Make Dice App

If you are searching for an app that you can use in a writing activity, then the Make Dice app is something you should look into. After I saw it mentioned on Twitter this morning, so I promptly downloaded the free version of the app.  The app allows you to have up to 6 dice on the "table" at one time.  There is a limit to the number of letters and characters that will fit on each side of the dice.  

For the Spanish 4 activity, I made 4 die: 1 with names of cities, 1 with something that the character of the story wanted, and 2 with problems that the character faces. (scroll to end of post to see the list of words on each dice)

We ran out of time today for the writing activity, so instead of pairing up the students, we modeled an example of a creative writing with the information rolled on the die.  Tomorrow, the students will work with a partner to complete their creative writing. 

Last semester, I was looking for more ways to reinforce the nosotros form.  By adding a dice with subjects such as "Tatum Channing y yo" or "mi amigo y yo" it would require the students to use a certain form.  Make all the dice the same form (all nosotros or all ellos) to be certain all writings will include that form.

Another way to use the Make Dice app is during "storyasking".  If you have a group of students that either doesn't offer information for the story or takes forever to decide on the facts for the story, a shortcut is to have possible answers on the different dice (i.e. 1 with names; 1 with the type of pet they had; 1 with forms of transportation; etc).  This would save time and allow for more repetitions AND add some interest into the storyasking.

In years past, I probably would have used this app to write the subject pronouns on one dice and verbs on another dice and tenses on the third dice.   However, having the students do a creative writing instead, allows the students to use the words and verbs in context instead of just forming the verbs out of context.    

Words on the 4 dice:
Ciudades:  Miami, Alask, Lebanon, Filadelfia, Nueva York, Nashville
Quería: un cuy, ser famoso, ir a Egipto, hablar con Taylor Swift, una banana, un monociclo morado 
Problema: no tenía dinero, tenía miedo, era cleptómano, amaba a su gato, comía todo el día, perdió sus gafas
Problema (#2): se rompió la pierna, perdió su cartera, huba una inundación, encontró un gato, un perro lo mordió, se enfermó