Teaching Language With the Simple Novel “Soy Carlos”

“Soy Carlos” is available on Amazon and also through Bryce Hedstrom. You can get a digital classroom subscription through My Generation of Polyglots.

I first had the idea for a simple graphic novel while drawing out a story in class. I had a story template and drew a picture in each block with a caption underneath. I keep my drawings very simple because, well, that is about all the drawing I can do! But, my students had a great reaction to my simple drawings, which made me think there might be something special there.

Shortly later, my sister informed me that her husband was trying to learn Spanish. Language teachers know that language is best acquired through reading, so I began to think about how I could make the language as accessible as possible. These two instances led to the birth of “Soy Carlos”.

I had the remarkable opportunity to hold a virtual conference, hosted by the one and only Mike Peto, to share how I teach using “Soy Carlos”. You can watch a recording of that conference here!

So, here is a breakdown of how I teach: Class begins by making predictions about Carlos. I let them share ideas in English, but I also guide them in Spanish with multiple gestures towards descriptions they will see later in the book. (alto/bajo, gordo/flaco).

I go through each page line by line:

1. I start by saying “Carlos dice: ” and then I read the line.
2. I then compare myself with Carlos, followed by re-reading the line to describe myself, instead of him.
3. I continue by comparing the line about Carlos to students.
4. I then re-read the line and as students to respond to the line with “Soy similar” or “Soy diferente”.
5. I move on to the next line.

When I finish the page, I read the entire page again as written, and repeat it, personalizing the page to describe myself.

Here is a short clip of me teaching “Soy Carlos” from one of my classes.

Moving along this way, it can take up to 30 minutes just to get through one page, but this slow pace is important as it provides multiple repetitions, which are so essential to language acquisition.

To break things up, so the process doesn’t become too repetitive, I may sometimes change things up by having students read the entire page silently first or afterwards, the students may read individual lines out loud, we may all read together or we may “ping-pong” read (read the line in Spanish, and then repeat it in English).

I have also chunked the book into sections:

1. Pages 1-5 (physical description and personality traits)
2. Pages 6-8 (personal information)
3. Page 9 (favorite color)
4. Pages 10-17 (likes and dislikes)
5. Pages 18-20 (activities and more information)
6. Pages 21-23 (family roles)
7. Pages 24-27 (mom)
8. Pages 28-31 (dad)
9. Pages 32-35 (sister and pets)
10. Pages 36-41 (brother)
11. Page 42 (family review)
12. Pages 43-45 (friends preview and predictions)
13. Pages 46-47 (Marco)
14. Pages 48-49 (Leanna)
15. Pages 50-51 (Nalini and Chris)
16. Pages 52-53 (Friends and instruments)
17. Pages 54-60 (Group activities)
18. Pages 61-62 (Review)

After each section, students re-read the section silently and then we review it. One way we review it is by writing about Carlos in paragraph form. Another way re review it is by personalizing it. To this end, I created a document for students to make their own drawings. Feel free to download the document and use it in class! You will notice that every other page is upside down and the page numbers are not in order. However, when you print it, all you have to do is fold it in half and everything lines up!

For those of you teaching virtually, I have a Google Slides document (Soy Carlos student activity book) (Je suis Pierre student activity book) that provides students a digital way of creating their book. I still make my students draw, they just have to take pictures of their work and upload it into the document. In the “Speaker’s Notes” there are directions for each page and examples from the book. Feel free to make your own copy and personalize the activity for your own students!

One fun thing I do with the student template is give a little lesson (all in Spanish) about how to draw dynamic stick figures. I make it really simple and move step-by-step (This is how I draw a head; these are the body types I use; let’s talk about hair options!; eyes, nose and mouth; etc). The simple drawings lower the stress on students to be perfectionist or “good” artists.

Here is a clip of how I taught my students to create their cover picture for their own book:

I would love to hear from you! Are you teaching with “Soy Carlos”? How can I support you? What ideas do you have for teaching?