The discussion somehow turned to Arabic, and I was left wondering what was going on. I finally figured out they were talking about masoob. My students quickly remembered they were in English class and started to explain what masoob was: bread, cream, bananas, and .... something else. They said the word in Arabic, but I didn't quite recognize it at first. Then they discussed it among themselves for a few moments. It was then I recalled the word.... but I didn't let them know!
The students decided to act it out: "what is animal that bzzzzzz?" while using a finger to move in a spiral toward the ceiling.
Me: A bee?
Students: No! Different animal!
Me: Hmmm... A fly?
A student went to the board. "This," he said as he drew a picture.
"That is a flower." I was really interested to see what he came up with next.
As he was finishing filling in the stinger on a crude but recognizable drawing of a bee, "What is this?"
"A stinger."
"Noooo!" His earnest reply made me smile.
"A bee." Noticing there puzzled looks, I continued, "bzzz! It stings you; it swells; and you go to the hospital." The gestures to accompany this were being readily used throughout.
The students smiled. "Bee goes flower ..." one brings his fingers to his lips to mimic eating something thick like noodles, "then goes back home."
I draw a box on the board and try to make it look like a passable hive and write next to it "hive" while saying "hive. A bee's home."
The students try to gesture some other word. It doesn't really come across as much of anything, but I decide to have mercy on them and not play stupid. "A bee makes honey."
"YES!! Honey!!"
The students are ecstatic. They are proud to have finally figured out the word. While it would have taken far less than the 20 minutes it took us if I had used a dictionary, we would not have learned the words 'stinger', 'bee,' 'hive,' and 'make.' And even more importantly they wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn the process of negotiating meaning. This is a skill they will need when they go to Texas and need to talk with some of the other students who may not know a lot of English or any Arabic. Hopefully this is something they have learned from and will retain!
The students decided to act it out: "what is animal that bzzzzzz?" while using a finger to move in a spiral toward the ceiling.
Me: A bee?
Students: No! Different animal!
Me: Hmmm... A fly?
A student went to the board. "This," he said as he drew a picture.
"That is a flower." I was really interested to see what he came up with next.
As he was finishing filling in the stinger on a crude but recognizable drawing of a bee, "What is this?"
"A stinger."
"Noooo!" His earnest reply made me smile.
"A bee." Noticing there puzzled looks, I continued, "bzzz! It stings you; it swells; and you go to the hospital." The gestures to accompany this were being readily used throughout.
The students smiled. "Bee goes flower ..." one brings his fingers to his lips to mimic eating something thick like noodles, "then goes back home."
I draw a box on the board and try to make it look like a passable hive and write next to it "hive" while saying "hive. A bee's home."
The students try to gesture some other word. It doesn't really come across as much of anything, but I decide to have mercy on them and not play stupid. "A bee makes honey."
"YES!! Honey!!"
The students are ecstatic. They are proud to have finally figured out the word. While it would have taken far less than the 20 minutes it took us if I had used a dictionary, we would not have learned the words 'stinger', 'bee,' 'hive,' and 'make.' And even more importantly they wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn the process of negotiating meaning. This is a skill they will need when they go to Texas and need to talk with some of the other students who may not know a lot of English or any Arabic. Hopefully this is something they have learned from and will retain!
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