Poor little guy! He says, “I’m cold. What can I do?” But class, Bob the Beetle doesn’t have his jacket. What a problem! The monster Fluphball has his jacket. In fact, the monster has a collection of jackets.

• There actually was a huge storm one day, which was a great opportunity to talk about fears and make our own Popsicle stick Worry Dolls (Guatemala). My students also say, “Wait!” all the time in conversation, so it was a good high-frequency word to teach. Last but not least, you can get in counting with a good game of hide-and-seek here: listos o no, ¡aquí vengo yo! (ready or not, here I come!).

Bob the Beetle sees the monster in the darkness. The monster has his jacket. Bob says, “It’s not fair! I want my jacket!” Bob the Beetle sings, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I’m thinking–and now I know!”

Bob says, “I have a plan”. Bob the Beetle runs. He runs very fast. But Fluphball yells, “I believe I can fly”. Fluphball uses the jacket to fly. Oh no!

• When our protagonist had to think about something, I found a translation of the cartoon Pinky Dinky Doo, where a girl thinks and thinks and thinks, and her head literally gets bigger when she has to solve a problem.
• This all quickly escalated as suddenly, there was an enemy at large: The Monster Fluphball, who had STOLEN Bob’s jacket so that he could add it to his Jacket Collection. An innocent motive. #Hardly! The Monster Fluphball uses said jacket to fly. Somehow, we progressed from an orange fluffy monster to these flying videos:

• And without knowing how it began, I had second graders taking 3-second turns singing, “Sé que pue-do vo-lar” (I believe I can fly), running across the room, pretending to fly, and then epically throwing themselves on the carpet (#fail). This was a big hit. Clearly.

Fluphball the monster flies higher and higher in the air, like a balloon. Bob sings, “Let it go, let it go!” and then he says, “Let it go, let it go, please, Fluphy, let it go!” [in Spanish, the direct object has to change to a la instead of a lo for it to make sense here; so we sang it twice to account for that]

• At this point, Fluphball keeps flying high in the sky, so Bob says, “Let it go!” (Frozen reference), and I showed students various translation medleys of the famous song (Frozen- 25 Languages; also, Behind the Mic).
• I also blew up a red balloon so they would sing, “LET IT GO!!!” with me, and the first class said that the red balloon looked like Mars. This happened on a Tuesday, so I went to a #TeachableMoment and explained that martes means Tuesday in Spanish, but Marte is the planet Mars.

Fluphball flies to the planet Mars. Why? Because his family lives there. Fluphball sees his family and says, “I don’t care about this jacket.” Fluphball sends the entire collection to Bob the Beetle. Bob is happy, but he doesn’t need that many jackets. He sells the collection on Amazon.

• In class, students said that the jacket collection “gets sucked through a portal and goes directly to Bob’s door”, but I simplified the Spanish here. When Bob opens the door, a bunch of jackets fly in, and he doesn’t need all of them, so he sells the rest on Amazon and becomes very rich.

THE END OF CHAPTER ONE.

In Chapter Two, Bob gets a Volkswagen Beetle with all of his Amazon-jacket money; but we’re not there yet. So you’ll have to wait a while to find out what happens next. Spoiler alert: we will probably have to fit in something about a yellow submarine/ submarino amarillo, to the tune of The Beatles…

Man, you give second graders an inch and we wind up on Mars!

So what was the secret ingredient, after all that? Honestly, I think it was the Storytelling Thread that held the lessons together. We connected close to 90% of everything we did to this story, and it took off. The nice, neat bow gave my tangents and those crazy days where nothing went quite right… well, it gave it a purpose and focus, and the kids knew it.

Thanks, Bob.

BOB THE BEETLE (Spanish Version)

Hay un insecto. Se llama Bob the Beetle (el escarabajo). El insecto vive en un bosque en España. Su casa es más grande que cinco coches rojos. Bob the Beetle tiene una camioneta [amarilla]. No tiene un coche; tiene una camioneta. Le gusta comer chocolate. Dice, “No me gusta el chocolate. ¡ME ENCANTA el chocolate!” 

