Breathing Space/ Resting Space

The Exhaustion is REAL

Over the last few months, I have been getting a lot of requests from teachers for activities that give them a break- activities that are still input-focused but let students work independently or in small groups. I hear you!

The feeling of being on all the time, of being the one who has to guide the conversation, to monitor every kid's comprehension, and the sheer emotional weight of taking care of every person in the room is exhausting.  The thousands of decisions we make each hour are overwhelming. Deciding which word to use, when to walk over to that student to check in on them, when to ask a question, when to stop and give students a break, all the while that we are managing the actual humans in the room, while speaking in a different language and navigating between languages...it's really, really hard.

Breathing Space/ Resting Space

So what do we do to make it feel like we aren't on all the time in a comprehension-based classroom? How can we give students input, that they understand, and not feel like we have to be captivating their attention 100% of the time? 

Luckily, there are a lot things we can do! Some things require some up-front work- either in finding or creating texts that are 100% comprehensible to your students. Here is an article that addresses that: How to write texts that your students understand (The Comprehensible Classroom)- but if you are working with a curriculum or novel that has texts that you are confident that your students understand, or you work to co-create a text (through strategies such as Asking a Story, Card Talk, Write & Discuss, etc.) you have a TON of options.

I decided to dissect a lesson, filmed when I was recovering from a major knee surgery, and share exactly what I was doing to give students input, allow for super low energy on my part, and get through a really rough time in my life.  (You can read more about some of the lessons I learned during this season of being on crutches here: Mindset Reminder)

Strategy 1: Listen and Draw

I had students draw while I read. I asked a handful- a very small handful- of comprehension questions to make sure that they were really understanding, but what I was reading was the typed out text of a story that we had co-created, so it was familiar and easily understood by students. In this activity, I had students use whiteboards and markers, but any kind of paper/writing utensil combination would work.  I also had them draw 4 pictures, dividing the whiteboard in 4 boxes.   Read more about that here: Secret Input

Activity Credit: Laurie Clarcq, Hearts for Teaching  Honestly, I don't know where I learned about this, but it seems *likely* that I learned it from Laurie. It is one of several strategies that fall into what I call "secret input" strategies, that I have presented on a few times.  If I learned it from you, please let me know so I can credit you! 

See this strategy in the video below at 0:22. 

Strategy 2: Secret Input

 Find the text that matches the picture (Secret input variation)

Once we had pictures, I had students prop their whiteboards on their chairs, find someone else's whiteboard, pick a picture, and, using a written copy of the text, find the best sentence to describe the picture. Then they had to underline the sentence in the text that matches the picture. They had to do this five times. 

See this strategy, including how I give directions in the target language, in the video at 9:24. 

Strategy 3: Picture Share

Students highlight their own or each other's art.

After students glued their copy of the story in their interactive-ish notebook, they were invited to share their own or someone else's art. My role was calling on the kid, clarifying which picture, and listening. The kids did all the work AND celebrated each other! 

In video: 15:46

Brain break!

Brain break: Pikachu (From La Maestra Loca) 

Bonus! Practicing when students did not meet my expectation of going back to their seats silently. 

In video: 18:50

Strategy 4: Before or After

This is a low-to-moderate energy activity. While it is teacher led, it feels very low energy to me because all I am doing is asking students to re-read the text and find the answer to one of two questions (which required no prep on my part), then copy the answer on their white board.  I think that it feels low energy to me because while students are writing, I am drinking coffee, futzing with the music, reading over their shoulders, providing hints or support, etc. You can read a detailed description of this activity here: Before and After. I learned it from Martina Bex. 

In video: 20:20

Another Brain Break

Brain Break: Toe Tapping Brain Break

I have NO idea where I learned this from, sorry! If I learned it from you, please let me know and I will credit you! 

In video: 29:18

Strategy 5: Draw and Write a prediction

This strategy only works for some teaching contexts- specifically, when one is teaching a novel. In this class, we had read chapters 1-5 of Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro, then diverted a bit from the novel to  ask a story.  To bring us back to the world of the novel, I asked students to draw and write what they thought would happen next in the novel. This activity was adapted from the Teacher's Guide. 

Note: That day, before I went home, I picked 7 or 8 of the best predictions, corrected any language errors, and put them in a slide show to print out.  When we next met as a class, I put the printed slides around the room and had kids walk around, read the predictions, and then vote for funniest, most probable, most improbable, and most creative. This was another way for me to get them to interact with input without me leading the class- but it did require prep on my part.   

