Embedded Recordings to go with Embedded Readings

Mary Glasgow site: http://es.maryglasgowplus.com/students/features

One thing I know my students need more exposure to is listening to the TL from someone other than me.  Today I tried an activity using the Mary Glasgow website that worked well and required little preparation. (Now that's a beautiful combination!)

 1. Go to the Mary Glasgow site found HERE or use the links below to go directly to the news recordings and readings:
Spanish - link to Noticias,
 French - link to Actualités,
 English - link to News, 

2. Choose a recording that relates to the topic you are working on in class, or simply choose a topic that looks interesting to you and your students (and there are many to choose from, including the older files kept in the archives). Below are some of the current resources for Spanish available on Mary Glasgow's site.

3. Put the students into groups of 4 or 5 (depending on your class size. For my class of 15, I had three groups of 5 students each)

4. Play the lowest level recording WITHOUT letting the students read the transcript. 

5.  After they have listened to the lowest level recording one time (or more than one time if that works better for your students), ask each group to say one fact or piece of information from the recording in the TL. After each team has had the opportunity to share their fact/information piece, start a second round of sharing information. 

6. After they have shared all the information they remember, play the 2nd version of the recording, which will have additional information embedded in the recording along with the original information.  Once again, ask each group to name more information. They can name the new information or now that they've heard some of the information the second time, they may now be able to give more information from the first recording that was repeated in the second.

7. Continue through the 3rd level or through the number of levels provided.  The team with the most points is the winner.

After you've listened to the highest level, you have the option to go back and read one, two, or all three levels.  

To make it easier to record what each group said, I copied the transcript and printed it on paper.  As each group gave a piece of information, I highlighted what they said on the paper and put their group number next to it.  

Depending on the intensity of your classes, I suggest this activity for level 3 or higher.
Also, consider ordering the magazines published by Mary Glasgow.  This is the first year I ordered some for my classes and they are filled with interesting articles and photos that are designed to be used by several different levels.