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.
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!
The objective: I can describe my family and friends. This includes family vocabulary, physical descriptions, ages, birthdays, hobbies, origin, professions, and more. I like to use the royal family of Spain to embed culture and hook their attention. I print colored photos of the royal family and describe each one as I create this árbol de familia on the board. I have students follow along and fill in the names on a family tree I found on this website.
After my presentation, I have them watch this video. There are some great resources at this website including a script for this video. I love this blog because it is written by a French teacher who teachers Spanish.
¿Quién es? Then a game of who is it?
Read these descriptions to the students and have them guess which royal you are describing.
Su cumpleaños es el 5 de enero, 1938. Él tiene ochenta y dos años. Él es viejo. Él tiene pelo gris. Él no tiene mucho pelo. No es delgado.
Ella tiene ojos verdes y pelo castaño. Ella es bonita y vieja. Su cumpleaños es el 2 de noviembre, 1938. Ella tiene ochenta y un años.
Ella es rubia. Ella tiene los ojos azules. Su cumpleaños es el 31 de octubre, 2005. Ella tiene catorce años. Ella es la futura reina de España. Es la primera al trono.
Él es alto y delgado. Él tiene el pelo castaño y ojos azules. Él tiene 51 años. Su cumpleaños es el 30 de enero, 1968. A él le encanta la vela.
Ella es guapa. Ella tiene pelo castaño y ojos marrones. Ella tiene 47 años. Su cumpleaños es el 15 de septiembre, 1972. Ella trabajó como periodista.
Ella es rubia. Ella tiene los ojos verdes. Ella es bonita y delgada. Su cumpleaños es el 29 de abril de 2007. Ella tiene doce años. Ella es segunda al trono.
Another option is to give students envelopes with the descriptions and the pictures and have them race to match them up.
Here is a link to some on-line activities for additional practice. How is your family similar to or different from the Royal Family of Spain? Would you like or not like to be a part of the royal family?
We go back to school on Monday, January 7th, 2019 and although we are well into the new year I am still going to start with New year’s traditions and resolutions. As a school we are planning to re-establish routines, rules, and relationships after the two week break. My goal is to do this in the target language while making cultural comparisons.
I start out with this song as they enter the classroom. The lyrics are just “Bonne année et bonne santé, tous nos voeux de bonheur” which is basically Happy New Year and good health, all our wishes for happiness. I write the lyrics and translation on the board as well as the question… How is the new year celebrated in France?
First they watch a couple Youtube videos and discuss a few of these infographics on my Pinterest page to build background on products, practices, and perspectives.
I use a presentation from Teachers Pay Teachers by Frenchified to introduce the traditions in France. After learning about traditions in France we can look at common resolutions in French.
Top 10 most popular New year’s Resolutions in French
Passer plus de temps avec ma famille. Spend more time with my family.
Perdre du poids. Lose weight.
Économiser de l’argent. Save money.
Arrêter de fumer. Quit smoking.
Moins boire. To drink less.
Faire du sport régulièrement. Exercise regularly.
Manger sainement. To eat healthy.
Faire un voyage. To take a trip.
Étudier quelque chose de nouveau. To study something new.
Faire plus attention à sa santé. To be more careful about one’s health.
Next, we talk about what we want for the new year in our lives. We go over common resolutions, including those that will improve learning and the classroom atmosphere. Here are some ideas for resolutions for kids in French. Pick out a template and have them chose some resolutions to write on the templates and display in the room or in the hallway.
After making our resolutions in French, I have everyone pick one resolution from their list to read aloud and quickly whip around the room and list them on the board. We compile our top ten resolutions and then compare them to the top ten in France.
Students can create their own graphics and cards to share on social media with family, friends, and teachers. There are so many free cards and images to create with if you give students some phrases to work with and have them go to spark.adobe.com. They could also be posted to a padlet.com
Then there are the cartoons…Bonne année et bonne santé!
To start my school unit, I begin with the story of the new girl. Get it here free at Teacherspayteachers.com. La Nouvelle Fille in French and La Chica Nueva in Spanish. This is the first story I teach each year as I train students to react to my statements with the appropriate Ohhhhh when a new fact is introduced, and Oh-no, oh-no, oh-me, oh-my, when a problem occurs. It is good way to introduce subjects in school and high frequency verbs.
