Most simply it’s language that the listener (or reader) understands. And it’s really important. So important, in fact, that Dr. Krashen (Linguist and Educational Researcher Extraor…
Are you looking for ways to use comprehensible input methods in your world language classroom? Check out this post on how to transition to CI methods!
One of my least favorite tasks as a teacher is to write substitute plans. I can take the easy way out and have the students watch a movie. Movies have a variety of value: there are movies in the target language that students don't understand, movies in the target language with English subtitles, and movies that are in English but are culturally rich. What other options are available? What will keep the CI flowing even when the substitute doesn't speak the language you teach? Why not have a Spanish teacher in another part of the United States be your sub? Wait...What? Thanks to teachers that are recording themselves telling stories in the target language and making a concerted effort to keep the information comprehensible, language teachers now have another option for substitute plans. Use the videos of other language teachers telling stories that are on YouTube and Vimeo videos, and voila, that teacher can be your substitute for the day! As more teachers are sharing their recordings online, I have been replacing old substitute plans with the new ones. Below are a few examples of how to write substitute lesson plans that will keep the CI flowing during your absence. The examples are of Spanish, but you can use the ideas for any language as long as you can find videos in your language. 1. Mike Peto! @mike_peto on Twitter Have you seen Mike Peto's videos on Vimeo? If not, click HERE for his Vimeo account page for a list of his videos. In the videos he tells fables or stories that he wrote using high frequency words. He uses any tense that is needed to tell the story, but no worries - he is a genius at making it comprehensible and he uses his /or actions in the story. At times, he writes the Spanish word and its English translation on the board. Some of his videos he recorded during the actual lesson with students, so you can observe his comprehension checks with the students. There are other videos that Mike made without any students in class because he made them specifically for an absence this month. The story I chose for my substitute plans on Monday (I will be attending my daughter's graduation to see her get her doctorate in physical therapy - yeah! - proud mom here) is "El cuervo tonto". First, my sub will hand out a paper with questions (see page 1 of 2 below) so students can read the questions to give them a heads up on the specifics they need to listen for. Then my sub will play the video and pause it when Mike instructs the students to sketch each part of the video. Students will answer the short questions during the story and complete the English translations as Mike explains them. I need to add that I don't always have questions for the students to answer. Two weeks ago I was out and my students watched Mike's video "la señora" and their only task was to listen to the story because we were going to discuss it the following day. When I returned the next day, I drew the same sketches as Mike did and paused throughout to ask students questions about the characters and what happened. So...questions are not necessary, but for some students it helps to keep them focused on the story. Click HERE if you would like to download the pdf of the questions for the "El cuervo tonto" story - 2 pages of questions/area to sketch and the answer sheets. 2. Pablo Román, @langdreamer on Twitter Pablo is cranking out videos about Spanish festivals and holidays, legends, and most recently, interviews with other Spanish speakers at the rate of almost one a day. Click HERE for his YouTube channel and check out his blog, Dreaming Languages. In the videos, Pablo is in the bottom corner and the rest of the screen he uses to sketch while he speaks to the listener. At times he inserts video clips to show a few seconds of an event that he is describing. Below is a sample of how to add reading after viewing a video. This is based on his video "St. Jordi". I used this video on a day when I was NOT absent, but with the paper attached below, you could leave it as a sub plan. 1. Watch the video. I paused the video at the end where you can see all of the sketches, and the students and I discussed and retold the story. If this is your sub plan, skip the retell until the day you return. 2. Distribute the paper and students will match the sentences to the screenshots of the sketches. 3. Distribute the script below for the students to read. The documents for this lesson are HERE. (To be clear, these lessons were NOT planned in collaboration with anyone, but rather I saw the videos online and then created lessons from the online videos that I can use in class.) 3. Cameron Taylor @Profe_Taylor Cameron is a Spanish teacher in Japan. His YouTube channel is HERE and his most recent (I think) video is "Habla demasiado". His technique is very similar to Mike Peto's, in that he tells a story and makes it comprehensible due to the vocabulary he chooses and the sketches. Please note that Cameron's purpose of making the videos was to share with others HOW he does "storytelling" with his students. It is was not shared with the intent to have other teachers use it for sub plans, but I quickly saw the possibilities in providing CI for a substitute plan with this, and other of his, videos. I do not have a specific document created for the story "Habla demasiado", but my students will read the story script after watching the story. Two variation on the story scripts (the written text) a. Omit a few details of the story in the script on a document you create and replace it with lines. Then together as a class, you can fill in the missing information and write it on the lines on the document. b. Ten Errors (or however many you choose). When you write the script, make 10 minor changes to the details. After the students have watched the video and after you have discussed it or acted it out, distribute the document with the 10 errors. The students' task is to find the erroneous information and replace it with the correct information. (i.e. - if the story said he had two dogs, change it to 3 dogs or to 2 cats.) 4. BookBox BookBox is a website with children's stories in the target language with subtitles. It has many books for Spanish, as well as a few stories for other languages such as French, Italian, Urdu, and more. This website also provides PDFs for you to download. I made a very basic story listening document with questions for my students to complete while listening and watching the story online. (The screenshot does not show the entire document. If you would like the document, click HERE.) OPTION: Instead of having students answer questions, the students could listen to the story one time. As they listen/watch it the second time, have them sketch the story that you can use as a retell using a document camera later in the class or on another day. These generous teachers, and the Bookbox website, are my new go-to lesson plans for substitute teachers. Feel free to download any of the documents that may be useful to you. They are available at no cost. HOWEVER, what I would like to ask in return, is if you like these options and create something to be used with a video similar to the story videos above, please share it with me. :-)
This post has reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities to use in your world language classroom! Perfect for teachers trying CI!
