More Spanish

Promociones de Cafam

As I prepared and brainstormed review activities to use with my Spanish 4 students, I ran across a big flyer from the Colombian supermarket Cafam filled with food and toiletry items. I have a few ideas on how to use the food items in this flyer, and I wanted to share a Flickr album with you. I'm sure many of you will be able to use the photos as you review food. The photos include an image and the vocabulary word paired with a price. Please stop by and tell me what you did/plan to do with the images. 

Five for Friday: 5 ways to use photos in the classroom

 Photo taken in Bogotá, Colombia on International Skateboarding Day, 2011

 

One of my hobbies is photography so I am always looking for ways to use it in the classroom.  If you have the opportunity to travel, photography is a great way to bring culture back to the classroom, but there are other ways to use photos in the classroom. Here are a few ideas:

1. Set up a scavenger hunt on Flickr or better yet have the students make one for each other.  

2. Have students take photos of vocabulary for homework & then use it in class to review vocabulary.  

3. Use a high interest photo as a conversation prompt for partner work.  I am always looking for images to get my students talking.  If you have a favorite resource for this, please let me know.

4. Pair a photograph with a sentence structure when you are explaining grammar items. Some kids need the grammar explanation, but others will remember the structure because of the image.

5. Use photos to review vocabulary on www.quizlet.com, or on a digital matching game like www.quia.com.  Many of these web 2.0 tools will allow you to load photos to their digital flashcards. 

I know there are many other uses for photos.  What are some of your favorite ways to bring the language alive via images?

 

 

Hello (again...)

It has been a looong time!  I have been busy (like all of you) with the start of the new school year.  I have a fabulous group of Spanish 3 students this year, and I just wish I had a few more hours to my day so I could share all the great stuff my students are up to...

I continue to use my homework system.  I really love it & I think my students benefit from it. This year it feels like MORE of my students are doing MORE meaningful things with the vocabulary assignments.  I had a student who follows politics do a political spoof on Goanimate using vocabulary from our lesson.  I had another student write a short story about the Mario video game, using the vocabulary in a very imaginative way. I have two (good) rappers that amaze me with their songs, usually performed live in the classroom (I'll try & tape one soon).  Today I want to feature one special student (Matt R) who is taking photos of the vocabulary and creating a story with them.  Here is the link to the photos he took, using vocabulary from 4A of Realidades 2 text.  I hope to use this photo-story to explain and practice imperfect & then compare preterit vs imperfect. 

How is your year going?  I would love to hear from you if you have tried this vocabulary homework in class.  

 

Flickr for vocabulary practice

I wanted a to write a quick post about Flickr.  I have talked about this Web 2.0 previously, but I wanted to add another usage for what is one of my favorite sites.  One of my homework options is for students to photograph current vocabulary and load it to our class Flickr group.  This year I have 8-10 students who consistently take photos and load them to our class group.  I ask that my students tag the photos with the lesson number, and I can easily create a slide show by selecting the photos with that specific tag.  You can see an example of what this slide show looks like here.  There will be some repetition in the vocabulary words photographed, but I am ok with that. The student photographers enjoy seeing their work as a slide show, and the other students like viewing these photos more than the clip art that comes with the textbook.  This is a great review activity and takes very little preparation on my part, but personalizes the lesson tremendously. 

Cooperative group work - project 1

My students finished their first cooperative group project last week.  The student groups created  presentations that explained how to drive safely. The vocabulary topic was city/street vocabulary, and the grammar point practiced was affirmative informal commands.  I used a few ideas from Kagan’s book Cooperative Learning, and I feel like it was a successful learning experience for all.  

Group organization: I randomly grouped students in groups of three or four, because I didn’t know my students well enough to sort them in heterogeneous groups.  I used the “puzzled people” method, that is to say, I cut up postcards into four pieces with # 1-4 written on the back.  I put all the pieces in a bag and had students randomly pick a “puzzle piece”. The students found their group by putting the postcard together.  I already had the roles and the goals for the assignment typed up and distributed it to the group at this time.  I had my recorder (#1) jot down who was in the group and what # each student had drawn.  I kept this log for the duration of the project for accountability purposes.