Comparing class schedules, lunches, subjects, calendars, uniforms, attitudes is more fun with hula hoops as venn diagrams! Create sentences in the target language for students to sort into similarities and differences. Examples are: We wear uniforms. Schools are free. School starts at 8:am. We go to school on Saturdays. We have school all year long. We have a summer vacation. We have our own computers. We are allowed to have phones. We eat lunch at school. We get out at 3:00. We get out at 5:00. We have sports teams at school. We study English. We study French. Create your own sentences or use the ones I created at Teachers Pay Teachers.com in French and Spanish.
For another comparative activity, have students create a table in a Google document and type up their own schedule. Practice interpersonal speaking skills by having students ask each other which is your favorite class, which is your least favorite class, who is your favorite teacher, who is your least favorite teacher, which class is the most difficult, which class is the easiest for you? Search the internet for some authentic schedules from schools in the target culture and have students compare and contrast.
Mi Horario
Hora
Clase
Profe
Opinión de clase
Opinión de Profe
1 8:00-9:00
Los Estudios Sociales
Señor Choe
Dificil
Simpático
2 9:05-10:00
Ciencia
Señorita Dombroski
No Me Gusta
Simpática
3 10:05-11:00
Educación Física
Señor Turcott
Fácil
Gracioso
4 11:00-12:30
El Inglés
Señorita Gronvold
Aburrida
Estricta
5 12:35-1:30
El Español
Señora Johnston
Comica
Divertida
6 1:35-2:30
Las Matemáticas
Señora Ericksen
Me Gusta
Inteligente
Recently, story listening has been a hot topic on many blogs. Telling stories to children is a lot like reading to children! I like to use David Va al Colegio and David Va à l’Ecole to introduce commands. I read the story to the students like I would to my own kids at night, stopping to point out details in pictues and asking questions. As a follow up, have kids write commands for what David should be doing, or make their own versions of things they should not be doing in school, like no texting in class, and no speaking in English.
I recorded a French and Spanish version.
Another one of my favorite activities for teaching commands is Sentence Strip Simon Says. Combine class objects, body parts, and commands and write them on sentence strips. Create some novel commands for fun. Be sure to include: Put your pencil in your ear. Put a book on top of your head and walk. Open the door and say “Bonjour Mes Amis.” Make your own sentences or check out my sentences in French and Spanish at TPT. Place the sentences face down on the floor and have students draw one, read it to the class, and act it out.
It’s time to elevate my school unit from class objects, subjects, and classroom commands, to cultural comparisons, connections, and community service. Of course I still have to teach class objects, subjects, and commands, so I like to start with songs, children’s books, and comprehensible input activities. Our opening routine includes the song of the week. Here are a couple of class object songs I like, Mon Sac à Dos for French and La Mochila for Spanish.
Next, I do a Backpack Demo. I have a backpack with all kinds of class objects and other crazy things that I pull out one at a time and describe. Some items I like to include are: a giant pen from Barcelona, a giant pencil and eraser, a real apple, toy desk and chair, keys, books, a computer, a calculator, a student, a flag, a social studies teacher, a picture of Antonio Banderas, the ear of Van Gogh, and a heart from Senorwooly’s Ya Está Muerto song. Novelty adds to the fun and surprise. I then put everything back in the backpack one by one and have the students list as many items as they can remember. After a couple of minutes, have them compare their list with a partner. They score two points if they can name an item in the target language and one point if they can name it in English (to be translated later for homework.) This can also be done with a suitcase of clothing and accessories, sports bag, grocery bag, or a mystery box.
Coloring is relaxing. My students always enjoy a directed color listening activity. Create a coloring paper with pictures of several class objects. I talk about each object in the target language and have students color certain parts or add items to the pictures. Students cut apart these pictures and use them in partner activities. For example, pass out a copy of a backpack and give items that do and do not go in a backpack. Have students take turns saying are you bringing a pen? Yes, I’m bringing it. Are you bring an ice cream cone? No, I’m not bringing it. Write the correct response on the back of each item ahead of time so students can self check.
A great way to get students up and moving and outside on a sunny day is a backpack relay. Collect five old backpacks from the lost and found and gather five of each item to be practiced. Put one of each item in each backpack. I dictate a list of about 12 items to all students. Divide students into five teams. One student from each team is at one end of the space with the backpack and items, the seller. The other team members, the customers, are lined up opposite their seller and when I say go they must run down and say “I would like to buy a _____” (the first item on the list.) The seller hands them the item saying a_____ here you go, you could also include a price and some fake euros. The runner thanks them and runs back to his team and the next person runs down and asks for the next item and so on until all items are bought.
