This time of year, instead of dealing specifically with Halloween, I like to ask the question…What are you afraid of?
I start with this video. There is a worksheet to go with this video on the Real Language Right Away website. Here is the presentation I use for more input.
I have a list of common fears written on the white board in Spanish with a picture or a prop for each item. We then whip around the room quickly asking…¿De qué tienes miedo? We tally each person’s answer to find the most common fears for the class. I have students post their fears to a padlet with an image. I am always surprised that their biggest fear is usually spiders.
You can also have the students rank order their fears with a partner.
I like to give students this slide with links to songs, books, and videos related to things we fear. Basically it is a google slide with a background, layered with images, and links to book sites and Youtube videos. Click here to get a copy with the links.
I found some inexpensive books at Walmart and the dollar store in English. No problema, I made them bilingual by writing the Spanish word with a Sharpie.
A picture book can generate a thousand words. The book Good Night Gorila contains less then a dozen unique words but with it, I can generate a week’s work of lessons and discussions.
It’s not about how many words are in the book, it is about how many high frequency words I can use to describe it. I can add as much detail or as little detail as my students can handle.
Before the story I can build background knowledge about zoos and animals. Have you been to a zoo? Where? Which is your favorite zoo? Have you ever seen a gorila? Do you have a favorite animal? I can take a survey or launch a poll. I have them post their favorite animal on a padlet.
Here’s an example of the story being told in the simplest form.
And an example of the story being beefed up for upper levels.
I basically tell this story. There is a gorila. There is a mouse. Do you see the mouse? The mouse has a banana. There is a guard. The guard is tired. He is going home. He says goodbye to the little gorilla. The gorilla sees the keys of the guard. The little gorilla has a secret plan. What do you think he is going to do? The gorilla steals the keys. The little gorilla opens the door of the cage. He escapes. He does not close the door. The mouse escapes also with his banana. The gorilla and the mouse follow the guard. The guard does not see them. The guard says good night to the elephant and so on with the other animals. I can repeat key phrases like opens the door, closes the door, escapes, does not see, walks behind, says good night, sleeps, is afraid of, is not afraid of. I can describe the animals in more detail with colors and size. I can see if anyone is afraid of elephants, mice, lions or other animals. Here is an example of me telling the story in French and in Spanish.
I can make the setting cultural. I can make it the Parc Zoologique de Paris or Loro Parque in Madrid. We can investigate… do they have zoos in France and Spain, in all countries? We could then take a virtual field trip. We can make cultural comparisons. We can research and debate, are zoos good or bad for animals?
Reading skills like inferencing, sequencing, summarizing, and predicting can be incorporated throught questioning. Where do you think the animals are going? Are they going to run away? Is the wife angry? Is she afraid of the animals? How do you know? We can change the story or change the ending and have all the animals spend the night, or go on an adventure.
Open up a Jamboard, pair up students and play flyswatters or tic tac toe virtually. Afterwards, have students drag pictures in story order and practice retelling the story.
There are several ready made activities to practice the vocabulary in French with this quizlet. Here are a few in Spanish. Here is a couple of Kahoots for Spanish. Here is a Gimkit in Spanish. Here are some more follow up activities in Spanish.
The objective is for students to retell a simple story. Here are some Popscicle stick puppets to make retelling the story a little more fun.
For assessment here are some comprehension questions in French and Spanish and some drawing activities in French and Spanish.
For another option, plan a trip to the zoo. Your family is going to visit Paris, France over Spring break. Your family loves animals and wants to go to their zoo to see what similar and different animals they have. Pick the time when you can go (day and time), find out how much it will cost (in dollars and in the Euros). Find the map of the zoo so you have it handy. Also, identify 6 animals you want to see.
And still we could study animal habitats, talk about animals we are afraid of, discuss animals we eat, which animals make the best pets, which animals in danger of extintion, and there are so many fairy tales bassed on animals. The possibilities from one little 12 word book are endless.
It is important to greet each student as they enter the classroom. Some teachers use passwords in order for students to enter the room. For password ideas use high frequency words and rejoinders. The social studies teacher next to me greets his students at the door with an either or choice each day, soccer or football, cats or dogs, cake or pie?
