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Lista lunes: Back to School 2016

June 20, 2016, 6:24 am
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I KNOW that this is really early, but back to school is one of my favorite times of year. You can see this by how many posts I have done in the past revolving around back to school. Well this year I will not be at the very first day back because I am due with baby boy #2 on the exact first day of school. Since baby boy #1 came on his due date, it is very possible I may have a back to school baby. So unfortunately, I will not get to plan for those first fun weeks back, but you can see many ideas below to help you get ready. 




1st Week of School Plans





1st Week Resources


Classroom Set Up

Planning for the Year





Getting to Know Your Students





If you would like to download all of my back to school products together, you can find them here.
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Comprehensible Iowa Quotes

June 21, 2016, 5:00 am
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As you could see by my tweet activity on Saturday, I spent the day at the first ever CI: Comprehensible Iowa Conference. You would have never guessed that it was just an idea floating around a local Facebook group this past February, because Elizabeth, Kim& Nevada Schools did an amazing job. What I really loved was the positivity of each and every attendee and presenter. Everyone there wanted to share the magic and power of TPRS and CI teaching. There were a wide variety of experience levels, but each teacher was there to learn and grow from each other. It was even cooler that teachers from a variety of states around the midwest came as well. It was a true testament to the growing interest that teachers have in teaching with comprehensible input. 

I have so many takeaways that I think I am going to need a couple posts and days to process all of the greatness. For now here are 5 quotes that stuck with me. 









I presented on teaching a novel 101 and wish that we could have had hours, instead of just 50 minutes. I would have loved to do a workshop where I did not feel so rushed, and instead we had time to break into actually working on planning for a novel. It was especially great that every participant could visualize a TPRS novel since Carol Gaab of TPRS publishing so generously donated a novel to each participant, which they had out and were able to reference. Thank you to each and every person who came to my session! Here is the Presentation.

session participants discussing novels
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How to Movie Talk

June 23, 2016, 5:00 am
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This past weekend at CI:Comprehensible Iowa Conference I went to a really great session on Movie Talk, from Haiyun Lu (@Haiyunlu & @ignitechinese on Twitter). You can tell that Haiyun in a teacher coach, because she did an excellent job explaining, letting us practice the skills on our own, and then elaborating with more detail. Movie Talk is a technique for language learning developed by Dr. Ashley Hastings. Here are a few more resources on the Movie Talk technique. 
Basically, the Twitter summary is - Movie Talk is a activity for a CI classroom involving playing a short, muted video clip, while the teacher explains it in COMPREHENSIBLE language. The teacher frequently pauses the clip, asking questions, which circle and repeat the target structures. The goal is not to narrate everything happening, but instead focus on comprehensible language that narrows in on the structures that the teacher wishes to emphasize. My junior high exploratory students LOVE Movie Talks and now I have a better idea of how to make them even more effective in my classes. 



Where do you find Movie Talk videos?



How do you prepare for a Movie Talk? - Check out the image below by Haiyun Lu

How to Prepare for a Movie Talk - from presentation at #CIIA16 by Haiyun Lu

As you can see above preparing for a Movie Talk is all about practicing and making sure that your target language description of the video clip focuses on your target structures. It is very helpful for a newbie to actually write out what you are going to say in the target language, as to not get too bogged down in details, and instead keep your focus on comprehensible language. 

How do you prepare YOUR STUDENTS for a Movie Talk? 

  • Explain exactly what you will be doing, watching a short, muted, clip while pausing it A LOT. Prepare students that you will ask questions during the video, and that you are looking for a response like when you story ask. Let them know you will watch the whole video with sound AT THE END. 
  • Introduce the target structures. By the time I do a Movie Talk, I have already introduced the structures by writing them on the board, using personalized question and answer, completed a class story, and maybe more. 
  • **New idea from Haiyun Lu** Create a short reading to introduce the video, using the target structures, WITHOUT spoiling the ending. While I have used Movie Talk quite a bit this year, I had never done this very helpful step. This would allow students to see the language you will be using while describing, and help give the visual learners some assistance while listening to the movie talk. Haiyun suggests trying to summarize the video in 5 sentences in the target language. 

An Example - Video - Baby brings dad a drink


We practiced in the session using this cute video. Here is an example process. 

Target Structures - Introduce to students
  • s/he gives to - le da
  • s/he has a cup- tiene una taza
  • s/he takes a drink - toma
Practice Reading 
  • Give the below reading to novice students, or project and read as a class. Circle and discuss the target structures as they are used in the reading. Notice it does not give a way the ending, but rather gives some suspense to watch to fins out what happens. 
  • You could also have screen shots that you show as well to help visually explain. 
English
The baby has a cup. The baby walks to and gives the cup to his dad. The dad takes a drink, says "thank you", and gives the cup to the baby. The baby give another cup to the dad and the dad takes another drink. Where is the baby and what is in the cup?

Spanish
El bebé tieneuna taza. El bebé camina al papá y le da la taza a su papá. El papá toma, dice “gracias,” y le da la taza al bebé. El bebé le da otra taza al papá y el papá toma. ¿Dónde está el bebé y qué tiene la taza?