In the video: 30:15

High Energy Strategy: Weekend chat

For the last few minutes of class, I asked students what they did over the weekend. So you can see what it looks like! Read more about weekend chat here: Weekend Chat

In the video: 34:28

The Video

Here is a *very* long, unedited, un-captioned, imperfect video in Spanish that shows most of the  this lesson. I am sharing this so if you want to see what some of these strategies look like, you can! This video is unique in that I was about 4 months post-knee surgery, and I was on and off my crutches throughout the video. I was a real mess during this time period (because of the surgery and accompanying massive pain levels and stress of not being able to do anything that I wanted to do, e.g. ride my bike), and I think the video really shows how you *can* provide tons of input without being captivating or high-energy.  

About this video: Students are in a Spanish 1B class in April of their 8th grade year. For most, this is their 2nd year of Spanish in a comprehension-based program.  All students have permission to be used in this video. 

Minute by minute guide 

0:22	Directions for Secret Input: Read and Draw
9:24	Directions for Secret Input: Find the Text
15:46	Secret input: Picture Share
18:50	Brain Break: Pikachu
	Practice returning to seats quietly!
20:20	Before or After reading activity
29:18	Toe Tapping Brain Break
30:15	Make a prediction: Draw and write
34:28	Weekend Chat (brief!)

A week in the life of a comprehension-based classroom

I had a pretty good week.

Not a great week- in fact, I went home sick one day with a migraine- but the rest of the teaching went pretty well.

Here are some of the things that I did- maybe you all can find inspiration here!  This is just a list with links of things that I did with all my classes!  

Spanish 2 Honors 

Monday: We started with Weekend chat, then we co-created a story from SOMOS 1, Unit 14.  After class, I typed it up.  
                                  
Here are some resources for co-creating stories:  

• Summer SOMOS Fun Club episode on Story Asking
• Handout and resources
• Blog post and more info (From Martina Bex)
• If you are coming to ACTFL 2019, I will be presenting on this very topic!  

Tuesday: We reviewed the story- students read it out loud in pairs than worked to create their 
Top 8 events, then we reviewed those events as a class.

Students reading!  

Wednesday:I went home sick, so students read for 15 minutes (Free Voluntary Reading/FVR), did a 10 minute free write, and worked on Sr. Wooly or Garbanzo for the remaining time.

Thursday: no class

Friday:  Free voluntary reading, short discussion about upcoming all-school service project, then Running dictation with their Top 8 Events from Wednesday.   (My directions that I post are here.)  To finish, we reviewed upcoming hard deadlines and filled out daily engagement for the week. This class was shorter than usual due to a special schedule. 

Spanish 1B

Monday: Weekend chat, read and dramatized biography of Barrio Zumba from a resource from Nelly Hughes.  (It looks like the resource is no longer available, though.)  We played a short Pencil Grab game with the true/false questions included in resource.  Then we listened to the song Mexicano.

This was the starter for our discussion about food

Tuesday: We briefly discussed favorite foods, then listened to the song Mexicano again and tried to fill out the cloze lyrics included.  We listened to the song at regular speed once, than at 75% speed (I love youtube when it works!) a second time.  For a brain break, I taught them the basic steps to a zumba routine set to the song, and we danced for a few minutes.   Then we reviewed the lyrics (with L1 translation) and discussed them briefly.  Students independently read a text (also from Nelly's resource) about Mexican food, and then responded to comprehension questions by coloring a glyph that I created.  


Wednesday: I went home sick, so students read for 15 minutes, did a 10 minute freewrite, and continued to work on their glyph.  

Thursday: no class

Friday: Free voluntary reading for 10-15 minutes, then short discussion of our all-school service project.  Students then got into teams for the Lucky Reading Game!  We played that until it was time to review upcoming hard deadlines and fill out daily engagement for the week.  One section had an extra 15 minutes of instructional time, so we spent some time doing a Write and Discuss about the service project.  

Spanish 1 Honors 

Monday: Weekend chat, then we started a new unit today, SOMOS 1 Unit 04, so I introduced the core vocabulary and students put those and our unit objectives into their interactive-ish notebooks.  

