Kindergarten Day with a Twist

About every other Friday I have "Kindergarten Day" with my groups.  I read a children's book while students sit on the floor and enjoy the story, just like Kindergarten students do.  I have them interact and participate in the process as I pause and ask them questions about the characters, or when I ask them to predict what will happen next.  I use regular children's books, or books from the Reading A-Z website. It is a paid subscription, and it is well worth it! There are books in English, French and also Spanish.  The great thing about it is that they adjust to your needs, and also are based on high frequency words! I am lucky to have a SMART board  and the Reading A-Z books have a "projectable" version that allows me to turn the page, hide text, color and/or write on the board if I want to.  Some of the books also have worksheets that are fun to use after the reading.  Before beginning the reading, I show them the cover of the book, and we try to develop as much background information about the character as possible.  This is a great review of things that they have learned, and will not be covered in the story.  It also takes them to the highest levels of the Bloom's Taxonomy, because they are applying and creating!  I write on the board what they come up with, such as name, description, family members, where does the character live (city, house/apartment, description of it etc.), hobbies, you name it! I help them by underlining words that can lead to more detail.  For example, if a student says: "she lives in a house", I underline "house", so that the next person sees that s/he can expand on that topic and add details to the house.
This time, I brought "Goyo el Pollo" (as I named it!) which is a toy that I just bought to play the "hot potato" game.  We used ten minutes to play it, and the student that "lost" had to give me background information on the character.  This was a great variation, as I saw students more engaged in the process.
After the game, I had a lot of information about the girl in the story:  family, parents' occupation, siblings, house, grandma was a millionaire because she played baseball with Felipe Alou, etc.
Then, I read the book, and did "circle"  the target structures.
After the book was read, I asked questions about the details of it, and also about the target structures to make sure they were acquired.  Then, we moved on to the worksheet.  The worksheet was very simple as it is truly for Kindergarten students, but still helped reinforced the target in a relaxed way that I realized worked as a great brain-break too!
We all had a lot of fun, learned a lot and closed our work week in a happy note.

Promoting Student Involvement & Creativity

One of my biggest challenges in the classroom is to find innovative ways to keep my students' interest and help them develop fluency.  TPRS has been one of my favorite tools to accomplish that, but sometimes it is difficult to engage students in the creation of stories. 
During my commute home last night, I heard on the radio about the "scandal" caused by a video from a security camera inside of a hotel's elevator in NY, where Beyonce's husband was "attacked" by his sister-in-law.  It is a three minute video that you can watch here.  Since it is a video from a security camera, there is no audio and now the media is going crazy speculating reasons why this happened.  So, I decided to do the same in class... let's speculate and figure out what happened!

1) I printed out pictures of the three famous characters, placed them in plastic sheet protectors and tied yarn to them, so that student-actors could "wear them".

2) In Spanish, through Comprehensible Input I told students that we were going to be "investigators" and find out the reasons why this woman was so mad at her brother-in-law, and why Beyonce didn't do a thing to defend him.
3) We watched and described the video in Spanish, Movie-Talk style. 
4) We selected student-actors to recreate the scene, (including the bodyguard) and we added dialogues.  It was a blast!
5) After the story was finished, they did a timed-writing, and also retold the story orally using their own drawings.

I adjusted the same plan for all my levels, with Spanish I being simpler, and my Spanish 4/5 more complex.  With the higher level we talked about what they "had done" and ended up with something like:  They had danced a lot, had sung a lot, and had drunk a lot of milk.  All of them, except for Solange (Beyonce's sister) had eaten something, but she hadn't... that is why she was in a very bad mood, OBVIOUSLY! :)  In the elevator, she told Jay Z that his music was very bad, and he responded that he had hit her puppy.  Then she tried to hit him, while the bodyguard tried to stop her and JZ yelled "protect me!".  Students decided that Beyonce was sleeping in the elevator, and didn't notice a thing. 
I over-heard students as they walked out, saying that this had been the "must fun story this year!".  What made it so fun?  We do these kind of stories all the time!  It must be the so called "connection to the real-world"... they can discuss something that actually happened.

Another Approach to Clarify Preterite and Imperfect

Every year when my students ask "When do you use CAMINÓ instead of CAMINABA?" I feel overwhelmed (and a bit scared!) because I know that I don't have a way out, and I have to explain when to use preterite and imperfect.  Teaching through Comprehensible Input implies avoiding grammar rules and memorization, as we are trying to use words in context knowing that eventually students will "get it".
This year, in my attempt to find a quick solution that will satisfy the need of an answer without making it a long lecture and a list of rules to memorize, I used the picture below from "Where's Waldo?"