Project breakdown:  Individually students wrote 8-10 commands/pieces of advice that they would give a new driver.  After the individual writing was done, I had the even numbered students and the odd numbered students switch papers and do some peer editing. I then instructed them to come to a consensus and pick from their individual work the best 8-10 instructions/advice for the group project.  They would need to find images to match their text and put it all together in a Google Docs presentation.  I taught  #2 students how to use Flickr Creative Commons and credit the images in the presentation, while #1 & #3 students created, organized and typed the text on to the slides in the presentation. #4 was editing and proofing work along the way.  My Flickr experts were able to go back to their group and start finding images to pair up with the text.  They were encouraged to teach other group members how to search and upload images as well.  When the group was done with their initial draft, #4 sent me an invitation to edit/view the presentation.  

Teacher feedback: When I viewed the presentations, I selected individual slides that were well designed, and put them in my own Google presentation, then the whole class spent 15 minutes viewing the presentation, and my students explained to each other why the slides were aesthetically pleasing, easy to read and used good design principles. I then broke the kids up into their groups and gave them feedback on the content/design of their group’s presentation. I noted grammar issues that needed to be corrected by making statements like “problems with ser vs estar” or “check placement of direct object pronoun”.  I wanted the students to go back and find the items that needed correcting.  I did not want to point out the specific problem for them. (I am hoping this will make them better editors by helping them develop proofing skills and confidence to find their own mistakes.)  If the group didn’t understand what the problem was, I asked them leading questions like “ I know you used ser with colors in Spanish 1, but when a traffic light is green, will it always be green?”  or “Check your notes on where the DOP belongs when used with an affirmative command.”

Student feedback:  After the final project was submitted, students filled out a short, confidential survey asking them about their role, how well the group worked together, and any other information they wanted to share with me.

 

Project evaluation:  I was very pleased with the final projects.  We spent a LOT of class time on this assignment, but my understanding is that time and feedback on the front end will make procedures and future assignments go smoother.  At least a third of my students know how to use Flickr, and all know how to use Google Docs.  My students now know that I expect good design from future projects, and they also know that the content needs to be well edited and proofed.  

I’m keeping these groups for a few more weeks as we do other activities and small group work in class.  I think groups of three are still best for group projects.  I find it difficult to make all four roles equitable and keep all four students on task at all times.  However, for other types of cooperative work, four is perfect because you can have partners work with each other and then share in a small group.  The number of students in my class also make working in groups of four much easier. 

Although Kagan is a strong proponent for allowing students to work out problems over the course of time within their groups, of my 30 groups I will have to make changes in 3 groups.  The changes I’m making have more to do with chronic attendance problems with a couple of group members than the groups having problems working with each other.  I had one group that was really down to 2 students because the other students were frequently absent.  This of course brings up the question of how to evaluate those students?   For this project, I gave those students an alternative written assignment that was not worth the same number of points.  

I found the student surveys to be a good way to check in on how the kids thought they were doing within their group.  I think that the kids who didn’t contribute equally to their group were pretty honest about their work and tended to rate their group a little lower than the students who perhaps were more involved.  There was one group that was upset by the quality of work that their group mates produced, but the students were honest and confronted the other group members, and they were able to divide the work  load up equitably before the final project was due. 

I'm still working on teaching the students how and where to publish their work.  Until then here is a link to another example.

Me fascina Flickr, me encanta Google Docs y me gustas tú, Leigh :)

I learned and processed so much in the last couple of days I can’t get the words on the computer screen quick enough.  Let me try and explain what has gone on in class the last few days.  I apologize for the long post that may not be as cohesive as I’d like it to be.