Rare homework, from The StoryTeller's Corner

Then I taught them gestures for the core vocabulary and we reviewed gestures for other words. (Click here for an example of what that looks like, from a different class.)   We used the resources included in the unit to see the words in context and then did some personalized questions and answers.   (Here is a video of that process, but with a different unit, if you are curious about what that looks like.)  

Although I *rarely* assign homework, I assigned an activity from this resource from The Storyteller's Corner, where they had to draw and color what they want to be when they grow up.  

Tuesday:  We discussed more personalized questions to start- including "what class do you want to take that is not possible at our school?" I learned so much about them!  Then we spent some time on the song "Quiero Ser", by Nubeluz, which depending on how you introduce it can be loved or hated.  

I LOVE this song and kids seem to respond to that!  First, I told them how much I love it, then I gave them the lyrics to follow along with.  The second time we watched the video, and the third time (no joke!) the kids wanted to try to do the dance that the singers do.  Finally, there is a short comprehension-based activity that they worked on that is included in the unit.  

Wednesday: No class.  Before I went home sick, I took their colored pictures and put them into a slideshow for Card Talk on Thursday.

Thursday: We started with the question "What do you not want to be?" and "Why?" and that discussion lasted for a while.  We followed up the discussion with a Write and Discuss, because the previous night, one of my fellow PLC members said she was trying to do more W&D and I realized that I should try to do that as well. (I love my PLC, even if this year we can only virtually meet through voice messages.)  

Then, we listened to and danced to the song Quiero Ser again, and finished the class with Card Talk about their desired future professions.

Slide for Card Talk about the future...

 
Friday: After a short discussion about our all-school service project, we did the lyric activity suggested for Quiero Ser by Amaia Montero, that is included in the lesson plans. Students have the lyrics out of order, and working in pairs, they had to quickly cut them up then listen to the song a couple of times and put them in order.  After, I briefly comprehensified some of the lyrics and reviewed the order, then we read the included biography of Amaia.  This was a super-shortened class, so that is all we had time for!  

Fifth grade: I see these kiddos for 45 minutes a week.
 As a warm up, we did a little TPR (Total Physical Response) and acted out a couple of sentences that were interesting.   Let me explain what I mean:  I had them draw how they were feeling, then I asked "Who is tired?" and "Who is hungry?"  They were all hungry so I gave them the phrase "wants to eat" and asked them "What do you want to eat?" and pulled a couple of props out as ideas. It turned out that one kid wanted to eat a dinosaur so we acted that out (with another kid being the dinosaur) and so on.  Of course, I was narrating it in Spanish and making sure it was comprehensible.  


We have been working with our own version of this simple beginner story (in Spanish!).  Last week, we did "all the world's a stage" with the story and I took pictures of the kids acting it out.  Then I put the pictures in a slideshow. (Description for that activity coming soon- sorry! For a longer read about Reader's Theatre, check out this resource.)

Click for an editable slide to show!

I passed out a copy of the story for kids to review with a buddy, then I showed them the pictures.  I wanted them to look at the picture and decide what moment in the story it was representing, then write that moment down on a whiteboard (using their copy of the text). 

Here is an example of the directions etc. only I used pictures of the students acting out the story rather than their illustrations.

 I had no idea how it would go, honestly. This is an activity I do ALL THE TIME with my older students, but I wasn't sure if it would be ok for the younger ones. 
It went...ok.  A couple of kids were really frustrated because it wasn't the kind of thing that had a clear-cut answer, but I think that is the kind of kid they are at this stage in their lives, and the rest of them seemed to enjoy it and read the story about 20 times.  

Then, we transitioned to another new activity.  A couple of weeks ago, I gave them a simple storyboard to illustrate with the text of the story, and then I cut up their illustrations and the words and put them in baggies (1 per pair of kids) to make some partner activities.  I wanted to try this kind of activity (also available in French) that I learned about from an excellent presentation by elementary teacher Alison Litten, so I tried it.  I did modify the directions to be in L1 to allow them to focus on the reading and re-reading of the story.  I was surprised at how quickly it went for the fast processors (who I grouped together), and how completely on task all the pairs were!  I will certainly be doing this one again!  

So, that's it!  I hope this was a useful read!  

Day 3: Working with the stories (and activity ideas)

Day 3

This post is the third in a series about what I actually did the first 3 days of classes.  Here are posts about Day 1 and Day 2.  

