During the last two weeks of school, students in sixth-grade Spanish explored Hispanophone countries and food vocabulary through a creative activity involving food trucks. First, they were each tasked with researching a Spanish-speaking country—like Ecuador, Cuba, Argentina, or Venezuela—and authentic foods from that respective culture. Next, they brainstormed, planned, and designed a miniature model food truck and a menu, both representative of their selected country. Finally, it was time for the Food Truck Festival!
On the days of the festival, the food trucks were on display in the classrooms of Middle School Spanish Teachers Dhaniela Sousa-Charleville and Marcela Casco-Lee. Señora Sousa-Charleville had decorated her classroom with flags of the countries that students were presenting. The scene was set for the sixth graders to interact with their classmates in Spanish!
Taking the food-truck stage, each small group of two to three students presented information about their selected country to their classmates. Then, it was time for a role-play activity. One student from the audience was chosen at random to join the stage as a customer. Each of the sixth graders, in front of their peers, assumed the role of a customer, chef, or cashier. In Spanish, they practiced food vocabulary, relayed descriptions, stated preferences, communicated prices, ordered food, and engaged in simple interpersonal conversations. The conversations were dynamic, expressive, and filled with laughter.
Upon reflecting on the experience, Brenda Huang ’32 said, “I learned that real communication in different languages doesn’t require a script, but it requires a reaction to who I was talking to. I was very surprised that I did well off-script because I usually read off a script or forget what I’m saying. This time, I learned to respond on the spot, without a script, and to communicate authentically, which was slightly challenging.” Huang also enjoyed creating the food trucks, sharing, “We got to add small ‘Easter eggs’ into the design to incorporate the culture.”
Adiya Zei ’32 agreed about the challenge. ” I thought that the role-playing was both challenging and fun,” she stated. “Because it was on the fly, there was no reading from a script because the customer could ask any question. That also gave this assignment some fun!”
Another student got a lot out of the experience, too. “Role-playing forced me to think quickly and speak Spanish naturally,” shared Viaan Kenguva ’32.
“I learned in this food truck project that presenting in front of other students is hard, but once you take a deep breath and believe in yourself and your project, you will relax and present very well with ease, and it will start to be fun,” added Maddie Ochieng ’32. “I also learned that super hard work can actually pay off and that you can do anything with determination and perseverance. What surprised me was after the presentations started and when we came up to present, I actually really relaxed during the presentations and started to have fun presenting with my peers. The role-play challenged me a lot because it required me to memorize my script and to practice a lot within such a short time frame. I was super nervous, and to complete this task, I had to persevere, even though I thought of giving up. My favourite part was the presentation itself because after watching my peers present, something clicked, and I could easily understand what they were saying. This made me realize all the growth this year because when I started, I knew absolutely no Spanish, but all of these tests and projects have helped me get this far. The role-play in Spanish that we did was pretty challenging but really mind-expanding. I learned so much from that experience, and I would definitely do it again next year!”
This activity was inspired by the Upper School Spanish Food Trucks project that was done in the past. “We adapted the activity to fit the sixth-grade Spanish language level,” explains Señora Sousa-Charleville. “Students really enjoyed it!” This was the first time sixth graders conducted a food truck festival in Spanish.
What a fun, delicious way to wrap up the school year in Spanish!