Una noche, hay una tormenta. Bob the Beetle tiene miedo, mucho miedo. Bob the Beetle (el escarabajo) corre y se esconde. Espera y espera y espera. ¡¡¡Pobrecito!!! Él dice, “Tengo frío. ¿Qué puedo hacer?” Pero clase, Bob el escarabajo no tiene su chaqueta. ¡Qué problema! El monstruo Fluphball tiene su chaqueta. De hecho, el monstruo tiene una colección de chaquetas.

Bob el escarabajo ve al monstruo en la oscuridad. El monstruo tiene su chaqueta. Bob dice, “¡No es justo! ¡Quiero mi chaqueta!” Bob el escarabajo canta: “Pienso, pienso, pienso, pienso– y ahora lo sé.” Bob dice, “Tengo un plan”. Bob el escarabajo corre. Corre muy rápido. Pero Fluphball grita, “Sé que puedo volar”. Fluphball usa la chaqueta para volar. Oh no!

Fluphball el monstruo vuela más y más alto en el aire, como un globo. Bob canta, “¡Suéltalo, suéltalo!” y luego dice, “¡Suéltala, suéltala, por fa-vor, Fluphy, suéltala!”

Fluphball vuela hasta el planeta Marte. ¿Por qué? Porque su familia vive ahí. Fluphball ve a su familia y dice, “No me importa esta chaqueta”. A Fluphball le manda toda la colección a Bob el escarabajo. Bob está feliz, pero no necesita tantas chaquetas. Vende la colección en Amazon.

CAPÍTULO 2: Ahora Bob the Beetle dice, “Soy rico”. Bob va al banco. Él saca mucho dinero. Bob va al supermercado. Él compra mucha comida. Bob dice, “Quiero comprar un Volkswagen Escarabajo”. Bob compra un Volkswagen Beetle.

Class Story

Soundtrack

The “Pato” Play (2023-24)

ONCE UPON A TIME, there lived a Golden Taco. It was a powerful, kind, strong, smart taco–and golden, of course. The Golden Taco lived in a castle in the Czech Republic, which was guarded by three of King Duo’s knights (Duo, as in the Duolingo owl). The Taco was very happy, but one day, on the darkest of days…

The ground trembled and the trees shook as “Bad Apple“, suffering from a case of Acute Boredom, arrived at an alarming decision: “I don’t want to roll”. As he is an apple, his primary mode of transportation is rolling… which never gets him too far. But he has an evil mission (thanks to the Acute Boredom), and nothing will deter him! So he rolls to Japan with his evil bestie, Bad Pineapple, and recruits ninjas to help him steal the coveted Golden Taco. A brief ninja warrior battle scene ensues.

The ninjas are found to be adequately skilled and trustworthy; shortly thereafter, Bad Apple, Bad Pineapple, and the Ninjas are all on an aircraft headed to the Czech Republic.

The group’s evil plans are of the last-minute variety (they brainstorm outside of the castle walls), but crafty indeed–and slowly, the line of defense guarding the castle breaks down. The first guard is sneezed at, and runs away to CVS for Kleenex. The second guard sees a [ninja-trained] squirrel and chases after it, promising to return shortly. The third guard is fast asleep, but enthusiastically dream-singing about Don Quijote–the Knight of all Knights.

The ninjas comment that this is too easy as they sneak into the castle, tip-toe past King Duo (who is obsessively trying to earn 10,000 XP on the Duolingo app and doesn’t notice), and easily kidnap the Golden Taco.

When King Duo’s iPad needs to be charged, he realizes that the Golden Taco is missing. Intending to call a world-renowned Detective Agency, he mistakenly dials the number of an Argentinean pizzeria instead… of which Oso is the manager. When Oso hears that the Golden Taco has been stolen, he immediately makes a call–and Pato is on the case.

The lurking question of Bad Apple’s motive is answered in the next scene.

Here, Bad Apple proceeds to “grill” the Golden Taco, demanding–interrogation style–the recipe and ingredients for the Perfect Taco. The more questions Bad Apple asks, the weaker the Golden Taco gets. Oh no! Time is of the essence! But the truth has become clear now: Bad Apple wants to start his own restaurant.

