ACTIVITY: The Hispanic game, "Miron...Micon" (an outdoor activity).
Adaptation:(12 kindergartners) Two children hold and cross hands, pretending to be a closed bridge. The rest of the students line up and follow the teacher while she sing the song, el mirón. Teacher and student walk around the two children, when these two students hear the part of the song that says, "...que pase el rey..", they open the arm like an open bridge. The teacher and the students pass under the bridge; the last child in the line gets caught. The two children (bridge) have previously selected a name of a fruit for each of them. Then, one child will ask the child they have caught, "¿Qué quieres, manzana o naranja?" That child has to choose one name of these fruits and stand behind the child that represents such fruit. The two children (bridge) have to change their name secretly. These steps would repeat until the line of children ends. Then the teacher asks, ¿Cuántas frutas tienes tú?, pointing at one of the two children. The other students will count in Spanish. The one with the most "fruits", (children), wins.
EXTENSION:The teacher can use the game to teach vocabulary. For example, instead of fruits' names, the children can use the names of animals.
CORRELATION: Language is culture. Culture can be exposed in games.
RATIONALE:The value of games. Games have been defined as "recreational activities characterized by organized play, competition, two or more sides, criteria for determining the winner, and agreed-upon rules." Children's interest in games with rules emerges during the stage of concrete operations (7-11 years old). Around that time, games become an important activity within the peer culture and a resource to encourage meaningful social interaction. "Becoming a student: Messages from first settings." David E. Fernie