Henry Morgan y sus bucaneros saquean el mercado. Capturan y torturan a la gente para forzarles a hablar.
Cruelty, chaos, intrigue, love and betrayal! This chapter’s got ‘em all and begs to be acted out. So, I did not pass out the books.
Instead, I chose two names from the box. I told them that one was Henry and one was Carlos. They came to the front of the class. (Before we began, I reminded them–in English–that this chapter required skilled, active, acting with lots of vocal and physical expression–and to gracefully bow out before we began if they thought they weren’t up to the job. Works every time. Everyone wanted in.)
In the first scene, Felipe gets away, the pirates capture Carlos, and Henry tortures him until he tells who has the map. The scene has just the right tone of threat and humor. It never gets too dark. I won’t tell you what happens to Carlos, but it’s not good.
As I narrate the text, the two students act. I often repeat sentences, ask for brief translation from the class, include the class in extra dialogue. I don’t want to lose them.
I love the dialogue parts. At this point in the year, their tongues are loose and willing to mimic my speech. They are quite familiar with the structures and much of the vocabulary. I say part of a line. They say part of line, mimicking the volume, intonation, emotion, etc. Sometimes we do it again, repeating it together. If it’s a really good line, the whole class gets in on it. One of my Henry’s took on a Marlon Brando Godfather voice during the speaking parts. Big fun. If my students were not so facile of tongue, I would do the Gaab Dialogue Trick: I stand behind the student and speak the dialogue while they just move their lips. It is always hilarious and relieves them of producing before it is really time.
When they speak, they don’t receive any CI (but, of course, they just got some the very moment before). What they get is an intense reason to listen and understand, so that they can sound “real” and get positive feedback from their peers–the most important thing in the universe. The dialogue in this book is cunningly repetitive. Hats off to the author one more time.
I chose two more actors and they came to the front. In this scene, we find Felipe with Antonio. Antonio realizes his life is in danger and that his girlfriend, Raquel, is in the market , trapped by the pirates, and doesn’t know where he is. Antonio comes up with a plan to use Felipe to find Raquel and get her to the arranged meeting place so that they can all flee Puerto del Príncipe. In this scene, we see that Antonio indeed appears to care for Raquel. We see his intelligence and strategic thinking. Felipe doesn’t show a lot of leadership qualities, but seems dutiful and loyal.
OR IS HE? I can’t tell you what happens next, but in the last scene, both Antonio and Raquel (another ticket from the box) end up with shattered hearts. My students watched, rapt during this part. The actors had little to actually do. However, I can guarantee the student audience received 100% comprehensible input as they SAW the action and emotions while I read the text–compelling content, for sure. (You’ll have to get the book!)
Their minds were abuzzin’ after that! Class was over and they wanted to make PREDICTIONS about where this story was going. Had to shoo them out. I wonder if they realize that the entire thing was in Spanish. 