In Panamá and República Dominicana (class names for my Spanish 1B classes), my plan was to finish the story we started a couple of days ago.  I was successful in one class, and the other...well,  it's a work in progress.  We sure did get a chance to practice our procedures and routines, I tell you what!  That is a nice way of saying that they needed a lot of practice- practice not talking over each other or me, practice listening, practice not throwing things, etc.  Lots of practice.  

I believe in practice.

My classroom mantra.  

 We did establish a few facts in their story, but I am going to have to finish their story another day.

I also wanted to give all the classes their interactive-ish notebooks, but not spend too much time on them.

I spent about 20 minutes at the beginning of class passing out notebooks, getting names, updating tables of contents, going over expectations for gluing, and gluing in one important rubric- that of daily engagement.  

Then, back to the stories.  In Panamá I dispensed with the notebook stuff because several kids are gone due to a mountain bike race, so we just worked with the story (and finished it!).  In República Dominicana, I focused on the notebook and we will finish their story during the next class.  

In Cuba (Spanish 1 Honors), we did Around The World with Translations and Illustrations. It went really well.   


In my Honors 2 class, Honduras, we started with the notebooks, but since they were with me last year, it took about 5 minutes.  Then, I projected their illustrations from the mural and gave them a copy of the story that I typed out.  They had to write the sentence (on whiteboards) that best described the picture I showed- and if there were different opinions, we had a conversation about it.  (Here are directions for that activity. It is one of my favorites.)

Differentiation
To differentiate this activity and get more input, I asked different students to be interviewed (by me) as a character in the story about what happened and how they felt.   I let any student volunteer, but some students got yes/no and either/or questions and others got more open ended questions.  

Here are some question examples for students who needed more support: 

• Were you scared when ___ happened?  
• Did you go to ___ or ___ afterwards?
• Did you do ___ first or ____?  

Open ended questions:

• Why were you scared?
• How did you feel when ____ happened?
• Did you want ___ to happen? Why or why not?  

Was this forcing output?  Nope, I don't think so.  They were volunteering to be interviewed (they knew that they would be speaking) and I was using different kinds of questions to make sure they were successful.  

I also added a write and discuss so they could see the 1st person forms of the words with the answers the interviewees gave.  

 I didn't even get through all the pictures of the mural when I realized if I wanted to start the movie trailer activity, I'd better move on.  We started just as Amy describes in her blog post- discussing what are the elements of a trailer, and started brainstorming important events.  

Then it was time to go to lunch!

Next week's plans

Next week, I plan on continuing to teach procedures, add in new brain breaks, and add a few procedural things to our interactive-ish notebooks.   (Passwords, birthday compliments, and performance descriptors come to mind.)  

I will use the Around the World translation and reading activity in my standard classes (with their class story) and play some kind of secret input game with the illustrations.  

I also plan on taking one whole class period and teaching them about proficiency levels. (See this post for specifics).

In addition, I will spend at least one class period with my 8th graders setting them up for Sustained Silent Reading (Free voluntary reading), but if I don't get to it until the following week, that's ok.  

Day 2, 2019: some lessons about going out of bounds

Day 2

This is a series of posts about what I actually did during my first three days of class with students.  Click here to see Day 1, and here to see Day 3. 

For some information about what I do to start the year, click here.  

I started each class today by giving students time to read the syllabus and assigned the syllabus homework that I have students do each year.  We reviewed how students enter class and practiced it with one group.  (Here is a sample of my routines and procedures.)

We spent a few minutes discussing the syllabus homework, then I taught them another brain break and we practiced that.  

Next, we continued with the story we had started the previous day. In the case of the class that had no time to start one, we started a new story.   (Here is the rough script that I was roughly following.)  

A vegetarian chupacabra and Elmo.
I LOVE TPRS!  

In Honduras, the class that looped up with me (they were Spanish 1 honors last year, now Spanish 2 honors), we spent very little time practicing procedures, but jumped straight to a complex story about a vegetarian chupacabra that wanted to be popular, but also refused to hunt. It was a classic TPRS story in that there were multiple locations and unexpected details- Mall of America, a roller coaster, and Elmo.  (If you want more information about how to ask a story, you are in luck!  We made a whole episode of our Summer Fun Club on this Story Asking-  and here is even more information! )

When the story ended but there was still class time, I turned to my favorite activity- a Cooperative Mural.   Students had 10 seconds to draw one moment of the story, then I narrated and verified what part they drew. 