Meanwhile, Pato is thinking as hard as a stuffed animal duck possibly can. That’s Agent Pato, to you! Yes, my apologies: Agent Pato is thinking as hard as a stuffed animal duck possibly can. Thankfully, not much thinking is required, as he soon chances upon a trail of cheese–the first clue–and bumps into Billy la bufanda (Billy the Scarf).

Aha! It was Billy! The police interrogate, but The Pink Boots clear his name. Billy had an alibi at the time of the crime.

Not long after, Agent Pato finds another clue: a trail of lettuce. At the same moment, he receives a letter from a friend in Puerto Rico. Wait, the monster Fluphball lives in Puerto Rico! Maybe it was Fluphball!

As the police interrogate Fluphball–who is notorious for swiping things to add to his collections–Bad Apple and Bad Pineapple saunter by, highly focused and rhythmically chanting, “Shell, lettuce, meat, cheese… what else?”

Agent Pato and friends witness the same strange scene moments later. They put two and two together and realize that Fluphball is not at fault–at least not this time. It’s got to be Bad Apple and friends enemies, but how will Agent Pato and the police catch them? And will the Golden Taco be rescued in time?

Come see the play to watch the suprise ending!

Spanish Version

1715: España es muy fuerte y poderosa. Tiene muchos territorios. Pero el rey quiere más control. El rey se llama Felipe. El rey Felipe es impaciente. Él dice, “¡Quiero mi tesoro! ¡Ahora mismo!” Por eso (that’s why), los marineros van a la isla de Cuba.

En Cuba, la gente baila mucho. La salsa es un baile (una danza) importante. Hoy en día (nowadays), Cuba es muy famoso por sus coches. El rey Felipe quiere su tesoro, pero este es un problema. ¿Por qué? Porque es la temporada de huracanes (hurricane season). 

Hay un huracán terrible–está lloviendo y hay una brisa muy fuerte en el Océano Atlántico. La flota española (un grupo de 12 barcos) se hunde en la tormenta. Y el tesoro desaparece (disappears)… hasta 2017. Ahora, el tesoro está en un museo de historia.

CAPÍTULO 2: Un día, Cubby está en su apartamento (en la impresora). ¿Cubby está leyendo o jugando? Correcto, Cubby está jugando un videojuego. El videojuego se llama MarioKart/ MarioGolf. De repente (suddenly), Cubby recibe un mensaje secreto.

Un cuervo lo deja caer en su sofá. Cubby lo mira. ¿Qué dice el mensaje secreto? No sé. El mensaje secreto es invisible. Cubby usa un secador de pelo y PUF, aparece el mensaje secreto. El mensaje secreto dice que… hay un mapa… y un cofre de tesoro!!! ¡¡NO ME DIGAS!!

Class Story + 1715 Shipwreck

English Version

1715: Spain is very strong and powerful. It has a lot of territories. But the king wants more control. The king is named Phillip. King Phillip is impatient. He says, “I want my treasure! Now!” That’s why the sailors go to the island of Cuba.

In Cuba, the people dance a lot. Salsa is an important dance. Nowadays, Cuba is very famous for its cars. King Phillip wants his treasure, but this is a problem. Why? Because it’s hurricane season.

There is a terrible hurricane–it’s raining, and there is a very strong breeze in the Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish Fleet (a group of 12 boats) sinks in the storm. And the treasure disappears… until 2017. Now, the treasure is in a history museum.

CHAPTER 2: One day, Cubby is in his apartment (in the printer). Is Cubby reading or playing? Correct, Cubby is playing a videogame. The videogame is called MarioKart/ MarioGolf. Suddenly, Cubby receives a secret message.

A crow drops it on his couch. Cubby looks at it. What the secret message say? I don’t know. The secret message is invisible. Cubby uses a hairdryer and POOF, the secret message appears. The secret message says that there is a map… and a treasure chest! No way!

BACKSTORY: This semester, students in third grade began by helping the rest of Lower School build an impressive 3-D model of part of Chichen Itza out of colorful paper cubes (Mexico). One particular cube managed to attach itself to a Popsicle stick and grow a face—and thus was borne Cubby el cubo cubano (Cubby the Cuban Cube). In order to tell the story of present-day Cubby, however, it was necessary to travel back in time; through role-playing, third graders learned about the lost treasure and Spanish Fleet of 1715, and then used this story (nonfiction) as a point of origin for their own original story (fiction).