Do the Movie Talk

  • Play the muted video clip pausing at each scene. 
  • Make sure to describe in comprehensible target language, not your thinking language. This means you will focus on the compressible words that your students know, as well as the target structures. 
  • Ask questions as you go. Restating the answers as well. For example when you pause the first scene of the baby, you could ask the following questions:
    • Is this a girl or a boy?
    • Is this a baby or a dad?
    • Does the baby have a cup?
    • What does the cup have?
    • Is the baby walking or running?
  • Make sure to focus on the target structures. You can even have students tally up how many times you use each structure, or have this as a class job for someone who needs a task to stay focused while listening. 
  • Once done, show the whole video, un-muted. 

Possible Extension or Assessment to Movie Talk

When I have done Movie Talk in the past, it is usually just that, describing the video and then moving on to the next activity. Here are some ideas of how to use the same video to extend the conversation or complete an assessment. 
  • Do a Up/Down Listening Assessment. 
    • Have all students put their heads down. 
    • Give True/False statements about the video and students put thumb up/down to signify true or false. 
    • This is a quick formative way to see if students get it. 
  • Put screen shots of video on a piece of paper & have students write out. 
    • This could be a mini writing assessment. 
  • Cut up little screen shots of video & have students retell video to partner.
    • This could be a mini speaking assessment. 
  • Write up a few statements in English as a listening comprehension mini quiz.
    • Ex. Choose the correct answer -  The baby has (milk/water) in the cup. 
Many thanks to Haiyun Lu for really solidifying how to make Movie Talk work best in a comprehensible input classroom!
 
What are your favorite short videos to use for Movie Talk?
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Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha - Resources

June 27, 2016, 11:35 am
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I am really excited to use Vida y muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha from TPRS Publishing this fall in Spanish IV. It is how I will start with when I return from maternity leave in November. I gave out an end of year survey with possible novel options for Spanish IV and this novel was the clear winner. I purchased a set of novels and the Teacher's Guide using our curriculum budget, but they will not be ordered until the new fiscal year in July (which is the end of week!). Of course that did not stop me from already searching to see how other teachers have used the novel and what kinds of supplemental activities they have come up with. Just like I already posted for Fiesta Fatal, I have already started planing with my large slide show for the unit. As I find resources, I add them to the slide show, so once I get to the chapter, I do not forget them. Once I have the teachers guide, I will add discussion questions and many other cultural expansions.



Great Resources for the Novel


Articles in English - Students read on own for background knowledge

Chapter by Chapter plans by Carrie Toth


Like many have shared, I think I am going to start the unit by watching the movie Voces Inocentes using the guide from Kristy Placido & some activities from Kara Jacobs. This should provide a better visual and background knowledge before beginning the novel. We already watched Which Way Home last year as a part of our immigration unit, and I plan to reference it as well. Then we may do some stations using the articles above, song resources, Fotos de MS13 & barrio 18 infografia to continue exploration of El Salvador, the Civil War and gangs. If life is not too crazy once I return from maternity leave with 2 little ones, hopefully I will be able to share my actual plans. 

What are your favorite resources for teaching this novel?

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#WBW - Proficiency Puzzle

June 29, 2016, 5:00 am
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Here is this week's #WBW - Way Back Wednesday, bringing back some older posts with a new and updated spin.

In my 1st week of Spanish class plans I mentioned that the first week of class I wanted to do a station involving students beginning to distinguish between proficiency levels. A way I came up with to introduce the idea to Spanish 1, as well as check for understanding from the upper levels is an activity I am going to call Proficiency Puzzle. 

The goal of this activity is for students to gain an awareness and begin to distinguish the various world language proficiency levels. **I know that this is an activity in English that does not follow TCI methods, but I feel it is an important part of setting expectations in the world language class. It gives students' ownership in their language learning experience and lays the groundwork for years of language class by giving students the vocabulary to discuss proficiency. 


To prep

  • Download the Proficiency Puzzle here. 
  • Print the proficiency descriptions and cut the squares. If you are planning on using it for multiple classes, print on card stock and laminate for durability. Since I plan on using it at a station and not as a whole class activity, I only plan on prepping a few sets in different colors, so they will not get mixed and jumbled together. 


  • Print the blank proficiency levels on card stock. Attach them to form one poster if you would like.  




To Use


  • In pairs or groups have students work to match the proficiency description in the corresponding box. Provide guidance by walking around and assisting where needed. 
  • Once finished, project the answer keys to discuss the proficiency path and the expected proficiency at their particular level. 


How do you talk about proficiency in your class?

If you would like to download all of my back to school products together, you can find them here.






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Novel Resources - New Page!

June 30, 2016, 11:30 am
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Resources for teaching specific novels


I finally put together a page on the blog with all resources I have used for teaching with novels. There is a portion with links to resources sorted by novel. They in order from easiest, to most difficult (in my opinion). There are also links to other novel resources such as Literature Circles and more. 

Check out the page Novel Resources for my growing list of posts related to teaching with novels. 

Now back to reading the two newest novel additions to my classroom library: Soy Lorenzo& Las Lágrimas de Xóchitl. 
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Libro lunes - El capibara con botas

July 4, 2016, 5:00 am
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Like many of you, one of my summer hobbies is catching up on all of the new class reader novels for Spanish class. In order to share about the books I have read I will have a libro lunes novel series posts (not to be confused with lista lunes:). This week's libro lunes is the new novel by Mira Canion, El capibara con botas. 

