I don’t know about you but the last quarter of the school year in a Middle School world language class is at the same time the most rewarding and the most challenging of all.
It is the most rewarding because you start sowing the fruits of your teaching. Students speak more, write more, and understand more. They feel empowered by their language growth.
At the same time, after spring break, I usually find my middle school students more active than earlier in the year. So what do I do? I embrace life’s flavors and indulge in the richness of the moment.
Throughout the year and definitely during the last quarter of the school year, I plan tasks that will let me embrace and indulge the flavors and richness of my students. Though not new, let me share four of the many ‘tasks I might use in the last quarter of the school year. They include collaboration, poetry and movement, singing and making connections, and dramatizing a reader’s theater.
Through Poetry off the Page based on Glenis Redmond‘s workshop at the Kennedy Center, students learn how to best recite poems using their whole body through
positioning themselves to recite by planting their feet on the ground
projecting their voice to be heard
personalizing a poem (make it theirs through movement and gestures), and
doing it with purpose
The poem ‘Paisaje en el tintero’ by Juan Carlos Martín Ramos in Las palabras que se lleva el viento is a wonderful one to implement Poetry off the page successfully. The poem also has an important message for students about their own active role in building their future and that, even if they fail, they can start again.
Last Quarter: Songs and Music
I enjoy teaching the song ‘Mundo agradable’ by David Lebon and I even created a plan in case you want to include it in your curriculum. I also explain the process in a video.
Among other things, students,
Describe and explain what the phrase “Mundo agradable” means based on individual drawings about their ‘mundo agradable’
Explain what they like about a song and how it makes them feel
Give opinions about the artists and/or the song
Explain which verse is their favorite and why
Explain how the song connects with what they know
Connect the song to the Sustainable Development Goals, the Human Rights or other topics or themes
We go deep into the song and we enjoy Latin American rock in the process!
Reader’s Theatre
Jill se pone en forma. It is a reader’s theater I use when doing the unit on ‘Health and Wellbeing’ as the book is about some ‘body parts’ who are concerned about Jill not being fit. The body parts collaborate in making Jill get fit. It is short and sweet but funny at the same time as the story is told from the ‘body parts’ perspective.
Try one or Try them all
Some students shine when collaborating using technology and moving the ‘magnets’ on the virtual fridge. Others embrace the drama of the poetry off the page and their acting transmits energy. Some enjoy the singing and the beat of a song in another language. A bunch indulge in the richness of a reader’s theater that allows them to express themselves in the shoes of a character.
All this while describing, explaining, comparing, giving opinions, and asking questions in the language. I am always at awe to hear the connections students make among the different resources I use in class. Give it a try! It is absolutely worth it to embrace life’s flavors and indulge in the richness of the moment. Moreover during the the last quarter of the school year.
El teatro nos ha dado gobernantes arbitrarios, criados sin escrúpulos, príncipes atormentados y amantes irracionales. Pero también nos ha dado expresiones con las que describir situaciones, valorar comportamientos o juzgar actitudes. Conocerlas les permitirá a tus alumnos incrementar su léxico y acercarse aún más a la lengua cotidiana, así que, ¿por qué no enseñárselas?
Algunas de ellas se refieren a elementos escénicos. Pensemos, por ejemplo, en las bambalinas, lienzos entre los que se oculta al público el trasiego de personal durante la representación de una obra. Por ello, decimos que hacemos algo entre bambalinas cuando lo hacemos de forma discreta, para que no llegue a conocimiento de los demás 🤫.
Quien también permanece oculto al público es el apuntador, persona que, situada en una posición estratégica en el escenario, se encarga de dictar el texto a los actores cuando estos olvidan alguna de sus líneas. Su función suele pasar desapercibida 😶🌫️, de ahí que se emplee su figura para exagerar la ausencia o presencia de personas en una determinada situación; y así, decimos que a tal o cual acto no fue ni el apuntador o, al contrario, que fue hasta el apuntador.
También podemos encontrar expresiones que hacen referencia a la actuación de los actores y actrices sobre el escenario. Así, por ejemplo, decimos que alguien hace mutis por el foro cuando abandona un lugar sin llamar la atención, en alusión a la salida que los actores hacen del escenario cuando así se lo exige el guión🚶♂️.
