'Today my students in 1b are working on making their own communities and describing what is where, and where they go in the town to do certain things. Its a pretty fun little project and a presentational writing component allows me to see if they can use the verb IR correctly and if they can use prepositional phrases to describe location. I have always loved project because the students have such different final products! It also showcases what the student's preferences are, my more athletic students always have fields and parks where as the artistic student includes a theater or amphitheater. I love it. Their lives are so intriguing. So... we don't just arrive at drawing maps and writing where we go and describing location. This is a product- like a mid-way through the unit check/assessment- to see what the kids can do with all we have engaged in in class. We first started out reviewing our own community. I am new to the Hagerstown area so it was fun to get to know the area by exploring the parks, museums, shops, etc. I used pictures from the Hagerstown community to present and engage the students in the new vocabulary. The kids were excited to see places they had been, which lead me to ask them if they liked certain restaurants, what grocery store they prefer, and where they go to get certain things. We had a discussion on whether Hoffman's Meats or Penn Ave. Meats was the better carniceria in town. The next day, we started class using polleverywhere.com (see APPS) and voted on the best grocery store in Hagerstown. We then went into other stores in the area and what you could buy there, and we used the Hagerstown Premium Outlet Mall to discuss location of stores in relation to others. I always have my students sing a silly song to remember the prepositional phrases: So after we practice and practice, we sing it without me, then without me pointing. We then take a look at a basic map which then leads to allowing us to manipulate the Hagerstown Outlet Map. There are a few other steps in this process to build confidence including cloze notes and a game called "Donde esta la planta" where they race in teams to place the plant in the correct location based on what I or another student says. We then do a blind speaking activity where one student describes a room to another student and the student has to position objects in the room based on what the other student says. (Interpretive!) Students work in partners to ask the location of stores to other students. They are both asking and answering questions (interpersonal communication!) The map is color coded so you can ask students to use colors as well to recycle information! We also completed a fun QR code activity using our iPads to explore our community of Hagerstown and gather simple information about our community. They also must identify what vocabulary word is associated with the place they are investigating. It is a ton of fun and the students get to review things they have previously learned in the target language but also explore their community to answer questions using their current vocabulary focus. They work in partners to negotiate meaning of the questions and formulate responses. Following this, we talk about where we go in our community and what we get at each of those places, which allows me to introduce IR with a specific focus on the verb but using the context of our community. They use the activity to tell me what store is represented by the picture and what they get there. Then we focus on the probable meaning of the words. The students are then given a calendar with information about where a family goes. Sometimes the calendar says the thing they need to get and other times the place they need to go. Students have to use their vocabulary and the verb IR to organize the calendar so that everyone in the family knows who is going where and when! I collect and grade these looking to correct specifics and give them back to the students to use and learn from. Insert- MAP PROJECT- I added a use time wisely category because, well, it is middle school, we are on a block schedule, and I have to push them! I have had great results from adding this regarding their time on task. I am excited to see the towns and what the students have to offer in terms of language output and creativity (Presentational!) :) That was mucho.... It makes sense in my head- but if you're interested in using any of my resources or want some clarification on what I am talking about! Shoot me an email or comment below! Also- I am totally open to suggestions for making things better or a more appropriate way to say something. I live by the fact that we never stop learning :) So if I made a mistake email me! [email protected],us 11/17/2016- post Actfl16 conference I am super struggling- in an all out mental battle with myself about adding the time in class component Ronny rubric. How does that time on task in class measure language proficiency and output? It doesn't! But then- How do I balance character development & content proficiency while holding students accountable for both without one influencing the other? Ah!!! Reflection!
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Author14th year Spanish teacher Archives
June 2020
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