Here is the book description from miracanion.com
"An entertaining animal story with science and social studies cross-curricular content with only 55 new words in Spanish. Learn about four geographic regions of Ecuador, the Amazon Rainforest, South American animals, the water cycle, and deforestation. Great for elementary, middle school, and beginning high school classes. Includes numerous illustrations, supplementary English-Spanish non-fiction readings, complete glossary, and an enticing prologue."

El capibara con botas would make a perfect first novel for any age of student. It amazingly has just 55 unique high frequency words. All of the animals would be entertaining to elementary students, while the adventure and bigger themes of the environment and science related topics would be interesting for high schoolers as well. 

As a teacher, I love the supplementary English-Spanish non-fiction readings at the end of the book including: capybaras, Ecuador, pumas, jaguars, The Galapagos Islands, rainforests, and the water cycle. They would make for great further cultural and cross curricular exploration. According to Mira, the vocabulary includes some content-specific words: selva tropical, árboles, mono, lago, agua, bote, puma, jaguar, and capibara. But, it is mostly basic high frequency vocabulary such as: camina, nada, salta, corre, ve, tiene, va, está feliz, es, dice, toma, su mamá, su papá, and amigo.

There is a great list of themes to explore in the book and there is a teacher's guide in the works. I would personally love to use this novel as a first book in Spanish 1, or even with my junior high exploratory class. I started putting together some resources for the novel here -Pinterest Board - El capibara con botas. Thank you Mira for another great classroom reader!

What are other books you have added to your classroom library lately?
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Birthday Sale!

July 5, 2016, 5:00 am
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In honor of my birthday, I am giving all of YOU a gift, a Teachers Pay Teachers sale! Everything in my store Mis Clases Locas will be 20% off Wednesday, July 6 and Thursday, July 7. Now is the time to purchase anything you may have on your wish list. I have many resources for Para Empezar class starters or brain breaks, which include music, dancing and other fun authentic resources. There are great resources for novice classes and beyond. 
There are also many FREE products including popular movie guides. Check out my store for a party favor from me to you! Now off to enjoy some ice-cream and cake!

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Quick Tip: Free Books in Spanish!

July 7, 2016, 11:26 am
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As we plan for a new school year, I do not know many teachers who say: 
"I have so much extra money to spend on my classroom and classroom library." 
I realized that I actually have quite a few posts with money saving ideas and ways to get free or cheap resources, so I know have them all grouped together under the label $ Saver.


I blogged last year& the year before, about how to get free books for your classroom from the Kelloggs Family Rewards program and now it is back! (No I am not a sponsor of these products). This year the packages must be from Walmart, but 1 package gets you 1 free book!


The instructions can be seen above. By uploading a receipt from a specially marked Kelloggs, Coca-Cola, Hershey or Smuckers products from Walmart you get a free book.
 I do not usually shop there, but I will have to, since the books below in Spanish can be earned for FREE through the program. 



How can you get many free books? Two years ago I put a blurb in our quarter 1 parent newsletter, and actually had a parent bring in a stack of 18 boxes for me! Also, my mom and mother in law are good about saving them for me as well. Just make sure that it has the "Start School like a Champion" logo on the front (below), or you will just not get a free book. 


**You may want to wait a couple weeks, as I checked out my Wal-Mart yesterday, and they did not have these promotional boxes out yet. I will keep you posted ;)**  

Below are the participating products this year. Just make sure they have the logo above on them to get the free books! You can also donate the books to a school of your choice. 
See the website for all of the details. 



What other way to you have to get free or cheap books in your target language?
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Libro lunes - Las Lágrimas de Xóchitl

July 11, 2016, 5:00 am
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This week's libro lunes is the new novel by Virginia Hildebrandt, Las Lágrimas de Xóchitl. This summer at CI: Comprehensible Iowa, I was introduced to a new to me author of novelas, Virginia Hildebrandt. She is based out of Minnesota and you can find her books and resources at 1 Good Story and Bryce Hedstrom. I snatched up both of her readers to add to my classroom library, and maybe someday teach as a class novel.


The first book I dove into was Las Lágrimas de Xóchitl. Here is the summary from 1 Good Story.

"This book is written for level 1 or level 2 students, novice-low or novice–mid readers. The vocabulary is intentionally flooded with high frequency structures and cognates to easily invite language learners into the story. Family relationships, household responsibilities and sibling interaction are a cornerstone of the first few chapters.

Indigenous culture and traditional rural lifestyle is embedded in the novel underscoring the importance of historical ethnicity and the challenge that communities face as they struggle to maintain values and ancient practices. Readers share Xochitl’s view of her reality as she yearns for a more contemporary lifestyle. Her struggle is one that many modern young people face as they try to stay true to their ethnic heritage and history while balancing influences of the progressive world around them. 
The story follows Xóchitl through joy, heart pounding danger and disappointment."

It is important to note that the book is the first in a planned series of two, with the sequel not yet released. It ends on a cliffhanger, that might upset some students since there is not a second book yet. There is a lot going on, which you can tell will hopefully lead into different resolutions in the sequel.

As a Spanish teacher I could not help by think of ways that I would teach the novel, and themes I would address, as I read. Here are some of the big ideas and cultural concepts that could be taught using this novel:
  • Mayan culture
    • Mayan clothing
    • Mayan food
    • Indigenous culture
    • Family structure
    • El Chupacabras & other legends
  • Guatemala
    • Schools
    • Geography
    • Poverty
    • Animals
    • Markets
    • Bottle Schools (& the environment)

It could easily be taught with Esperanza by Carol Gaab, which also takes place in Guatemala. But this novel takes the culture of Guatemala more in-depth, as the entire novel is set in the country. Below are some resources that I would use if teaching this novel as a unit of study.


