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?

Celebrating the Holidays and Teaching Culture Through CI

I created a lesson to talk about Christmas traditions.  The targets were communicative and also cultural;  I want my students to be able to converse in Spanish about these celebrations, and also to compare and contrast their traditions to the traditions of other countries.
I chose high frequency vocabulary to use in this activity:

1) los dejan = they leave them
2) traen regalos = they bring presents
3) los ponen = they put them

Yesterday, I began with a Power Point introducing vocabulary and having students write down in their vocabulary lists.  We decided on a gesture for each of the structures and practice them with TPR. 

Then, following the power point, we continued with conversation as I tried to personalize each of the structures.  I pointed out the different verb forms in our conversation using pop-up grammar: "Pedro, tú traes regalos para tu maestra?" What does the "s" in "traes" mean?" etc.
The power point introduced them to Los Reyes Magos, and I explained (in Spanish, using their new vocabulary) what is that tradition all about. 
After the presentation and conversation/circling of structures, recycling old vocabulary, I asked them to do a Venn Diagram comparing Santa Claus and Los Reyes Magos.  I had them do this as a Think-Pair-Share activity, and then we created a class Venn Diagram on the board. 
Today, we watched the commercial "Santa vs Los Reyes" (below) using Movie Talk.  At the end of the powerpoint, I included screen shots of the commercial, so that students could retell with partners for more practice.  They enjoyed it! Afterwards, we used individual white boards: Students are in pairs, I ask a question and they write their answer on the boards and compare/discuss with partner.  Tomorrow we will write the story as a class (students dictate, I write on white board) and then have them write on their own.  What are you doing to celebrate the holidays and teach culture through comprehensible input?

Golden Rule: Never assume!

As I stated before, this is the 2nd year that I have been teaching using CI/TPRS.  This year I have a Spanish 3 class with students that I had never met (even when I taught the traditional method.)  I assumed that they remembered Reflexive Verbs and today, as I had planned to have a quick review to prepare them for the awesome lesson plan with Movie Talk that Martina Bex created and posted in her blog found here, I stopped when I realized that they were looking at me with a blank stare.  Then I asked:  do you know what is a Reflexive Verb?  No! they responded.  I assumed they did, because last year, with my Spanish 1 and 2 classes we used them regularly, and to my content they retained it over the summer. When they looked at me scared, I told them that they would know when I showed them, because we have been applying them via CI from the start of the school year.  I listed a few on the board, and when they realized that they were familiar, they relaxed. 
Then, I proceeded to use some TPR to introduce some of the most used to describe daily routines.  After doing gestures and sounds, I used PQA (Personalized Questions and Answers) to develop conversation and have students listen to the other forms besides first person singular.  We sang and did motions for  "La Rutina Diaria" .  The "review" that I had was longer than I expected, but this experience only reinforced my belief that if we teach students a bunch of isolated vocabulary words, and teach them lots of grammar rules to memorize, they will succeed in their tests at the moment but they will not retain the material unless we personalize it and make it meaningful.  Tomorrow we will reapply all of that and expand with the activities for the Movie Talk.
What big "a-ha!" moments have you had lately?

Thanksgiving Activity

 

Celebrating Thanksgiving

 On the day before our Thanksgiving break, (when students are just counting the minutes to leave) we did some activities that gave them a mental break but at the same time continued with the plan of providing comprehensible input as much time as possible.  With the target structures being: to give (thanks) in all verb forms.

1) Individually, I asked them to think of five things that they are thankful for. 

2) Then, in teams of three they had to narrow the list down to 4. 

3) Choosing a partner from a different team, students were to reduce the list to only two. 

4) Using only Spanish, I asked the group to tell me what the results were as I was writing the on the board. 

Lastly, I wrote the words (color-coding them): "lujo" (luxury) and "necesidad" (a need), and asked my students to categorize each of the words in the list.  When they were defining them, I circled other structure: "no toda la gente tiene..." (not all the people have...) and "por eso, es importante dar gracias" (that is why it is important to give thanks).  This is more or less how the circling went:  when they categorized "casa" as a need:

"Yes, it is a need.  Defined as a "lugar para vivir" (place to live).  Clase, does everybody have a place to live?  No, not everybody has a place to live.  There are people living on the streets.  Who lives on the streets?  Do I live on the streets? Clase, are there people living on the streets?  Are there people who are cold because they don't have a place to live?  Yes, that is why it is important to give thanks because we have a place to live."

With this activity, I circle the target structures not only by saying what they give thanks for, but reflected and engaged in conversation comparing their lives with other less fortunate people.  The point of reflecting was powerful! I saw it in their facial expressions.  Lastly, I had them choose two of the things that personally they were thankful for, and wrote them in a leaf or a turkey to post on the hallway wall.  If I could do it again, I would add a power point presentation with pictures of people lacking what students are thankful for, so that the reflecting part becomes more meaningful and also to provide more points of conversation.