Saturday, October 29, 2011

Canción de las Brujas


I found the song "Canción de las Brujas" on YouTube. It has several words that my Spanish 1 students know so I made a cloze activity on GoogleDoc with the lyrics. On Halloween, (Monday), I'll add this activity to others to tie into Halloween and save the Día de los Muertos activities for Wednesday. 



Canción de las Brujas

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Student Stories from 8 sketches

Before I began the "story asking" phase for the lesson on 10/26, I gave each student a plain sheet of paper. They folded it hot dog style and then hamburger and hamburger again. When they unfolded the paper they had 8 sections. Then they held the paper in the landscape direction in front of them and drew a line at the bottom of each of the 8 sections.

When the students were helping me to create a story using the focus words (levanta, espera, debajo de, curioso), I told them that during the "story asking" when I write new, unknown words that the students suggest on the board, they needed to choose 8 of those words to copy on their paper.

After we completed the story, and we practiced it with questions, retelling, fill in the blanks and the other techniques to give more repetitions we turned back to the paper with the 8 sections. They already had 8 words written on their papers so I told them to make sketches to represent the words. I gave them 2 minutes to do this. Then they paired up with another student and chose one of the papers with 8 sketches to work with. Then they had to create a short story, using words they know and not using any words we have not covered yet, and also include as many of the words that they had sketched. I gave them 10 minutes for this and continued to remind them of the remaining time to help keep them focused.

They turned these stories in to me. I choose several of the stories and typed them to use in class the next day as warm-ups. Below are the stories that I chose. fyi: I made some grammar corrections so they would be correct for the warm-ups today. However, I can see an improvement in their writing over the last few weeks.


Víctor y Marcos

Hay un monstruo.

A él le gusta comer hámsteres, papas fritas, monos y conejos.

El monstruo vive en los árboles.

Los árboles están en el parque.

Un día, el monstruo va al centro comercial.

El monstruo tiene hambre.

El monstruo ve al mono.

El monstruo corre tras el mono.

El monstruo corre rápido y agarra el mono y lo come y se ríe.


Josefina y Guadalupe

Un chico va al centro comercial.

El chico come papas fritas.

El chico ve un monstruo.

El chico corre rápido en otra dirección.

El chico corre al parque.

El chico ve un conejo.

El conejo come una flor.

El conejo corre tras el mono.

El mono corre a los árboles y se esconde.


Mario, Pedro, Pablo

Hay un monstruo.

El monstruo vive en las montañas.

El come los hámsteres y los monos.

El se sienta en el árbol.

El quiere alas.

El bebe Red Bull.

Entonces él tiene alas.



Victoria y Max

Hay dos amigos, un hámster y un conejo.

Ellos viven en el parque en los árboles.

Ellos tienen hambre.

Ellos van al centro comercial.

Ellos comen papas fritas en McDonald’s.

Hay un monstruo con alas.

El quiere comer el hámster y el conejo.

Ellos salen del centro comercial.

Ellos se esconden en el parque.



El Pájaro que Vive en el Centro Comercial

Focus Words: espera, levanta, curioso, debajo de (del)


Class story 10/25/11


Hay un pájaro que vive en el centro comercial.

Su novia también vive allí. (allí = there)

El pájaro es marrón, tiene un estómago rojo, ojos negros, y pies marrones.


Él no vive en el parque como los otros pájaros.

Sus casas son los árboles y hay muchos árboles en el parque, y ellos comen

gusanos y hay muchos gusanos en el parque también.

El pájaro marrón no vive en el parque porque a él no le gustan los gusanos.

Él prefiere hamburguesas, papas fritas, y espagueti.

El centro comercial cierra a las diez todas las noches.

Cuando las personas salen del centro comercial, el pájaro busca comida en los

basureros.

A veces, su novia busca comida en los basureros también.


Una noche, a las once y media, el pájaro está solo.

Él ve algo en el suelo. Es un sombrero.

El pájaro curioso dice, “¿Por qué hay un sombrero en el suelo? ¿Hay algo debajo

del sombrero?”

