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In this scenario, students are introduced to a study of elephants
through a Spanish version of a traditional African folk tale, El
preguntón (The Elephant Child). El preguntón
tells the tale of a very curious little elephant who never stops
asking questions. It also gives an explanation of how the elephant
came to have a trunk. In the course of the scenario, students retell
the story using Spanish and pantomime, label and describe elephants,
and compare the physical aspects (body parts, size) of elephants
with an animal from a Latin American country. They also investigate
facts about elephants (gestation, birth weight, life span, adult
weight, food intake, strength, etc.) and their habitat (environmental
requirements, location, climate). Spanish songs about elephants
are introduced throughout the scenario.
ACTIVITY SET 1: Elephant Tale
Students listen as the teacher reads aloud the folktale, El preguntón
(see Resources), using facial expressions, pantomime, and illustrations
to help them understand the gist. (English can be used for support
as needed.) The teacher identifies key vocabulary and uses simple
sentences to retell the key scenes of the story. Students listen
and create gestures/pantomime with the teacher’s help to correspond
to key vocabulary words. The simplified story is repeated, and the
children gradually learn to retell the story themselves with the
appropriate gestures. They choose a key scene from the tale to illustrate
and hang the drawings around the room in the chronological order
of the tale.
ACTIVITY SET 2: Elephant Description
Students have developed an interest in elephants from the folktale
they heard. Now they learn additional words and simple sentences
to describe elephants and compare them with another animal. First,
students look at illustrations of elephants in artwork from different
cultures around the world including Spanish-speaking ones. Using
these pictures, students brainstorm as a class, listing common characteristics
they find. They learn the words for colors, body parts, size, etc.
and a variety of techniques are used to practice the vocabulary
using a “Natural
Approach” sequence. Students demonstrate what they have
learned by drawing an elephant and labeling the parts (trunk, tail,
etc.)
Students now practice making comparisons between elephants and
another animal. The class looks at a picture of a llama (or other
animal from a South American country or the Latin American rain
forest such as a snake, three-toed sloth, toucan, etc.) and uses
a
T-chart or other graphic
organizer to compare and contrast characteristics of the two
animals. They use simple, learned statements such as Es más
____. No tiene _____. As a follow-up, children work in
twos to create a paired drawing of an imaginary animal; one student
describes the animal to be drawn (e.g., three feet, four eyes),
and the other student does the drawing.
ACTIVITY SET 3: Elephant Fact File
Students have learned to “tell” a story and to describe
elephants and compare them to other animals in Spanish. Now they
do research, with the teacher’s help, to create a fact file
about elephants that includes information such as gestation period,
birth weight, life span, adult weight, food intake, strength, and
their habitat requirements. Students use reference books, Web sites,
and other resources in English and Spanish for their investigation.
The class discusses what has been learned and develops a mind map
on a large piece of butcher paper that is taped to a wall. They
also consider what they would still like to know and prepare questions
they could ask an elephant expert. (See Expansion Ideas for suggestions
about contacting an expert.)
ACTIVITY SET 4: Elephant Habitats
Students use Internet resources to discover where elephants are
found around the world. Based on their findings, they list three
primary needs of elephants with regard to habitat (temperature,
altitude, rainfall, flora/fauna, etc.) Students make small cut-outs
of the animal and place them in appropriate numbers (according to
elephant populations in each region) on a large map of the world.
Students discover that elephants are found in Africa and Asia, but
not in Spain or Latin American countries. (Equatorial Guinea is
the only country with Spanish as an official language where elephants
are found.) As a follow-up, the class investigates the climate in
several Latin American countries to determine possible reasons why
elephants are not found there.
- Communication:
Interpersonal, Interpretative, & Presentational Modes
- Cultures:
Practices & Perspectives, Products & Perspectives
- Connections:
Access to Information, Other Subject Areas
- Comparisons:
Nature of Language
- Communities:
Within & Beyond the School Setting, Personal Enrichment &
Career Development
- El preguntón (The Elephant
Child), an African folktale paraphrased and written into a Spanish
poem (included at the end of this scenario)
- Artwork from various cultures depicting
elephants
- Pictures of animals native to Latin America
(e.g., llama, toucan, sloth)
- Basic vocabulary list of other animals
for Activity Set 2
- Spanish and English language books and
Web sites pertaining to elephants
- Large world map
- Art supplies for drawings, card game,
mind maps, etc.
- Audio recordings of songs, including Los
elefantes (Orozco), En el zoológico (Knowles
& Morse), Dos elefantes (Lozano), and ¡Quiero
ir al zoológico! (Lozano)
- Computers with Internet access
Communication:
The interpersonal mode is used as students retell the story of El
preguntón and in the paired drawing activity. The interpretive
mode is used in listening to the folktale and songs and in doing
research for the elephant “fact file.” The presentational
mode is used as students share charted/graphed information from
Activity Set 4 with the class.
