Sunday, November 20, 2016

Easy Story activity: Secret input!

I thought I would share the #1 go-to activity that I use if I have a little bit of time to prep.  I love this activity because...
1) It is a "secret input" activity.  Students think they are doing a writing (or speaking) activity- but secretly they are reading!  Plus, if they are writing they are copying directly from the text, therefore are writing accurately!
2) It is based on the student's own work- either acting or drawing.  They are so completely engaged when they are on stage.
3) It's easy and totally flexible and adaptable.  Reading a novel? Use this as a review.  Asked a story and want more reps?  Yep, this works great for that.  Did Reader's theatre and want to spice it up the next day?  Also works for that.

Step 1: Have students create the images.
You can do any of these activities to get the pictures/scenes you need: (These are just the ideas I can think up in 10 seconds- there are many more)
Acting: Freeze Frame, Reader's Theatre (with frozen moments), etc.
Drawing:  Cooperative Mural, individual mural, drawing scenes/comics while listening to retell, Running Dictation with Drawings, etc.

Step 2: Make sure you capture the drawings/scenes.
One way I do this when I use actors is that I give one student my phone and they get to chose which scenes (with help from me) to get pictures of- based on the "Queso" (cheezieness) factor.  Or, quickly before the next class comes in, I snap a photo (or several) of the mural on the board/individual white board and save it for later.

Tech tip: If you have google drive installed on your device, you can take a photo and upload it directly to drive from the phone without having to fuss with moving photos from iPhoto or anything like that.  Easy.

Step 3: Create the activity. 
 I use google slides because it is even faster than powerpoint, but the process is basically the same.

Create a slide show.  Insert directions on the first slide.  My directions are in English because I am very specific about them (and my level 1 kids are not ready to do it in Spanish).  They read
"Write the best sentence from the story to describe the following pictures.  You must use your copy of the story."


Then insert a slide for each image.
Tech Tip: If you do a cooperative mural or comic and have a Mac, you can quickly break that one picture down into several smaller pictures.  Or if the pictures overlap you can quickly separate them out into separate ones.  (I don't have any examples because I just save the individual pictures in the mural.  Sorry!) Open the picture in whatever application you prefer, and use the shortcut [Option Shift 4] to grab a screenshot of where ever your cursor is.   Make sure you know where those screenshots are saved (usually desktop, but you can change it).  This makes it super fast to insert into google slides because you can drag directly from your desktop to a slide without having to go through the whole import photo step.

Pick hilarious images, vague images, and images that will get you the reps that you wish for.

I also usually pick some image from Google Images that has something to do with the story...but that's totally not necessary.  Just fun and usually takes an extra 10 seconds.

Step 4: Provide students with a paper copy of the story/scene, whiteboards, and markers.  (Or, paper, or do it verbally with partners. Really, the options are limitless.)

Step 5:  Students write the best sentence from the story.
They may not all agree- that's ok.  In fact, that's an opportunity for more repetitions and PQA.

I have done this activity with as few as 3 images, and as many as 10.

Here is one full slideshow that I made.


Here is another one:  I am also going to try an extension activity where they speak and then...answer questions about the text.  (I am using who/what/where questions and some why to get that higher order thinking discussion.  I am also going to do the activity orally because I think they need to be social.)  If you want to see the questions appear, look at it in "present" view and click through.




Sustained Silent Reading / Free Voluntary Reading: it begins!

I started a FVR/SSR program with my Spanish 2 (8th grade) class this year.  I am SO EXCITED to report that it is a smashing success.  Kids ask for more, say thank you, and have a palpable sense of excitement when I announce it and a sense of disappointment when I ring my chime to indicate that it is over.




I researched and read a great deal about how to do it, and pulled in my background as an elementary reading teacher to set up a program.  Here is (roughly) what I did to ensure success.

If you haven't read everything that Bryce Hedstrom has written about FVR and reading, stop reading now, click here, (scroll down to Establishing a free voluntary reading program)  and read it. All.    Bryce has assembled a vast collection of truly useful resources (for free, for other teachers, for the good of the kids) and I can not overstate the impact his teaching style and philosophy has had on mine.Then come back to read how I applied my learning.