At the end of class, I took pictures of the mural with my phone.  I know that I will use these in some way the next time I see the kids.  

For the other classes, I took pictures of the board again. 

TEACHER FAIL 

In Cuba, Spanish 1 Honors,  I had a terrible fail.  I used WAY too much vocabulary (went way out of bounds) and overloaded them.  Although I did a good job of making sure they understood the words (linking meaning, writing words on the board, etc.), I used WAY too many words.  I have no idea what I was thinking in that moment- all I can say is that I forgot my audience. It was a pretty epic TPRS fail and I knew I had to think of some ways to scaffold the crap out the story and make sure they felt supported.  More about that below.  

In that sense, it was ok because I showed them that I am going to make sure they understand- I did all the things that I try to do- each time a kiddo showed me they didn't understand, I clarified (and said thank you and gave them a high-five), and each time they didn't answer my questions with confidence, I clarified, and I gave them lots of processing time...so I guess it wasn't a total fail, but not an experience I hope to repeat.  I have to remember to give myself some slack, right?  

In República Dominicana and Panamá (class names), I had two incomplete stories, but we had established some hilarious facts and had some laughter in Spanish, so I was happy with that.  

End of day  

At the end of the day, I had two completed stories to finish typing out and two half-completed stories to start typing out.  Still exhausting, but I had a big block of planning time before I saw three of the four classes again, so I had some time to work.

I also had the illustrations from the mural to work with for one class.  

What I prepped for the next class:

In Cuba, the class with which I used too much vocabulary, I decided to do an input-based translation and reading activity.  I wanted to reinforce the idea that "you are going to understand everything, and I am going to help you."  This was the best way I could think of to overcome my epic fail.  

AROUND THE WORLD Translation and Illustrations

Click for examples that you can use or adapt:

Directions I post

The handout with story

Translations to put up around the room 

1) I typed up the story and divided it into 9-12 paragraphs.

2) I created a handout with the story and a space to write a number next to each paragraph. I made one for each student.  I also included a box for small illustrations.

3) I translated each paragraph to L1 and assigned each one a random number.  (This is an easy way to teach low frequency vocabulary like numbers. Just use them!) 

4) I printed up the translation paragraphs, cut them up, and put them around the room.

Students need to walk around the room, reading the story and the translations, and write the number of the translation in each box.  When they finish, they sit down and choose some scenes to illustrate.

*The reading and matching L2 to L1 is the most important part of this activity. The illustration is an extension for kids who fly through the first one, giving them something to do while slower processors take the time they need.  I will let them know that the illustrations are not meant to be completed (although I bet I have some fast finishers who will) so the slower processors don't get stressed. This is one way that I differentiate. 

On Tuesday, when I next see them, I will have them read the text again, and we will review the activity.  THEN, I will have them cut out their illustrations and we will put them in a big pile and do some variation of a Secret Input activity. I think that this group, which is boy heavy, will enjoy some healthy competition, so I need to think about how to do that.  Or maybe I will divide up the illustrations and kids into small groups, and have the students pull one illustration and their group members have to find that scene in the text and write it on a whiteboard.  I will see how I (and they) feel.

For the other class that finished the story, Honduras, I took the pictures of their mural and put them in a quick slideshow- click here for more information about that- so we can do some kind of secret input game for our next class.  

I also went back to my notes from all the PD I did this summer and decided that I wanted to try this idea from Amy Marshall, which requires no prep from me other than having a story.  Perfect!  

I also typed up my notes from the other classes, and came up with a way to end the stories we started.  

I went to bed at 8:15 that night. 

Day 1 in my classroom, 2019

I started school last week!  This year, my schedule is less convenient, I lost prep time, and I added another class.  I am doing my very best to be positive and sanguine about these changes, while looking ahead at what I will need to do to maximize my limited time.  I expect another blog post about planning time to come soon, as soon as I have lived it a bit more! Here is one planning post to get you started, if you are interested.  

But what the heck did I do during my first three or four days with the kids?   This post is about Day 1 and my overall goals.  Click here for Day 2 (with some examples of activities that I do) and Day 3. (with examples of how I differentiate an activity).  