What’s in your backpack is a great partner activity that can be adapted to any vocabulary. Have students draw and label five items in their backpack from a list of vocabulary provided without showing anyone. Match them up with a partner and they take turns trying to guess what each other’s five items are. After that, have students report out: in my backpack there is… in his backpack there was… in our backpacks there are….we did not have. This activity can be done with lunch bags, bedrooms, houses, suitcases, shopping bags, and hobbies. Do a google search for backpack coloring pages and you will find several to choose from.
There are some great authentic resources and ideas for class objects in Spanish from Zachary Jones. Students add up how much the items on the back to school list, from the Secretary of Public Education in Mexico, cost for each grade and compare to cost of students in other countries.
To take the school supply list to a higher level, using authentic resources, you need to see this post at PBL in the target language by@sraSpanglish. Her classes have this awesome unit on selecting and sending supplies to Colombia. This got me thinking, I have a connection in Haiti for my French students to send supplies including some of our favorite children’s books and original creations!
For a closure activity have the students popcorn down naming one class object. To popcorn down, have all students stand up. They all need to say one item and sit down. The key is that no one can say any item twice and two people may not talk at the same time. If two people do speak at the same time, or someone repeats an item already mentioned, everyone must stand and start over again. It forces them to listen to each other and watch each other. Do not let them try to organize and go in a circle. They have to randomly popcorn down. It is a great way to sneak in lots of repetitions.
My roommate at Central Washington University my freshman year was from Hawaii. She did not like the cold weather in Ellensburg, Washington, was not used to wearing shoes and socks, and was homesick for her family, friends, and culture on Oahu. To get through that snowy winter of 1979, she would buy a six pack of Lowenbrau and say to me… let’s talk story.
On a recent trip to Kaua’i, I came across this little bookstore in Hanapepe called Talk Story. My mind immediately went to Kim and our times together away from home, sitting in our corner of a four person dorm room, talking story about our lives, fears, and dreams. That’s the purpose of what we do, to teach people to interact in the target language, to talk story.
The brain is wired for storytelling. Throughout time, a culture’s history and legends have been passed along through stories. We love to hang out with family and friends and embellish our experiences. As we were traveling around Kuau’i, local tour guides kept pointing out locations of over 100 different movies filmed on the island. The entertainment industry makes massive money based on great stories. If you are going to a social engagement, just go see the latest new movies and you will instantly have something to talk about with anyone.
One way to get students to talk story is through “movie talks.” Movie talks were used by Dr. Ashley Hastings to help intermediate level university students comprehend full length movies. But the technique has been adapted by many language educators and is used with short films, commercials, public service announcements, movie trailers, television shows, and websites with gags and pranks, even at the novice level. Talking about things we have heard, read, or viewed with others is authentic communication.
Around the end of October, I like to use the short film El Monstruo del Armario. It is a great way to get started with this technique. I use the same film with my French classes and just narrate in French. Some popular videos for movie talks with resources on Teacherspayteachers are Wildebeast with a free script in Spanish, Partly Cloudy, Destiny , Crazy Carrot, and Alma. I movie talk Senorwooly videos, especially the beginning of PAN were I describe the entire family, their actions, food and table settings. I also movie talk the old DVD’s I have collected from Teacher’s Discovery over the years to get more input out of the videos. Check out this website with 55 clips and my Pinterest page for more movie talk ideas. Blaine Ray has a new CD with story scripts for $50.00 called Look I can Movie Talk in French and Spanish.
Although not a video yet, here is another visual, an old Powerpoint, that I start my year with to teach students how to do stories. Get The New Girl here free in French La Nouvelle Fille and in Spanish La Chica Nueva. We add details all year long as we learn new topics and information about the new girl and her story. Let’s give them something to talk about. What’s your story?
Common games we played as kids like Catch Phrase, Taboo, $25,000 Pyramid, or Password are popular again with celebrities and great for practicing circumlocution to stay in the target language. Mix them all together for your own variations like fishbowl or 30 segundos from the Creative Language Classroom.
There are free Taboo games in French, and Spanish on teacherspayteachers.com as well as lists of useful phrases in French and Spanish, and posters in Spanish. There is also an app called Head’s up from Ellen Degeneres in English and Spanish.
You can also buy the game here or make your own with headbands and index cards with words in the target language. I bought these and am using them to make sets in French and Spanish.
Here is a example of the game password with Jimmy Fallon.
I am going to play a variation of Password in teams so students can brainstorm the one word clues and take turns giving them to the team member who is trying to guess. With novices, I am going to start with the free Taboo cards above and let them use the words that are normally prohibited in the game Taboo as password clues to get the game going.
Another game for practicing circumlocution is Catch Phrase. Here is another example of celebrities playing the game.
Jump on the celebrity game craze and have fun while practicing circumlocution.
