Picto-Frases - An Activity to use with Fiesta Fatal

I recently stumbled across a website named Pictotraductor. On the Pictotraductor website, you can type in a sentence in Spanish and it will generate the sentence using a mix of sketches and words for things that cannot easily be illustrated. (See below for link of paper shown on the left.) I can think of several uses for this, but since my students are currently reading Fiesta Fatal, a novel by Mira Canion, I created an activity to use after reading chapter 6 of Fiesta Fatal.  

I read Fiesta Fatal with my Spanish 2 students.  I am doing increasingly more grammar pop-ups on the ellos form of verbs, which means I point out the verbs that show the action of Vanesa and Julieta, and the two men that pursue them.  All of the sentences on the Picto-Frase activity include the ellos form of verbs.

I have two classes of Spanish 2, so after the first class, I changed a few things, and after the second class I changed a few more things to improve it. Below are the instructions on how I used it:

1. Read chapter 6 of Fiesta Fatal.
2. Showed examples Picto-Frases of other sentences from chapter 6 of Fiesta Fatal on a power point. Students said the sentences in Spanish.
3. Distributed the above Picto-Frases paper (find it HERE). Students looked for the sentences in chapter 6 and wrote the Spanish sentence below the pictures.
- Next time, I will ask the students to highlight or circle the word that shows the action that two or more people did.

After we read chapter 6 I realized I forgot to do the sentence Bingo game that reviews Chapters 1-5 of Fiesta Fatal.  Mira Canion talked about this idea at CSCTFL this spring and then Martina Bex created the game which you can find HERE and download for free.  I love this version of the game because it uses sentences rather than single words.

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.

Reading - Ensuring Students Understand

Chapter 7 - Fiesta Fatal
As I have probably stated before, when I read mini-novels with my students, I want the students to understand the storyline.  I know from experience, that if I ask the students if they understand, some will say yes even when they don't.  My job is to ensure they really do understand.

After reading chapter 7 of Fiesta Fatal, the book I'm piloting for Mira Canion, I created a review activity of the main character's journal.  Some of the statements are taken directly from the chapter, others are thoughts that Vanesa might say or think, and others are statements that are not true.  Students read the statements and checked the ones that match Vanesa's character. 

Chapter 9 - Fiesta Fatal
In the last few years, I have moved away from grammar lectures and have replaced them with many short pauses in conversation and reading to point out and/or ask questions why something is written the way it is.  My students do not specifically know the terms imperfect and preterite, but they are beginning to write the correct tense when needed.  To sharpen that skill, I tried a new activity in which I could quickly assess their progress.

First, I gave each student a page from the newspaper, folded to make it more manageable.  Since newspapers are a good source of information, the newspaper represented background information.  I also gave them a copy of a ticket to a Lucha Libre event that I made online. Lucha Libre is entertainment similar to WWE, which means it is an event filled with a lot of action.

Then I read the chapter to the students.  They closed their eyes and when I said a statement which included information (imperfect), they held up the newspaper, and for a statement that described a specific action of one of the characters (preterit), they held up the Lucha Libre ticket.  It didn't take long for me to see which students were consistently answering  correctly and which students were unsure and were making more errors.  

After the newspaper/Lucha Libre ticket exercise, I gave them a paper with sentences that they read and then wrote I (for información) or A (for acción). 

The newspaper/ticket activity can be used with any book or story. Choose something to represent the two different past tenses that are related to the storyline and choose a reading that has a good mix of both tenses. 

Both activities described above are good reviews of the chapter for the students, and also will enable you to better identify which students are struggling and need extra support.

Sketches Help Guide Students for Story Retells

"Mónica" in the book, Fiesta Fatal

I've been reading the book Fiesta Fatal, written by Mira Canion, with my Spanish 2 students.  Mira's goal, when writing the book, was to create a book that was level appropriate for second year Spanish students and she succeeded in accomplishing that goal!  If you're looking for a comprehensible level 2 book that has an interesting storyline, this is one book you should strongly consider.