Si alguien hace mutis por el foro, quizás lo haga para eludir responsabilidades. Otra manera de eludirlas es hacerse el sueco, en referencia a los cómicos del teatro romano, quienes calzaban unos zuecos llamados soccus, y de los que se dice que permanecían impertérritos cuando eran increpados por el público, de ahí que usemos esta expresión para hablar de alguien que trata de desentenderse de un asunto haciéndose el despistado 🤷♀️.
Y ya que hablamos de actuaciones, cuando queremos censurar un comportamiento exagerado, falso, no creíble 🧐, podemos considerarlo una pantomima y calificar a quien lo realiza como una persona teatrera 👺.
Por último, algunas de estas expresiones también contienen referencias a obras de teatro o a sus personajes. En este sentido, son perceptibles las alusiones teatrales en ser una celestina o ser un donjuán. Y a ellas podemos añadir al perro del hortelano 🐶, que ni come ni deja comer, o dicho de otra manera, ni disfruta de algo ni permite que otros lo hagan.
Nosotros no vamos a terminar esta entrada haciendo mutis por el foro, sino que lo queremos hacer recordándote que más abajo incluimos una infografía que puede ser útil para tus clases 👇. Igualmente, te pedimos que no te hagas el sueco y no permitas que estas expresiones se queden entre bambalinas y que no las conozca ni el apuntador. ¡Enséñaselas a tus alumnos!
If you are a language teacher, then you are probably using comprehensible input teaching methods (repeat, recycle, repeat) or have heard about them – it is not a surprise that by adjusting language strategically and providing input (either spoken or written) that is tiered to only include words, phrases and structures that students comprehend – students will be able to make meaning of the language and in fact, acquire. Which is how and why Acquisition Driven Instruction works so well. Our goal as language educators is to fill our student’s minds with lots of useful language, so they can USE the language in the future in their presentational and interpersonal communication. This is also why I believe WE (the people who use languages) keep the languages alive- and languages do in fact change and evolve over time, thanks to all of us!
As Generative AI begins to take over how we “do” our day to day tasks – let me attend that meeting but have my AI assistant take notes, let me figure out what is for dinner tonight or let me write that important letter of recommendation – it also makes sense to look at how this incredible technology can assist language teachers with designing resources and activities with comprehensible input at the heart of the design. And, in addition to a CI lens, can we also harness the power of Generative AI to focus on true intercultural aspects of the target language (products, perspectives & practices) AND design lessons that meet ALL of our student’s needs? My friends – the answer is YES!
Let’s begin with THE PROMPT!
The most important part of using any Generative AI tool is how descriptive you are with writing your prompt. Chat GPT is continuing to learn YOU and understand who you ARE – and as a result, you must specify with your language, level, proficiency target(s), students (general information*), content, delivery of content and potential modifications in mind.
I’ve designed the below guide to assist language teachers create a well designed prompt, with the intentionality of having the “export” align with your expectations. I’ve also created a collaborative prompt library for language educators, which is one of the many perks in joining the AI Tools for Language Educators Institute community. When designing your prompt, consider all of the different important elements that you would like to include. A simple rule of thumb is understanding the better the prompt provided, the better the output. Chat GPT or other LLMs of preference can truly serve as your thought partner, brainstorming buddy, content creator or my favorite role- your new personal assistant. Consider the possibilities!
So, how do we merge the world of AI with CI?
It all goes back to your well designed prompt! By specifying the type of language instruction model you are using, reference using cognates in your language (hopefully they exist!), frequently used words from the target language and specific targeted vocabulary (not sheltering grammar & treating expressions as vocabulary words) – the content created by Generative AI will align to your ADI expectations. And don’t forget to lead with culture in your CI lessons!
Plug the following prompt into your LLM and see what it can do!
Be sure to change the language and/or information that is underlined to make the prompt specific to you and your language class.
You are an acquisition driven instruction teacher of Spanish, which means you focus on delivering comprehensible input and making language easy to understand and comprehend for beginning language learners. You teach a group of 7th grade students in a suburban middle school and they are currently discussing their school schedules and day to day activities using Novice Mid or A1 language. Can you write a paragraph (no more than 150 words each) in Spanish in comparing and contrasting a typical school day in Spain with a typical school day in the United States. Include information about schedules, subjects, and extracurricular activities. Repeat and reuse the following vocabulary expressions at least three times in this paragraph: tiene, empieza, termina, es aburrido, es interesante. In addition to cognates and the vocabulary provided, use ONLY the most frequently used vocabulary in the Spanish language. You can reference this website for the top 100 frequently used words in Spanish to assist you with your development of this reading passage: https://spanishforyourjob.com/commonwords/, use cognates frequently. For this paragraph, create at least five follow up comprehension questions based on this paragraph in Spanish and one open-ended prompt for beginning level language learners to respond. Create a simple table with a typical school schedule with start/end times using military time and specific classes at each time in both countries, in Spanish. And design a simple dialogue between a teenager from Spain and a teenager from U.S.A. discussing the key information from the paragraph about their school days.