One of the things I love most about Children’s Literature is the pattern stories. Books that follow a repetitive pattern sneak in lots of practice of key structures while limiting vocabulary for novices. This book would obviously work around the theme of fear, or Halloween. If you did not want to go scary, it is a good way to introduce rooms in a house, and would also work in a collection of black cat and/or mouse stories.
I start out with the question “What are you afraid of?” Then I do a whip around with the most common fears listed on the board in the target language, and I have a student tally the answers. Props of spiders, snakes, bees, mice, and pictures of heights, public speaking, and other fears help to stay in the target language.
Here is a copy of the story in French. Here is a copy of the story in Spanish. I like this copy because you can cut it apart and have the students race to put it in order.
The video I like to use for French is not working here but you can copy and paste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPwOVyicdrM&feature=youtu.be
Here is a copy in English, you can mute the volume and tell the story in any language.
End with a game of Atchi Patchi: List things people are afraid of, or items or words from the story, Or popcorn down trying to retell story. What would be in the box for you? Change the ending of the story to reflect a personal fear.
M is for March and Monarch! Start with the Hungry Caterpillar and lead into the migration of the Monarch Butterfly. Students receive comprehensible input, connections to science, and community service.
Our opening routine includes the song of the week. I use a days of the week song because the story, The Hungry Caterpillar, takes place over the course of a week and provides the sequence for the story. You could also start with one of the butterfly songs at the end of this post, but that would be giving away the ending!
For French, I use a Youtube video with second graders reading the story, C’est adorable!
I like this one on Vimeo also.
I don’t like to reinvent the wheel when I start a unit, so I always look at the Teachers Pay Teachers website to see what is already available. These are awesome resources from Teacherspayteachers.com.
Here is one in French, I like this for the graphics. I laminated them for story retells and group relays.
Included in the French purchase is an alternative story called The Hungry Caterpillar Eats Paris. In this version, the caterpillar eats un croissant, deux crêpes, trois baguettes, quatre quiches and so on. This could be adapted using the foods from any culture. The students could also create stories following the pattern: use any thing, that eats any items, in increasing quantities each day, and then turns into something else!
I attended an awesome ACTFL session on the Monarch Butterfly, at 8:00 am on Saturday morning, but it was worth it! It was presented by Beth McCammon Feldman. Check out her presentation handouts here Beth McCammonFeldman Journey North. For lots of resources in English and Spanish check out the Journey North website. There are videos and booklits you can print out.
Monarch butterflies cross three countries: Canada, The United States, and Mexico. Monarch butterflies need just the right temperature and humidity. Monarchs can’t freeze, they need food and warmth for the winter. There are two mountain tops in Mexico that they like best. They arrive around El Dia de Los Muertos (Nov. 1st), the tourist season is February, and they depart in March. There are lots of videos and rich readings about what life is like in the butterfly sanctuaries, and the people who count and maintain records on the Monarchs at the Journey North website and on Youtube.
Unfortunately, the people who live in the butterfly sanctuaries are cutting down the trees the butterflies need for food and shade. The campesinos need wood for carts, watering troughs, ladders, houses, bathrooms, and heating food. There is a good video in Spanish explaining their point of view, have students list reasons from the video. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/WoodDomesticGarat_video.html
There are other challenges to the Monarchs. They need 4-5 generations in one season to make the trip back to the US and Canada. The larva only eat milkweed. Milkweed is decreasing for Monarchs to lay eggs on due to growing cities and increased use of herbicides. Weather extremes, like cold in early spring or heavy rain in the fall, hurt the Monarch population. Students can research problems in US and Canada.
What are some possible solutions? Brainstorm with students, how could they get involved? Students could raise money to plant more trees in Mexico. Students could investigate alternative farming techniques. Students can create signs informing tourists of the problems for the sanctuaries, or design brochures for sanctuary guides to distribute. They can make storybooks for kids on butterflies. Students could debate the cost of tourism on the butterfly environment. Students could create infographs in the target language.
Students can volunteer to participate in the count. Report observations, check out Westernmonarchcount.org for materials. Students could create public service announcements in many languages.
Students could plant milkweed and plants that provide nector like asters that bloom in late fall. Limit mowing it allows wild flowers to grow and avoid pesticides.
World Language teachers can connect to science with a study of the life cycle of a butterfly. Draw the life cycle and label in target language. It would be fun to raise butterflies and release them and connect with others to post where they are seen.
Here is a unit template from Laura Terrill wikispaces on the Monarch, Laura Terrill The monarch unit. Here are some additional butterfly songs.