I assign seats from day one. Assigned seats reduce anxiety for students by taking away any concerns about where to sit or who to sit with. Assigned seats help establish your authority, show that you are prepared and save time. I usually just make a seating chart alphabetically for the first day but sometimes I use my 40 animal cognates as seat finders. I make two copies of the animals. I tape one animal to each seat and then hand out a matching animal at the door as they enter.
An entry task on the first day of school is to write your name on an index card and list 3 facts about yourself. I collect these cards and put a rubber band around the class set and store them in a recipe file on my desk. I use these to randomly call on students, to form groups, to get to know the students, and to create classroom connections.
Each day I pick an interesting fact from someone’s card and read it to the class. For example it might say “I have been to Hawaii.” I say anyone who has been to Hawaii stand up. Everyone who has been to Hawaii stands up and we make connections around the room. I can ask follow up questions like which island, with whom, what did you do? I can say anyone who wants to go to Hawaii stand up. Then have everyone sit down and pick another card. I purposely look for things that I think a lot of people have in common, point out the connections, and look for opportunities for spontaneous interpersonal communication. I do a few each day until I have used a statement from everyone at least once.
I then do the About me presentation from the Creative Language Classroom. This is a great activity to show how I am going to teach and how they are going to learn as well as how much they can already understand with supports. There are templates in French, Spanish, and German that you can use to create your own presentation about you. There are also student information sheets in French, Spanish and German to get some information about the students using the target language.
Name Games – I like to play name games standing in a circle. I model “Me llamo Senora Johnston” “¿Cómo te llamas?” and then pass a ball to a student. That student says their name and tosses the ball to another student that has not been called on yet. They need to remember the order. Once everyone has been introduced, then add in a second ball. You can keep adding in more balls so that several are flying around. This can keep going as long as there is high interest. The key is to end on a high note and keep them wanting more. This activity can be built upon with many new get to know you phrases such as me gusta or soy de. For a variation establish a pattern and then introduce more items calling out the persons name you are throwing to.. se llama…
Hot potatoe is another name game played in a circle. I pass the ball around the circle while chanting “¿Cómo te llamas, cómo te llamas, cómo te llamas- tu?” When I say tu the student with the potatoe has to say Me llamo and their name. I vary the speed of the chant and how many times I repeat it. Later in the year we can play hot potatoe with pictures of vocabulary words or questions. The person caught with the potatoe when the timer goes off has to answer a question or describe a picture.
Another way to make connections is the game I call Te presento a in Spanish and Je te présente in French. Have the students make a name tag and stand in a circle. I start in the middle. I say Je te présente and say a student’s name. The students on either side of the named child race to wave and say “Bonjour” to the other child. The slowest of the two moves to the center of the circle and becomes the next caller. This forces kids to listen for the names of the kids on either side of them. After a few minutes have everyone find a new spot so they are next to different people and listening for other names.
The first week of school we play Heads up 7 Up to learn each other’s names. Select seven students to go up in front of the class. The rest of class sits at their desks and put their heads down and one thumb up.
The seven students walk around the room and each one touches the thumb of ONE person. Then, when the seven are back in front of the room, the students who have been chosen have to guess which student chose them. If they are right, they take that person’s place in the front of the room. If they are wrong, the person in front stays there to play another round. A variation for later would be to have the seven students have pictures of vocabulary words. Then the other students guess which vocabulary word chose them.
I first saw the Invisible Map lesson presented by Joe Neilson at the Stand up, Sit Down, Then What? Conference in Issaquah Washington in 1993…this was before Google maps. Joe could teach the geography of Spain including: capital, major cities, bodies of water and more by pretending that he had an invisible map. He would lower the map using an invisible switch and use sound effects, gestures, humor, and comprehensible input to make the invisible map come alive. It was amazing!
Now adays we can do this with google maps while staying 100% in the target language. I recently saw the amazing Benjamin Tinsley do a map talk at CI Reboot 2023 and I was blown away by the possibilities. For more information check out the post at the Comprehensible Classroom or Ben’s website https://www.afrofranco.com/. Ben has a free Haiti map talk script and other videos on his website. C’est fantastique!