Today we read the last chapter of Fiesta Fatal.  Some students volunteered to read the lines for the main characters in the chapter.  I always look for ways in which students can interact with the text, so after reading, I projected the below sketches onto the board.  We reviewed what happened as students said sentences in Spanish that matched the sketches.  If they were uncertain about what to say, I allowed them to refer to the book. 

Find the download of the worksheet to the left HERE.

After the students were familiar with the sketches I paired them up with a partner and distributed squares of paper that had the same sketches on them and gave them the following instructions:

1. Put the squares on the desk face down.

2. Randomly choose two cards and turn them over.  

3. Decide the order of the two cards.   

4. One partner says a sentence in Spanish to describe the sketch that they decided happened first in the chapter.  The second student says a sentence to describe the second sketch.

5. The students choose a third paper, turn it over, and say a sentence to describe the sketch.  

6. They they decide if that sketch is before the other two, in between the other two, or at the end of the first two sketches.

7. When the 3 sketches are in the correct order, they take turns saying a sentence for each of the sketches. (Student A describes sketch #1, Student B describes sketch #2, Student A describes sketch #3.)

8.  Students continue turning the papers over, one by one, putting the new card in the correct place, and taking turns once again to say a sentence for each sketch.

9. When they were finished, they called me to their desks and I listened to their retell of the story.

To download the two sheets of sketches shown below for the retells, click HERE.  (The sketches on the sheets below are not in any particular order. Feel free to substitute any, or all, sketches that you are able to sketch better than I have done.)

 

I CAN Statements with Novels

Reading is a important element of the Spanish curriculum at my school district.  In each level of language, which equals 100 (+/-) hours of class time, students read 2-3 novels.  With the small number of classroom instruction available to us per language level, I am constantly evaluating and re-evaluating our curriculum to make sure we are using that time wisely.  In regards to reading novels, I used to ask myself how can I demonstrate that reading a specific book has helped move the students forward in their language acquisition and understanding of the culture?  

Last December, I created I Can Statements for students to check off after we created several class stories, read parallel stories from previous years, personalized information to the students in the class, and completed several MovieTalks.  The I Can Statements provided a clear list for the students of what they could do after completing the "unit".  (More detailed information about the I Can Statements can be found HERE.  To be clear, the statements are not directly related to ACTFL's CAN DO statements, but were inspired after my chat with Michele Whaley at ACTFL14.) 

After using the I Can Statements with my students, I started thinking about how I could do something similar for the novels that we read in class.  

Below are I Can Statements I made last spring for the book  Fiesta Fatal by Mira Canion.  

Chapters 1-5 (link to doc): 

 

Chapters 6-10 (link to doc):

 
Fiesta Fatal begins in Mexico, with references to towns in Mexico, markets, azoteas, quinceañeras, transportation, and other related culture.  The I Can Statements include information on culture, as well as specific statements related to students' language abilities such as retells, making predictions, listening skills, and comparing.

The I Can Statements help the students, parents, and administration see the benefits of reading novels in the second language.  One option is to revise the documents to add lines for parent signatures.  For example, add 7 lines for a parent to initial, but only 5 of the 7 need to be initialed.  The students choose 5 of the 7 to demonstrate their skill to a parent. I think parents will enjoy hearing their son or daughter speaking in Spanish, even if they don't understand what they're saying.

I have similar documents started for the other novels we read in class, but I still need to create the sketches to go with them and finish the documents.  They would be completed at this time, but . . . I've become hooked on reading popular fiction novels in Spanish (como: La Chica del Tren, Perdida, La Ladrona de Libros, Ve y Pon un Centinela,) and there are many others on my shelf or on Amazon calling my name.  :-)   

Author Skype

Have you ever experienced a Skype session with the author of a book that your students have read?  My Spanish 2 students and I had a Skype session last week with Mira Canion, the author of Fiesta Fatal, the book we piloted and is scheduled to be published early next year, and six other books for Spanish students.
  