Overall Goals 

My goal for the students was to help them see that this class is fun, that they will understand the Spanish we use, and also fun.  My teacher goal was to introduce them to some procedures and routines that will be the foundation of our year (like how we return to our seats from brain breaks and how we interact with each other in class).  My academic goal was to spend enough time in Spanish to make it feel like a language class, while not overwhelming or scaring them.  

My favorite way to do this is with a story.  But sometimes it doesn't go as planned! Read on for details, and a couple of ideas of what to do with the stories once they are finished, or skip to here for detailed activity ideas.
   

Day 1 in middle school 

Short classes!  In each class, I started with teaching the procedures for walking into my classroom.  (Because that first moment is the most important opportunity to establish how it is going to go, at least in my opinion.)  I had name tags for the kids, seating cards so they had random, assigned seating with less anxiety, and directions on the board.  

Kids lined up outside my room to wait for me.  I pulled one kid who I sort of knew and had them be my helper; they stood by the materials and made sure each student saw the directions and saw where the materials are located in the room.  Meanwhile, I greeted each student, asked them their name pronunciation and preferred nickname if applicable, and welcomed them.  

I did not welcome them in Spanish.  I did not start class in Spanish.  Once I taught them my "class is starting" procedure (in English) (click here for an older post about procedures and routines) and we practiced it a couple of times, I welcomed them in English.  

Then I made a little time for them to tell me what they were excited about, what they were nervous about, and what questions they had.    I smiled a lot.  We chatted.  I answered their questions and concerns, and I shared mine.  One class had more questions, and one was silent so I had to do a think-pair-share.  

I said several times "I am speaking in English now because I want you to know what is going on in this class, and I know that we will be speaking plenty of Spanish later."  

Then we did a quick brain break- I taught them to form 2 lines quickly and we practiced that a couple of times.  Then, they made a complex handshake with their partner(s) and practiced it- they had one minute.  I did this all in English, except for the second time we formed two lines- then I gave the direction in Spanish.  

I told them this handshake partner was their compañero de Bolivia, (Bolivian partner) and whenever they heard me yell BOLIVIA they needed to run to a space in the room with their partner and do their crazy handshake.  

We practiced that a couple of times, and then practiced how I get them back to their seats. (I do a call and response, which I learned from Annabelle.)  I praised them for doing it correctly and invited them (invited is a nice way to say that I forced them, but in a friendly way) to practice it again when they didn't get it quite right.  

Then, depending on how much time that all took, we started a little Spanish story.  

In two classes (I use class names as Annabelle suggests in this post- so these classes were Cuba and Honduras, both honors classes), I had them move chairs to how I like them for story asking, and we got started. 

 Here is the outline of the script I use (and some other beginning of the year resources) but it is very loose.  And remember, I am *not* teaching beginners!  If I was teaching beginners, I would start out doing exactly what is described in SOMOS 1, Unit 1, available for free on TPT.  *

With República Dominicana, the story went nowhere, but we did establish that one kid had shoes that smelled delicious, and that it was bad behavior to eat other people's sandwiches.  

Panamá ran out of time to move chairs and start a story, so I started talking about animals.  I used my rather gigantic collection of stuffed animals to ask (in target language) "Who has a dog?  I have a dog. Jay, you have a dog?  Who else has a dog?   Who has a cat?"  I used gestures and comprehension checks and the realia of the stuffed animals to support.  When I got to a stranger animal (moose, otter, giant spider), I started asking "Who wants a ___?", again checking for comprehension and using gestures.  

At the end of each class, I took a picture of whatever I wrote on the board so I could recreate it later.  

This wasn't quite a story, but it was a lot of input!  

At the end of the day, I took a few minutes to type out as much of the story we had done, based on the photo of the board.  This is a CRUCIAL, if exhausting step, both to help me decide where to go tomorrow, and to help me remember what we talked about.  I remembered why I usually don't do storyasking at the same time in all my classes if I can help it!  

Read on for Day 2 and 3!   

*Full disclosure: I now work for Martina Bex and the Comprehensible Classroom, but I do not renummerated based on sales or commission- at all. I am recommending it because it is fantastic.  

  

Play-doh Day!

Here is a great activity that might make your class feel like a shiny new toy.

First, get some play-doh. I recommend dollar store play doh, because that is my budget.  I got 16 little pots of the stuff for a couple of bucks. I know it won't last, but it will work for a while.