Their adventure involved intimidating bodyguards, good and evil forces (e.g., the girl who poured a milkshake on Cubby, the paper cube!), the fact that Cubby lives in a printer and therefore could photocopy and clone himself, and a ridiculous and messy finale of soap and marshmallows that expanded in the (yes, real) microwave. Later, students went on another historical voyage to learn about endangered languages and how creoles/languages are formed, and as an extension, worked to create their own languages. Knuffle Bunny added some good food for thought here—is thinking language, pre-language, or merely wordless emotional stuff? Lastly, third graders chose class (food) nicknames; had a ‘masculine and feminine nouns’ competition; learned about Cinco de Mayo, and began their final class story of the year. Gracias for a fabulous year.

Quarter Summary, 2015-16

Spanish Version

“Una noche, en un castillo en el bosque de España, una princesa está durmiendo–CUANDO (todos saltan) entra LA CEBOLLA MALVADA. La cebolla malvada TOMA sus pantuflas y se escapa. La princesa está enojada, muy enojada. Habla con su amiga. “¿Qué hago?”

MIENTRAS… La cebolla malvada recibe una llamada. “¡Rin rin!” “Esta es tu madre. Devuelve las pantuflas.” La cebolla malvada dice, “¡Pero no quiero!” “¡¡¡AHORA MISMO!!!” dice su mamá. “Vale,” dice la cebolla malvada. Pero, ¡oh no! ¡Qué problema! Las pantuflas empiezan a bailar. Bailan mucho, mucho, mucho. “Para bailar la bamba” song. La cebolla malvada llora. “Ay yie yie yie, canta y no llores.”

Capítulo dos. Hace mucho viento. Las pantuflas [siguen bailando y] van a España…. a una torre. Se llama “La Torre del Oro”. Es muy famosa. La cebolla malvada dice, “¡Espérame!” De repente, llueven tacos… y albóndigas…

Class Story

English Version

Lights, camera, action. One night [duh-duh-duuuuh!], in a castle in the forest of Spain, a princess is sleeping–WHEN (everyone jumps) THE EVIL ONION enters. The evil onion TAKES her slippers and runs away… to ARGENTINA!!! (1-1) and to the North Pole (1-2). The princess is angry, very angry. She talks to her friend. “What I do?”

MEANWHILE… The evil onion gets a call. “Ring ring!” “This is your mother. Return the slippers.” The evil onion says, “But I don’t want to!” “RIGHT NOW!!!” says her mom. “Okay,” says the evil onion. But oh no! What a problem! The slippers begin to dance. They dance a lot, a lot, a lot. “Para bailar la bamba” song. The evil onion cries. “Ay yie yie yie, sing and don’t cry.” (famous song)

Chapter two. It’s really windy. The slippers [keep dancing and] go to Spain… to a tower. It is called, “The Tower of Gold”. It is very famous. The evil onion says, “Wait for me!” Suddenly, it is raining tacos… and meatballs….!

Soundtrack

The “Pato” Play (2022-23)

Pato is growing up, and now has his own personal secretary! The Spanish play musical begins with our stuffed animal duck hero dancing to traditional Spanish music from the 1500’s: a calm, mature tone is established. When the phone rings and his secretary answers, we learn that Oso is calling, but Pato is clearly busy–prancing around, ballet-style (how do pointe shoes work on webbed feet?)–and can’t take a call right now, thank you very much; so Oso decides to try again later.

He waits about five seconds and calls again, but in the meantime, Pato has changed the radio station (or Alexa, or whatever!) and found a catchier tune–conveniently for us, about the phone ringing. Poor Oso listens to the phone ringing as everyone else jumps up for a dance number onstage. The landline is modeled after Salvador Dalí’s famous surrealist sculpture (#culture).

When the secretary finally regains order and answers the phone, Oso claims to be The King of the World, so that he can talk with Pato. There is no way that Pato wouldn’t pick up for The King of the World!

After a little chitchat, Pato is invited to Spain with his friends, Oso (Bear), Caballo (Horse), and Pollito (Baby Chick), among others. As they are all stuffed animals IRL (haha), their mode of transportation is a paper airplane, which they get from someone backstage named Javier–this task interrupts the entire play, and Javier is mortified but reluctantly agrees to oblige the characters after he observes Pato trying to [unsuccessfully] fly to Spain in the background. Ay yie yie!