Spanish 2 students Skype w/ author Mira Canion

Mira was very accommodating and worked with me to schedule a separate Skype session with each of my Spanish 2 classes. There is a two hour difference between us, which meant she had to arrive at school extra early in order to Skype with my first period class.  

Each session was 25 minutes long.  Mira had asked that we start the Skype session in Spanish and then move into English.  The day before our session, my students' homework assignment was to write two questions in Spanish regarding the book (the plot, the characters, the ending, etc), and one question in English about the book or about writing in general.   

At the 3 appointed times, we successfully connected with Mira and the students asked their questions in Spanish and Mira answered them in Spanish.  Mira writes books and also teaches full-time, so she was careful to use vocabulary and grammar that the students could understand in Spanish. And, unbeknownst to Mira, (but she'll know if she reads this post), two or three times when I saw the students didn't understand, I jotted it on the board, out of view of the camera.  

This was a very positive experience for my students! They took advantage of the direct access with the author to ask about the different characters in the novel, what they were going to do after the last chapter, why they acted the way they did in the novel, etc. They also had some great questions about writing such as how long does one book take from start to publication, from where does she get her inspiration, how much does the book change from the first draft to the final publication, and on and on. The conversation with Mira provided my students a glimpse into the work that goes into a book before it reaches the classroom.  An extra bonus for my last class was the opportunity to meet some of her students. 

If you have never had a guest enter your room through Skype, here are a few suggestions to make the session go smoothly:
1.  Do a trial run through before the session to make sure there are no technology kinks that need to be worked out.
2.  Talk with your students about Skype etiquette.  (one student speaks at a time, speak clearly, no side conversations, treat the Skype guest as if they were physically in the room, etc.)
3. Set a determined length of time and stick to it.  
4. Have students write possible questions beforehand so they are prepared to ask them and you don't lose any Skype time.
5. If it is a big class, move the computer to a different angle so the Skype guest is able to see more of the students, not just those that are front and center. Also, have students circle in and sit close to the camera.

 Two years ago, I contacted a writer of a short story that my Spanish 4 students read in hopes that we could Skype with the author.  I was not successful in setting up that session due to the author's schedule that year, and then failed to check back the following year.  However, after the students' positive reactions to the Skype session with Mira, I'm inspired to explore other possibilities for using Skype to connect my students with others.  My students connected with a class in a Spanish country two years ago and I think it's time to explore that avenue again.  I have other ideas that I'm already mulling over in my head.

If you are willing to share your Skype experiences with me, or any words of wisdom on how best to incorporate it into the classroom, whether here on the blog or by direct e-mail, I'd love to hear about it.

The True Size of... Comparing Countries by Size

Pennsylvania, in pink, is small in comparison to Spain.

There is a gem of a website   to compare the size of one country to another country, or to compare a country to a one of the 50 states, or to compare two states. Not only is it a useful site for world language teachers, but also for geography teachers, social studies teachers, and teachers that reference other countries and wants to give students a solid visual of the size of the countries.

The website, "The True Size of" enables the user to type the name of a state or country, and to overlay that state or country onto another country (or state) on a map. This helps students to visualize the size of countries that are related to the Spanish novels that I read with my students each semester.   

Some of the novels connected to people from other countries that I read with my students are:

1. Felipe Alou, by Carol Gaab  - The Dominican Republic
The aqua-colored object is the state of Pennsylvania. This picture shows that Pennsylvania is much bigger than the Dominican Republic. 

2. Fiesta Fatal, by Mira Canion - México

Pennsylvania is dwarfed in size in comparison to Mexico.

You can overlay more than one country/state at the same time as shown below.

3. Vector, by Carrie Toth  - Panamá

Pennsylvania (shown in yellow), is larger than Panama

4. El Silbón, by Craig Klein Dexemple - Venezuela

    and

    Hasta la Sepultura, by Kristy Placido - Spain

Spain, the orange shape, is large compared to the countries in Central America, but there are several large countries in South America, such as Venezuela, that are larger than Spain.