 Assembling a FVR library: 
Thanks to a generous grant from a parent, I was able to purchase a LOT of books.  I leveraged my grant and waited until a conference special, and bought as many books as I could carry.  I also used the conference attendees as a resource.  Brilliant teachers such as Karen Rowan and Alina Filepescu both made incredibly helpful suggestions in the moment as I was purchasing.  I love this TPRS community!

I also print out copies of each and every story that we create in class and have been doing so for two years and have those in page protectors.

Many TPRS teachers offer their stories for free on TPT and/or through their blogs, and I always take advantage of printing those up and adding them.

Newspapers, magazines, phone books,  and other community things get scooped up and added, and I inherited a bunch of stuff from another teacher.

Last, careful selection at Scholastic warehouse sales and Goodwill have earned me a good number of affordable non-fiction and very easy fiction.  Remember though: most children's books are written at an intermediate-mid level or higher, so they aren't necessarily a great fit for novice readers.  

FVR library organization:
Bryce Hedstrom and Mike Peto both have great resources for FVR library organization.

I approached the challenge of library organization like I did when I had an elementary classroom reading library: it neeeded to be organized, inviting, easy.  I decided to remove all the bilingual books *for now*.  I sorted children's books into very easy categories and used a simple bin/numbering system to keep it organized.  This way it is really easy to see where books go back and it stays relatively organized.  

Each book is tagged with our school's name, a bin number, and if it is a specific TPRS novel, the level (according to Bryce Hedstrom's great resource for leveling novels, click above and scroll down).
Here is a link to the bin categories and the labels that I use to label them.  Velcro on the bins (bins from the dollar store) + velcro on the labels means that the bins can be reorganized easily as needed.  Plus, you get a new book? Just figure out what number bin it goes on, label it, and add it.  Easily expandable!


Introducing FVR
Day 1: I showed students this slideshow, courtesy of a brilliant Latin teacher, adapted from a similar slide show.  The presentation is intended to show what 98%-95% comprehensible reading really is, and how the jump from 95% to 90% is really enormous.

I also showed some quotes from Bryce's excellent resource about reading; mostly quotes from Dr. Stephen Krashen, an influential researcher about second language acquisition and the power of reading.

Next, as a group, we looked at the library, discussed organization, and I had a couple of kids model browsing for books and taking them out.  This last step seemed silly, but someone had suggested it (I am so sorry that I forgot who and can not attribute!) but I think it really helped.

Each kid got a bookmark and wrote their name on it; they can check out books (click here for my check-out form) overnight but they can also just leave their bookmark in the book and I won't let that one leave the building until it is read.

 I gave the kids the expectations.  They need to read, just read, and read.  There is no accountability other than to list the books that they read.

Finally, I let them pick books and read.  For 4 minutes.  It was SO hard to stop them, but I wanted to leave them wanting more.

The following week I gave them 8 minutes.  They were so happy and asked for more.  The next week, they got 10, and yesterday, 15.  I also am reading, per Bryce's great suggestion, and it just feels so very, very good.

I hope these resources are helpful to anyone else who wants to try FVR/SSR.


Saturday, November 12, 2016

Interactive Notebooks: Year 3 and Lessons Learned

This is my third year using interactive-ish notebooks and I still love them.  The way I use them has not evolved a great deal from my first blog post, but the way I ask my students to use them has.



I realized that a) I really don't believe in any homework other than comprehensible reading, and b) I better give them the resources to do that reading if I want them to do it.

So my notebooks continue to be the place where everything- target structures, translation activities, song lyrics, stories, readings, and assessments gets glued in.  I do let my kids take a tiny handful of notes- usually just when introducing target structures, and at the end of class in a vocabulary organizer of their choice.  But there are a lot more readings.

The biggest changes that I have made are:
1) I ask students to write down the day of the week and the date at least once a day when we put something in their notebook.  I HATE doing "calendar" type of activities in middle school, so this takes care of that.

2) I have increased the number of comprehensible readings I give them.  This includes my attempt to create a reading (embedded or traditional) for every movietalk we do.  They are really time consuming to write but I am getting faster and the payoff is...more comprehensible readings! I also almost always include a comprehensible reading (short and sweet) with every song activity, and if we are doing discussion questions that I know ahead of time, I often have them glued in as well- because re-reading questions is still input, even if they answer them as output.