El pájaro tiene una buena imaginación y imagina que hay una culebra debajo del

sombrero. El tiene miedo de culebras.

Luego él imagina que hay un conejo debajo del sombrero. A él le gusta hablar con

los conejos.

Luego él imagina que hay una araña (spider) debajo del sombrero. A él le gusta

comer las arañas.


Mira el sombrero y espera.

Espera veinticuatro minutos y por fin decide investigar el sombrero.

Camina al sombrero y se para detrás del sombrero.

Escucha pero no oye (he doesn’t hear) nada.

Él espera diez minutos más.


Por fin (finally) el pájaro curioso levanta el sombrero muy despacio.

Mira debajo del sombrero y GRITA.

Grita, “¡Ayyyy! ¡Es un mono!”

El pájaro corre en otra dirección.

El mono ve el pájaro. Al mono le gusta comer pájaros marrones.

El mono corre tras el pájaro. El mono corre muy rápido y agarra el cuervo.

El mono lo abraza. Qué precioso.

El mono lo besa. Qué precioso.

Y luego, el mono lo come. ¡Qué horrible!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

10 Minutes Remaining in Class

What to do when there's only a few minutes left in class? We had about 10 minutes remaining in class and I had hoped to begin another mini-story. However, with only 10 minutes I knew we would be very limited to what we could accomplish so instead of starting the story, I had the students think of as many descriptions they could to introduce a new character in a story. I wrote their lists on the board (see below). We will use some of these tomorrow for the story.


Magdalena….
es inteligente
es baja
es flaca
es rubia
es bonita (es guapa)
estás triste
está aburrida
está furiosa
está enojada
está nerviosa
está contenta
tiene ojos azules
tiene pies grandes
tiene 15 años
tiene miedo de cuervos
vive en Puerto Rico
no quiere ir a la escuela

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Ana no entiende las ciencias

Ana no entiende las ciencias Sra. Hitz story: 10/19/11


Hay una chica que se llama Ana.

Ana es alta, tiene ojos verdes, y es rubia. (rubia=blond)

Ana es estudiante en la Escuela Secundaria de Atlanta.

Este semestre ella tiene las clases de álgebra, historia, inglés y ciencias.

Ella estudia para las clases de álgebra y historia e inglés.

Pero, no estudia para la clase de ciencias.

Y no hace preguntas en la clase.

A veces durante la clase, ella habla a sus amigos y no escucha al profesor.

A Ana no le gusta la clase de ciencias.


El lunes el profesor les dice a los estudiantes, “Mañana hay un examen. Vale 230 puntos.”

Cuando el día escolar termina, Ana camina a su casa. (el día escolar = the school day)

“¡Un examen de 230 puntos!” dice Ana. ¡Qué horrible” Ella está preocupada.

Ana no quiere estudiar pero ella quiere una “A” en el examen.


Ana llama por teléfono a su amigo Sara y le dice “¿Puedes estudiar ciencias en mi casa conmigo? (conmigo=with me)

Sara responde “Sí. ¿A qué hora?”

Ana le dice “a las 7:00”.


A las 7:00, Sara llega a la casa de Ana.

Sara no está preocupada del examen porque Sara es inteligente.

A Sara le gusta la clase de ciencias.

Cuando Sara no entiende algo en la clase de ciencias, ella hace preguntas.

(algo = something)

Sara y Ana estudian por 3 horas.

A las 10:00 Sara le dice a Ana, “Yo estoy cansada.”

Ana le dice a Sara, “Ahora yo entiendo y no estoy preocupada.”

Sara sale de la casa de Ana.


Pero, Ana mintió. (mintió = lied)

Ella no entiende las ciencias. Ella todavía está preocupada. (todavía = still)

Al día siguiente, Ana no va a la escuela.

Ana se esconde en su dormitorio porque no quiere ir a la escuela.

Se esconde todo el día y su madre y su padre no pueden encontrar a Ana.

Ellos están tristes pero Ana está contenta porque no necesita ir a la escuela.


