I organize many of the books in my classroom library in discarded library magazine boxes. There are boxes on all sorts of topics and genres, but my favorite is the Butterfly box, labeleBook Box Monarch Buttlerflies Betterd “Mariposas” in Spanish.

Monarch butterflies captured my imagination years ago when I was driving across the country in the early fall on the way to my brother’s wedding. Along the way, wave after wave of Monarchs were crossing the road. Millions of them. I was spell bound. How could there be so many? Can bugs actually migrate? How is that possible? Where did they come from? Where were they going? These questions have fascinated me ever since and I have read and collected everything I could get my hands on about Monarchs, much of it in Spanish. This is the very definition of compelling input.

I tell students that during Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) time, they can take the entire Butterfly box. There are books about Monarch butterflies of all levels in that box. If Monarchs pique their interest like they did mine, they could learn just about all they need to know about Spanish just by browsing the materials in that one box during SSR time.

Monarch butterflies grabbed me years ago, and I hope that they might also grab a student or two of mine along the way. I will keep searching for and collecting compelling materials to allow my students to immerse themselves in a subject that grabs them and won’t let them go as they read in Spanish.