I explained that the decision to use preterite or imperfect is based on the intention and the perspective that we have in our messages.  I had them look at the picture on my SMART board, and look at all the different situations in it.  For example, let's look at the bottom of the picture, left corner.  If my intention and the main event is to say that a woman took a picture of her husband (preterite= what "happened") while three women were flirting  (imperfect=what "was happening") with a muscular guy, I say "la mujer tomó una foto de su esposo mientras tres mujeres coqueteaban con un hombre musculoso".
The imperfect is the "background" of the picture that we want to paint for our listener/reader, so that s/he has a bigger idea of what happened.  If my intention, or the "main" event that I want to tell is that three women flirted with a guy, and a woman was taking pictures of her husband is the background (not the main event of my message), I switch perspective:  "Las tres mujeres coquetearon con el hombre mientras la mujer tomaba una foto de su esposo." I had some volunteers do this in English.  They looked at one specific situation and chose it as their "main event, or reason for the message".  Then, tell the class what event was that, and describe what was happening around it. There were a lot of expressions such as "ahhh" and that made me happy!
I don't know if this helps you, but certainly my students said that this exercise clarified this subject for them. Do you have any ideas to facilitate comprehension of this topic?

Organizing Ideas During Movie Talk

One of my favorite activities in class is the use of short films, commercials or animations to provide comprehensible input and lots of repetitions to my students in a very compelling and engaging way.
The technique is called Movie Talk. 
Basically, you choose a short video (preferably no longer than 5 minutes) that contains the vocabulary or structures that you are interested in.  Then you play it in class, pausing when the image shows what you want to describe, and providing the repetitions that your students need to acquire the structures, TPRS® style.  This is beautiful because it is totally in context, the images are entertaining and students are following very attentive, because they want to know what will happen next. 
When I first began using the technique I would play it all first for students to enjoy, and then replay it to pause and talk.  This year, I modified it after seeing Cynthia Hitz's blog posts on the same topic.  It did make a difference, because students' attention is not the same when they have already seen the end of the story.  Duh! :) Martina Bex has also a very resourceful blog, and she has been posting a lot of ideas on how to use Movie Talk.
In my opinion, based on my own experience, the key to Movie Talk is to have very clear what your targets are for the lesson.  It is easy to go crazy on details! You still will describe and talk about many other things that are shown, but it is crucial to focus on a limited amount of vocabulary.  The rest is the "frosting on the cake", it is what provides the context for the comprehensible input that your students receive.  This is a great way to differenciate: according to their level and abilities, students will get just the right amount of that "frosting", and still you will have the whole group meeting your target.
After collecting the writings of my level 4 class this week, I saw that many students were making the same mistake when using imperfect, specifically the verbs "era" and "estaba"  (was).  I thought that was a done deal! So, I decided to use Movie Talk to address the issue once again.  I am preparing a lesson using "Chicken or The Egg" , a fun animation about a pig who falls in love with a hen.  This time I made a graphic organizer (see below)to help students land all those ideas, and clarify their confusion.  It has two columns to categorize era/estaba, (target) and two other columns for the other preterite and imperfect verbs that we will include as the "frosting".
Students will have their handout, and I will have it on my white board as well, adding as I go through the video.  I hope this organizer will make a difference in facilitating the acquisition of these complex verbs and structures for my students.  What ideas do you have to improve this activity?

Evaluating Reading and Listening Skills

I am reading Felipe Alou by Carol Gaab with my Spanish 4/5 class. I got also the teachers guide from the

 website, which has helped me a lot with ideas and more!

This has been one of the most fulfilling units I have had since I switched to Comprehensible Input.  The book gives you the opportunity to truly reach  across curriculum and get into social studies, physical education, health, even current events! Before starting chapter 3, I had to introduce and practice "Deber" (must) using comprehensible input.  I used the power point to first get through some verb-conjugation for those students that need all the forms at once, however, I introduce them still using comprehensible input.  That part takes just a minute or two.  No explanation, just quick references such as:  what is the "N" in "DEBEN" doing?, pop-up grammar style.  Then, we go over the rest of the slides developing conversation:  I ask the question, and they discuss it with the student next to them.  Then, we discuss it as a whole class.