Focus words are in bold print. I used this story to review the grammar structures/vocabulary learned the previous day. Students worked in groups of 6 to verbally translate this to English.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

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.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Student Stories

I use Cuéntame Más® with my Spanish 1 class. The students have read all of the stories in Chapter 1 so today they worked with a partner to create their own story. The book provided the #1 sketch and the #6 sketch and the students needed to sketch the 4 pictures in between and write about their sketches.

When they finished, I used the document camera to display the sketches and the students read their stories to their classmates.

Below are some examples of the students' writing. The students worked well on this activity. It gave them the opportunity to create their own personalized stories using the vocabulary and grammar previously learned in the small class stories. It was helpful to me because it provided me with clear examples of what structures I need to review and/or reteach.


Esteban & Clara's Story


Pablo's Story


María, Raúl, & Elena's Story

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Days of the Week

For students that want to review the days of the week in Spanish, check the two websites below for practice. The first website is the best because you can hear the pronunciation of the days.

SPANISH days of the week w/ pronunciation

Timed matching of SPANISH days of the week Click on the box on the left with the days of the week listed to begin the activity. When you are finished, check your time with others that have completed the activity. If you want to record your time on the website's chart, you will need to make an account.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

La Oveja que Come Mucho

story to read in class 10/10/11


la oveja—the sheep

el pastor—the shepherd

cuida—takes care of

está furioso—he is furious

llora—s/he cries

grita - s/he shouts/yells

corre - s/he runs

otra vez - again


En Midway Acres Farm en Lebanon, hay una oveja y hay un pastor. El pastor cuida la oveja. Hay un problema. El pastor no está contento, porque la oveja come mucho. Un día, la oveja come la comida del pastor. El pastor está enojado. El pastor grita, “¡No!” La oveja llora. La oveja corre y corre.


La oveja corre a la casa de Margo. Margo está muy contenta. Pero, la oveja come mucho otra vez. La oveja come el pelo (hair) de Margo. Ahora Margo está muy enojada. ¡Está FURIOSA! Grita, “¡NO!” La oveja llora.


La oveja corre a la casa de Sylvia. Sylvia está muy contenta. Pero, la oveja come mucho otra vez. La oveja come la tarea (homework) de Sylvia. Ahora Sylvia está muy enojada. ¡Está FURIOSA! Grita, “NO!”. La oveja llora.


La oveja corre a Schaefferstown. El Sr. Harpold está contento. El Sr. Harpold no grita. Ahora, la oveja no come mucho. No come la comida de los estudiantes. No come el pelo de los estudiantes. No come la tarea de los estudiantes. Sólo come la hierba (grass). La oveja está contenta y el Sr. Harpold está contento. Ahora no hay problema.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Diego y los tres elefantes verdes y pequeños

On Friday, the Spanish 1 students started a story about a guy named Diego whose job was to take care of three little green elephants. He wants to go to PA to go to the Field of Screams because he likes to scream, but he has a problem with the elephants.

Since it was a weekend, I had some extra time to do something a little different with the story. Before I left school on Friday, I took a photo of the five sketches the students drew on the white board. Then I added to the story and made sketches to go along with the ending of the story. I uploaded the sketches to Showbeyond.com and added the text. I did not record my voice reading the story because I want the students to read it to their parents. I may add my narration at a later point and then the students can listen to it and for homework, when they read it, they can turn their volume off.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

El chico perezoso

El chico perezoso (story script from Martina Bex’s website) (10/5/11)


Hay un chico que se llama Pepino. Pepino trabaja en Subway. Él prepara los sándwiches. Pero hay un problema: Pepino es perezoso. Él no trabaja mucho. No prepara muchos sándwiches. El habla por teléfono con Elena. El jefe grita “¡Pepino, eres perezoso! ¡Tú estás despedido! ¡Vete de aquí!”

Pepino necesita dinero pero no puede trabajar en Subway.