They finally get on the plane, but end up landing in Canada, not Spain. Whoops! It is really cold there, and when a Talking Book starts chatting with them, there is no denying that we have been transported to Stuffed Animal Land. The friends are amazed at the Bilingual Talking Book, but quickly move on to another more pressing matter, when a group of wolves appears in the distance. Oh no!

We break to a Special News Report, commentating on the sad state of affairs, namely, that Pato and friends are surely to meet their end in the face of the ravenous wild creatures. HOWEVER!, Los Lobos (the wolves) are actually a band who perform Para bailar la bamba in a live outdoor concert. (The band name really is Los Lobos, but obviously, it’s a joke, since the band was people and we have “wolves” singing.) The Dancing Pineapple makes his debut as the lead singer at this point–which, no, is not a historical fact.

Following the concert, the friends continue on their way to Spain, but wind up in Cuba. Oh my goodness! Who is driving this plane?! Naturally, Pato confuses bananas with La Habana (the capital of Cuba), and everyone ends up Salsa dancing in the streets. Will they ever get to Spain? Come watch the show to find out!

Soundtrack

On Thursday, fourth graders performed a play in Spanish about our beloved stuffed animal hero, Pato (Duck). This was a play within a play about two best friends, “Pato” and “Oso”, who travel to Peru; meet Ariana Grande and her dog Fluffy, along with an alpaca named Mr. Hashbrown; and turn many “problems” into solutions along the way.

The “Pato” Play (2021-22)

ACT 1: The Fourth Grade “Pato” Play begins with a director who needs to cast the part of “Pato” (my stuffed animal duck) in a movie, but there is a lot of confusion. The first actor that shows up auditions as a gato/cat, not a pato; the second actor auditions as a plato/plate, not a pato/duck; and then there is a delivery of zapatos/shoes, all of which infuriates the director, since he is in search of someone to play the part of a pato/duck and nothing else. Finally, the REAL “Pato” makes an unexpected appearance–he is a super famous, very cool actor–and everyone is aghast! The director offers him the part and he accepts.

However, the actors that do NOT get the part of “Pato” are disgruntled and will continuously interrupt the show with cultural commentaries and the like, to try and steal the limelight. The play (within a play) begins with Pato/duck and his friend, Oso/bear, galloping on horseback in Peru to [a real place called] Rainbow Mountain. There are 14 minerals in the soil there that create a very colorful, layered rainbow look. This tourist attraction is not too far from Machu Picchu, but Pato and Oso are actually in Peru because they want to visit their friend Mr. Hashbrown (an alpaca). Obviously.

The first interruption of the play deals with a parallel comparison of Pato/duck and his friend, Oso/bear, to the world-renowned, 900-page Spanish novel, Don Quijote by Cervantes–and a quick blip of the song, listen HERE. Classes had fun acting out the famous windmill chapter, where Don Quijote “fights” windmills, thinking they are an army of giants.

ACT 2: The saga continues! After the show is interrupted for the first time [re: Don Quijote], we learn that Mr. Hashbrown’s house is near the Amazon River- cue second interruption! The actors trying to interrupt the play this time add a fun fact, namely, that a man (from England) actually walked the entire length of the Amazon River back in 2012, setting a world record. It took him three years! After they are shushed off stage, Oso becomes visibly agitated and nervous, stating that there is a problem. Pato replies that “there are no problems, only solutions“, which ends up becoming his catchphrase throughout the play. 