  • Living on One - A great documentary that shows the geography, poverty and indigenous people of Guatemala.


  • Class Market - This simulation would actually make sense as a part of this novel study.


What new novelas for Spanish class would you add to my must read list?
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1st week of Spanish Class using CI

July 13, 2016, 5:00 am
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Some of my most popular posts of all time revolve around what to do during the first week of Spanish class (1st Week of Spanish Class - Daily Plans, Unit 1 & 1st Day of Spanish Class). As you may know this year I will not actually be at school the first day, since it is my due date for baby boy #2! Since it is a topic that so many of you are interested in, I will share what I would be doing if I was there the first week this year, with more of a comprehensible input focus. 

If you are starting at a new school, or will have all students who are new to you, I would recommend following this week long Unit 1 that focuses on proficiency, procedures and positive people. One of the main activities is the Proficiency Puzzle, which helps students who are new to the concept of language proficiency learn to distinguish proficiency levels, and help to figure out what will be expected of them during the year (per your Syllabus). You can see my Daily Plans post for exactly what I did each day last year. You can download everything you need in this Back to School Bundle. 





1st Week of Spanish Class - This year
This year I am in the unique #deptof1 situation that I already know and have had every student, with the exception of anyone new to the district. I even already know Spanish 1, since I had every 7th and 8th grader last year in Exploratory Spanish. This means in Spanish 1 we can skip a lot of the typical first week introductions (like my introduction Prezi), and get right into the focus, the Super 7 verbs (from Terry Waltz - es, tiene, le gusta, hay, está, va, quiere). Below would be the tentative plan for Spanish 1. Hopefully I will share plans for upper levels in another post. 


Day 1 - Spanish 1

BEFORE CLASS - A Spanish Pandora Station will be playing, all desks will have these seating cards & students can take pictures with the Instagram Photo Booth

GREET - Greet all students at the door in Spanish with a smile, handshake and a seating card. I will ask their name in Spanish, modeling "Me llamo Señora Wienhold""¿Cómo te llamas?" 

INTRO MYSELF - Make sure that all students know who I am, flipping through a few pictures of my summer in a slideshow to talk about what I did prompting discussion. 

NAME GAME SPEEDBALL-  This is a fun way to review how to introduce yourself and essential to class bonding if there are any new students. 

PERSONA ESPECIAL - Normally them we would go into Ben Slavic's circling with balls using nameplates talking about everyone. Since I know everyone's names, we will not be making nameplates and instead will go right into special person interviews from Bryce Hedstrom. I will ask for a outgoing volunteer to sit on the special stool, and as a class we will ask them questions using this list. Depending on time, we may go through a couple people and then do a quick free write at the end to write down everything they remember about their classmates for future use. Each day of the week there will be one target structure of teh super 7 that will be introduced and focused on. 

Day 1 - Focus Word of Super 7 - es 

  • ¿De dónde eres? - Soy de… Es de…
  • ¿Eres (cognate adjectives - ex. atletico) - Soy… Es…


PASS OUT MINI SUPPLY LIST  - As students leave they will receive a mini supply list, so they know what to get for class. (Chromebook, Binder, loose leaf paper, 8 tab dividers & writing utensil)


Day 2

PERSONA ESPECIAL - We will go through a few more students to get to know our class and practice basic phrases. We will review the focus word from the previous day and add a new focus word. 

Day 2 - Focus Word of Super 7 - tiene 

  • ¿Cuántos años tienes? - Tengo ___ años. Tiene ___ años.
  • ¿Tienes hermanos/animales? - Tengo... Tiene 

NAME GAME SPEEDBALL-  as a brain break

START STATIONS - For all of those necessary first week logistics, I like to do quick stations that students move through at their own pace. These involve completing the following tasks:

  • Instagram Photo Booth - Take and post pictures in the using out class hashtag.
  • Parent Newsletter/video permission form - Students pick up & take home to get signed. 
  • Schoology - Students sign up using the class code.
  • Info Form - Once on Schoology, they fill out the posted Google Form that helps me get to know them, their interests, and their language abilities
  • Spanish Twitter - Students create Twitter account that will be used for class & follow our class account. 
  • Syllabus - Students look through the posted syllabus and post questions or comments on Schoology. 
  • Proficiency Puzzle - Students work with a partner to distinguish proficiency levels. We will discuss these later once everyone is done. 

Day 3


PERSONA ESPECIAL - We will go through a few more students to get to know our class and practice basic phrases. We will review focus words from previous days and add a new focus word. 

Day 3 - Focus Word of Super 7 - le gusta

  • ¿Qué te gusta hacer? - Me gusta ___. Le gusta___ 

FINISH STATIONS 


Day 4

PERSONA ESPECIAL - We will go through a few more students to get to know our class better. We will review focus words from previous days and add a new focus word. Students will complete a free write on all those we have learned about so far. 