To get started go to Google maps.com and click on the three lines in the upper left hand corner to change the map to your target language. Ben advises start from home, with your community. Help the students to realize that they have culture before they start making comparisons to other cultures.
To introduce a new word with out direct translation give them an either/or option that has an obvious choice. Seattle est une ville ou un océan? Teach the word city through your city. Establish meaning for words like river, country, mountains, capital, town, island, state, continent, coast, interior, north, south, east, and west while activating prior knowledge with places the students are familiar before investigating those places in the target cultures.
So I decided to start from home. I live near Seattle and right now we are getting ready to celebrate Seafair. This will be a great place to start with my students.
Here is a sample map talk script in English:
The United States is on what continent?
The United States is in North America or South America?
The United States is located in North America.
Is North America a continent or a country?
North America is a continent. It is not a country.
There are how many countries in North America?
Are there three, four, five or more?
There are three: Canada, the United States, and Mexico, is that correct?
The United States is in North America.
The United States is divided into states, right?
New York is a state, California is a state, Texas..
There are how many states in the United States?
Are there 48, 50, 60?
Washington is a state in the United States of America.
Is Washington a state or a country?
Washington is a state, it is not a country. The United States is a country.
Seattle is in the state of Washington.
Is Seattle a city or a state?
Seattle is a city, is is not a state. Washington is a state.
Is Seattle a big city or a little city?
Seattle is a big city.
Seattle is in the state of California? No, Seattle is not in the state of Californina. Seattle is in the state of Washington.
Seattle is a city or the capital of Washington?
Seattle is not the capital of Washington. Olympia is the capital of Washington State.
Washington state is not Washington D.C.
Washington D. C. is the capital of the United States.
Seattle is not the capital of Washington state or the United States.
I live in Bothell. Bothell is to the north of Seattle.
Bothell is a small city near Seattle.
Bothell is near Lake Washington.
Lake Washington is a body of water near Seattle.
Is Lake Washington big or little? Lake Washington is big.
Is Bothell a big city or a little city?
Bothell is a little city in the state of Washington.
Where is Seattle?
Is Seattle on the west coast or the east coast?
Seattle is on the west coast, it is not on the east coast.
Seattle is near the water, Puget Sound and Lake Washington.
Seafair takes place each year on Lake Washington
Seafair is a festival that takes place the first week in August each year in Seattle.
Seafair is an important celebration in Seattle each year?
What other celebrations are important in our culture?
This time of year, instead of dealing specifically with Halloween, I like to ask the question…What are you afraid of?
I start with this video. There is a worksheet to go with this video on the Real Language Right Away website. Here is the presentation I use for more input.
I have a list of common fears written on the white board in French with a picture or a prop for each item. We then whip around the room quickly asking… De quoi as-tu peur? We tally each person’s answer to find the most common fears for the class. I have students post their fears to a padlet with an image. I am always surprised that their biggest fear is usually spiders.
You can also have the students rank order their fears with a partner.
I like to give students this slide with links to songs, books, and videos related to things we fear. Basically it is a google slide with a background, layered with images, and links to book sites and Youtube videos. Click here to get a copy with the links.
I found some inexpensive books at Walmart and the Dollar store in English. Pas de problème, I made them bilingual by writing the French word with a Sharpie.
For extra practice, search Quizlet, Blooket, and Gimkit for De quoi as-tu peur? Moi? J’ai peur des serpents!
Anything we learn has to enter the brain through one or more of the five senses. The more senses we can involve in the input process the more likely the words will be retained. In addition, information we see is stored in a different place in the brain than information we hear, touch, smell, or taste. When there are more senses involved, there are more places the information is stored in the brain.
This is why it is important to use gestures whenever possible when providing input. I use gestures to establish meaning, for classroom management, to calm and focus the class, and to check for comprehension. I start with weather gestures, action words, body parts and the super seven and sweet sixteen verbs.
The steps are:
Model the gesture. It is best if the kids help establish the gesture but I always have a back up ready in case they don’t come up with one. Plus, it helps to not have five different gestures for the same word if you have five classes. Model the gesture while pointing to the word in the target language with English translation while saying it in the target language.
Delay the gesture. Say the word or phrase again but wait before you do the gesture to see if they are getting it.
