Tag Archives: #interactions

Timed-Think-Talk

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A great activity for spontaneous interpersonal communication is a Timed-Think-Talk.  Students are given a minute to write down thoughts and words about a topic on a sticky note. I provide them with sentence frames and vocabulary to get them started and then I remove the scaffolding and they talk with a partner for a minute about the topic.

I use the free onlinestopwatch.com or set the transition time on the slideshow to keep things moving along.

Don’t forget to add in the rejoinders to keep the conversation going. I tell students they have to talk for the whole minute, that’s only thirty seconds each, even if they just say random words or count after they exhaust the topic.

I use a structured interaction like Speed Dating, Inside-Outside Circles, or Stand up, Hand up, Pair, Share to match students, and change partners after a couple of topics.

Collect the sticky notes for a Gallery walk.  After every two or three questions change partners and have students put their sticky notes on a piece of butcher paper under the appropriate topic. Students can then do a gallery walk to see other student’s opinions and levels of proficiency.  Students can summarize class attitudes toward a particular topic.

Make your own Think and Talk slide or check out the ones I created in French called Pensez-Parlez and in Spanish called Pensar y Hablar.  It’s about asking more open ended questions so kids have more opportunities to level up!


 

Global Goals: From Class Objects to Service Learning Projects!

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It’s time to elevate my school unit from class objects, subjects, and classroom commands, to cultural comparisons, connections, and community service. Of course I still have to teach class objects, subjects, and commands, so I like to start with songs, children’s books, and comprehensible input activities.  Our opening routine includes the song of the week.  Here are a couple of class object songs I like, Mon Sac à Dos for French and La Mochila for Spanish.

Next, I do a Backpack Demo.  I have a backpack with all kinds of class objects and other crazy things that I pull out one at a time and describe.  Some items I like to include are: a giant pen from Barcelona, a giant pencil and eraser, a real apple, toy desk and chair, keys, books, a computer, a calculator, a student, a flag, a social studies teacher, a picture of Antonio Banderas, the ear of Van Gogh, and a heart from  Senorwooly’s Ya Está Muerto song.  Novelty adds to the fun and surprise.  I then put everything back in the backpack one by one and have the students list as many items as they can remember. After a couple of minutes, have them compare their list with a partner. They score two points if they can name an item in the target language and one point if they can name it in English (to be translated later for homework.)  This can also be done with a suitcase of clothing and accessories, sports bag, grocery bag, or a mystery box.

Coloring is relaxing. My students always enjoy a directed color listening activity.  Create a coloring paper with pictures of several class objects.  I talk about each object in the target language and have students color certain parts or add items to the pictures. Students cut apart these pictures and use them in partner activities. For example, pass out a copy of a backpack and give items that do and do not go in a backpack.  Have students take turns saying are you bringing a pen? Yes, I’m bringing it. Are you bring an ice cream cone? No, I’m not bringing it.  Write the correct response on the back of each item ahead of time so students can self check.

A great way to get students up and moving and outside on a sunny day is a backpack relay.  Collect five old backpacks from the lost and found and gather five of each item to be practiced.  Put one of each item in each backpack.  I dictate a list of about 12 items to all students.  Divide students into five teams.  One student from each team is at one end of the space with the backpack and items, the seller. The other team members, the customers, are lined up opposite their seller and when I say go they must run down and say “I would like to buy a _____” (the first item on the list.) The seller hands them the item saying a_____ here you go, you could also include a price and some fake euros.  The runner thanks them and runs back to his team and the next person runs down and asks for the next item and so on until all items are bought.

What’s in your backpack is a great  partner activity that can be adapted to any vocabulary.  Have students draw and label five items in their backpack from a list of vocabulary provided without showing anyone.  Match them up with a partner and they take turns trying to guess what each other’s five items are.   After that, have students report out: in my backpack there is… in his backpack there was… in our backpacks there are….we did not have. This activity can be done with lunch bags, bedrooms, houses, suitcases, shopping bags, and hobbies. Do a google search for backpack coloring pages and you will find several to choose from.

There are some great authentic resources and ideas for class objects in Spanish from Zachary Jones.  Students add up how much the items on the back to school list, from the Secretary of Public Education in Mexico, cost for each grade and compare to cost of students in other countries.

To take the school supply list to a higher level, using authentic resources, you need to see this post at PBL in the target language by@sraSpanglish.  Her classes have this awesome unit on selecting and sending supplies to Colombia.  This got me thinking, I have a connection in Haiti for my French students to send supplies including some of our favorite children’s books and original creations!

For a closure activity have the students popcorn down naming one class object. To popcorn down, have all students stand up.  They all need to say one item and sit down.  The key is that no one can say any item twice and two people may not talk at the same time.  If two people do speak at the same time, or someone repeats an item already mentioned, everyone must stand and start over again.  It forces them to listen to each other and watch each other.  Do not let them try to organize and go in a circle. They have to randomly popcorn down.  It is a great way to sneak in lots of repetitions.

 

 

Childhood Games, Celebrity Favorites, and Circumlocution!

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Common games we played as kids like Catch Phrase, Taboo, $25,000 Pyramid, or Password are popular again with celebrities and great for practicing circumlocution to stay in the target language. Mix them all together for your own variations like fishbowl or 30 segundos from the Creative Language Classroom.

taboo-1

There are free Taboo games in French, and Spanish on teacherspayteachers.com as well as lists of useful phrases in French and Spanish, and posters in Spanish.  There is also an app called Head’s up from Ellen Degeneres in English and Spanish.

You can also buy the game here or make your own with headbands and index cards with words in the target language.  I bought these and am using them to make sets in French and Spanish.

 

headbands

Here is a example of the game password with Jimmy Fallon.

I am going to play a variation of Password in teams so students can brainstorm the one word clues and take turns giving them to the team member who is trying to guess.  With novices, I am going to  start with the free Taboo cards above and let them use the words that are normally prohibited in the game Taboo as password clues to get the game going.

Another game for practicing circumlocution is Catch Phrase.  Here is another example of celebrities playing the game.

catch-phrase

Jump on the celebrity game craze and have fun while practicing circumlocution.

Core Practice #2 Strategies for Guiding Interactions

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Core Practice #2 is building a discourse community. Teachers should design and carry out interpersonal communication tasks for pairs, small groups, and whole class instruction.  The most common type of classroom discourse is IRE or Intiation, Response, Evaluation.  The teacher initiates  a question, one student responds, and the teacher evaluates.  In core practice number 2, the classroom discourse is more IRF, Initiation, Response, Follow up. In the IRF pattern the teacher or the students initiate a question, students can discuss with each other in a pair share activity before responding to the question, then the teacher follows up with an utterance or prompt that connects in some way and encourages elaborated responses.  Students need direct instruction and modeling on how to interact appropriately.  Here is a list of my favorite strategies for guiding interactions in the classroom, comprehensible input activities, and a copy of the team mat.

Strategies for Guiding Interactions

Team Mat 1 (3) (Repaired)

Comprehensible Comprehensible Input Activities

IRE, the most common interaction pattern.interaction-01

Try moving to IRF, the ideal interaction pattern.interaction

Graphics from:

http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/small-group-teaching/questioning-and-facilitation-techniques