I could almost SEE their brains absorbing

Student sketch (before hearing storyline)

Today's class started with me meeting the first 10 students in my Spanish 2 classes outside my door with pink construction paper, black markers, and sentence strips.  The students had to sketch what was written on the sentence strip. The sentences were from a story that they were going to hear later in class, which is the first time I put that twist on the sketches.  Usually, the students hear the story and then they sketch it.  They kept the sketches at their desk until the last 10 minutes in class.  Because I gave the materials to the first 10 students to arrive to class, many of the sketches were complete and ready to be used later i n class before the starting bell rang.  

The focus words for today were: limpió, se cepilló los dientes, and le dio. I did 25 minutes+ of PQS using the focus words.  The PQ session went extremely well, and I credit that to my emphasize on going slowly, pausing, and pointing.  I am still amazed at how much quicker the students learn, when I take the time to pause and point.  As I looked directly in their eyes during PQA, I caught a glimpse of their brains processing the information.  They had such focused looks that it was if I could see the connections in their brains taking place.  "Question, pause, point, question, pause, point". 

Another advantage to not rushing through the PAQ is that I found out additional information about the students.  So much information from 3 target words.

I followed up the PQA by "reading" the book "Max va al dentista" a la "Kindergarten Day".  I told the story to them in the past tense (instead of following the words that used the present tense).  Once again, their expressions were super focused.  It almost seemed surreal.  

I distributed a printed copy of the story and we read that together and in small groups.

Finally the 10 students, that made the sketches, formed a line in the front  of the room (not in any particular order) and held their sketches for the remaining students to see.  The sketches were of things that happened in the "Max va al dentista". I collected the sentence strips, and read those sentences in Spanish.  The students said the name of the student that was hold the sketch to which I was referring.  Then I choose volunteers to order the sketches, saying a sentence for each one as they put them in the correct order.

By the end of the class period, the students looked as if they were mentally spent.  It was packed with CI and thinking back, I probably should have incorporated a few more brain breaks throughout the period. Looking back, it was nice not having to stop the flow of the instruction to have the students make the sketches, but maybe it would have been better for their brains to have that break. Live and learn, right?

Celebrity Masks

Señora Hitz asked me to blog about my success and fun times with celebrity masks last week.

Our new semester started 11 days ago and I am still riding the high that the new students have brought. I’m teaching level II French, which is new for me this year since I switched to TPRS. The last level II classes I had were last year and I taught them in the traditional style. I wanted to rip out my hair every day. So, understandably, I was excited to continue my enthusiasm for these students, 2/3 of whom had me last spring or this past fall for TPRS. 

My colleague attended Carol Gaab’s conference in Baltimore last week and emailed all of us tips and tricks he learned while there. One trick he learned (and that I had heard about before but never had the time to do) was to cut out pictures of celebrity faces and put them on popsicle sticks as masks. I gave it a go for an activity last week for French II. We were discussing the words “he wanted” and “he went” and I threw in words like “there” and “to the house of” (both very handy but difficult prepositions in French). I started off small, with just pictures of Amanda Seyfried (from Les Mis) and Channing Tatum. The kids were so excited to say that they wanted to go to Channing’s house, or that they went to Amanda’s house over the holiday break. Some wonderful student decided to throw in the phrases “he kissed her” and “she kissed him” from previous stories. 

I couldn’t believe how much play I got out of those 2 masks. I had my service learning student make me 8-10 more because who better than a teenager to know what her classmates are into? I think I have Johnny Depp (for me, of course!), Emma Watson, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Angelina Jolie, and several others. Other classes besides the level II French are now begging to use the masks. Sometimes I hang the masks around the room so that the celebrities can “watch” the kids. This amazingly simple trick will be so worth it in your classroom.

Short Films & CI - El Vampiro y la Dentista

http://youtu.be/dN8VbHEC12s

On the fourth day of Spanish 2, I introduced the following set of focus words: olía mal, comía ajo, tenía miedo

For each new set of vocabulary, I had a skeleton story, and the students helped to fill in the details..  My skeleton story for the above words (day 4 of the new semester) there was a guy that ate garlic all the time & everywhere because he was afraid of vampires. Then we worked on how to solve the person's bad breath problem.  (click HERE for the students' story & my story) In one class, a boy said, "He went to the dentist".  That comment reminded me of a short film that I saw several months ago but had never used in class.   
     The following day I chose new vocabulary that was used in the video. (era = he was, quería ayudar = she wanted to help, and no sabía que = he didn't know that.  Instead of telling another story, I used the new vocabulary as I narrated the film, pausing throughout the video to ask students questions. 
     Below is the list of activities that I used in conjunction with the video:

1. The students watched THIS VIDEO (found on YouTube, "Vampire's Crown" by HM3DAnimation) and I asked many, many questions about it.