Make a Mistake. Say a phrase and pretend to do the wrong gesture and see if they notice…then do it correctly.
Remove the model. Say the phrase and see if they can do the gestures.
To add variations, divide the class into groups and assign each group a differentcountry, city, or region of the target language. (I first learned this from the incomparable Jason Fritz.) Then give commands by country name. I teach gestures for weather the first week of school so I would break the class into three or four groups and say in the target language: in France, it is raining, in Canada, it is snowing, in Tahiti, it is sunny, and then mix up the weather and countries with several repetitions.
Give chain commands. Give three commands in a row and then say go. See if they can do the three gestures in that order while repeating the words again.
Have one half of the class demonstrate the gestures to the other half of the class. This is powerful because they can see it works. They can also see how quickly we can tell who knows the words and who does not.
Another reason to use gestures is to relax and calm. I use massage with body parts and breathing to begin class, especially when we need to calm our minds and bodies. For example: Massage your temples, your ears, your shoulders. Roll your head, then your shoulders. Breath in, breath out. I like the 5 finger breathing technique.
Use gestures to teach classroom commands and for classroom management. I start out each class period with the words and gestures for “Put your phone in your backpack. Take your air pods out of your ears. I need your eyes and your ears. I also teach gestures for look, listen, read, write, open your book, close your computer. You can also use gestures and unique movement opportunities for turning in papers or returning books. Some examples: Jump to the turn in trays. Walk backwards to your partner. Walk like a robot to the garbage can. Dance to the door. Swim to the pencil sharpener.
Use gestures to show comprehension. We naturally use gestures like raising our hand to ask a question, giving the ok sign, or showing thumbs up or down if you agree or disagree. We can teach them to signal when we are going to fast or they don’t understand. I have students shake their heads yes or no to show me they are paying attention. They need to stand up or sit down for either or choices. Even for true or false questions, I have them move to one part of the room or the other. And for a comprehension check, on a scale of 1-10 hold up your fingers how well did you understand?
The bottom line is if we don’t have their attention, no information is going into the brain. I tell the students that I can’t just open up their head and put French in their brains. I have to go in through one or more of their five senses. Gestures and movement aid in retention and they are just fun!
Have you tried Jamboard? Jamboard is a free interactive whiteboard at Jamboard.google.com. Or, go to google drive and select New>More>Jamboard!
Click the + button in the bottom right to create a new jam, or use one of the premade templates at the end of this post.
With Jamboard you can:
Add sticky notes, drawings, images, text and more.
Search Google and insert images or webpages.
Move images, texts, notes and drawings around on the screen easily.
Share your “jams” with others and let them collaborate.
Get an ariel view of your classroom.
Assign students to different frames of the jam
Connect your “roomies with your zoomies” via jamboard
Use Jamboards for social emotional learning, and daily check ins. How are you feeling today? Write your name on a sticky note and drag it to the column that describes your mood.
How are you feeling today according to the Chihuahua scale? Click on the sticky note, add your initials, and write the number that represents how you are feeling today and a sentence explaining why.
Use Jamboards to provide hooks, build background knowledge, preteach vocabulary, and make connections. I like to provide possible answers on the Jamboard as scaffolding. The question on this jamboard is what do you like to do in winter. When choices are provided, there is less chance students will resort to Google translate and they are reading and writing in the target language.
Use Jamboards to get to know student’s interests and make class connections. For this four corners, I said a hobby and they moved their sticky note to the corner that reflects their feelings for that hobby.
Use Jamboards to annotate text. Students can circle unknown or key words, highlight the main idea, underline supporting details, and use symbols to make connections or ask questions.
Use Jamboards to review text. In this example, after reading a story together, I changed some details from the story. Students were asked to find one wrong detail and rewrite it correctly on a sticky note.
Use Jamboard to play games. You can purchase or create game templates for tic. tac. toe, connect four, and flyswatters.
For connect four you need 42 questions, or 42 vocabulary words. You can have the students make the questions for you. When reviewing for a test, or a chapter of a novel, tell them to make four questions each: one multiple choice, one open ended question, fill in the blank, true or false. Research shows that when kids create questions for a quiz they do better.