Él va a Dutch Funland y trabaja en Dutch Funland. Él vende funnel cakes. Pero él es perezoso. Él no trabaja mucho. El jefe grita, “¡Trabaja Pepino!” pero Pepino no trabaja porque él es perezoso. Pepino canta. Pepino canta todo el día. El jefe grita “¡Pepino, eres perezoso! ¡Tú estás despedido! ¡Vete de aquí!”


Pepino necesita dinero pero no puede trabajar ni en Subway ni en Dutch Funland. Él va a WalStore y les dice “hola” as las personas cuando entran WalStore. Pero él es perezoso. Él no trabaja mucho. El jefe grita, “¡Trabaja, Pepino!” pero Pepino no trabaja porque él es perezoso. El jefe no grita otra vez. El jefe no le dice nada a Pepino. El jefe golpea a Pepino en la cara y lo pone en el basurero.

Monday, October 3, 2011

TPRS Sp1: El Diccionario / La Mochila

Today I tried something different in presenting the stories. I wanted the students to fully concentrate on listening to the story. They didn't need to add anything to the story or help create it, nor did I want them to write anything the entire time I told the story. There were 3 new words that they hadn't seen before: el pasillo, el armario, and está furiosa; and 2 new grammar structures: la (used as a direct object pronoun), and the yo form of verbs.

Since the whole story was presented verbally with less circling techniques than normal, I kept a close watch on whether or not students used the signal for not understanding. The phrase "teach to the eyes" came to mind so I searched their eyes and, lo and behold I did see one girl that looked like her eyes, and her head, were spinning. I understood why when, a few minutes later, she asked to go to the bathroom because she felt sick. (It's amazing how much you can connect with the students when you're really concentrating on making sure they understand and "teaching to the eyes" and not just trying to deliver the content.)

After I finished telling the story, I put the students in groups of 4 so they could read the story together, first in Spanish and then in English. Then I gave each student a slip of paper and they wrote a question about the story in Spanish. I asked the questions in Spanish and they tried to be the first to answer. On the back side of the paper I had another story: same vocabulary, same grammar structures, slightly different scenario.

I had a paper with questions in short answer style ready as a follow-up activity to check on their comprehension of the 2nd story, but we ran out of time. Their homework was to read the 2nd story to their parent in English.


Saturday, October 1, 2011

TPRS, sketches & related actvities

Here is an example of an activity to follow the class created TPRS story on Friday, September 30. (Please excuse the sketches - it's obvious why I'm not teaching art.)


I call new words "focus words". On Friday they were: empieza, termina, necesita, and mochila. As the class helped create the story, we used some cognates and words used in previous PQA sessions such as calculadora, la clase de matemáticas, and la clase de educación física. I also wanted to review telling time and emphasize how to say "at" a certain time instead of "it is" a certain time. The basic storyline is there is a student that needs a calculator for a 1200 point exam in her 3rd period math class. She goes to 2 classes and asks her classmates for a calculator, looks in their bookbags, etc, but doesn't find a calculator. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to finish the story, but since it was a Friday, I didn't want them to go 2 days without reviewing the story. So, I added the following activities to the last minutes of class.

1. First, students folded a 8 1/2 x 11" paper to make 8 sections, reopen. They numbered each section 1-8 and I told them what to sketch in each section. (allowed 15-20 seconds for each sketch)

2. For a verbal review, I said a sentence from the story (in Spanish) and students called out the number of the sketch to which that sentence related.

3. Then I used flashcards numbered 1-8 for more review. Students volunteered or I, or another student, chose someone to say a sentence that relates to the number of the randomly selected flashcard.

4. Finally, I had them list #s 1-8 on lined paper, on every other line. For their homework, they have to write a minimum of one sentence for each of the 8 pictures.

5. On Monday, we'll use the sketches to review and retell the story, and hopefully be able to finish the story.

I know it may be early for students to write sentences in the target language, but they'll get review of the focus words and they will have a mini-outline of the class story. At what time do veteran TPRS teachers recommend having the students write in the target language?

Most importantly, I need to thank my colleague, Amy, for sharing her TPRS story with me because that is where I got the idea for my story.