Second, get a comprehensible text.  I used stories that I story-asked the previous day.  Click here to see what one looks like.  These are stories using the script in SOMOS 1, Unit 9, but since it is the end of the year, they are written in past tense.

Next, pass out the play doh.

Come up with some expectations- I let the kids help me decide these in L1.

They suggested no grinding the play doh into the carpet or anything else, and to make that positive we decided "keep it on the board."  I added no mixing colors.  Again, framing it in the positive turned it into "one color only."  We also decided to use the reverse side of my whiteboards so the white part would
stay white.

Their task: create 2-3 elements from the story while listening to me re-tell it.

My task: retell the story twice, going quite slowly, and making sure all the students understand all the words.


Once they had their "elements", we did a quick walk-around to see each other's art.

Finally, I had them group up with 2-3 people and combine their elements (but not colors). They had two minutes to try to visually tell as much of the story as possible.



I took pictures (because we ran out of time).

On Tuesday, we are going to do some kind of secret input activity with the pictures- maybe I am going to project them and point to an element, and they will have to find the best phrase to describe that element from their copy of the text.  Or maybe I am going to print the photos and have them walk around and find the phrases.  I *might* even have them use the picture of their little sculpture-montage (3-d mural?) to do a blind retell in a group.   I honestly don't know.

UPDATED: What we actually did on Tuesday, post Play-doh
I quickly imported the photos into a google slides presentation while the kids read the paper copy of the story with a partner.

Then I projected the photos, one at a time, and circled one element in each photo.
Kids had to go back to the text and find the best text to represent that element and copy it onto a whiteboard.
BUT...I also made it a competition.  The kid who made the element that I circled wrote what they were representing and put a star on their board. The kids who guessed what the artist intended got a point.
I almost never do this kind of competition, but it worked out really well because then the artist became the expert which made them feel special, and others got to correctly guess, and they read all or parts the story at least a dozen times trying to find the exact phrase to write down (so they could win).

Total engagement!




I do know that it was an awesome way to review a story and class flew by.  They all said it was one of the most fun things we did all year.  From my perspective, 100% of the students were engaged and they all got a ton of input.  So that's a win on a Friday in May.

The Great Grammar Compromise part 1 (with activity idea)

How do I teach grammar? (the philosophy bit)  
(scroll down for the activity!) 

One question that seems to come up for many teachers new to teaching with comprehensible input (aka acquisition driven, proficiency oriented instruction, and comprehension-based communicative language teaching -CCLT) is what to do about grammar.

By the way- in my own Second Language Pedagogy, I believe that grammar is basically useless for language acquisition. I believe that so-called rules and patterns are *not* language, and that students do not internalize rules.  I believe that with enough input, students create language in their heads, and there is nothing at all in that process that is grammar related.  But I understand that is a pretty radical paradigm shift and that everyone is on their own journey.

Here is a great article by Alina Filipescu about the extent of grammar in her class. (Can I just say that I have linked to this article SO MANY TIMES that all I have to do is type "the extent..." in my browser and it just pops up. How awesome is that?)

For me, it looks like this:

Instead of teaching about the language and patterns and rules,  and expecting students to internalize that information and apply it immediately, I use language for input.  When the time is right (when students have a lot of language), I point out what students can already do and give it a name.

Here's an example. By the way, my kids have only ever heard the word conjugate...well, never.

So the other day, I asked them how to say "I go."
-Voy.- they replied.
-How do you say 'He goes to the bathroom'?- I asked.
-Va al baño.
-What word in that sentence means 'he goes'?
-Va.
-And 'they go'?
Van.
-What you are doing- changing a verb to say who is doing something (or when it is being done)- is called conjugating.

via GIPHY

I quickly pulled up a verb chart, using notes from the Grammar In Context series from Martina Bex, and we quickly filled it in.  (This one was about ir + a, or one way to talk about the future.)

Boom. They already knew all the words. (Or most of them, at least.  Note to self- we need to talk about us more- like us as in using the "we" form of verbs because for whatever reason this year, it seems to be harder for them- which to me means I have not been giving them enough input.)

Verb chart + conjugation lesson complete in about 5 minutes.

Mind you, this is the second year of being exposed to the word goes in all kinds of forms (goes, went,   is going to go, etc.) and we just spent a week talking about the future, using the construction is going to g...[do something].  So it was not new to them.  The only new thing was this word conjugate and a verb table.

 They have already acquired *most* of the verb forms without direct instruction.  