2.  The second day we watched the video the second time, but without sound, and I asked questions again.

3.  I used three embedded readings to ease the students into reading the full version.  (see Laurie Clarcq's site for an explanation of Embedded Readings)  
Click HERE to download a copy of the embedded readings.
Version A - I read version A in Spanish and after each sentence the students verbally translated the sentence to English. 
Version B - Students worked in groups of 2 or 3 to read the story. They had to stand (no sitting!) with their partner somewhere in the room to read.
Version C - Before I gave them the last version, I instructed them to move with their partner to make a large circle around the circumference of the room.  Then one person in each group had to move counterclockwise to the next group.  (This provided them an opportunity to work with someone they may have not otherwise chosen.)  They read the story in English with their new partner.  I was in the middle of the room so I could easily help anyone with a word they did not know.

Inserted new message from March 2017 - I share these materials without cost to my readers. When you download my work and it is labeled "CC" that means you are free to use them but you must keep my name on the documents. I googled the script today and found PDFs that teachers made of the script and NO credit was properly given. I even found a Prezi by a teacher that put my story on different slides, as well as the follow activities. So please, show your appreciation by leaving my name on the materials that I have created that you use in your classrooms and ESPECIALLY when you use my materials in a presentation.

 
4. Collage - I said a sentence from the story and the students said which number matched the sentence, or if it happened before (antes de) or after (después de) the photo.  (Download the collage HERE.).


5. Notebook activity (available through email only) w/ the Epson Smart Projector.  Students put the pictures in order.  After placing each one, the student or someone the student chose, had to say a sentence in Spanish that matched the picture. Students were permitted to look at their Embedded Readings if they didn't know what to say.

6.  I gave students in groups of 3 a copy of the Collage used in #4.  A member of the group pointed to one of the 9 photos and the other two students said a sentence in Spanish.

7. Antes de/Después de worksheet.  (to download)

 
8. Group writing activity.  (click on link for explanation - scroll to #3 at that post) 


9. Freeze frame activity - as per Carol Gaab's session at ACTFL.  (click on link for explanation of how I used this activity in the previous semester.)

10. CLOZE activity  (found HERE or use Laura Avila's version below)

11.  At the end of the week I will give the students a 5 minute timed writing in which they can choose to write about this video.

As a follow up, I may decide to show the Señor Wooley's "La Dentista" video.  There is a lot of vocabulary in that video that my students don't know yet and haven't been exposed to, but I think the music, animation, and story will grab their attention.  It will be a nice reward for sticking with me for all the above activities!  

Update: Elisabeth Hayles shares her FRENCH resources for this video:
Embedded Readings HERE
Quizlet activity HERE 

Update: For information and materials on an interactive reading of the story that I used to prepare for this video (in Fall 2015), check the blog post HERE. 

UPDATE: In August 2013, Laura Avila contacted me to say she had also made two readings (which can be used for level 3) based on the reading I created for my Spanish 2 students.  She has generously offered to share her work on my blog so others can benefit from her efforts.  THANK YOU Laura!!!
Below are the two readings. 

What's your QPH (questions per hour)?

Did you ever wonder how many questions you ask in the TL throughout the class period?  I should ask a student to track my questions for several classes to see what the range is.  

When the teacher asks a lot of comprehensible questions it requires student participation to answer those questions.  Sometimes I want the students to call out the answers and other times I tell them to raise their hands to give me an idea of who knows the answer.  There are always 2 or 3 students that I can count on to raise their hands, which makes it easy for me to assess their understanding.

But what about the students that don't raise their hand?  What is the best way to assess their understanding throughout the period?  I know there are students that know the answer, but are either too shy to answer or they second guess themselves and choose to let someone else answer.  Many times I'll ask the students, "Who knows what I just said?" or ask them to hold up 1-5 fingers to show me what they understood.  But, sometimes I just want to HEAR what they can do.  I know the experts say you shouldn't force output, but...sometimes I can't resist.   

