Fulbright Distinguished Teacher Award 2016-2017 Daria Pizzuto WAMS • Funded by the Department of State • Students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists • study, teach and conduct research • Merit based: academic and professional achievement, and leadership • The Program operates in over 160 countries worldwide. • 45 U.S. citizens will travel abroad through the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program in 2016-2017. Chile • Robust literary tradition • “Land of Poets” • Nobel prize winners: Gabriela Mistral and • Pablo Neruda. • Miguel de Cervantes Prize: Jorge Edwards (1998), and the poets Gonzalo Rojas (2003) and Nicanor Parra (2011). • Tremendously rich children’s literature tradition The Adventures of Juan the Little Asparagus - Teaching Spanish through Authentic Literature • true middle grade books are something of a rarity • it is challenging to find a true authentic middle grade novel written in Spanish by a native Spanish- speaking author. Purpose • • to thoroughly examine and analyze Chilean children's literature and use it as a foundation to create an innovative, literature-based Spanish curriculum to be used in American schools. • novels, poems, fables, short stories, graphic novels and songs • identify the best suited books • identify key culture components • explore grammatical/vocabulary possibilities, • create a meaningful, authentic middle school Spanish curriculum. Literature Review • significant differences in the students' communicative performance, in favor of literature- based instruction. (Bataineh, Rabadi, & Smadi, 2013) • Helps students acquire their life skills besides communication skills • incidental vocabulary learning through reading for meaning comprehension (Ahmad, 2011) • beneficial for low and intermediate learners, as it allows them to increase vocabulary gains (Restrepo, 2015). • Culturally authentic materials: Books, tapes, videos, games, and realia that have been produced for use by native speakers of the target language (World Languages, 2014). Benefits • Increase awareness between the two cultures • Get my WL students to read authentic children’s literature • Create PD workshops for teachers of various languages to encourage them to use incorporate literature into their curricula • NJ Department of Education in Trenton I’m happy to answer any questions. Thank you! .