More Spanish

Six word stories

Sometime last year I ran across the six-story-word project by Smith magazine.  I loved it!  So how to use it?  I created a mini-scrapbook for myself of my own six-word-stories, but as I was taking a walk today, I wondered about how to bring that project to the classroom.  I decided that I want to show my students how to search on Flicker using Flickr Storm. I think they will get much better images than what they currently do with Google. So, I'm thinking I will combine the two assignments.  They will write a six word story & illustrate it with an image from the Creative Commons on Flicker.  I will post a rubric & the finished projects as I follow through with this assignment. 

Beautiful words

Matthew Bennett who I'm following on Twitter (who also happens to translate technical papers for my cousin in Spain, who I wasn't even aware knew her before I started following on Twitter) sent a Tweet about the 100 most beautiful words in English.  That made me wonder what are the 100 most beautiful in Spanish .  Yet another Tweet to the rescue. I need to point out that "amor" is # 1 :)  I'm thinking this is a great springboard for a vocabulary lesson.  What words would my students pick in Spanish?  In English? Why would they pick them?  

Languages are important

The following is a slide show, brought to me by Alice Ayel @aliceayel who I've been following on Twitter, and created by Henriette for www.tes.co.uk.  Alice is a dynamic French teacher, who is constantly adding to her stash of digital knowledge.  The slide show is a promo for learning languages.  I'm thinking perfect for Foreign Language week.

What Does Learning A Language Say About Me Ppt

View more presentations from Alice Ayel. (tags: skills important)

Saturday Night Live Spoof

My students have been begging me to see this SNL video.  The premise is that this "telenovela" was written by a fourth grade class.  I may see what my Sp III kids can create with this as inspiration.

 

Voicethread and sporting events

Here are a few examples of Voicethread that my students have been working on over the snow days.  It was posted on ProgressBook & emailed through the wiki, and even so, I know that the majority of kids haven't found out about the extra credit opportunity.  I'm in search for a program that will allow me to text my students (through a computer).  I really believe THAT is the best way to share information.  These examples were done at the student's home. Some kids don't have a microphone, so I'm allowing them to type in their narration.  The program is pretty easy to figure out & the only problem I've run into is that some kids are keeping their project "private" so the link to the wiki doesn't let me view their work.  Check out Katie's & Megan's project for a nice project with sound.

Reading & Listening Blog "treasure"

I am thrilled to share a wonderful site directed toward Spanish language learners. Spanish News Bites is a blog that posts short readings for all levels, but in addition to the readings, there is a listening component and an interactive exercise over the reading.  Your students can even download the mp3 file, if they so desire.  I can't wait for the next lesson in Realidades (6B) that covers movie vocabulary to have my kids read this article about the Goya awards. Enjoy!

El supermercado

I have had the following photos of a supermarket in Bogotá, Colombia for a few years & I haven't really done too much with them until today. El supermercado set on Flickr will ask students to compare a grocery store in Bogotá with a grocery store in the US.  The photos were taken at a Carulla market a few blocks from where my father lives.  I went in with my camera & took a few photos before the security guard stopped me.  He was polite, but perplexed by why I would want to photograph a market.  He had me talk to the manager, who was equally confused by my need to photograph his store.  (secret supermarket spy!) When all was said & done, they let me keep the film (before my digital days), but I felt really awkward taking any more... That is all I have in the set.  This activity uses the note feature on Flickr that I did not know existed until three days ago.  I will be using it a lot more often now.

"Maze" with Flickr

So it has been a couple of productive snow days!  I got to play with my newest, fun, teaching site Flickr .  I created a little "maze" to use with my students in the next chapter.  Realidades chapter 7 will cover commands. I'm having my students roam the corridors of our school "virtually" in search of a treasure. I haven't finished the activity yet, or maybe I will just let them keep roaming in circles looking for the treasure.  The idea is for them to click on the links & conjugate the verbs in parenthesis as they go along.  If I know my students, if I make the activity end in three clicks, they will stop there, so the trick is to keep them clicking & practicing.  If you want to check it out, here is the link. Leave comments with suggestions on how to end my little circle. THS maze

Big Huge Labs Slide Show

OK.  So we had a snow day & I'm really excited to try out some of my new "flickr" knowledge.  So  with the help of Big Huge Labs

I created a slideshow.  

In Realidades chapter 5, the grammar taught is the uses of preterite vs imperfect, and the vocabulary is about accidents & injuries.  I thought it would be a perfect place for some photos of a trip we took from Bogotá to Cali on a typical highway through the mountain range that connects the two cities.  I was able to give my students some prompts to help with the written assignment with the caption option.  I recommend sorting your photos first and then writing the captions.  I couldn't figure out how to sort the slides & have the captions travel with them the other way.  Since we are past that section in the book, I will use this activity as a review in a few weeks.  Can't get enough of preterite vs imperfect in my universe!

El desfile de modas

I know many teachers have done some variation of a fashion show in the foreign language classroom, but  after posting the idea on FL Teach , and having several teachers request my rubric for this project, I thought I would do a short post explaining what I did.  I'll try to link video in the next couple of days. Below are the directions I gave my class for the project, and after that some reflection on how to improve it.

Directions

Created for 2A&B of Realidades

Students will present a fashion show.  Students may work with a partner or in groups of three.  Each student will describe what his/her partner is wearing and each student will be a runway model J Class time will be given, but students will need to prepare outside of class as well.

1. Pick your outfits before class.  Pick crazy outfits that you normally wouldn't wear, but make sure they are school appropriate.

2. Describe what special event (2A voc) this clothing is suited for…es ideal para…es perfecta para…por ejemplo…

3. Describe the fabric & material in your clothing items. Also make sure that the outfit has a variety of colors & use the following to describe the colors: claro/a, de un solo color, oscuro, pastel y vivo.

4. Bring in accessories for your outfit.  You can use the terms above to describe the accessories if you need to… un cinturón de cuero…don’t forget las joyas!

5. Describe how the clothing fits & how it looks on the model (floja, cómoda...)

6. Use a variety of verbs in your presentation (escoger, estar de moda, probarse, vestirse, llevar, prepararse, ponerse…)

7. Talk about the expense of the clothing (Es una ganga? Es muy cara? El precio es alto o bajo?)

 

Tips for presentation

 

This activity is a lot of fun with a class that embraces being silly.  My middle school students loved it & my younger classes last year responded well.  It's not to say the older students don't enjoy it, but if they aren't open to the whole "runway" experience, you may hear some grumbling.  I let them take a notecard up, but emphasize that the "announcer" must match the "model".  The "model" will want to fly up & down the "runway", so in order to reinforce the vocabulary, I will remind them to stay with the narration. I have classes of 26-32 students, and I had to scramble to get all the presentations in with a 55 min bell.  You also need to allow time for the kids to change in & out of their outfits. Fell free to leave comments/tips if you have tried this in your class.