Anyway, while Oso is getting increasingly anxious as he sees an Army of Bacon Monsters slowly approaching on the horizon, Pato starts blabbering about how hungry he is and that he would really like a sandwich. Cue interruption number three: bocadillo [‘bow-kah-DEE-yoh’] is how you say “sandwich” in Spain! Pato always knows what’s going on, even when it seems like he doesn’t, so when he describes the sandwich he is craving, he lists the ingredients- lettuce, tomato and… BACON! The Army of Bacon Monsters (who have been inching closer the entire time) recognize their fate–a BLT sandwich! NOOOOOO! And a chase scene with all parties involved ensues, to music from the Nutcracker. **INTERMISSION**

ACT 3: The two [stuffed animal] friends excitedly arrive at Mr. Hashbrown’s house, but quickly learn that their alpaca friend is quite livid. When prompted, Mr. Hashbrown provides visual and auditory evidence that his neighbor, Ariana Grande, is not the quietest person in the world and, in fact, quite the opposite–which means that he can’t sleep. Ever. Our hero Pato continues believing that, “there are no problems, only solutions“, but as the friends peer out of the window to observe, even he perhaps begins to doubt himself. A modicum of Madness with a capital M follows.

Through the window, they watch as Ariana Grande warms up her vocal chords with the scales–but is horribly tone deaf. Then, she starts yelling for her dog, Fluffy, who runs away every Monday. He doesn’t like Mondays, so he tries to run away from them. (Incidentally, Monday is also the name of a neighborhood cat, which causes the next chase scene to be that much more confusing.) Oso tries to help out and catch Fluffy, but he doesn’t run very fast and stops every two inches to eat honey; and Fluffy keeps running and barking whenever he hears the word, “Monday”, or lunes (“lou-nace”) in Spanish.

Meanwhile, Ariana Grande is talking on the phone with her #BFF, Jennifer, and loses it completely–collapsing to the floor, sobbing hysterically–when she learns that Fluffy may be lost forever. Everyone sings the first eight seconds of this song, “Ay yie yie yie, canta y no llores“ (sing and don’t cry!). The Bacon Monsters reappear not long afterwards, this time as flash mob backup dancers for a music video rehearsal at Ariana Grande’s house to THIS SONG. Pato watches all of this, and finally takes control of the situation, telling Fluffy that it is Friday (viernes/“bee-AIR-nace”), not Monday.

Pato talks with Fluffy and says that they need to find a solution to his problem. Everyone pitches in to build him a new fence so that he doesn’t run away. Ariana stops talking on the phone about her lost dog and stops yelling at Fluffy, so Fluffy the Dog is happy. Mr. Hashbrown is happy because his neighbor only sings now and he can sleep. Oso is happy because he found more honey and doesn’t have to run after Fluffy anymore. And Pato is happy because he has proven to everyone that there are no problems, only solutions. THE END.

Script

Post Office Drop Box (Spain/España). Post Office Drop Box (USA).

In class, we cover a lot of territory. I am constantly throwing culture, geography, grammar–first graders don’t know it’s grammar, but it is–songs, new vocabulary, and more at them, with confidence that they will catch at least one new thing each day.

In the last update, you learned that students simulated walking the Camino de Santiago (a 500-mile hike across Spain), and then traveled to Peru to see Rainbow Mountain and also make and pan for oro/gold (aka tesoro/treasure). ASIDE: six weeks later, I am still discovering specks of gold fairy dust glitter everywhere!

Rainbow Mountain; La Rinconada (highest city in the world); rock covered in glue and glitter to make “gold”.

As the weeks progressed, these culture projects morphed into optional centers: those that wanted to continue walking the Camino or sluicing sediment for gold could; and those that wanted to do something different also had that choice. My theory is that if students are interested and personally invested in an idea, they will be more likely 1) to retain the information; and 2) to apply that information to their daily lives, so that Spanish becomes a part of them, as opposed to ‘merely a class’.

First graders ‘sign up’ for these centers in one of two ways each class, via either speaking or writing. To build their confidence, we begin with written work: they will write, “Hi! This is So-and-So*. [Today] I want to build/play/work/walk [the Camino]/ sing/dance/draw/ fly/clean/paint/etc.” (¡Hola! Soy ___. Quiero construir/jugar/trabajar/ caminar/cantar/bailar/dibujar/volar/limpiar/pintar.) The focus as of late has been on “Quiero” (I want) and “y“. Note that the latter means “and” in Spanish, but is pronounced like the English letter “e”. *Students also chose Spanish names a while back, so sometimes they write their real name, and other times they will write their Spanish name. First graders are also now required to sign up for talking (hablar/to talk, speak). This has been extended recently to include specifying in which language–español/Spanish or inglés/English.

