The Power of Pobre Ana

I unexpectantly conducted an interesting experiment today that resulted in a powerful learning experience.  I was subbing in a middle school class, and during student "flex" time (they can go to a classroom of their choice to work on thigns), a student didn't have anything to do.  I happened to have my "Pobre Ana" with me, so I said "Let's read a story together.  You're going to read in Spanish."  And with that, I sat down and read "Pobre Ana" with her - I started translating and paused on proper nouns and cognates letting her translate - she was generally translating at least a few words per sentence.  By the end of the chapter, I was also pausing on other frequent words that were completely new to her, like "escuela", "chica", "ropa", and "libro".  Keep in mind, this is a student that hasn't EVER had any Spanish instruction.  She loved it, and can't wait to read more!

For her, this was:
Completely unexpected.
Entirely voluntary.
Engaging enough that she wants to do it again.
A successful experience.

And the kicker?  I'm subbing in the Extended Resource Room and one of the aides informed me later that she was a "particularly low" student.

There are so many things that I took away from this, but one thing in particular stuck out to me:  I've been trying to plan my curriculum for this fall and was having trouble figuring out when my students would be ready to begin the novel.  This experience answered that question for me - they're already ready. The leveled novellas have been so well thought out and written to make our students successful. Of course, students will pick up on and comprehend different things depending on what they've already learned (I even learn things when I read them!), but when it comes down to it, middle and high school students are interested and ready to read them without any prior Spanish experience as long as they have an attentive guide.