The Barking Mouse Activity
1. Read "The Barking Mouse" with your children. Encourage them to read along with the narrative even though some of the words may not be familiar. See if they can understand the foreign words from the context. Because of built-in repetitions in the story, this should not be difficult. Later on, perhaps with the help of a Spanish-speaking family member or friend, go over the meanings of foreign or difficult words.
2. After the reading, discuss the story with children. What are their impressions of the characters in the story? How do the personalities of Hermana Ratón, Hermano Ratón, Papá Ratón, Mamá Ratón, and the cat come through in their speech? Have children try out the dialogue in different tones, volumes or pitches.
3. Ask children if they know anyone in the family, neighborhood or school who speaks a different language. What are these languages? Do the children know words from another language? Look around the house, name some words in English that derive from another language, e.g., pants, pizza, lamp.
4. In school or in the larger community, do they feel comfortable speaking a second language, or interacting with someone who speaks other than in English? Discuss the meaning of "bilingualism" with children.
5. Would Mamá Ratón (Momma Mouse) have frightened away the cat, had she spoken in a language other than "Roof roof rooof"? (what language is that?)
6. What other means might the mice have for escape?
7. Ask children if they agree or disagree with Mamá Ratón's statement, "It pays to speak another language!"
8. How is it different hearing this story in two languages instead of one?
Action step
1. With your children, look on the Internet at recent census reports. How many languages are spoken in the U.S.? What is the percentage of Spanish-speaking people? Who are they? Where do they trace their ancestry? What percentage of the U.S. population speaks more than one language? What are the reasons for people speaking in different or multiple tongues? Encourage children to create pie charts or colorful graphs of languages spoken in the nation.
For quick and easy links, go to the U.S. Census Bureau or to its children's site.
2. Find out with children how many languages are spoken in your extended family, your block, building or local community. Collect examples of phrases, sayings, proverbs or songs in those languages in writing, audio- or video-tape. Have children do a "language map" of the community; enliven the map with these collections.
3. Have children brainstorm ways in which two peoples who speak different languages can communicate with each other.
Questions to ponder
Do you and your children experience bilingualism at work, in school or in the larger community? How? Does the community value or judge bilingual speakers? How? Why?
Are there ways people who speak different or more than one languages in the community can communicate better and work with one another?
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