Use Jamboard for assessment. You can duplicate a slide up to 20 times and assign students to a slide. Here is an example of a simple vocabulary match.
Gimkit, Blooket, Kahoot, and GooseChase are the four games we are going to play at the PNCFL Virtual Regional Conference this Friday night, March 5th at 7:30pm. Come experience how to play these games with your students and win prizes while learning. These are among my favorite games to play with students and here is why.
Gimkit is a gamified experience to help kids review terms. Basically, you can play several different games with a set of questions, problems, or vocabulary words. It is $59.88 per year, but I think it is worth it. They offer a 30 day free trial, with no credit card attached, and they allowed me to extend my free trial at least once. I love that GimKit was created by Josh Feinsilber when he was a junior at Issaquah high school in Seattle for a high school project. One lucky participant will win a year subscription to Gimkit in our raffle.
Classic Gimkit is similar to Kahoot but with more options. Students can compete in teams or individually. Student try to earn the most money by answering questions correctly. They can shop for power ups to receive more money per question, or buy insurance against wrong answers.
Teachers can also use the assignment feature to give homework. You set a due date, and students work through the kit at their own pace, answering questions until they reach a set goal.
What I like best about Gimkit is the different games you can play with the same set of questions. Trust No Oneis the new game mode in Gimkit very similar to Among Us. The objective of this mode is simple: locate the impostors and vote them off the ship. The core of this mode is the same as all other game modes: students answer questions at their own pace. However, instead of earning cash, students earn power ⚡️. The more power students acquire, the more they can help their side win!
Crewmates can use their power to run investigations on other players. Investigations help crewmates identify other crewmates. With enough investigations, you can rule out enough people to eventually find the impostors. Impostors can use their power to sabotage crewmate operations or blend in as a crewmate with investigation removers, fake investigations, and disguises. When it’s time to vote someone out, the teacher or a student can call a meeting. This is where students can discuss their observations, suspicions, and evidence. When the discussion ends, it’s time for students to vote on who they think the impostor is. The student with the most votes gets ejected off the ship. Students ejected can still participate in the game. Instead of using their power on normal actions like investigations, they’ll be able to donate their power to teammates to help their side win.
The Floor is Lava is another game mode in Gimkit. As much as they love to compete against each other, they are even better when they work together. All students work together for a common goal: tostay above the lava as long as you can!
There are other games in Gimkit we are still exploring: Humans vs. Zombies, Boss Battle, Infinity Mode, Super Rich Mode, Drained Mode, Hidden Mode.
KitCollab allows your students to create the Kit together. After students join the game, they will submit a question to be added. You can accept/reject the questions that come in. Then, you play a game of Gimkit with the Kit the class just made. This would be a great get to know each other activity by having students contribute 2 truths and a lie. A new feature on Gimkit is Ink, a place for students to publish their writing.
Blooket is another fun way to have your students practice different skills by utilizing various games modes to keep them engaged while learning. https://www.blooket.com/ Blookit is free, you can pay to upgrade, but you can do a ton with the free version. Students can play various games with the same set of flashcards or questions. Question sets can be imported from Quizlet. Sets can be assigned to individuals as homework or played as a class. Each game provides a quick tutorial. Again the classic version is a lot like Kahoot. Factory, Cafe and Racing seem to be the most popular games with students.
The games in Blookit include: Cafe, you have to feed your customers by purchasing food and serving them in a timely manner. In Factory you purchase characters who earn money for you, it includes glitches so you can mess with other people. In Battle Royale the class is in teams and races to answer questions fastest. There are power ups and slow downs. Tower of Doom is solo mode, students work through 3 different maps. Gold quest is another game in Blookit that is popular with my students.
Kahoot is an oldie but goodie. What sets kahoot apart from the rest is the ability to teach while playing the game. The teacher can control the speed of the game and stop after certain questions to explain answers or give examples. Kahoot is my favorite for formative assessment as we can see how many were right or wrong immediately while playing. Also, kahoot is the only one of these games where students who are not logged in can still see the questions and answers and therefore can still participate by writing their answers in the chat or on a piece of paper. Kahoot is still basically free and you can search and use sets from other teachers. Kahoot now has some new interactive features. You can add slides, embed videos and add multiple choice, true or false, open-ended, or puzzle type questions. You can teach from the kahoot or assign it as individual work.