Day 4 - Focus Word of Super 7 - hay

  • ¿Cuántas personas hay en tu familia? - En mi familia hay ___personas. Hay ___ personas en la familia de ___. 
GO OVER STATIONS 
  • Syllabus - Discuss questions or clarifications.
  • Proficiency Puzzle - Go over proficiency levels, class expectations and have students make their own proficiency goal. Students write this goal down and share with the teacher. 

Day 5

BAILE VIERNES
VIERNES CHANT

PERSONA ESPECIAL - We will go through a few more students to get to know our class better. We will review focus words from previous days. Students will complete a free write on all those we have learned about so far. 

STORY - The class will create a story using the four target structures of the super 7 so far (es, tiene, le gusta, hay) and using two volunteer actors. The goal is our story will use some of the real information we learned about the class during the special person interviews. Below is just a basic example that uses the target structures. 

Story Script Idea (es, tiene, le gusta, hay)


Hay una muchacha. Saraesinteligente y atractiva. Saratiene un canguro. El canguro es adorable. Sara le gusta el canguro.  

Hay un muchacho. Carlos no esinteligente y no es atractivo. Carlos tiene un rinoceronte. El rinocerontees gigante. Carlos le gusta el rinoceronte.  

Carlosle gusta Sara, pero Sara no le gusta Carlos.El canguro de Sara ataca el rinoceronte de Carlos.Carlos no está contento.


STORY EXTENSION - Depending on how much time we have, we may do some type of story extension, while I type up the class story. This may be that students make a storyboard or mural to retell the story the next week. 

The next week would continue with adding in the rest of the super 7 - está, va, quiere.

What do your 1st week of school plans look like?


Resources & posts for back to school

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#WBW - Música miércoles

July 20, 2016, 5:00 am
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One of the first things I posted about on the blog was a classroom routine that started my first year teaching, Música miércoles. Since it is Wednesday, here is another Way Back Wednesday for you. Música miércoles is a Para Empezar class starter watching a music video (or lyrics video for those with inappropriate videos) of a current or classic song in Spanish. After watching the video, we typically talk about the video, artist, or message in Spanish for a few minutes.


How do I pick what songs to use?

The song of the week may go with the current theme or country of study, or may just be a fun new song. As a department of 1, having the same song for all levels on a certain day, was one way to make my planning easier. I have a very popular and always growing Youtube playlist to keep class favorites organized. Each week I pick either a favorite song of mine or one from Billboard Latino Top 100. I am always on the lookout for new music on Pinterest and Twitter as well. For example, here are a few popular songs from this summer I plan on using in class this fall. 

Why implement Música miércoles?

My first year of teaching, one of my biggest successes was música miércoles. I am not proud of a lot of what I did that year for curriculum, but because of this tradition, many students' favorite day of the week became Wednesday, as shared on their friday feedback. Week after week students would enter saying "Yeah, we get to listen to music today!""Whooo, música miércoles!" I think this is because many students enjoy listening to music, and think they get to "waste" class time doing so. What they do not realize is this "waste" has the following benefits to them:
  • Listening to the Spanish language through song
  • Exposing them to new genres and artists of Spanish speaking music
  • Learning the geography of where the artists are from
  • Hearing different accents and slang from various parts of the world
  • Getting catchy music stuck in their head 
  • Cultivating an interest in new music, enough to start their own Spanish Pandora station at home
  • Bringing up cultural similarities and differences
  • Making learning Spanish fun
  • Having students excited to come to Spanish class

How do I start?

As students enter class on Wednesday, have a video in Spanish playing. I now have the video embedded in Google slides with the artist, title, and some kind of task posted as well. You can get my newest slideshow here. Students watch the video and we then discuss or write about it. Since I have been doing this class routine for so long, I have created quite a few resources that are ready to go. My latest version has a link to a Google slideshow with the videos already embedded. An example of what I project is below. 


An example of what is on the board for Música miércoles 

I know a lot of teachers use something similar to expand in their classes, such as the song of the week from Kara Jacobs. Instead of just using the song for one day, you can use it to start class every day for a week, completing different tasks. I have also picked particular songs on Wednesdays that go with our unit of study, and we spend the entire class period doing activities related to that song. I love using music in class and música miércoles has been the most consistent way I have found to incorporate it in Spanish class, side by side with any existing curriculum. 

How do you use music in class?

TODAY (Wednesday, July 20) only search #TPTChristmasinJuly on TPT for site wide sales! All of my newest products will be on sale, including Música miércoles 4.
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Introducing Robo en la Noche with Stations

July 22, 2016, 5:00 am
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Stations: Medio Ambiente y Costa Rica
Before reading the novelRobo en la noche by Kristy Placido, I wanted to introduce the environment and Costa Rica. I started using some of this Unit by Kara Jacobs when I taught an environment unit with the book Avancemos 3 (Units 1.1 & 1.2.). I took some of the activities Kara suggested and turned it into an exploratory stations activity before beginning the novel.  This past year I also added these maps to teach the basic geography of Costa Rica from Elizabeth Dentlinger.

In the past, we completed the stations more traditionally, with areas around the room with specific resources, such as listening videos on a computer, and printed off and laminated realia, that students floated to completing them at their own pace. Below is how I would prepare for the traditional stations without 1:1 technology.