The grammar lesson was complete in about 10 minutes, then we moved back to more input.

But wait, is that it?  Well, actually, no.

I know that 100% of my students are going into combination grammar translation classrooms/"communicative"  classrooms. (I am using that description to mean classrooms where the focus is on practicing language rather than communicating with language.)  They have a ton of language and I want them to be surprised at how much they know, not shocked by how many of linguistic features they can't name.   But I also want to make sure that they are still getting a ton of input.

So how do I find that balance?

1) I utilize some Grammar-in-context notes from Martina Bex in class.  (Not many, and not often.)

2) I send some Grammar-in-context notes and readings (more input) home as *optional* supports for summer work for students headed to high school.

3) I also send home a list of novels and say that if it is one or the other, the novels are much better for acquisition if they are both interesting and easy. For a list of all novels, click here. I take this list and make an edited version of it based on what books are in the Spanish library in my classroom.

4) Horizontal conjugations.  Although I often model this throughout the year, I tend to do a lot more of these in the late spring because students have acquired so much more by then.  Click on the link for more info about how to do it.

SECRET GRAMMAR INPUT
Here is a "Secret Input" grammar activity that is not new, but has worked VERY well for me this week.  I did this in both my Spanish 2 honors class and my Spanish 1B classes.

First, we read a text together.  I made sure it was comprehensible by personalizing it, bringing actors up to act it out, and checking for comprehension.

Then, I gave each kid a copy of the text and asked them to re-read it out loud (with a partner) or silently.

Then, they had re-write the text from a different perspective. (In my honors class, they could choose one of 3 texts written from either 3rd or 1st person perspectives.  To further scaffold, one was a text that we had already done as a group.  )

Students worked together if they wanted (yeah differentiation!) and re-copied the whole story, changing it from 3rd person to first person. (Or vice-versa, depending on the text.)

When they were done, they came up to get a copy of the horizontally translated story and self-checked, marking their errors in red (I had them do this not so I could grade them, but so I could see if there were patterns.)

I moved around and helped them out.  This gave me the opportunity to sit with a few groups who I knew might need more support for one reason or another.  The fast finishers self-checked and then had the option of helping another group or reading their FVR book.

Why I love horizontal conjugation:  in order to change the perspective, they really have to understand the words- so it it is one more way to get comprehensible input in their brain.  They have such a sense of satisfaction when they do it because it shows them just how much they can really understand.

Spring has sprung and NOBODY wants to be inside

Here are some quick tips for teacher survival and getting kids motivated while still keeping the input flowing:  

Expectations: 
Take the time to go over expectations. Every single day, every single class period.  It may feel like wasted time in L1, but I promise you that it is not.  Take the time to re-teach key procedures if you are not happy with how students are doing them.    

Management:
This is the time of year I start with classroom points.  For more information, check out all these posts by La Maestra Loca.  These lead to a Preferred Activity Time or a fiesta.

Games:  

I don't love games. It's a personal thing.  But this is the time of year where games become a life saver.  Here are some of my favorite INPUT based games to play during those hot, unending last period-of-the-day classes.



The Unfair Game
Grudgeball
Lucky Reading Game
Word Chunk 
Paper Airplane Reading    (You could do this one outside too!)


Click for more games from Señora Chase (games)and Comprehensible Classroom (games)- both teachers who are much better at playing games than I am!  

Spicing up familiar games: 

There are a bunch of games that involve throwing things for points-get creative.  (But maybe not lawn darts, ok?)  Look at the dollar store for inspiration. I once got a throw the ring on the cactus for $5 from Target.  Nerf bats, whiffle balls, and anything that involves throwing things at other things are fair game.  

Spicing up the secret input:

Use sidewalk chalk to recreate scenes from a reading

SIDEWALK CHALK:  After a class story (or reading a text), take the kids outside with chalk and have them draw scenes on the sidewalk. Have them go around and find the chalk scenes in the text. (Click here for some other secret input ideas.) 










PLAY-DOH:  Use play-doh to recreate scenes from reading (and use secret input activities to get them to re-read)











BUBBLES:  Get bubbles from the dollar store.  One student has to blow a wand full of bubbles while the other student tries to read as much as they can of a story or reading, then switches- their partner blows bubbles while the first student reads from where the other left off.  

Scrambled eggs (modified running dictation).

What do you do to keep sane?