GooseChase is an online platform that helps organizers create and run digital scavenger hunt experiences for team building, learning, public engagement, or a variety of other events. Each GooseChase game has a list of missions for participants to complete. You can create your mission list using a bank of 100+ tested missions or by designing your own from scratch.
Missions have a name, description, point value and an optional link or photo to provide extra information. Sometimes participants submit a photo or video, while other times participants check-in at a specific location or solve a puzzle or riddle.
Gimkit, Blooket, Kahoot, and Goosechase are great games for the classroom or distance learning and kids love them. Come and experience them with your colleagues this Friday night, 7:30 (PT) after the PNCFL general membership meeting. And tell us, what are your favorite games to play with students?
The best gift we can give any child is the love of reading. But how do you get a child who doesn’t like to read in their first language to read in a foreign language? Start by reading to them, telling them stories, teaching them browsing strategies, and providing time and resources. There are several free and low cost options for free voluntary reading during the pandemic.
There are several free websites with digital books.
The Stories First Foundation founded by Dr. Beniko Mason and Dr. Stephen Krashen, is a great website for online short stories.
I love ebooks for kids, it has over 1,400 books in French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and English.
Epic is awesome and has hundreds of books in French, Spanish, Chinese, and English. There are digital books, audiobooks, and videos at various levels. I selected some titles and linked them to this classroom library slide so students can just click on them. I change it every couple of weeks to include holidays or themes we are studying.
The Fable Cottage has free stories in French, Spanish, Italian, English, and German.
Cécile Lainé and Anna Gilcher have created a monthly publication in French called Le Petit Journal Francophone. Martin Bex has created Revista Literal, a collection of student created short stories.
Fluency matters has e-libraries and e-courses in French, Spanish, and German. Each e-library includes 5-6 books for as little as $2 per student.
Terresa Marrama, the Compelling Language Corner, has awesome e-books and e-courses in French, Spanish, and German. Most E-courses include the book, audio, and quizzes or activities. She writes mysteries and also LGBTQ+ friendly novels. She has FVR packages that include 9 books for up to 150 students for $100 for one year, or you can purchase individual titles beginning at $2 per student.
Mike Peto, My Generation of Polyglots, has e-books available on his website. Browse the eBook library with novels available in French, German, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. Subscriptions are $29.99 per book for 1 teacher and up to 300 students. I joined his CI master class and his e-books and Maravillas are included in the subscription, it’s a deal!
Puentesebooks is the website for Jennifer Deggenhart’s novels in Spanish and French. Many of Jennifer’s books deal with identity and how important it is to know who you are. There is a FVR package of 9 novels for $100 for 150 students in Spanish. For French, there is a 5 novel package for $100 for 150 students. Ebooks can also be purchased as individual subscriptions for $2 each.
Mira Canion has 8 Spanish books for up to 300 students for $258 for a one year subscription or $68 dollars for 1 book for up to 300 students, on sale through January 2nd, 2021. The French e-library includes 3 novels for $109.00 for up to 300 students. I love her novels, I use La France en Danger and we create our own Picasso Museum as we read the novel.
Tina Hargaden has an e-literature library for $199.00 with access to all books in several languages.
Fangloo is a digital reader subscription through Teacher’s Discovery. 35 readers in Spanish for $99 for a year subscription for up to 150 students. There is a free trial.
Nothing kills the love of reading more than copious post reading activities. When I read for pleasure, I don’t normally answer comprehension questions. I prefer to ask my students, did you like the story? Another option is to have students rate the book with a star system. How many stars would you give this book?
I don’t know about you, but getting students to talk when they do not have to turn on their cameras or microphones has been a struggle this year, and it looks like it will continue into 2021. Here are ten ideas to get reluctant students to respond in a zoom class.
Use the rename feature in Zoom. In addition to learning each others names, students can answer questions in the rename screen and learn more about each other. For example, write two words to describe your day. Or what is your favorite: hobby, month, class, food? What do you value most or want to be? Having a question of the day as an entry task, helps me know they did not just turn on their camera and go back to sleep. The answers can be used to start class discussions and form connections. Ask students… is there someone who has answered something similar to you? Is there someone’s answer you want to know more about? You can also use the rename feature to form groups or teams. I like the rename feature in gallery view when I want to see everyone’s name and answer at the same time.
