If you don’t know the “Running Dictation” activity, this link has a great explanation about it. This game is a variation of the Running Dictation. I call it “Telephone Dictation” just to give it a new name, but I am sure someone else has adapted it too. I have used it with third and fourth graders, but I am sure it works with upper levels as well.
You will need:
A clipboard.
Five pieces of blank paper.
A pencil.
A chair or a place to put the sentences.
Five or more sentences.
I divide my classes in groups of three or four. Each group gets a clipboard, a pencil, and five pieces of paper. Then I instruct them to sit in a line. I place all the materials in front of the line. I also place a chair with with 4 or 5 sentences at the end of the line. I recommend not using more than 5 sentences with lower grades.
The student who is at the end takes a sentence and reads it to the student sitting in front of him/her. Then that student whispers the sentence in the ear of the next student. They keep passing the message along until it makes it to the student at the front of the line. That student takes one of the pieces of paper and writes the message. When that student is done, he goes to the end of the line, takes a new sentence, and it starts all over again. I ask the student at the end of the line who is reading the sentence to crumple it up once they are done reading it.
Once they are all done with the sentences they have to get together to organize them and make sense of them. Taken together, the sentences usually relate to a story or book we are reading in class.
Are you ready to try this activity in your next class? Let me know how it goes!
Earth Day and National Poetry Month are both celebrated in April. What a perfect time to link these two celebrations in Spanish class with this poem by Elvira Nogal. I really like this poem, but unfortunately don’t have enough information about the author. If you do, please feel free to contact me so I can include it in this post. For now, I will keep enjoying every line in it!
I love that this poem is simple and easy for children to understand! You can use TPR with every verse.
It’s not like no one has ever counted the days until a break! Right? Every time a break is getting close, my mind tricks me and everything seems so slow. Well, I also take it as a reminder that if I am tired and ready for a break, my students probably are too! We all know that the days leading up to a school break are no time to start anything new. Our students are all over the place, with too much energy, and it is hard for them to concentrate. What’s the best we can do? In my opinion, the best approach is to take it easy and go with the flow. Time to look for activities to review some of the content taught before, spiral curriculum style. And one more thing. No administrator should decide to visit your class days ahead the break! Not because you are not doing your job right, but because we are all kind of out of routine.
I always love going on a break with my lesson plans ready or just leaving a few notes that will remind me where to pick up where I left off. Once we are back after the break, it is a a good time to go over your rules and classroom routines again. Believe it or not, one or two weeks are enough for some of those things to be forgotten. The great news is that you don’t have to spend time on activities to get to know your students. Instead, you can just reinforce and keep working on a safe classroom environment for you to continue teaching and for your students to continue growing. Teamwork!
Here are some visuals that might help you go over important and simple rules to make your class a safe space for every learner. It’s important to talk about them, model them, and practice them a lot! If interested in reading more about classroom management, I have one more post where I share what I do and what I include in my classroom to support rules and procedures. Click here to read it all!
Brain break or calm down activities? This is the question I have been asking myself this year after teaching my sweet first graders. I am lucky that we have a mindfulness teacher in the school where I teach. I asked him for some help, and he graciously offered to come sit and observe my students in my class. After observing my class he noticed that I have been using a lot of brain breaks that will leave my students with high energy, which doesn’t really help this group of active first graders maintain focus during the rest of the class period.
This is what he suggested I do:
Calming Scents: He mentioned to me that this age group is highly affected by their environment. He suggested that having calming scents such as lavender, lemon or peppermint might help.
Sounds: Playing relaxing music or natural sounds such as rainforest or waterfalls as they enter my classroom might help lower their energy levels.
Slow movement activities: Play slow music in the room and have them pretend to be different things in nature. Visuals will be handy for this. For example, a cloud, a slow elephant, a bird and so on (and this also gives a fun opportunity to reinforce some vocabulary or teach new words).
Breathing movements: Encourage movement activities that require students to inhale and exhale while sitting down or walking around the room.
Here are some visuals that might be helpful to have in your room.
Just ask your students to close their eyes quietly for a minute or more. Setting a timer or using a chime might help to let your students know that the time is up!
“Smell the flowers” is a good visual to encourage students to breathe deeply.
“Blow out the candles” is a great visual to practice exhaling fully. I ask my students to pretend they are holding a flower in one hand and a candle in the other, and we alternate when inhaling and exhaling.
Just play soft music or relaxing sounds in class.
Practicing some yoga poses might help your students get rid of their wiggles.
To be able to talk about the integration of culture in a Comprehensible Input class, it is first necessary to define “Comprehensible Input” and “culture.”
The “Comprehensible Input” theory is one of the theories of language acquisition proposed by the American linguist Stephen Krashen. In his hypothesis, Dr. Krashen explains that there can only be the acquisition of a language when the input, linguistic component or message is understood by the learner, but in addition to being understandable it should be of interest to the learner and that it be about an issue with which the learner can relate and connect. Visit Comprensible.com to learn more about CI.
Culture is a term that has been defined by different authors in different fields. The definition most commonly used and that challenges people in different fields is that of Clifford Geertz (cited in Ortner, 1999) who defines culture as “a system of values and beliefs that represent a group, as a network of meanings within which people live. Meanings encoded in symbolic forms (language, artifacts, etiquette, rituals, calendars, etc.)” (p.3).
Taking into account the definitions of “Comprehensible Input” and “culture,” I will explain a little the process of how I integrate these two elements in practice and offer you some advice, too.
I find it helpful to start with the goal or the objective of the topic. Why do I want to share this topic in my class? Where do I want my students to arrive with the exploration of this topic in class?
Then I think about the developmental stage and the linguistic level of the students. Is it a topic that is easily understood with the level of L2? Is the subject relevant to the students’ age?
I suggest you consider this approach:
Define the theme or cultural content that will be shared with the student. Once the theme is defined, make sure that the content that is going to be shared is true and does not fall into the perpetuation of stereotypes. If possible, check that information with someone from the culture. Another important aspect to take into account, especially at the beginner levels or early grades, is whether it is a specific issue and whether it allows generating connections and space for comparisons. The cultural theme should not be limited only to the culture of L2.
Determine the input: In this case, it is not important for the students to understand each word, but the input must be by context and the use of cognates.
Determine what type of material can be used to support the topic: Photos, videos, songs, artifacts or authentic resources, etc.
It is possible to teach culture in a world language class, but in this case, it is very important that this input is understandable so that there is a success in the fusion of culture and Comprehensible Input.
Here are some resources that might help you get started with this topic. Ready, set, go!
¡Hola! I am Carolina, a Colombian elementary Spanish teacher based in Boston, MA. Fun for Spanish Teachers is the result of my passion for teaching Spanish to children and my desire to inspire collaboration and creativity in a vibrant teaching and learning community. It’s the perfect stop if you are looking for songs, games, teaching tips, stories, and fun for your classes.
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