Vocabulary in Context

Posted on July 25, 2018 by

As we looked at the last data collection of student vocabulary, we were a bit suprised that some words had lower correct responses than we expected. So we decided to do a little educational research and what we discovered really didn’t suprise us: Continue reading →

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SLO and Vocabulary

Posted on July 23, 2018 by

SLO 2: Vocabulary Growth

See our preview post about using Timed Writing to track student growth as part of our our teacher evaluation. (Referred to as SLO or SGO in some states).

Our second SLO (Student Learning Objective) was to show student growth in vocabulary. We put together a list of 180 words, mostly from the Top 300 Common Words in Spanish. The words were not a list of textbook vocabulary words, but rather common words that are part of every day language. Some of these words were non-targeted, meaning they were not explicitly taught, and others were some of the targeted vocabulary from class stories. Continue reading →

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World Language SLO with Timed Writing

Posted on July 20, 2018 by

Many states now require teachers to show evidence of student growth as part of their teacher evaluation. One such example is the Student Learning Objective (SLO). This collection of data can be laboring, but it can also be useful as a tool of communication to students and parents about their growth in the language. This past year I used Timed Writing as a data collection piece as part of my SLO for

Timed Writing World Language SLO

Spanish.

The SLO would be to increase student fluency in the target language. The methods to achieve this Continue reading →

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How to print a glossary for a book

Posted on June 11, 2018 by

 

In the past, we showed you how to take an entire text and put ALL of the words into a glossary. This is especiallu useful when you’ve written a class story and want to print a small booklet for your FVR.making an authentic text more accessible

But what about when there is an authentic text that you want to include in your FVR and it doesn’t have a glossary? Well, we have an easy to follow tutorial to help you with that. Continue reading →

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Pre Amnesia Story

Posted on June 9, 2018 by

During Wooly Week 2017 Sr. Wooly released one of my now-favorite videos, Amnesia. In the video, a man mysteriously wakes up in the middle of the street and can’t remember who he is. The song is a great set of input for “No sé que hacer” and “no recuerdo (nada)” as well as looking at the differences between saber and conocer. Let me tell you how I used this song in my classroom and share with you some activities.

1. Before Amnesia, I actually used the Senor Wooly song “No voy a levantarme” first. We acted out a very simple version of this story in class where a student is sleeping and his Students acting out story of No Voy a Levantarmemom tried to wake him up. In groups of 3, one student played the sleeping child, one the mother, and the other person was the narrator (who was also responsable for making sure the actors performed their dialogue correctly). I had two different scripts ready for students to act out. The main focus was on the daily routine phrases “se despierta”, “se levanta” y “se acuesta”.   Continue reading →

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Summer PD reading

Posted on June 2, 2018 by

Many of you are either already out for summer or are approaching summer. But we all know that teachers are busy during the summer with summer school, planning for next year, taking classes or attending training among other things. Today we’d like to highlight some Professional Development reading that would be beneficial to Language Teachers.

1. Comprehensible and Compelling: The Causes and Effects of Free Voluntary Reading
I don’t know about you, but when there is a Krashen book available to read, I’m all over it. This book, published at the end of 2017, “provides compelling research-based arguments for reading aloud, free voluntary reading, and reading to one’s strengths” and “identifies and explains the three stages in the development of the highest level of literacy: hearing stories, self-selected recreational reading, and specialized reading in an area of deep personal interest.”
FVR has been a game changer for my classroom, so if you have questions about impleting it in your classroom this book is a must rea

Other Krashen titles:

2. TPRS with Chinese Characteristics: Making Students Fluent and Literate through Comprehensible Input

Don’t worry if you don’t teach Chinese. This book is applicable to all languages. So many teachers have recommended this book by Terry Waltz and it’s no suprise. “It is loaded with down-to-earth practical advice for any language teacher who wants her/his students to actually develop true proficiency.”

3. Fluency Through TPR Storytelling

There is a reason some people refer to this book as the “Green Bible”, as the father of TPRS, Blaine Ray, guides the reader on implementing TPRS in his/her classroom. If you are new to TPRS, this would be a good place to start.

 

 

If you are a member of ACTFL, you can also purchase their publications. What are your summer reading titles?

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End of Year Feedback

Posted on May 21, 2018 by

Any good teacher is always looking ways to be a better teacher. So at the end of the school year as I reflect upon the last 9 months and look ahead for planning for the new year, I go to the best source for feedback– my students.

Every year I have students complete a feedback survey about the course and gather insight into the mind of an 8th grader. A lot of gives me confirmation of what I am doing in class, but there is also good feedback on things that I can improve. After my first full year of 100% storytelling, I realized I needed to explain the WHY of my strategies and how acquisition worked.

This year, I have multiple surveys, that I have my students fill out on Google Forms: Continue reading →

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Sprucing up a Story with Sound Effects

Posted on May 9, 2018 by

We all know that visuals are a great aide to comprehension. But there is another sensory that we can be targeting to add not only comprehension but also fun and humor to class stories. I’m talking about using SOUND EFFECTS.

YouTube is a great place to find a sound effect. Simply search for the noise/action + sound effect. For example  if you are doing a story where someone is eating search “chewing sound effect”. As you are telling the story, have different tabs open so you can just hit the play button on each video. If you have classroom jobs, you can also assign this job to a student to play the appropriate sound effect during the story.

Here are some ideas of certain sounds that you might use in a story: Continue reading →

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Reclaiming Cinco

Posted on April 29, 2018 by

It’s that time again. #ReclaimCinco #MasQueSombreros #MoreThanSombreros

SpanishPlans.org

You may think that celebrating cinco de mayo in your Spanish class is a fun reward for students at the end of the year to celebrate a year of language learning. But what are dangerous effects? As an educator are you OK with promoting stereotypes? Sure, you may teach the what Cinco de Mayo really is, including it’s history. But what are students going to remember? It won’t be a lesson in history. It will be: We had a party on Cinco de Mayo. I’ve seen it first hand. My students ask me every year if we are going to have a party. Why? “We had one last year.” For what? “This is Spanish class!” So? “It’s a Mexican holiday”

I’m sure you already have your own opinions and this blog post is not going to change your mind. But please, keep an open mind on what message your are sending to…

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Quien fue… series

Posted on April 12, 2018 by

One of my favorite books that I’ve added to my classroom library this year has actually been an authentic novel that is probably at the 3rd-5th grade reading level for native speakers, but has been a nice additional to my L2 classroom. While it is probably best suited for intermediate students, my novice high students have been able to have success with it, as it is on a familiar topic. The book….. Continue reading →

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