Become a more confident language teacher.
I love this simple activity that I found on Pinterest because it is just so adaptable and takes zero preparation! As Comprehensible Input teachers, we are always looking for new ways to revisit stories, readings, and discussions so as to provide students with additional repetitions of target structures. Jeopardy Q&A is backward questioning–providing students with…
Read MoreWell I have been a pretty lame blogger lately, but I have a good excuse–I’m pregnant! With my 2yo and my 9mo, I’ve been spending nap time actually napping instead of blogging…but can you blame me?? I’m out of my first trimester, now, though, so I’m going to try to put my newly restored energy…
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I used this activity for the first time as an icebreaker at our MOPS group, and it was so fun! I love using it in class, because it is a great way to give everyone an opportunity to speak without eliminating teacher-guided discussion. So here’s what you do: Decide how many groups you want to…
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We all have those classes that just won’t stop talking…and we all have those classes that just won’t start talking! Such is the case with one of my second-year classes (level 1B). It’s a great group of kids, and they are very good students, but getting them to participate in discussions or speak up in general is worse than…
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I needed to spend today prepping vocabulary for Chapter 2 of El Nuevo Houdini with my Spanish 2 students. There are a few words in the chapter that are important to the understanding of the chapter with which my students are not yet familiar, or might have trouble recognizing. For example, most of them have…
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I’ve received several emails lately from teachers that long to use TPRS, but feel trapped because their department requires them to teach textbook units and give textbook assessments. Most of these teachers have heard that thematic units go against everything that CI stands for, and that the two are diametrically opposed. While it is true…
Read MoreI made 18 reusable sets of letters that can be used to practice the alphabet, spelling, and vocabulary year-round. 18 sets is enough for even my biggest classes to have one set per set of partners. Print out this document (kinesthetic letters ), then use the two sheets that printed to create a front-to-back copy…
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Last year, I printed dictionary pages for my students’ binders so that they had an organized way to keep track of the target structures that we learn. These were really simple– a column for Spanish words and a column for the English meaning, nothing more. Students took notes on the pages at the start of…
Read MoreThis is a great way to get your students thinking logically. They will need to put themselves in order based on a series of clues that you read to them (download a template for the clues here.) Begin by assigning students to groups of four. If there are extra students, they can be the“director”for a…
Read MoreThis excellent activity comes to you from Kyra Rice via my awesome ex-maternity sub B.Lo. (Today is my first official day back–a planning/grading day, thank the Lord!) Kyra called it “You Are What You Eat”, but it can be modified to suit just about anything; B.Lo. used it to present likes (foods, music, activities, etc.)…
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