This site can also be used for a Brain Break. Write several sentences on the board about one country compared to another country/state and students decide which sentences are true and which aren't.

Example: 

a. Spain is larger than Ecuador. (España es más grande que Ecuador)

b. Spain is large than Colombia.

c. Spain is larger than Uruguay.

d. Spain is larger than El Salvador.

or

a. (Your state) is larger than Honduras.

b. (Your state) is smaller than Guatemala.

etc.

  

Graphic Organizers and Reading in the MFL classroom

I remember when "graphic organizers" was the buzz word and at the school district in which I worked, if the teacher had "g.o." on his/her lesson plan, the principal was happy.  I didn't like them at that time because they were basic and generic.  Boring blocks or circles with spokes coming out of them that looked like bicycle wheels.

The dull graphic organizers of the past are gone.  I now see their value and use them often when reading novels with my students, and create ones that are specific to the text.  

When I start reading a new book with my students, my goal is to help them fully understand the characters, the problem, the tensions, etc.  When that information is pulled together in a graphic organizer, it helps the students to connect to the characters and draws them into the story.

Below are examples of graphic organizers that I use for the first chapters of several books.   (my disclaimer: My artistic skills are challenged and the idea in my mind always looks better than what ends up in the paper.)

FIESTA FATAL  Download HERE

LA GUERRA SUCIA        Download HERE

 

Robo en la noche      Download HERE
 

Vida o muerte en el Cusco  Download HERE

Robo en la noche      (ch1-3) FInd the download HERE

La vampirata    Download HERE 
 

Two additional graphic organizers I use are from Martina Bex found on the link below:
El nuevo Houdini - chapter 1 esquema 

Esperanza - chapter 1 esquema 


Information on many of the books listed above is used with permission by TPRS Publishing, Inc.

Jamboard in the WL Classroom

 

I was late to the Jamboard party but thanks to my colleague, Krista K., for talking about how she uses Jamboard with her French students and for giving me a brief overview of how to use Jamboard.

Fast forward a few short months, and now I am working on a grad class project related to using Jamboard in the WL classroom. After spending a lot of time creating Jams to share for the training that I'm creating, the thought occurred to me to share the Jams on this blog for others to use and/or edit for their own classrooms. The examples may give you inspiration to join the Jamboard band wagon and even to create activities that aren't mentioned here.

If you have never used Jamboard before, there is a really basic video, made in October 2020 so it has most of the Jamboard updates. (Skip videos older than spring 2020 because there have been updates that they won't mention.) Click HERE to watch the video by Teacher's Tech.

My Jams (what each of the files are called on Jamboard) are sorted into 4 categories, although several overlap, as you will see below. When you click on the HERE that will take you to the Jams, it will ask you to make a copy. Then you can make whatever changes you desire! Best of all, THEY ARE FREE!!!

1) Interactive Games on Jamboard - access the copy HERE

2) Novel Activities and other Texts (several from Fiesta Fatal - added with written consent by the author, Mira Canion). access the copy HERE.

3) Check IN & EXIT Tickets - access the copy HERE

4) Collaboration & Reaction Sentences - access the copy HERE

I will be adding to the Jams throughout this semester, so if you download a copy early in 2021, you can check later to see the new activities that are included. There are several ideas I want to add, but I need to complete some other tasks awaiting me at the moment. :-) 

On a final note, making activities to upload as backgrounds on Jamboard is easy, especially for those that are accustomed to creating activities on Google Slides.  Or, if you have a Canvas account, search for online whiteboards and you'll find at least 50 templates to get your started. I imagine there are many Jamboard templates on sites for sale, but creating activities are EASY PEASY to make and it really doesn't take much time. Plus, then you can share them with others! Many people share their templates FREE so use those and then, when you are inspired and ideas come flooding into mind, make your OWN and share yours!