Traditional stations around the room
  • LEER– print the infografía& imágenes / carteles in color or have access to on one device.
  • ESCUCHAR – download the videos, or have one listening station with a device and headphones
  • ESCRIBIR– print or have access to the resources about Costa Rica
  • HABLAR – print or have access to envirnment realia slideshowto elicit conversation
  • GEOGRAFÍA - print out maps for students to fill out & have resources to help label the maps

Stations with 1:1 Technology
With 1:1 technology of Chromebooks and Schoology this past year, the document was shared with students electronically. I put all of the links there together, so students could complete at their own pace, or even do with a substitute teacher. This document with everything all put together, has some accountability for students to complete tasks and answer some questions along the way. You can download the entire Stations Packet here. 

I like that this activity allows students to explore some authentic resources for Costa Rica and the environment on their own, and with peers before starting the novel. You can also see my plans for teaching the novel Robo en la noche here. Finally, here are other example of using stations in Spanish class. 
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Lista lunes: Intermediate Spanish Resources

July 25, 2016, 5:00 am
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One of the requests for a blog topic from a reader were more resources for upper level Spanish classes. It is true that there are many great bloggers out there who teach novice students, and thus share resources for lower level classes. As a #deptof1 I teach all levels of Spanish as the only world language teacher. Here are a few of my favorite resources, sites, and blogs for intermediate Spanish students. 



Para Empezar: 6 Weeks of Intermediate Spanish


While getting ready for my maternity leave, I wanted to make sure to have Para Empezar bell ringers for my Spanish IV class. I created this resource with 6 Weeks of Para Empezar for Intermediate Spanish to leave with the sub. Each day has a special focus:
Monday - Weekend Talk, Tuesday - Writing Prompt (or read), Wednesday - Music, Thursday - Joke/Meme (or read), Friday - dance. I wanted to make sure that my upper level students were getting the challenge they need to keep pushing their proficiency. 


Teaching in Target by Kristy Placido

With my curriculum budget this year I got a ton of resources from Kristy Placido's TPT store, Teaching in Target. Since she is an author of many TPRS publishing books and guides, obviously her TPT products are perfect to go with the novels that I plan to teach this year. I stocked up on all of the El Salvador (Vida y Muerte), Immigration (Esperanza) and many more resources. 


Kara Jacobs's Blog

Kara has amazing content based units for her upper level Culture and Civilization class. Her unit packets are ready to go and stocked full of authentic resources including songs, videos, and performance based assessments. Everything she shares is gold. 


El Internado


I know many people are mourning the loss of the TV show El Internado: Laguna Negra on Netflix, but it does not mean you can not teach with it this year! I am glad I bought the entire series on Ebay a few years ago, and know that many people have recently purchased it from Amazon.es. It is the best thing I have ever done in class engagement wise with intermediate students. If you are just starting, you must get the amazing guides from Mike Peto. You can see all of the resources I have gathered and used here.


Sharon Birch's Blog

Another go to site for inspiration for upper level classes is the blog by Sharon Birch, El mundo de birch. I especially love her great ideas relating to teaching with novels. She also has an amazing music database and is always pinning the best new songs to use in class. 


What are your go to resources for intermediate Spanish students?
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Peter va a Colombia: Resources

July 27, 2016, 12:38 pm
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Peter va a Colombia is an awesome novice level reader by fellow Iowa Craig Klein. You can purchase the book here from his site Spanish Cuentos. I wrote about the novel last year here, but actually got to purchase a class set to use this year in class. I plan to have it as our last novel of Spanish 1 in the spring. (Also, just a side note there are more great things in the works from Craig that you should keep a look out for this year :)



I have already started gathering resources to enhance the novel and to make it a full cultural unit. The novel is chock full of perfect cultural expansion topics surrounding the country of Colombia. Some of my personal favorites are the Biblioburro and El Desfile del Yipao. See the resources below that I am planning to use so far. 


Pinterest Board - Peter va a Colombia


Biblioburro

Biblioburro - image source
Biblioburo - Storytelling Unit - Martina Bex
Biblioburro - paper craft
Biblioburro - Pinterest Board by Spanish Cuentos


El Desfile del Yipao

Yipao Parade - image source

El Desfile del Yipao - Cultural Activities - Martina Bex
El Desfile del Yipao - paper craft
desfile del yipao - Pinterest Board by Spanish Cuentos


 La Bicicleta - por Carlos Vives y Shakira


A new song that just came out this summer, La Bicicleta by Carlos Vives & Shakira. It shows a beautiful and positive Colombia, which would go great with the novel. I created an activity for novice students focusing on high frequency vocabulary, and the geography of Colombia. You can find the activity here. 




What other resources would go great with teaching this novel? Please share!
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40 Free Resources for Spanish Class

July 31, 2016, 12:24 pm
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Are you looking for some new FREE resources for your Spanish class? If so, check out the Free Ebooks below, each with 20 free resources. There is a Spanish Back to School Secondary Ebook & Elementary eBook. Each page has tips and ideas for back to school from a teacher, with a links to resources. I even have a page in the secondary book! Download today to get your creative juices flowing.






TPT Back to School Sale

Also, while you are on TPT, make sure to start moving items from your wish list to your cart because Monday & Tuesday is the back to school sale! Go through and rate all of your past purchases, to earn credits that you can spend like money too. 
Everything in My store - Mis Clases Locas will be 20% off both days. 
Make sure to use the code BestYear for an additional 10% off EVERYTHING site wide!

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Lista lunes: Back to School Sale!