To make written work more enticing to six-year-olds, there were a few requirements: one, they had to glue or tape on a colorful stamp from a Spanish-speaking country (Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina) to their notecard; and two, they had to drop it in a basket pulley-system (that went up to the ceiling and down again) in order to “send” it to me at the Post Office. When this got old, we switched to writing on pizarras/ whiteboards, which was conveniently also a vocabulary word in the “Bathroom Song” (¿Puedo ir al baño?/Can I go to the bathroom?), a classic for first grade.

For each center, there are recommendations and suggestions, but they are also open-ended to allow for student agency and creativity. For example, “construir” (build) began quite literally, with first graders building towers out of blocks; this progressed to building houses and forts out of cardboard and blankets.

One day, however, someone wanted to “build” a computer out of cardboard. Another day, the “building” center became more of factory, in which students “built” paper fans (abanicos) and then tried to sell them to others (fake pesos). Yet another day, someone found a “sewing” center card (coser/to sew), and asked how to do that: we used a hole-puncher to make a ton of holes on a piece of folded paper, and students wove yarn through the holes, making their own wallets to stash dinero/money. We have even had mini ice-hockey tournaments in one class, and dance choreography lessons in the other! I will hide the puck and force linguistic interactions here: ¿Dónde está el disco?/Where is the puck?! You must understand, EVERYTHING is about language in my class!

The center work builds from kindergarten to spiral vocabulary and, gradually, first graders begin to see that the sky is the limit when it comes to creativity. Vocabulary is scaffolded to be as versatile as possible here; learning “hole-puncher” is not as useful as learning, “I want/I need that” (Quiero/Necesito eso), especially as students switch centers frequently, based on their interests.

More recently, students have practiced leading the class as the “teacher” (maestro/a) by asking and reading, “¿Cómo estás?” with several possible answers:

• feliz/happy; 
• triste/sad; 
• enojado(a)/angry; 
• cansado(a)/tired; 
• casado(a)/married (class joke); 
• tengo hambre/I’m hungry;
• tengo frío/I’m cold; 
• muy bien/very good; or
• mal/bad.

Students will watch 2-minute Bluey shows in Spanish at the beginning of class as a listening activity as well; here, they raise their hand when they hear a word or phrase they know. First graders really enjoy this! A newer song is called Botas Perdidas/Lost Boots; here, first graders sit under the tables to watch the song, as the singer looks for things under the table (debajo de la mesa), on top of the chair, etc.

Students also spent a day sorting flashcards (masculine/feminine nouns). This lesson usually comes about when I notice some getting sloppy with spelling; my goal is simply for first graders to pay more attention to words but also to expose them to grammar.

In class, it is a silly game, where there are “boy” words and “girl” words, and boys “get” ice-cream (el helado) but girls “get” pizza (la pizza), and then they try to figure out–detective work!–what the pattern is (“el” words are considered “boy” words; “la” words are “girl” words–but it is completely nonsensical in terms of the noun itself–merely a grammatical construction).

Last but not least, first graders were introduced to a language-learning app called Fun Spanish. This is also now a center option. Whew! Thank you for reading all of this. I did not intend for it to be so verbose. I hope you are having a great weekend!

Soundtrack

On Wednesday, fourth graders performed a play in Spanish about our beloved stuffed animal hero, Pato (Duck), who was (gasp!) framed for robbing the bank. Students not only excelled academically–impressing the audience with native-like accents and natural intonation in the target language–but also delighted everyone with their theatrical stage presence, humor, and tech work. A huge thank you to all involved- it takes a village! A shout out to upcoming fourth grader Henry, who created the iMovie trailer for the show. ¡Muchas gracias!

The “Pato” Play (2020-21)

“Pato” (duck) is a stuffed animal duck of mine that has a ridiculously squeaky voice and innocent but silly personality. He is always getting into mischief, and students in all of the grade levels know him.

This year, he has ziplined down to the flagpole from the second floor of the new building (with grades 1&2). He has his own [faux] Instagram page and TV series. He has crazy ideas, and always wants to have fun, and would come out and play every day, if it weren’t for the stress his squeaky voice causes on my vocal chords (self-taught ventriloquism has a downside).