Yesterday, after circling the beginning sentences of a story that we had started the previous day and then added a few more sentences, I told the whole class to stand up.  I split the class in two and said that one of the sides would stand for an additional five minutes if the other side out-shined or out-played them. 

The object: one student at a time had to say a sentence in Spanish about the story.  After a student on side A answered, I repeated the sentence, pointed to the structure if it was one that was still on the board, and said "excelente" or something similar. Then I turned to the other side and a volunteer from that side said a sentence.

At first, the same students that usually answer in class answered. I expected that and said what I often say in class, "you're making one person do all the work for you" (yes, I said that in English) But something interesting happened after a few rounds. Students that haven't said anything in the first 3 days were raising their hands to say full sentences in the TL.  Some were even using their imaginations to use previously learned vocabulary to come up with logical sentences that went along with the story.  Later that day, I tried to analyze why they answered so easily and what was their motivation.

Possibly...
1- They really didn't want to be on the side that had to stand an additional 5 minutes.  (Students want to stay seated.)
2-They had plenty of "think" time and no pressure because ANYONE on their side was permitted to answer.
3-I have a long wait time so if I know the students know the answer but are waiting me out, I don't become uncomfortable with the wait time and a student eventually answers.  (Looking in their eyes and smiling goes a long way.)
4-They wanted to help their "team" and make their contribution.

Whatever the reason, I was amazed, again, at the powerful effect TPRS has on helping the students to acquire the language.  Overall, they did such a great job that I declared both sides victorious and we gave ourselves a round of applause.

Personal Goal for the Week: Find out my QPH with the help of students to track my questions!!!

New Option for Digital Storytelling

Have you heard about the new website for digital storytelling?  It is called uTellStory and was created by the same person that previously ran the site ShowBeyond.com.

Below is an story that I just recorded.  It was a story that my Spanish 1 students wrote at the end of the semester, but I made some changes to the story so I can use it for my Spanish 2 classes.  The students drew the illustrations on the board and I took photos of their illustrations and uploaded them to my iPhone to possibly use at a later date (now).


 

  

Many times when students help to create a story using a set of 3 new vocabulary words or structures I post the new story on their class account of Edmodo.  In that way, students that are absent have access to the story that we created in class, plus the story is then available for any student to view and listen to outside of the classroom.

For teachers that don't have an iPad available for classroom use or who want their students to create a digital story in class and don't have access to a classroom set of iPads, this site is an alternative.  One thing I like about the site is the ability to edit any page of the story, even after it is published.  The private settings are useful also. 

For those that do have iPads available, some of the many options for digital storytelling are:

• Educreations (the one I'm currently using most frequently)
• ScreenChomp
• ShowMe
• My Story
• StoryMaker
• Sock Puppets
• SonicPics
• LittleStoryMaker
• DoodlecastPro
• Explain Everything
• Felt Board
• & others

  

I Love the Educreations App!

I am making a conscientious effort to s-l-o-w-l-y add new vocabulary in my Spanish 2 classes.  The first focus words on Day 1 and 2 were: quería, había, and fue.  Today I added the words encontró, tenía, and estaba triste. 

Instead of writing a new story with the 3 new words/structures, I retold the original story but expanded it by saying what Dan did/didn't find a cat at the 3 stores; said what he had or didn't have; and what the stores had and didn't have; and how he felt each time when he left each store.  

One of my service learners this semester (a senior that comes to my class every other day to assist me), created an 11-page story w/ sketches and photos from the internet.  I reviewed the story with the students and added the new vocabulary at the appropriate places, and then circled the new sentences.  Following the review w/ the new vocabulary, I used the Educreations sketches for a partner retell activity.  First, the students listed the above 6 structures. As I  showed the first sketch on the Educreations and students worked in groups of two and had to take turns with their partner saying a sentence about the sketch in Spanish.  Each time they said one of the focus words, they put a tally mark behind it.  As soon as I went to a new sketch in the story, they had to stop immediately and say a sentence for the next sketch.  

After that we had a practice pop quiz.  In all three classes, there was only one student that didn't get at least 8/10.  

If you have an iPad and haven't used the Educreations app in the MFL classroom yet, I strongly recommend it to you!

Here is the link to the story:  Dan quería un gato   

SHOUT OUT to "Juan" Stovall for the putting the sketches and photos together on Educreations.