Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Activity to use with Informal Commands

Rarely do I have a classroom activity where students are amazed and ask to do it again, and this is one of them. I usually do this after assessing informal tu commands as a celebration of sorts. This activity is a set up to be a chain reaction that I start by saying "Buenos dias," and I do not give any directions before the activity. I give each student a sentence on a slip of paper (some may get two sentences), and I tell them that I am going to leave the classroom for two minutes. At the end of the two minutes they should know what the sentence means that is on their piece of paper. They are welcome to collaborate or look up words. After the two minutes are up, I walk into the classroom and say, "Buenos dias," and the chain reaction should start. If there is a time lapse, I read the sentence aloud until the student who should be doing that action gets it.

Depending on how much time we have I will follow up the activity by showing them that the verb that goes with "estudiante" is the same form as the command (minus the irregular forms). In the past, I have timed the class and then announce as "champion" the class that went the quickest. I also want to note that I used the activity below with a Spanish 1 class, so you can adjust the sentences to make them more advanced for a higher level.

Sentences:
Cuando la profesora dice “Buenos días,” abre la ventana.
Cuando una estudiante abre la ventana, canta “Row, row, row your boat.”
Cuando una estudiante canta “Row, row, row your boat,” limpia el escritorio de Señora Ushupun.
Cuando una estudiante limpia el escritorio de Señora Ushupun,  canta “Happy Birthday.”
Cuando una estudiante canta “Happy Birthday,” pon un bolígrafo sobre el escritorio de la profesora.
Cuando una estudiante pone un bolígrafo en el escritorio de la profesora, juega al tenis.
Cuando una estudiante juega al tenis, di “¡Soy inteligente!”
Cuando una estudiante dice “Soy inteligente,” escribe “Me encanta el español” en la pizarra.
Cuando una estudiante escribe “Me encanta el español” en la pizarra, mira la ventana.
Cuando una estudiante mira la ventana, canta “Call Me Maybe.”
Cuando una estudiante canta “Call Me Maybe,”come una hamburguesa.
Cuando una estudiante come una hamburguesa, escribe en la pizarra “MND es supercool.”
Cuando una estudiante escribe en la pizarra “MND es supercool,” baila.  
Cuando una estudiante baila, toca la guitarra.
Cuando una estudiante toca la guitarra, bebe una Coca Cola.
Cuando una estudiante bebe una Coca Cola, haz la tarea.
Cuando una estudiante hace la tarea, toca el piano.
Cuando una estudiante toca el piano, abraza (hug) a tu amiga.
Cuando una estudiante abraza (hugs) a su amiga, sal la clase.
Cuando una estudiante sale la sala de clase, di “¡Señora Ushupun, tú eres la mejor!”
Cuando una estudiante dice “¡Señora Ushupun, tú eres la mejor!”, juega al béisbol.
Cuando una estudiante juega al béisbol, cierra la puerta.
Cuando una estudiante cierra la puerta, toma la mochila de una amiga.
Cuando una estudiante toma la mochila de una amiga, escribe en la pizarra, “Me gustan los mandatos.”
Cuanto una estudiante escribe en la pizarra, “Me gustan los mandatos,” habla por el teléfono.
Cuando una estudiante habla por el teléfono, corre.  
Cuando una estudiante corre, di “EL FIN!”

 

 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Videos and the Spanish Economy

I became aware of this video from El Mundo Birch, and I thought this video would be a good starting point for talking about Spain's economic issues with my Spanish 1 students. They first watched the video without any introduction, and I asked them what they picked up from the video. Then I asked them why they thought Coca-Cola would do this which led into a conversation about the economic issues in Spain. It only took five minutes at the beginning of class, but it was much more relevant to them than reading a newspaper article about the economic crisis.
 
The next class day, I showed them this video. We didn't watch the whole thing, but, again, it was another starting point for conversation about the crisis.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

La tecnologia vieja

What's next? IPods? Desktops? Cars?

La ropa y las tiendas

I have been teaching Spanish 1 for the umpteenth time this year, and while teaching a unit on clothes, I had a "Aha! Moment." Students (I teach at an all girls' school) want to see websites about fashion and clothing so they can compare and contrast what is out there with their own style. I realized that I needed to find more clothing websites that are specifically Spanish, so I emailed my students that are currently on an exchange in Spain, and they gave me a list of stores that they like to go to in Spain. I have added some of my own.

1. Stradivarius (Spain) www.stradivarius.es
2. El Corte Ingles (Spain) www.elcorteingles.es
3. Bershka (Spain) www.bershka.com
4. Pull and Bear (Spain) www.pullandbear.com
5. Mango (Spain) www.mango.com
6. Blanco (Spain) www.blanco.com
7. Nicoli (Spain) www.nicoli.es

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Nada, nada, limonada

February. This is the time of the school year when I have to push myself to be creative, energetic and patient (and I fail daily). The other day I lost it because students turned the heat up to 86. I should not have lost my temper, but seriously. 86 degrees. No bueno.
Students and teachers alike are praying for snow days. The only thing close to a snow day that we have had is a late arrival, and that was on my day off. President's Day is our only scheduled day off that is on the horizon, and Spring Break feels sooo far away.
With that said, this is the best I can do for today.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Interesting Infographic

I found this infographic on Twitter, and I thought it was interesting. Perhaps the most interesting part is in 100 years the prediction of how many languages will be extinct. It is predicted that Chinese, English and Spanish will be the most used languages. I got two down--not sure if I'm ready for Chinese!

   Speaking of Languages


    Browse more data visualization.
   

   
   
   
  

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Kraft Mac 'n Cheese Commercials

These are cute commercials, and I think my Spanish 1 students will be able to pick up on enough of the Spanish to figure out what is going on. The commercials serve as a starting point for a conversation about culture and how not all Latinos appreciate American culture becoming more prevalent in their homes.