Tools to use AI
I used Gemini (Google’s LLM) and it provided the following Google Doc ( *asked if I could export the schedule/table into a Google spreadsheet as well). The fascinating part is that designing this initial resource for me took a matter of seconds. And of course, I can look at this “School Life” reading as an initial draft and go in to make modifications to further customize it, understanding that my students should comprehend at least 90% of this reading. I can also have the LLM create “tiered” versions of this text, further simplifying it or making it a bit more challenging, to allow for students to read the text at their individual reading level. And – to take this reading passage and use an AI tool to design a slideshow export – head over to Diffit.me and copy/paste your text into the third section labeled “Any text or excerpt” and let the magic happen! Diffit.me can also export into Google Docs, Google Forms, pptx or PDF files.
Another great way to merge the world of AI with CI is with chatbot design and providing a low-stakes environment for interpersonal practice! I had previously blogged about using chatbots in the language classroom as conversational partners. Remember, your chatbot can be ANYONE! So who would you like your students to chat with? Someone famous? An artist? A musician? An athlete? And the same goes with WHAT your students are chatting about with their chatbots – you can ask your chatbot to target specific vocabulary and adhere to the provided conversational rules. Similarly to those reading passages, you have to set the specific parameters with language use and level to ensure that the chatbot adheres to your expectations and truly becomes a great language practice partner for your students!
One more tip considering how a CI-focused teacher can leverage the power of AI tools – GenerativeAI can also design images, change backgrounds and create videos for you! So, if you have a fun story that you were never really able to locate the right pictures to match the storyline – check outCanva, Magic Design and see what image(s) or video can be generated for you. Here are some neat images that I generated this afternoon while working with a fantastic group of language teachers!
Canva also now has Dall-E (OpenAI’s Image Generator) and as teachers, we receive premium access to this incredible platform. Canva has so many neat capabilities, I continue to enjoy exploring and experimenting- check out their “AI-powered” apps!
Move forward, the theme for the month, was inspired by a question I have been pondering a lot lately;
How might a proficiency-based curriculum approach help students move forward in their language acquisition?
There is a huge difference in an educational setting between noticing language and acquiring language once students have time to process it. Acquiring language is making it yours to use when communicating.
This first question inspired other questions.
How do you implement a proficiency-based approach in the language classroom? What type of questions should I/ we ask to develop students’ language proficiency to move forward?
A proficiency-based language approach has the objective to help students think and communicate ideas.
When answering questions, students demonstrate specific understandings, knowledge, and language skills that over time, reflect progress and the transition from one proficiency level to the next.
Teaching for proficiency starts by asking the right questions to help students develop communicative functions based on a context provided: describing, explaining, comparing, etc. It is about finding meaning and having a purpose to communicate what helps students to move forward in their language acquisition.
What is the data on the topic?
There is an array of data on proficiency-based language instruction. These are some worth- exploring resources:
What lesson plan works best for implementing a proficiency-based language learning that help students move forward?
This is one lesson plan template I use for planning for proficiency. It helps to ask the right questions and plan accordingly. Use it and let me know if it helps.
What rubrics best align with a proficiency-based approach to language instruction?
Rubrics may be used for grading, giving feedback, self-assessment, and goal-setting. They can help students understand expectations and components of an assignment, become more aware of their learning process, and improve their work through timely and detailed feedback.
One possibility is the ‘single-point rubric’ as explained in the Cult of Pedagogy. Teachers can create the criteria to meet expectations for the assignment, provide feedback on areas for improvement, and have evidence of exceeding standards. The rubrics for World Languages from the Ohio Department of Education show examples of rubrics for each mode of communication. Organic World Language (OWL) also offers great rubrics to assess student proficiency in the language.
What do you do if your innovative teaching methods are met with resistance from students or other stakeholders?