I like to include listening activities in my Spanish classes as much as I can. It can be seriously challenging to find good listening activities for lower-level students, though. Textbooks only have so many (good) listening comprehension activities, and it can be tricky to find recordings of Spanish speakers who speak SLOWLY and CLEARLY. Here are three great websites that I've found and used in my Spanish 1 and 2 classes: 1. Quia There are listening activities for Level 1 HERE and for Level 2 HERE. Click "Start now>>" and you will see 10 multiple-choice listening activities. Each time you reload the page, it will give you new activities. (Good news if you want more options, bad news if you want to bookmark the page and go back in the future for particular recordings.) There are probably 30 listening activities that Quia randomly picks and loads on the webpage. Quia provides multiple-choice questions for each listening activity, so you can use those or make your own! I like to go through and listen to all the activities and record the ones I want to use in class. I used Audacity to record them, which is a free program you can download on your Mac or PC. It's super easy to use, and then you can save the recordings to your computer and use them year after year. 2. 123TeachMe There are listening activities for Novice Low HERE. There are 39 "groups", and each has two audio recordings. I just go through and listen to a bunch of them and record the ones I want to use in class. These recordings show up in the same order every time you load the page, so you can pull up the website in class and play the recording(s) you want. The website includes a question for each recording, so you can use that one or create your own! 3. University of Texas A reader sent me this link, so many thanks to Amanda B! The University of Texas at Austin has Spanish proficiency exercises, organized by Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior. You can choose various topics for each level, and then there are several speakers from different Spanish-speaking countries, so your students can hear a variety of accents. You could easily pull this website up in class and play the recording you want, or record in advance whatever you want students to listen to. I hope these ideas have helped you include more listening activities with native speakers in your lower-level classes! Where else do you get good listening activities? I'd love to hear other suggestions!
Learn how to design a midterm or final exam for a proficiency-oriented language course. Find out what to include and see examples!
This page is dedicated to the best practices of language acquisition. Memes and quotes about language learning. Please feel free to pin these to pinterest. If you share on your social media, please…
Do you want to help students increase their spanish proficiency? Try reading more Spanish stories to increase comprehension and engagement!
"Mónica" in the book, Fiesta Fatal I've been reading the book Fiesta Fatal, written by Mira Canion, with my Spanish 2 students. Mira's goal, when writing the book, was to create a book that was level appropriate for second year Spanish students and she succeeded in accomplishing that goal! If you're looking for a comprehensible level 2 book that has an interesting storyline, this is one book you should strongly consider. Today we read the last chapter of Fiesta Fatal. Some students volunteered to read the lines for the main characters in the chapter. I always look for ways in which students can interact with the text, so after reading, I projected the below sketches onto the board. We reviewed what happened as students said sentences in Spanish that matched the sketches. If they were uncertain about what to say, I allowed them to refer to the book. Find the download of the worksheet to the left HERE. After the students were familiar with the sketches I paired them up with a partner and distributed squares of paper that had the same sketches on them and gave them the following instructions: 1. Put the squares on the desk face down. 2. Randomly choose two cards and turn them over. 3. Decide the order of the two cards. 4. One partner says a sentence in Spanish to describe the sketch that they decided happened first in the chapter. The second student says a sentence to describe the second sketch. 5. The students choose a third paper, turn it over, and say a sentence to describe the sketch. 6. They they decide if that sketch is before the other two, in between the other two, or at the end of the first two sketches. 7. When the 3 sketches are in the correct order, they take turns saying a sentence for each of the sketches. (Student A describes sketch #1, Student B describes sketch #2, Student A describes sketch #3.) 8. Students continue turning the papers over, one by one, putting the new card in the correct place, and taking turns once again to say a sentence for each sketch. 9. When they were finished, they called me to their desks and I listened to their retell of the story. To download the two sheets of sketches shown below for the retells, click HERE. (The sketches on the sheets below are not in any particular order. Feel free to substitute any, or all, sketches that you are able to sketch better than I have done.)