August 1, 2016, 5:00 am
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It is that time of year we all wait for, the Teachers Pay Teachers site wide back to school sale! Head on over to Mis Clases Locas for 20% off everything PLUS use the code BestYear for an additional 10% off! This is the time to stock up on everything you need for this school year today & tomorrow. Snatch up the very popular Back to School Bundle for everything you need for the first week of school. 

I have added quite a few new products in the last couple weeks you will want to check out, including those below: 
Música miércoles 4
Intermediate Para Empezar
Stations to intro Robo en la noche
Song Activity - La Bicicleta (with Colombia)
Finally, click on the pictures below for the categories of resources available. 

Para Empezar

Back to School

Assessments


Music Activities

Cultural Activities

Authentic Resources

El Internado

Classroom Decorations

What is in your cart & on your TPT wish list?
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Let it go: Back to school on maternity leave

August 4, 2016, 10:57 am
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I have recently felt like Elsa from Frozen, since my mantra has been "Let it Go." As most of you know I am due with baby boy on the first day of school, which makes me 90 (ok 9) months pregnant right now. We finally have a sub lined up, who is actually the retired teacher of 30+ years that I replaced last year. This means I know the students will be in more than capable hands while I am gone, but that I need to Let. It. Go. 



Let go of control of the classroom

I showed up at school on Monday, the first day we were allowed back in our classrooms, expecting a disaster, and instead found it ready for the first day of school. Yes, this was a nice surprise to not have to find someone to move around furniture, but as teachers we have a special kind of satisfaction taking the "before" and "after pictures. I will give credit to the perfectly set up room to the beautiful diagram I left for our awesome custodians, and my sub, who already came in and got keys and had obviously already been in the room setting up. (The syllabuses I left in my sub binder were already copied and set on the front table ready to pass out).

I walked into "my room" and it did not even feel like mine. Little things were off and there were already things put up on my bulletin boards. (I enjoy decorating bulletin boards). Her name was already posted outside of my room, 3x as big as mine. I had to keep reminding myself that I will not be the teacher for the first quarter, and to Let it Go. It was less work for me, I should be grateful, but it is so hard to let go of the control of every detail. Instead room set up is one thing off of my checklist that has been taken care of. 



Let go of control of the planning


I wrote this post about planning for maternity leave with my first one. (Which actually has "let go of control" on the list of things to do:) This year my goal before I left for the summer was to have my sub binder and maternity leave plans, binders, and Google Drive folder ready to go. It was an amazing feeling leaving for the summer knowing that everything was all ready to go and I did not need to spend my summer stressing about leave. The general plan I left includes the following:
It would be amazing if these plans were followed, but I have to accept that the sub taught 30+ years of traditional textbook. When you are a department of one, you are used to being able to control the full curriculum. I have to keep telling myself that I am lucky to have an experienced, Spanish speaking sub. No, it will not be me and the year will not start out exactly how it would have if I was there. I left my plans, which is all I can do. Time to Let it Go. 


Let go of control of baby

On a personal note, I need to realize that baby is in control and there is a plan. This week at 37 weeks he turned breech, and I am scheduled for an ECV (version to try and turn baby head side down) Friday morning. If you are the praying kind I could use any positive thoughts and vibes you could send my way that he turns and stays down for the duration. 
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How I Teach Spanish Without a Textbook - Curriculum Year 5

August 8, 2016, 12:12 pm
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Since everyone has been posting their curriculum plans, I thought I would jump in with my tentative plan of the year. Remember I will be on maternity leave 1st quarter so depending on what happens while I am gone, some or all of this may shift. This year each level is composed of two semesters that are 18 weeks each, with about 50 minute classes. 
To see what I have done in past years see: Curriculum years 1-3 & Curriculum - year 4.





Below you will see how I tentatively lay out the year. I like to see everything side by side, week by week a running Google Spreadsheet. As a department of one, it helps me to balance out starting new units and films. I used to think it was easier to plan if all classes started and ended units at the same time. Yeah right! Now I prefer to space out when assessments will be taking place if possible. Sometimes with the end of a semester it is not possible, but it helps if you can. I try to do about one novel unit per quarter, each using the supplemental Teacher's Guides, movies, and additional resources to round out the units. The colors mean the following: Yellow - Martina Bex Somos Units, Purple - TPRS Novel units, Blue - Culture mini units, Orange - Intro or Choice Novels. 







Year 5 - 1st Quarter on Maternity Leave 

This is my tentative curriculum spreadsheet of the year - see below for more details
Yellow - Martina Bex Somos Units
Purple - TPRS Novels
Blue - Culture Units
Orange - Intro or Choice Novels


Spanish 1 

(had 6 weeks of Exploratory Spanish last year, which included Martina Bex Somos curriculum units 1-3 & Geography Mini Unit)



Spanish 2 



(This year there is no Spanish 3 because of our move from trimesters to semesters. Spanish 4 are actually juniors this year).


Spanish 4


    Exploratory Spanish - 1 quarter each of 7th & 8th grade 



    • 7th grade - Exploratory Spanish - similar to this post from last year
    How do you plan for the year?
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    Why I don't start school with a review unit

    August 17, 2016, 5:58 am
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    Earlier this week I received a comment on my post about this year's curriculum and how I teach without a textbook from the awesome Amanda (@ADiazMora on Twitter) that really got me thinking. It was a simple and straightforward question: 
    "How do you review with your 2's & 4's?" 
    As I started thinking about how I would answer, I knew I needed more space, because the answer to how do I review is "I don't."




