la llorona

HOW TO TEACH WITH LEGENDS

"It is quite easy to see why a legend is treated, and ought to be treated, more respectfully than a book of history. The legend is generally made by a majority of the people in the village who are sane. The book is generally written by the one man in the village who is mad."
—G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

We can meet the national standards, even in level 1 bytelling legends:

ACTFL STANDARDS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING
CULTURES: Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures
• Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied
• Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studiedPick a Story that is Worth Telling
Familiar in the culture
Everybody tells them, Legends
Not just an interesting story—values in the culture
Displays deep seated cultural themes/ Expresses values of the culture
Useful
Used for different purposes
What values a being taught in this story?
Is there a deeper subtext? A subliminal message?
Has Staying Power
Has it beenaround for a long time? Do you want to hear it again?
It’s OK to tell it again.

Adapt the Story
How can you adapt it to tell with a limited vocabulary?
Simplify, simplify
Use pre-existing vocabulary
Use high frequency vocabulary
No more than 8 new words

Teach the Story in a Simple Way
Teach the vocabulary
Use TPR, or just write on the board.
Slowly play withthe vocabulary until your students get it

Start by telling a simple version of the story
We listen for meaning first; details come later.
Detail is what makes it interesting
Details are important, but we can’t hear the details at first.

It’s OK to tell it again!

Retell with more detail, answering questions along the way. Adding detail
Spiral the complexity up and out
Youcan (almost) tell any story in any class—level I to AP

Tell the Story in a Interesting Way
Use your voice (High/Low, Fast/Slow, Loud/Soft, Pause—Mem Fox, Reading Magic)
Build anticipation
Use student actors


SAMPLE LEGEND: "LA LLORONA"
Analyze the Vocabulary: What do they know? What do they need to know?

Familiar Vocabulary (Spanish I, late October)
hijos parece estáncontentos están tristes
pobres quieren lloran mira
va se mueren río piensa

New Vocabulary for First Telling:
mujer esposo tienen hambre vuelve
empuja noche sigue buscando

New Vocabulary for Second telling:
están llorando al lado de río siempre luna
sigue gritando sigue caminando

Ask comprehension questions as you go, but do not neglect to ask more complexquestions.

Higher level questions (Bloom’s)—some in Spanish, some in English:

Why is it ironic that her name is María?
What is so appealing about this gruesome story that it would be kept alive generation after generation? What motivations might parents have when they tell it to their children?
What are some of the valuable life lessons taught by the La Llorona legend?
Other Legends(Mexico): Ixta y Popo
Bailando con una Fantasma
La Calle de la Quemada
Compartiendo con la Muerte
Legends surrounding important figures in history: Pancho Villa, Padre Hidalgo, Emiliano Zapata

What are other legends from the language/culture that you are familiar with?
Could you adapt them? 


There are four versions of the La Llorona story in this set of materials. They have beenadapted from many different renditions of the legend, and are presented with increasing complexity:

• Version 1 is written in early level I Spanish in the present.
• Version 2 is the same story with more vocabulary and it is written in the past.
• Version 3 is a longer and more difficult version with more complex vocabulary and additional figures of speech.
• Version 4 is...