Become a more confident language teacher.
Today, one of my classes read the first chapter of Pobre Ana, and we took Cornell notes in English (1) to organize the information and (2) to demonstrate understanding. You could have your students take the notes in Spanish if you’d prefer, but it’s easy to fill out a notes sheet with Spanish information without…
Read MoreAn excellent speaking activity (or assessment) for your students is to have them re-tell a familiar story using only picture cues. (This is not a revolutionary idea for most of you!) Today, for example, my Spanish II students read a new story in pairs or groups of three. At the bottom of the page, I…
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I first played Write, Draw, Pass at our Bible Study end of the year party, and it quickly became one of my favorite party games! At a recent PD class, my colleague Ashley VanHemert pointed out how perfect it is to use as the starting point for communicative input in language classes! Ashley first made…
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Developed “far above Cayuga’s waters“, Cornell Notes are an effective note-taking strategy that can be used across grade levels and content areas. I was first introduced to Cornell Notes by my administrator in a 6-8 public school in Anchorage, Alaska. She didn’t have to sell me on it too hard since my grandfather, my parents,…
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Running Dictation is a review activity. Traditionally, language teachers have used this fast-paced team game to review a story. Students benefit from repeated exposure to information and to language, and so content area teachers will find this activity just as helpful as language teachers. Running Dictation in a nutshell In a Running Dictation, students are…
Read MoreAfter most class stories that we tell (well, at least any story that isn’t totally lame), I like to have the class make a storybook to add into the class library. They are great to have when students stop in with friends or come in for conferences with their parents. I made a 14 page…
Read MoreOne struggle for me has been to create questions and activities that help my students practice their critical thinking skills. Much of what we do in class, regrettably, is regurgitation and transformation. Standardized test results show that students at my school and at schools throughout the nation struggle when it comes to critical thinking and…
Read MoreWith the end of the year fast approaching (less than 2 1/2 weeks left for me!), I’m spending my afternoons trying to think of new ways to review old stories. Today, we’re working with one of the favorite stories from each class and doing an activity that I’m calling “Ninesquare”. First, choose a story script…
Read MoreThis is an activity that is meant to be used after you have finished asking a story. Break the story into chunks. If you have a smaller class (15ish students or fewer), each student can have their own chunk of the story. If you have a bigger class, several students may have the same piece…
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