    Why I don't start the school year with a review unit


    Placement Tests Kill Dreams
    Lately I have seen a lot of teachers asking for "placement tests" to give to students as they enter a certain level of language. Why would you ever subject your students to this? I would guess that most "tests" that would fall under this category are district wide, NOT communication based and instead a mix of multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank that are geared to point out what students DON'T KNOW. So lets take a student who already feels like they lost all their language skill over the summer and show them all of their deficiencies with a test they are bound to fail. Do you have to give some kind of baseline assessment? How about instead an interpretive reading/listening passage, a free write, or speaking prompt that allows students to Show What They Know. 

    *Disclaimer* In case you think I am preaching from some high horse, my first year teaching I gave a Placement Test (that was given to me with a ton of resources for the ancient En Español textbook). They all bombed it, felt terrible about themselves, and five students dropped out of Spanish III the first week. Even worse, I then plunged ahead into the "review" chapter of the textbook drilling every verb form that they had covered in the past two years that was obviously taught, not caught. Why did I do it? I was a department of one at a school that just had these old textbooks and I did not know any better. I had year to discover the awesome #langchat community and did not know anything about comprehensible input. So know that I know better, I have an obligation to do better. If I could do it again, here is what I would do:

    What I do instead

    How to Start the School Year in upper level classes

    I have written quite a few posts with plans for what to do during the first week of Spanish class (1st Week of Spanish Class Using Comprehensible Input, 1st Week of Spanish Class - Daily Plans, Unit 1 & 1st Day of Spanish Class). If you are starting at a new school, or will have all students who are new to you, I would recommend following this week long Unit 1 that focuses on proficiency, procedures and positive people. I do not consider this review since one of the main activities is the Proficiency Puzzle, which helps students who are new to the concept of language proficiency learn to distinguish proficiency levels, and help to figure out what will be expected of them during the year (per your Syllabus). You can see my Daily Plans post for exactly what I did each day last year at a new school. You can download everything you need in this Back to School Bundle. Even if you want to skip review all together there are still a lot of logistics and procedures that have to be taken care of the first couple days of school, to ensure a smooth year. 

    If your students are already proficiency experts, here are some ideas for getting to know you activities for the first couple of days before jumping into your first unit or easy novel:

    La Tomatina mini unit

    This fun fiesta happens to be right at the start of school, on August 31. Make your first unit this mini cultural unit by Martina Bex, which will get students reading and listening to Spanish right away about a topic they will be Interested in. Then build relationships with a food fight by Amy Lenord, which uses the game "snowball fight" with red paper to help students get to know each other. We did this activity two years ago when Amy posted it and the students had a blast! 

    Special Person Interviews

    Bryce Hedstrom has written extensively on using special person interviews in language class. Make sure that for an upper level class you start with the basics to get to know each other if needed, or if you and the students already know each other, dive right into past with what happened over the summer. After a few once students are back in the routine, you could even mix it up where students interview each other in small groups, and then report back to the class. 

    Music Bracket 

    Many people loved music brackets for March, but there is no reason you can not start the year with this engaging music activity. Let students have input in choosing the authentic songs that will be a part of the bracket while defending why in Spanish. Students get to listen to authentic songs, you get new material to talk and debate about in the target language and students think they are "wasting time" by just listening to music. There are so many things you can do each round to mix it up such as investigating the artist, genre or country, ordering the lyrics, focusing on high frequency vocabulary, singing the chorus, dancing and more. This could be your class starter for a few weeks, or a mini week long music unit. 

    If you need more ideas, here are Fun Ice Breakers for any class. 

    Read an Easy Novel

    After those first couple days of logistics, this is how we really get the year started in an upper level class. My first year using novels we started right in on the first full week of school reading a book in each level 2-4. Below are the books we started with. 
    If you are familiar with these books they are all labeled "level 1," yet we read them in pretty much any class level. Why? They build confidence! These were the first books these clases had ever read, so I wanted them to feel accomplished, proud, and ready to tackle the rest of the year. Students enjoyed reading in class and novels seemed "easy" and enjoyable. For example this particular Spanish 4 class chose almost every day to sit on the floor "kindergarten style" with pillows and blankets and have me (and later another dramatic student) read to them. I projected discussion questions, we discussed them as a class, and then moved on to the next chapter. We did not take vocab chapter quizzes, write the reading comprehension questions in full sentences, or really do much other than read and discuss in Spanish. This input was the review, but in context. The next book they did was the much more difficult La Calaca Alegre in a more in depth class novel study, and they did amazing. 

    Last year at a new school, who had never read novels, we also started with easy novels, Tumba in Spanish 2 and Robo en la Noche (past tense) in Spanish 3. Many students later said that these first books were their favorites of the year. So if you are thinking about getting class sets of novels, I encourage you to start easy. You can see my plan for what I will teach in all levels this year here. If you do not have class sets, you could start the year with free reading, where students get to choose and read a book of their own in Spanish, with your guidance to make sure they do not pick one that is too hard. 

    So, in a way you could say that reading an easy novel IS our review, but it is disguised in a way that is comprehensible, new, fresh and exciting for students. Do you review? Please feel free to defend your reasoning and prove me wrong in the comments!
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