I always look forward to teaching the rainforest unit in the fourth grade. The children love learning about unfamiliar animals found in the rainforests of southern México, “El yunque” in Puerto Rico, Central America, and the Amazon rainforest in South America, plus Spanish-speaking Equatorial Guinea. (Since there are different rainforest animals in Guinea Ecuatorial, I usually devote a part of the unit to specific animals who live there, especially the fact about finding the only white gorilla in the world “Copito de nieve / Little Snowflake” there who now lives in the Barcelona zoo.)
PRINT REFERENCE: Roberto’s Rainforest (available in Spanish or English)
Well worth the price of $37/38 as there is a GIANT black outline picture of a rainforest with animals galore in the various layers. I made a copy of this graphic for each fourth grade classroom at a “blueprint print shop” and then laminated them so the children could color and mark on them each year. We find animals and name the layers there. In Roberto’s Rainforest, there are simulation games, board games, and black-line masters to introduce and reinforce the key vocabulary. The materials are very creative and adaptable to any FLES teaching situation and age group. I DO NOT USE THE CONTENT IN LOCK-STEP MANNER, but pick and choose carefully.
GEOGRAPHY: locating the rainforests of the Spanish-speaking world is the first step
RAINFOREST LAYERS:
Roberto’s Rainforest lists the layers as follows: el suelo forestal [forest floor], el primer piso [understory layer], el nivel toldo [canopy layer], el nivel emergente [emergent layer].
I have a set of tropical trees of different heights that we arrange to illustrate the various layers. We place small pictures of animals there as well. The children can really visualize them through manipulation.
I use José-Luis Orozco’s song “Las hormiguitas” to mimic leaf-cutter ants in the rainforest. The children pretend they are leaf-cutter ants. I cut large yellow and green leaves out of medium weight oaktag and laminate them. The children march around the classroom with them on their heads as they act out the different movements the silly ants make. With some classes, I have even choreographed two separate lines of ants weaving in and out of each other's line. We usually end our song by walking out of the classroom into the hallway which is a big thrill! My fourth graders love this song, and one group always asks to perform it during our annual June fiesta. Some years I have had the time to allow the children to add original actions for the ants to perform. Please note that is important to make sure your leader(s) are responsible and capable enough to be good models for the rest of the line(s) of ants. By the way, I teach this song in short segments; the children learn only one or two actions a week so that they master them before they go on to others as the children must listen carefully to the lyrics to know what to do next. I help the children learn the different motions well by giving them lots of opportunities for listening and reacting to TPR commands in a different order after we sing and move to the song. Eventually, the children are able to go through the entire song without the recording.
OTHER VISUAL AIDS AND MANIPULATIVES:
One option is a beautiful flannel board kit in color:
I have made 8-1/2x11” copies of photos of tropical rainforest animals from the Internet and then laminated them.
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR):
The children “form” rainforest layers with a set of chairs and 8-1/2”x11” animal cards. It’s very important to have girls work with girls here and boys with boys. Each child holds up a picture of an animal that lives in that particular layer of the rainforest. For the bottom layer, a child sits crossed-legged on the floor, holding picture directly in front of chest. For the second layer, a child sits in a chair, holding the picture directly in front of chest. For the third layer, a child sits on the lap of the second child; s/he holds the picture straight up. For the fourth layer, a child stands behind the chair, holding the picture straight up in the air.
CHANT:
¡Vamos a las selvas tropicales! ¡ A ver muchos animales!
[Let’s go to the rainforest! Let’s see lots of animals!]
SPEAKING AND LISTENING:
We ask many, many questions during class time about having or not having tails; number of legs; in what layer the animal lives; if it is endangered; its size; its color; if it eats fruit or not; if it is bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, or insect; if it jumps/hops, walks, flies, or slithers.
CULMINATING EXPERIENCES:
Then when children are familiar with the rainforest concepts and vocabulary, each child selects an animal to make an oral presentation about. I provide a set fill-in format and the children write in the appropriate answers. They stand on a little stool in front of the class and recite about their animal. The child has drawn a picture of the animal which is glued to the opposite side of the report so the rest of the class can see the picture and follow along. I ask for volunteers. The children who need extra support will usually volunteer last as by then they have heard the report format many times before coming to the front. I always am available at the side of the speaker should s/he need assistance. Everyone participates and it is a positive experience.
The children also make their own mini-rainforest with a template (file is available below) and stickers I make with labels and clip art and enlarge the template to be copied on 11x15” paper. The children stick their assortments of animals in the appropriate levels and color the sun to denote lots of sunlight, some sunlight, little sunlight, or no sunlight for each layer.