Don’t give up!
Students need an authentic purpose for learning, relevant learning experiences, and a real audience. They also need to have these questions answered,
Why is this important?
How will I use it?
How does this connect with something I already know?
Other things that can be helpful if you feel there is resistance from students and other stakeholders are:
Communicating the goals and benefits of using this approach
Repeating the goals and benefits of a proficiency-based approach as needed and providing new ideas and examples
Explaining the proficiency levels to students and showing them what it looks like in terms of language use
Evaluating and re-evaluating students’ progress
Inviting teachers to the classroom
Understanding the perspective of other stakeholders
In the classroom, welcome questions, ask students for feedback, create a structure to support ambiguity, and help students become comfortable with the uncomfortable.
What would you recommend for a novice language teacher or anyone who would like to implement a proficiency-based approach to their language instruction? What workshops, classes, or online/onsite courses would help achieve their goals?
I highly recommend starting your journey by attending an Organic World Language training, either online or onsite, as a way of immersing yourself in the experience.
Looking back at what motivated me as a learner when I was a child and I started learning English, brings back memories from my primary school years in a small village in the south of Spain. Back then foreign languages were introduced in Year 6 (at age 12).
Before that, I’ve had my first contact with English through music like most of us did back then, listening to Madonna, Michael Jackson and all the great singers from the 80s, (I’m showing my age now…🙃😊) musicals like Grease, etc. And of course, I loved singing their songs without having a clue about their content and mispronouncing every single word: “Wi ar de worl, wi ar de children!” or “Laik a berjen, tach for the beri ferst taim” 🤣
One day, I remember that one of my sister’s friends heard me singing and started laughing at me (not only because of my singing, but more because of the words that I was saying… Well, not that she knew any better, as she was older than me and the older generations were learning French…). I must have been around 8 or 9 years old, but I remember it really annoyed me and that day I decided that one day I would speak English really well and that I would understand every single word from my favorite singers.
Some years later, when I was about 12-13 and I was already learning English at the school, I remember that I had fallen in love with the boy band of that time “New Kids On The Block.” I used to spend hours and hours listening to their songs, rewinding my tapes (very 80s!) and writing down the lyrics that I could understand by decoding them on my own and using my Spanish/English dictionary to find out what they were singing about.
Ahhh the 80s! No Google Translate back then to help me, all manual… But you know what? There was something about that process that really helped those words and sentences stick better in my head and allow them to stay in the long-term memory and embed themselves as part of my vocabulary.
Don’t get me wrong, I am really in love with technology and all the advantages that it brings; however, I am seeing how relying too much on technology is making us all slowly less sharp… Faster for some things, but in terms of independent learning and reasoning, I think that the abuse of technology could make us lose some of our intellectual capacities gradually, so I believe that keeping a balance is very important. The key thing is to find the balance, like with everything else in life.
Music in Language Lessons
Going back to the motivation and inspiration when learning languages, I believe that Music is without a doubt a tool to be used in lessons as frequently as possible. I invite you to the section in my channel called MUSIC & ACTIVITIES IN SPANISH & ENGLISH LESSONS, where I post and recommend songs and activities related to them.
I try to choose songs that have great messages, key structures, verb tenses that need to be revised (subjuntivo, pretéritos, etc.) Also, I try to give ideas of activities that you can do in Spanish and English lessons. I hope you find them helpful and include music in your lessons to motivate and inspire students. Be on the look as I will be uploading many more soon.
El diccionario de la RAE define serio/-a como real, verdadero y sincero, sin engaño o burla, doblez o disimulo. Teniendo en cuenta esta definición, no nos equivocamos si decimos que la enseñanza del español es una cosa muy seria. Nosotros nos la tomamos muy en serio y estamos seguros de que tú también lo haces.
Pero eso no significa que siempre debas ser un profe serio ni que siempre tengas que estar seria en tus clases 🤨❌️. Y es que también podemos hacer que el español sea real, verdadero y sincero con juegos 🎲🃏.