I am doing a traditional written final with my Spanish 1A (7th grade) and a project-based final for Spanish 1B (8th grade). Borrow any of these resources if they work for you! 8th grade Spanish 1B …
Call and response signals are an effective way to save class time by grabbing students' attention quickly and helping them transition to the next activity.
I’m going to tell you about a game that is great to play with your students when you want to get them up and moving! I love to play this game with stem-changing verbs, but any kind of verbs c…
This is one of my favorite CI games. It is so easy to load them up with tons of language they’re reading and hearing, and they don’t even know it because they’re focused on winnin…
Why are Spanish learning games so effective? Here are just a few reasons: Games are fun! When our students are absorbed in a good game, their affective filter is lowered. This means they are more relaxed and they can more easily acquire new language. Students are invested during games. Even if their main focus is winning, we get increased focus and engagement, which is a win for us. Games create good vibes. When we add that element of fun and competition, we trigger the 'happy emotions' in our students and create good feelings about coming to class. Most games naturally involve language. Sometimes activities can
Don't drill and kill the preterite. Make the preterite fun and soon your students will be talking fluidly about what they did and what happened in the past. Here are some ideas and activities that will make studying the preterite tons of fun for students.
Do you want to help students increase their spanish proficiency? Try reading more Spanish stories to increase comprehension and engagement!
Everything you need to know about Teaching a Novel in Spanish Class. Using comprehensible inout based readers in Spanish class.
Whether you are new to teaching language through USING the language or a pro with years of experience, there is no doubt that providing tons of input in the classroom can be taxing. It is fun to st…
Stations are a great way to get in a ton of review with your students. Check out 27 activities for stations in Spanish class in this post!
We’ve all heard of “boot verbs” to teach the conjugations forms of stem-changing verbs. Take the i–>ie stem changing verb querer: Cute, right? Well, sure….If you wa…
Spanish adjectives is a unit that appears at the beginning of almost any Spanish I curriculum. What middle school or high school student doesn’t love talking about themselves or their friends? As Spanish teachers, our number one goal is to motivate students to communicate, so why not choose a topic that they already love, right? ... Read More about How to teach Spanish adjectives
A teacher tells how she taught Spanish effectively by using authentic projects—and rethinking her textbook.
So you want to teach your kids Spanish? Welcome. Starting at a young age is the best gift you can give them - and it's never too late! This page gives you everything you need to get started: Spanish lessons organized by theme, free printables, and advice on teaching a second language. You can start today! How Can I Help You?1. I Want to Teach My Kids at Home:Free Spanish Lessons for Kids (6 PDF Units)2. I Want to Find a Spanish Teacher:The Best Online Spanish Class for Kids3. I Want More Spanish ResourcesApps, Games, Songs, and More4. I'm Teaching
Most simply it’s language that the listener (or reader) understands. And it’s really important. So important, in fact, that Dr. Krashen (Linguist and Educational Researcher Extraor…
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Lerne Spanisch Vokabeln mit Bildern und veranker sie langfristig im Gedächtnis! Wähle aus verschiedenen Themenbereichen für Spaß und Abwechslung.
I use this poster to teach: Colors in a dual language classroom. This is a great resource to help students develop vocabulary, read and write in both languages.
Check out these helpful Spanish alphabet activities to your Spanish students master all 27 Spanish letters and sounds.
Spanish sentence strips to make mini-books for fluency practice. 4 sets of 7 sentences describe pictures with high-frequency words. Free download.
Aa [car] Bb [book]/ [vote]* Cc* [cart]/ [ceiling] Dd [door] Ee [stem] Ff [focus] Gg [good] Hh* No sound Ii [knee] Jj* [hat] Kk [key] Ll* [love]* LL ll [your] Mm [much] Nn [name] Ññ* [canyon] Oo [boring] Pp [post] Qq [quality] Rr* [ring] RR rr* [arrogant] Ss [soon] Tt [take] Uu [rule] Vv* [vote]/ […]
Los colores worksheets match English to Spanish and color by numbers.
While some countries start the week on Monday, there are also some of them that start the week on Sunday. It is related to culture and religious traditions.