We have read 3 chapters so far, and watched the movie "En el tiempo de las mariposas"  , which is the real story of three sisters who suffered through the dictatorship that our book talks about.  So, my students have had the opportunity to really study the topic in depth, and now I wanted to test them in their writing, reading and listening skills. This time, I tried to do something simpler to test them.
1) For the reading part, I had ten questions based on the story that they had to respond using either English or Spanish.  The focus here is to test them on their understanding of my questions, not their writing. Most students responded in Spanish because "it is harder to switch back and forth!" :)
2) For listening, I read ten statements based on the story that they had to translate into English. (You will find the statements on the third page of the document).


3) For writing, they had to use past tenses and (for differentiation purposes) choose between three options:
        a) write a summary of the book (minimum of 100 words)
        b) Make a "hybrid": tweak the story introducing original parts
        c) Make your own original story with characters living in Dominican Republic during the dictatorship.
What do you do to test these skills in your classroom?

Make it relevant: Interviews to develop conversation.

In my search for helping my students make connections with the "real world" and apply their learning in context, I decided to begin student interviews in Spanish 4 class.  I found that activity in Cynthia Hitz's blog.  What makes student interviews great, is that they bring relevance into our classroom.  Do you remember the feeling when you could hold your first conversation in your target language?  Personally, that is what encouraged me to continue my English studies.  That "this works!" feeling is indescribable, and I really want my students to experience it.  As a first interview to set up guidelines and also to get students motivated, I invited my niece Isaura.  She is from Mexico, but right now is studying in Germany.  She is 19 years old, and obviously interested in languages, which made her a perfect prospect for this activity.

There was some preparation to make sure that our time was used efficiently, and to avoid the risk of the the activity turning into an improvised and chaotic session.
Before connecting through Skype:

1.  I asked my niece to write some questions that she could ask my students.  I gave each student a number, so she would call on a specific one to respond and engage in conversation.
2. I gave my students 15 minutes to write questions for Isaura.  I told them they could ask anything they would like, and also wrote on my board the following question words for them to have a start:

•¿Quién…?

•¿Qué…?

•¿A dónde…? (To where…?)

•¿En dónde? (in where…?)

•¿Cómo?

•¿Por qué?

•¿Cuántas / cuántos?

•Do you think that…? (Piensas que…)

I decided not to force students to participate, but all had to write their own questions anyway.  Forcing them would have taken away the fun and relaxed environment of a real-life conversation. Besides, it is all about the comprehensible input, isn't it?
So, students AND guest had questions to ask each other.  The conversation began.  Students had to introduce themselves before asking their questions.  After the natural nervousness of the beginning, they all relaxed and had a great time! I was making comprehension checks and other comments to make sure that every student was following, and also that the conversation had a natural flow.  When there was a pause when I asked for the next volunteer, it was Isaura's turn to ask them a question. No dead time at all!  Having students and guest ask questions helped the interview turn into a conversation. My niece was impressed with the ability that my students have to communicate, and students were thrilled to test their skills with a native speaker.  I believe that this activity gave them that "this works!" feeling I was talking about! Now we are all set for student interviews in our classroom. 

El Nuevo Houdini - Chapter 5

Today, we read Chapter 5 of "El Nuevo Houdini", from Carol Gaab.  In preparation for the chapter, I introduced structures for my students to acquire first.  Since I began teaching with CI/TPRS, we have been reading novels in group:  I read in Spanish and they do a group translation while I do pop-up grammar.  This is the first time that I let them read on their own, for a change... however, I needed to make sure that they had all the elements to succeed.  This is how it went:

1) I introduced new structures in context using the power point below.  For each structure, I have a sentence to present it and then converse with the group, personalizing as much as possible.  Students wrote each structure down and created their own example with a picture to illustrate in their notebooks.  Then, as suggested by Martina Bex I included in the powerpoint some practice sentences for students to translate, and see the structures in other verb forms. 





2) After circling each structure and students were responding without hesitation, I had them read the chapter with a partner.  They were able to call me for assistance if needed, but just a couple of them did it for a couple of times.

3) When they finished reading the chapter, they had to draw illustrations to retell the entire chapter, and practice. 

4) Then, I had them work in groups of 4.  Using their own drawings, they pointed at a frame and asked another member of their group to describe the part of the story depicted in that specific drawing.  They alternated students, pointing at a frame at a time until all frames from all students were told by a partner.

 

Since they were familiarized with the story, nobody had problems with the activity, and they had tons of repetitions of the target vocabulary and structures! They liked the independent reading and the feeling of success that it gave them.  However, I will not do it every time, since I think I need to emphasize the pop-up grammar and conversation that come with reading in group.  What do you do to vary reading in your classroom?