Jordana, a young ELA colleague, celebrated word choice with a Salsa party for her 10th graders. My ELLs were not to be outdone so I planned a party for them.
It began with tasting rice cakes and corn chips dipped into a bowl of not-too-hot salsa.
I think that eating rice cakes is like eating styrofoam (not that I’ve ever tried). Salsa sizzles. The students thought the rice cakes were boring and the salsa words were original.
It was messy and fun.
My takeaway: I was sure the students would find the rice cakes dry and inedible. However, I learnt that hungry teens will devour anything especially before lunch. I thought I over catered. But no!
We no longer talk about word choice. We discuss salsa words.
English for success. 