2. Another option is to ask a question and have students write their answers or give story suggestions in the chat feature. You can allow students to answer privately in chat so that only you can see their answer. A fun idea I learned from Justin Slocum Bailey to build community is ask a question, for example: If you were invisible what would you do? Have students write their answers privately in the chat and then pick say three answers. Display the three choices and the student names and have students try to guess who said what.
3. Prime the pump. Show a picture related to a topic you want to discuss, then have students list the first three words that come to mind in the chat open to everyone. Then tell them to find someone with the most similar list to theirs. This will trick them into having a connection to the topic and provide them with some key vocabulary.
4. I like to use the polling feature in zoom. Students can express opinions, which story did they like best this week? What super power would you like to have? What is your favorite color? How are you feeling today? What are you afraid of? Students can predict the results ahead of time, they can also rank order their choices.
5. Be sure to include brain breaks, breathing exercises, and movement activities into your lessons. A scavenger hunt is one quick way to do this. Tell students they have one minute to go find something red. Have them hold their item close to the camera, take a screen shot and then have them hold their item far away from the camera and take another screen shot. Discuss one or two items, look for similar or unusual items. You can use these screenshots to do a short write and discuss. Here are some free scavenger hunt resources from Spanishmama.com
6. Use the white board feature in zoom, (although I prefer Jamboard but that’s a future post.) You and/or the students can write on the white board using the text or draw features. Students can listen to a story and draw a picture, or write a short text to demonstrate understanding. There is a stamp feature. Students can be given a choice of options and they stamp their choice.
7. Use conversation starters like would you rather? Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? Would you rather have three eyes or two noses? There area several ways you can have students respond. You can number the choices and have students hold up one finger or two. You can use the stamp feature on the whiteboard or just have students move or point to one side of the screen or the other to get some movement involved.
8. Students can also use the reaction symbols in zoom to respond. They can react with clapping hands, thumbs up, a heart, joy face, open mouth, and tada. How can we better incorporate these reactions to connect with students reluctant to speak or turn on their cameras?
In addition to the reaction symbols, teachers and students can give and receive nonverbal feedback using the symbols at the bottom of the participants window. Students can answer yes/no questions. They can express likes and dislikes with thumbs up or thumbs down. I can use the hand for questions, or to judge how many people think they know the answer before taking volunteers. They can tell me to go faster or go slower. They can also tell me they need a brain break, or clap to show appreciation.
9. Partner interviews, discussions, mixers, or group work can be done in break out rooms. I use them sparingly as I am finding that not all kids like the breakout rooms. As usual, clear objectives, a set period of time, and some accountability help. When coming back together be sure to ask them for their partners answers so they actually have to listen to each other to complete the task. I emailed each student a fake age between 1-100 and they had to find out each other’s fake age in the break out rooms.
10. Teach students to change their virtual background. Then they do not have to show their actual workspace if they do not want. There are several available through a google search. Students can also change their virtual background to answer questions like where would you go if you could travel now? Look for similarities among answers. Or post a picture of what you had for breakfast this morning, or would like to have for breakfast each morning. Who has the healthiest breakfast? Find a picture of your favorite animal or pet and post it to your virtual background so we can talk about it.
Teachers can change zoom backgrounds to include maps, locations, sweet 16 verbs, rejoinders, and question words. Keep pictures you want to use in zoom virtual backgrounds so that they are not in between you and the students, like they would be if you were showing a power point. You can put your entire presentation as Zoom virtual backgrounds and switch them as needed. This is a French version of a sweet 16 verb chart adapted from Mike Peto.
Finally, I encourage kids to say good bye to me either my unmuting, typing in the chat, or turning on their camera and waving goodbye to me. I ask them how I am doing and to give me some feedback. I tell them it is hard to teach to blank screens. And every once in a while a shy kid hangs around after class and tells me “Your doing a good job, you’re my favorite teacher” and it makes it all worth it. How do you build community and get reluctant students to respond in a virtual classroom? Share your ideas here.