3) I moved the index to the first three pages, and included a bunch of class procedural stuff in the front of the notebook.  Everything from "what do I do if I am absent" to my office hours to my grading policy to reading, writing, and general level of proficiency rubrics are now glued into the front few pages.  (Not that anyone reads it, but at least I can respond with "Why don't you look that up?" in a friendly tone of voice rather than my "I have told you that 10 million times already!" screetch that any teacher is familiar with.)

Grading the notebooks continues to be super fast and easy.  Students can make up work and notes if they need to, but I do not allow them to make up any of the points on the "Visual appearance and organization" part, as I explain to them that the work is what is important for them to do and for me to spend time looking at; the other stuff is important but not Spanish related.  For my 8th graders, I use a rubric that I created in my on-line grade book (Canvas, if anyone cares)  and I just click click click through to be finished in minutes!

Friday, November 11, 2016

Deskless Year 2: thoughts and ideas

On sharing a classroom:
     I share my deskless classroom with a desk-full classroom teacher.

     I never in a million years thought it would be as easy as it is, but it is fine.  She has tables that stack like a very complicated jigsaw puzzle in one corner.  She has one wall of whiteboards and when the tables are set up, she orients toward that wall.  There are windowsills for storing her stuff, and a couple of small tables- like coffee tables for her overhead projector and computer.  Each that she teaches, the kids come in, un-stack the tables, and set them up.  She stops about three minutes early and they re-stack, then set up the chairs for my class.  It is pretty seamless.
     My only minor complaint is that if I have left something in my bike bags, I can't easily get to them because the tables are pushed right up against my bike!  But really, that's just a matter of me being more organized and taking stuff out of my bag before her class starts!
     It also means I see another adult regularly and, as this teacher is also the middle school director (and therefore my direct supervisor) I have the opportunity to observe her and learn from her.  It's really pretty great.  Last year, when I was hyperventilating about having to move my classroom and having to share, I never would have thought it would be this easy.

On why I went deskless: 
I recently had a conversation (ok, a messaging conversation via a social media website) about going deskless and why I did it.  Here are some highlights:
How did you get to the point that you knew you needed to make this transition? 
       I was constantly feeling stifled by the lack of space- I wanted kids to move and act out stories (my first year with TPRS) and I wanted to move around to the kids, but I was super constrained.  Plus, I was constantly tripping.  Especially with backpacks!
      When I had the opportunity to keep my desks in the hall for a week due to testing, I tried it and felt like I could do so much more to make my class feel different- more language acquisition than language memorization and grammar.
      I think my class sends a powerful message to kids: memorizing and spouting facts, grade grabbing and ignoring the teacher don't work out here.  Being present, laughing, being yourself, and listening to understand are the values.  If that means we sit with stuffed animals sometimes, or a group of " toros" runs after the people to demonstrate runs from and runs to, then so much the better!    I also hate taking time to do things like seating charts and cleaning desks and stacking chairs...I think that I should be spending my time planning awesome lessons or recovering from my challenging job!

Can you describe what some of the challenges are with being deskless? Parent/admin by in? Challenges with students?
     Admins were behind it, parents either like it or have no opinion.  Again, it helps set a different tone.
     Challenges: some kids hate having to lean down and get their stuff.  (They can only bring in pencil case, notebooks, and whatever they need for the next class.) so they whine.
     But, as soon as I let them spread out and work where ever they want, they stop whining.  I also have a couple of TV trays I got at a thrift store, and one table that the kids can use if they are doing independent work.  They manage it themselves - for the most part.  Really, I can't think of any real challenge with it.
And- no desks: fewer germs, so I have been sick a lot less since I went deskless!

Do you start the year deskless or transition?
     I start the year deskless. I hand out these laminated character cards  and tell them to find the seat that matches their card.  From then on, that's how it works.
     I also teach them to line up outside my door so I can greet them each day, give them their card, and hear the password.  Then, they come in, find their seat, and get to work on a starter.

In short, I can not imagine teaching with desks.  Ever again!



Thursday, November 3, 2016

Brandon Brown Quiere Un Perro- teaching it again and rockin' it! - Activity suggestions for Chapters 1-4


BRANDON!  




