Running dictation is a great way to practice, well, really anything in the WL classroom. My students have been working on discussing their community and the things they do around town, errands, etc. Today we are scaffolding up to an interpersonal "quick conversations" activity (aka speed dating) and I wanted the chance for students to see a modeled conversation that they could use to structure their own questions and answers later in class. If you are not familiar with what running dictation is or how it works, Martina Bex has a great write up on it here. I explain the directions for running dictation using the slide posted above. In a 90%+ target language classroom, keeping the directions comprehensible is critical! If you lose them, classroom management crumbles, the activity doesn't work, and the frustration results in breaking down and using English! There are many variations of this activity. My students worked in groups of three. One person runs/reads/dictates, one person writes, the other person cheers on the group while also providing assistance to the writer to remember what the runner said. The students had folders labeled A-K placed around the classroom. They had to approach the folder, read the information, commit it to memory, repeat it to the writer and the cheerleader/helper. The writer scribes what the runner says. Each folder the students approach gives a chance for the group members to take on a new job. Once students have all of the information, they have to put the story in logical order together. It is a race to get everything recorded and then in order! A little competitive edge is always motivating! Students then create visuals/pictures that go along with the story and we display our stories in class! This is a nice formative assessment to check for comprehension! Because this running dictation focused on a conversation between two people, it allowed my students to see additional examples of the question and answer format regarding our thematic unit.
Students then drafted three get to know you questions and three additional questions about our town and the things that they can do around our community. We set up our desks in three lines, pairs of two. The left side of the line stayed put, while the right side snaked through the rows, giving the students the opportunity to each talk to 15 other people. This allowed students to practice interpersonal speaking. Students asked each other their questions they had drafted and had a chance to answer spontaneously to what their classmates asked them. I enjoyed listening to the conversations that the kids had and could see clearly that the running dictation gave them the confidence to create questions and answer questions regarding what they like to do/need to do in their town/community. Designing oral interpersonal communication tasks in one of ACTFL's 6 Core Practices and as a World Language Department in Washington County we have noticed trends in our data that have resulted in us pushing as a curriculum team to create meaningful opportunities to practice in the interpersonal speaking mode of communication. You can find the running dictation here. (it aligns with Realidades 2: 3a (tú y tu comunidad) Hope you can use it! As always, if you have any questions- I am here! Also- I am always open to feedback! :) Happy Wednesday!
1 Comment
Arlene White
1/17/2019 05:48:39 am
What a wonderfully clear description of a timeless yet effective strategy that you have scaffolded and tweaked! The visual support & classroom management concerns are spot on too!
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Author14th year Spanish teacher Archives
June 2020
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