Group Activity with Mini-Whiteboards

The focus words for yesterday and a few new ones for today were: está preocupado, estudia, entiende, hace preguntas, and se esconde. I had also planned for está cansado to be one of the focus words, but it didn't fit well into the story created by the students today.

Yesterday I had enough time to define the words and complete PQA with the words. I added the additional vocabulary on the second day. The students helped to create a story and I circled each sentence and went back and reviewed when some students had questions or were unable to answer my questions. We retold the story with volunteers adding the next sentences.

After I felt comfortable that the students knew the sentences, I put the students in groups of 6 and gave each student a mini-whiteboard and a marker. Each student had to write ONE sentence from the story. Then, in their groups, they had to compare their sentences. If anyone had the same sentence as another group member, one of them had to write a new sentence. Then the students had to order their sentences on the whiteboards. After they had the sentences in the correct order, they had to each write one additional sentence on the whiteboard. It had to be logical and use vocabulary that they already knew.

Then the students mixed up the whiteboards and moved onto the whiteboards that another group of students wrote. With their new sentences, they had to put them in a logical order and as a group they had to decide on which 2 whiteboards to write the new sentences.

Finally, students took turns reading their stories and their classmates volunteered to translate their sentences. This activity included a large amount of repetitions for the students and most of them said they felt comfortable with the new vocabulary.

Rodrigo está preocupado

Hay un chico. Se llama Rodrigo.

Rodrigo está preocupado.

Hoy hay un examen en la clase de matemáticas.

Es un examen grande.

Vale 13,000 (trece mil) puntos.

Rodrigo tiene un problema.

Rodrigo está preocupado porque él no estudia matemáticas.

El no entiende matemáticas.

No entiende matemáticas porque no hace preguntas en la clase.

Cuando hay tarea en la clase de matemáticas, no hace la tarea.

No hace la tarea porque no la entiende.

No la entiende porque no estudia.

Y por eso (because of that) él está preocupado.

La clase de matemáticas empieza a las once.

Rodrigo está preocupado y no quiere ir a la clase de matemáticas.

La profesora de matemáticas se llama Sra. Wenger.

El no quiere hablar con la Sra. Wenger.

El no quiere ver a la Sra. Wenger.

A las once, Rodrigo no va a la clase de Sra. Wenger.

El va a la cafetería y se esconde en el basurero.

Pero, ahora Rodrigo tiene otro problema.

Hay un gato en el basurero.

Y a Rodrigo no le gustan los gatos.