I love teaching this book.  It is SUCH a blast.  I have gotten so many resources from other teachers, so I thought I would share what I do here.

Please note: Due to copyright concerns, I do not feel comfortable actually posting my materials.  Most of the materials I created are taken directly from the teachers guides, and I want to honor and respect the work of the authors.  That being said, it has taken just a little bit of time to create the activities, so I think it is worth sharing. Seriously- low or no prep is the best!

This is not a complete list, just activities that I have added for my Spanish 1A  (8th grade) class that are outside of the teacher's guide.  If you are thinking of teaching this novel, buy the teacher's guide.  It is worth every penny, even if you teach high school.

I should say that one activity that I am doing for each chapter is that I read it out loud and ask students to act it out.  Every time.  I think that the first time, they need to hear me read.  I usually ask them to re-read it a second time, either with a partner or alone.  Then, I move to review activities.  I also do almost all of the reader's theatre activities that are included.

Chapter 1

  • Review: Kahoot Quiz using the questions and responses from the comprehension questions.
  • Pre-teach: Asked kids to email me pictures of their pets and a brief bio.  I put them into slides and present a new one every few days.  Super engaging.  


Chapter 2

  • Review: I used the comprehension questions  in Spanish and the numbered heads together strategy to have teams find and write the answers on whiteboards.  This activity never goes as well as I want to, but they read parts of the chapter about a million times, so it got the repetition in!  
Chaper 3
  • Review: I made a chain reaction game out of the comprehension questions and answers to review.  Teacher tip from my elementary years: In order to make this game re-usable and keep it organized, I do the following: Copy on card stock.  Take colored markers and color code (by drawing a line, an x, or the quickest way possible) on each sheet, making sure each card is marked.  Mark the same number of envelopes with the same colors.  Cut in stacks with your paper cutter.  Then, quickly sort each card by color (or have a helpful kid do it!).  I always label the envelopes with the color name in the TL and remind the kids to keep them organized by color.  Super smooth game making and it goes quickly!  
  • Pre-teach: I also found a list with pictures of all kinds of household chores and created a people-find activity to review ¨tiene que" (since we targeted that structure last year) and talk about household chores and responsibilities.  
  • Pre-teach: Because we haven't learned lleva and recoge (carries and pick up), and I thought we needed to review ve and va (sees and goes), I created a story about a student who was in his room,  in bed, when someone famous calls him, and he has to go to a place, pick up something, and carry it to someplace else.  When he arrived, the famous person asks him when he was going to return home.      Underlined words are new or recycled vocabulary.  It was a smash hit!  
  • Pre-teach: I used the story I asked and did a Paper Airplane reading.  (I did individual airplanes, not teams, because my kiddos did not need the partner support, but I gave crummy directions and they all picked the first sentence.  I also didn't assess.  I let kids throw planes at me, at selected volunteer from the class, and at each other.  Super fun.  Next time, I will give better directions.  However, what a FANTASTIC Friday afternoon -last class of the day- activity that is also a "secret input" activity.   

Chapter 4

  • I used the "Charades" game as suggested in the teacher's guide, and then used the cards for a very simple game.  Directions: Spread the cards out on the floor, either English or TL facing up.  Use the word in a sentence (TL) and one student has to find the English word they heard.  Give the TL word and someone else has to find the English.  
  • Top Eight (I did eight, not ten, for time). I had kids in groups of four pull the top eight events then we decided, as a group, which were the most important.  That part never goes as well as I want it to though.  
  • Use the top 8 for Running Dictation .  I am always looking for engaging activities to do with this particular group on a Friday afternoon, so this seems like a good one.
  • Gallery walk / cut and paste:  Now, I think this group still needs MORE INPUT so I don't think they are ready to read questions and write accurate answers. I created regular page size sheets with questions.  They will be posted around the room.   Students will cut apart the many answers that I provided them (including 5 or 6 incorrect answers) and match them to the correct question.  Yep, they can just see what other kids paste on, but they are still getting the input!  (This is one of those activities that took me about 10 minutes to create.  They will do the cutting as their starter, so I don't take up too much class time for that.  
I hope this blog post is useful.  Remember, you can use almost any of these activities for almost any reading!