Acting and Freeze Frame

Earlier this month my students read a book that we piloted.  The book title is Fiesta Fatal written by Mira Canion, and will be published in the future.
My last post on Fiesta Fatal was on chapter 3, which can be found HERE.  Chapter 5 has a scene in which the mother, Julieta, and her daughter, Vanesa, hail a taxi cab in their efforts to escape.  My students and I read the chapter together.  After reading, the students put chairs in the formation to resemble a taxi cab.  Then they chose one of the following roles: taxi cab driver, Vanesa, or Julieta.  Before acting, I gave them three minutes to make paper props of a tiara and a cell phone.  Some made additional props like steering wheels. 

Acting ch5 of Fiesta Fatal

Then I reread sentences from the chapter (disguised repetition) and students portrayed the scene, then froze in action.  I took photos with my iPad to be used later. As I moved throughout the classroom, I described their actions, (more repetition in context). All the classes enjoyed the activity, including the normally quiet class.  Unfortunately, because I blurred their faces on the photos, you are unable to see how amazingly expressive they were. They "knocked this activity out of the park"!

After they finished acting the scenes, I hooked up my iPad to the smart board and students said sentences in Spanish to describe the photos.

The following day, I made a collage of the photos, and made copies for the students.  I also wrote sentences from the book and students matched the sentences to the photos on the collage. (one last chance for students to see and hear the vocabulary and grammar structures in a different format).

Notes:  
- I labeled the photo collages with letters H-P to give students more practice with letters that aren't at the beginning of the alphabet.  
- I used the App BlurFotoLite to blur the faces of the students. I can't say the app worked well. I was able to blur the faces but it froze both times I used it. Not an app I recommend.
- I first learned about Freeze Frame from attending a Carol Gaab session at ACTFL.