Cultures: Students demonstrate an
understanding of different cultural products by viewing pictures
and other artistic representations of elephants and other animals
native to different countries from different cultures. They may
also develop understanding of cultural practices, such as conservation
or the lack of conservation, and the perspectives that underlie
these practices.
Connections: Students will access
information in the target language by using Spanish resources to
expand their knowledge of elephants. Students use Spanish to make
connections with the fine arts when they view pictures and other
artistic representations and create their own illustrations of elephants
and other animals. They connect with English language arts when
they listen to the story and analyze its sequence of events. Social
studies/geography comes in to play when the students map the elephant
habitats. Science is supported as the students develop their elephant
fact files.
Comparisons: In the poem, students
compare words (cognates), word placement, gender and number agreement,
and word usage in Spanish and English as they learn songs and learn
to make simple statements about elephants.
Communities: Students use Spanish
both within and beyond the school setting (e-mail, Internet, possible
trip to zoo, possible visit by elephant expert) to develop a fact
file about elephants.
- Students hear or view an excerpt of an
elephant scene from El libro de la selva (The Jungle Book).
- Students create and present a smoosh
book about their own imaginary pet elephant.
- Students create cards with pictures of
elephant body parts to use in a Go Fish-type card game. ¿Tienes
una trompa larga? ¿Tienes una oreja muy grande? "Sí,
tengo ___!" "No, no tengo _____!"
- Students use e-mail to submit their questions
to an elephant expert
such as Jorge Barreda at the Circus World Museum in Wisconsin
(http://www.circusworldmuseum.com/),
or they visit a local zoo and ask their questions of a Spanish-speaking
zoo keeper.
- Older children write a reflection or create
relevant art about how they would feel if their body were drastically
changed, e.g., they suddenly had an elephant’s trunk.
- Students hear another folktale about elephants,
Los seis ciegos y el elefante (The Blind Men and the Elephant),
an East Indian legend translated into Spanish.
- Students play “Animal Keepers”
(see Resources)
Books
Backstein, K. (1999). Los seis ciegos
y el elefante. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.
Disney, W. (1990). Disney’s
el libro de la selva. United States: Walt Disney Company.
This version includes a cassette.
Mouseworks Staff. (1995). Disney’s
el libro de la selva cuento clásico en español.
USA: Mouse Works.
Nelson, W. E. & Glass,
H. (1992). International playtime: Classroom games and dances from around
the world. Torrance, CA: Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc.
This book includes the game “Animal Keepers” mentioned
in the Expansion Ideas.
Young, P. (2000). El
preguntón. Unpublished property of Pamela A. Young.
E-mail for permission to reprint: pyoung@midland.cc.tx.us
Music
Knowles, R. & Morese,
K. (1991). Lyric
language. Carlsbad, CA: Penton Overseas.
This book contains the song En el zoológico.
Lozano, P. “Dos elefantes” and
“Hay que ir al zoológico.” On More Music that
Teaches Spanish [CD]. Houston: Dolo Publications, Inc.
There is a book by the same title that accompanies the CD.
Orozco, J. (translator) (1994). “De
colores” and other Latin-American folk songs for children.
New York: E P Dutton.
This book contains the song Dos Elefantes.
Webliography
NOTE: These Internet
resources may have changed since publication or no longer be
available. Active links should be
carefully
screened
before
recommending to students.
- http://www.africaelephants.com/elephant_facts.htm
This site is hosted by a South African Elephant Park and contains
extensive information about elephants.
- http://www.abc-kid.com/elephant/
This site has two pages of detailed elephant information, followed
by four pages of great full-color elephant photos.
- http://members.lycos.co.uk/withanage/elepics_1.htm
Focusing on elephants in and near Sri Lanka, this site is good
for young children (Grade 3 and up), but also includes interesting
information on cultural, geographical, environmental, and animal
ethics issues.
- http://www.seaworld.org/animal_bytes/african_elephantab.html
This is a kid-friendly site that offers a fact-file of detailed
information for successful research. It includes a section on
ecology and conservation and a bibliography.
- http://members.tripod.com/~hettiarachchi/elephant.html
Older students will appreciate this site, which offers extensive
information on the role elephants have played in world culture.
Teachers will benefit from the broader perspective of elephants
in myth, legend, religion, and war.
- http://www.circusworldmuseum.com/
- http://www.elephant.se/main.htm
- http://www.artehistoria.com/genios/cuadros/4771.htm
(Spanish)
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