My students, after three years of using and practicing verbs like gustar bombed what was suppose to be a grade boosting quiz.  So I asked my buddy Leigh for suggestions.  She mentioned the song Me gustas tú by Manu Chao, and sent me a couple of wonderful examples of a project her students created using a comic creator site.  I owned the song, but had been hesitant to use it in class (even the edited version) because of the refrain “Me gustas tú”. I didn’t want them to become confused with the use of the verb “gustar” in the tú form, when 99% of the time these verbs are used in the third person.  I placed a few examples from the song on the blackboard, and asked the kids to explain the grammar to me.  A few were able to explain why  “Me gustan los aviones”, and “Me gustas tú” were both grammatically correct.  Then, on their own, some other students came up with “Te gusto” =  You like me & “Les gustas” = They like you.  Bottom line, there is a lot of English interference with this type of construction, and the kids will need to continually practice and use before they stop translating from English into Spanish. 

I modified Leigh’s  gustar project from a comic book to a slide show presentation.  I wanted the kids to learn about Google Docs and Flickr.  I was shocked to find out that in a class of 24-26 students only 2-3 knew what Google Docs were. However, I was hesitant about asking the kids to create yet another account on the Internet since they already have four accounts for my Spanish class. I made it optional.  The kids could create a Powerpoint presentation on Word, or they could do it on Google Docs for a little extra credit.  Only one students chose Powerpoint.  Now that they know how easy and convenient this web 2.0 tool is to use, we can use with future projects. I stand by my theory that my students will cross a river filled with crocodiles for extra credit, but don’t really want to use notecards for 5 minutes a night to reinforce vocabulary. (I know, I know... I am enabling this behavior...)

I have also been observing what motivates certain students.  I’m going to protect the innocent by making a compilation of a few students into two.  Let’s name the first one Paco.  He may not be getting an A in my class (see notecard issue above), but he is talking in Spanish whenever and with whoever will talk back to him.  He wants to read a version of Don Quixote that is appropriate for his language skill just because he is interested. He has figured out how to put accent marks on web pages using laptops, because I asked him to help me. Extra credit never came into any of this (he also was one of the 2-3 kids who used Google Docs before).  

Now let me tell you about Dora.  She is a straight A student.  She only used Flickr because I threw a little extra credit for those who used images from that site instead of a Google image search.  I pointed out what gorgeous images Flickr had to offer her presentation, and she agreed, but still preferred a search on Google because it was quicker.  This image was fine for her instead of this one.  She said she just needed a soccer ball.  Nothing fancy.  Using a Creative Common search added an extra step she didn’t feel was necessary.  She has other classes and commitments, and her time is better spent doing that work.  A soccer ball is just a soccer ball.  

I’m not saying that Tina doesn’t deserve her A.  She does her work, and knows her stuff. She also enjoys talking in Spanish, and does it very well.  But darn it, Paco deserves that A also... I’m figuring out a way to make sure he gets it too...

Spanish food unit

I'm tired of students assuming that the only food eaten by native Spanish speakers are tacos & chimichangas, so when our food unit comes up in Realidades, and it features Spanish cuisine, I really focus on those dishes & recipes.  This is when my students get a true "food day".  I ask them to sign up to prepare or purchase food associated with Spain. They can search or bring in recipes, but I need to approve the dish.  If they have problems coming up with ideas, I have a few "easy" Spanish recipes I pass along.  I know the recipes are not 100% authentic (saffron & vanilla beans are cost prohibitive to most families). I also encourage students to cook together in pairs or groups of three, so that they can split the cost. I ask them to pick a recipe that they can make with very little help from their parents, and a dish that THEY will eat.  For those kids that really can't cook, I allow them to bring things like chorizo & queso manchego.  

This year I will be adding the following slide show to our unit. 

The talented Xosé Castro provided the photos on Flickr & I used BigHugeLabs to make the slide show.

I will show the slide show before the students pick their dish.   We will talk about staples in the Spanish diet & discuss the similarities & differences between the dishes in the photos & what they may eat at home.

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!