Post Student Interview Stories

Do you do "La Personal Especial" or Student Interviews with your second language students? I have been doing a variation of this idea for many years. Last school year, I added a new component to it with my Spanish 4 students.  After the 'interview', students stand and each one must ask a question to the student interviewee before sitting again. 

Yesterday, I was curious to know how much the students listened to the actual interview and to the questions AFTER they had asked their own question. After everyone had asked a question, I instructed the students to write a story (made up) that included a minimum of 4 pieces of information that the student interviewee had given us during the interview or during the questions. I suggested that the story length be at least 5 sentences.

From the stories they shared, it was obvious that the students were listening because in their stories they included a wide range of facts from the interview and from the follow-up Q&A session. I called on students to read their stories and then I, or students, said how many pieces of information the person had included. 

This also worked well as an informal assessment. As I listened to the stories, I was able to hear which structures the students were using correctly and which ones they needed additional input and exposure. 

Because the students created stories with the student information, I'm know that the students will remember more facts and details about the student interviewee yesterday than about their classmates in previous interviews.

Advantages of this post student interview writing activity:
1 - no prep needed
2 - all students are engaged
3 - recycling the language; additional input on interview information
4 - the language is used in context
5 - opportunity for students to write creatively in TL
6 - compelling input
7 - the student interviewee heard many stories, about HER!