Plot Summary

In the play, our friend and hero Pato is framed for a crime he didn’t did commit: robbing the bank. While he sits in a jail cell with his BFF (#BestAmigoForever), a turkey, they recount what happened the day prior… and thanks to a “ghost”–what else do I do with a silver graduation gown?!–the two friends realize that Pato was POISONED! With “Meantonium”, a new element on the periodic table that makes you “mean”. In fact, a “Bad Apple” (~Manzana/Apple) poisoned the Mate tea Pato was drinking when Pato wasn’t looking, which made Pato “mean” and caused him to follow Bad Apple’s orders to rob the bank.

So… the two friends escape with the ghost’s help (#JailBreak), and go to Cuba to visit the witches, who are good and will help clear their name. In Cuba, Pato is severely distracted by all of the Salsa dancing, and wants to join the fiesta (party), even though they have work to do. The police show up suddenly, and this changes his mind rather quickly. A chase scene ensues. 

Conclusions- It turns out that Manzana/Apple stole the Meantonium from the witches, who only had it on hand for emergencies. There is also a surprise ending with a Banana, which is a theme of sorts, as “La Habana”, the capital of Cuba, sounds like “Banana” to Pato. Obviously. This film is rated G.

Script

Rap

LANGUAGE IS weird. Bizarre. Quirky. Odd. Let me clarify: yes, language encompasses all of those things–each and every language has its own particular quirks and oddities (in the grammatical sense)–but I am referring here more to language acquisition, or the process of how a child learns another language.

You see, much of my job as a language teacher involves talking. I talk and talk and talk, filling young minds with Spanish babbling: the different rhythms and cadence, the syntax, the intonation, the words that sound the same as English and mean the same thing in Spanish, the words that sound the same as English but don’t mean the same thing in Spanish, and the words in Spanish that don’t sound like anything in English. There is a tremendous amount of input that must occur before you can expect any output.

Students listen and absorb, absorb and listen, don’t listen and don’t absorb, don’t listen and do absorb, and then just when I’m about to lose all hope–because sometimes I feel like I’m having a conversation with the wall or an inanimate object–they don’t say anything. But on the day after that, THEY DO! It is a bit magical.

Initially, it is a word here or there. “¡Hola!” “Could I go to the baño, I mean, bathroom?” “Wow, that is really grande (big)!” These phrases gradually–and ever so casually–are elongated over time: “¡Hasta luego, maestra!” and “Tengo hambre” (I’m hungry). “Quiero pintar” (I want to paint).

And then on some days, the conversation lulls: silence returns, deafening in every sense of the word, a lonely desert stretching as far as the eye can see. Wind whips across the dunes: English abounds. My conversation with the Inanimate Objects resumes. What happened?, I wonder. Is language like the tides? Did Spanish just go back out to sea? I don’t understand.

This is the fabulously irrational cycle, the pattern-less pattern, the inconsistent chain or sequence of events of language acquisition which lead to circles and spirals that appear at first to be a child’s scribbles. Nonsensical and incoherent, we not only allow but in fact encourage and invite the scribbles–the practice–because we know it’s leading somewhere. This Somewhere arrived for students in first grade today. Note that while “Somewhere” does not equate to fluency, it is a definite mile marker on the yellow brick road of their journey to proficiency, and should be congratulated.

In other words, the amount of Spanish in meaningful contexts–and complete sentences, at that!–that I heard this afternoon was astounding. Stars and planets aligned, the tide came in, the “English desert” disappeared, and WOW! “Quiero eso (I want that)”, “Ayúdame, por favor, maestra” (help me please, teacher) “¿Dónde está?” (where is it?) “Yo me llamo ____ (My name is ___).” Quiero ir a Guatemala con ___” (I want to go to Guatemala with so-and-so), “¡No quiero escribir!” (I don’t want to write!) “¡¡MIRA!!” (LOOK!) “Necesito rojo y azul, por favor” (I need red and blue [food coloring], please), “Vamos, amigos” (let’s go, friends!), “¿Puedo ir al baño?” (Can I go to the bathroom?).

It could just be the stifling heat–perhaps they are delirious and don’t realize they’re speaking in Spanish–but progress is being made, however intangible and unquantifiable. They are doing a wonderful job, and I just wanted to let you know that the class’ Spanish output today was truly incredible!