The hurdle: keeping your classroom in the target language 90% of the time. The first time I heard this, I took a big gulp and wondered how that would be possible– especially at the Spanish 1 level! It requires some rethinking and creativity on our part as educators! Sure, I can talk all day in Spanish, but will my students understand me? And even more thought provoking, how do I get THEM to stay in the target language when their vocabulary and grammar is so limited? Fortunately, over the years I’ve developed a bag of tricks to structure lessons to help my students and meet this goal!
Click HERE for speaking task cards for all of Spanish 1.
Click HERE for speaking task cards for all of Spanish 2.
One of my favorite “go to” activities is to use task cards for speaking. Step one: I think of questions that my students could answer based on the theme we are studying. For example, in Spanish 2 we learn about school and school rules. They are able to answer questions like “¿Cuáles reglas hay que obedecer en tu escuela?” and “¿Por qué hay que prestar atención en las clases?” Then, I create cards to pass out with one question on each card. Each student receives one card. (For some example cards you can use, please click here.)
Next comes the “quiz- quiz- trade” part. They pair up, read their questions to one another and answer them. Finally, they trade cards then find a new partner. They should circulate the room, always finding a new partner.
But wait! What if they get the same card more than once? They may end up seeing the same question more than once. Fantastic! The second time around will boost their confidence since they will know the answer to the questions. Seeing their confidence while speaking Spanish is every teacher’s dream.
The benefits of giving them the questions is that they are getting correct input in the target language. Often, I will put a “hint” at the bottom of the card for how to start the answer to the question. For example, if the question says “¿Por qué hay que prestar atención en las clases?” at the bottom of the card I will write “Hay que prestar atención en las clases porque….” This really helps scaffold for my students that struggle. It can also be useful if the grammar concept is brand new or includes irregular verbs.
I hope this strategy is as helpful for you as it has been for me!
Check back to The Spanish Brew for a follow up post on how to effectively organize your students into pairs. Click HERE to read about organizing students in part 2 of this post!
Click HERE for speaking task cards for all of Spanish 1.
Click HERE for speaking task cards for all of Spanish 2.
No Comments