En esta entrada te presentamos algunos juegos con los que conseguirás que tus alumnos se lo tomen muy en serio pasando un momento realmente divertido. Vamos con ellos:
👉 4 en letras: se trata de un juego ideal para que tus estudiantes puedan rescatar de su memoria palabras cortas y sencillas que seguramente ya hayan visto y conozcan. No importa si son plurales, formas verbales o topónimos; cualquier combinación que resulte en una palabra correcta en español dará un punto a quien la consiga. 4️⃣
👉 Mim Too: juego idóneo para que tus alumnos pierdan la vergüenza y eliminen el estrés. Deberán hacer mímica 🫶 para representar a un personaje 🥸, objeto 🫖 o animal 🐶 que haga una determinada acción. ¿Te imaginas a un guardaespaldas regando plantas carnívoras? ¿O a una tetera haciendo patinaje sobre hielo? ¡Pues estamos seguros de que tus estudiantes sabrán representarlo!
👉 Sospechosos inhabituales: juego colaborativo que reproduce una rueda de reconocimiento policial y que sirve para que tus alumnos, a partir de un nivel A2, puedan practicar el vocabulario relativo a hábitos, gustos y personalidad de una manera original. ¡Deberán ponerse de acuerdo para encontrar al culpable! 👮♀️👮🏽♂️
👉 Dixit: las imágenes de sus cartas lo convierten en un juego atractivo en clases de español. Tus estudiantes deberán asociar una carta determinada a un concepto concreto (puedes proponer ideas como “subjuntivo”, “las clases de español”, etc.), en función de lo que les evoque el dibujo, y luego tendrán que adivinar la imagen elegida por sus compañeros. ¡La inclusión de este juego en niveles intermedios y avanzados es una apuesta segura! 🖼✅️❌️
Esta pequeña selección no es más que una muestra del uso que se les puede dar a los juegos en nuestras clases. Juguemos con nuestros estudiantes, sin importar su edad, y conseguiremos que se tomen el español muy en serio.
After several months of highlighting different Generative AI Tools for the language classroom, the most exciting has been using conversational chatbots. The idea that students can practice their language skills in a low-stakes, non-judgmental way, available at any time and personalized to fit their language level is quite revolutionary. AI has the power to enhance our students’ language learning experience and also provide limitless opportunities to practice speaking in the target language.
As with any AI tool, educators must design prompts that are specific to the task and adhere to the intended learning outcome. Within your prompt design, it is important to share who the chatbot IS, the language students are learning, language proficiency targets and specific key phrases/vocabulary you would like the chatbot to use. You can also set up your chat bot to be engaging, kind, funny, creative, etc. For example, with your novice learners, tell the chatbot to limit the questions and responses to a certain number of words for a student who is learning another language, repeat & recycle high frequency vocabulary and be supportive & helpful in the replies provided.
In what ways can our students practice their language learning? Here are a few scenarios, prompts and a Chatbot Choice Board for you to copy and share with your language colleagues (or students!).
Chatbot Uses & Sample Prompts
LanguageTutor– Consider designing a tutor for your students to practice their conversational skills or be provided with direct feedback given your language class, level and current unit of study.
Sample Prompt – You are a friendly Spanish tutor, ‘Srta Bot’. Engage the student in a simple dialogue in Spanish and discuss what the student is like, characteristics about themselves, family members, basic greetings, foods, preferences in activities, clothing items and weather conditions. Limit your questions and responses to simplistic, no more than 30 words. Repeat and recycle frequently used vocabulary in Spanish. Be funny and engaging.
Role Play – A chatbot can be anyone….no, really….ANYONE! Who would your students like to speak in the target language with? Anyone from the past, present or even future can “come to life” as an interactive chatbot. Or how about a particular professional to interact with like a nutritionist, an astronaut or a climate change activist? You can also transform your chatbots into animals – imagine what your dog may say to you if they could?
Sample Prompt – You are Greta Thunberg, climate activist, engaging in a discussion about the Amazon rainforest’s climate crisis with a novice French learner / student. Use simple sentences and questions to discuss the climate change effects on the rainforest and its inhabitants. Repeat and recycle cognates from the Spanish language related to the Amazon rainforest such as desforestation, climate change, animals.
Debate Partner – Having students engage in a lively discussion about a topic that is relevant to your unit of study can be exciting and the chatbot can point out some important points that students may have not considered before!
Sample Prompt – You are engaged in a debate about education. You will play the part of a debater who supports the opinion: not everyone should have access to public education. The student, who is learning Spanish, will play the part of a debater who supports the opposite opinion: everyone should have access to education regardless of age or gender. State your opinion and ask simple follow up questions, limit your questions and answers to an A2 or Novice High proficiency level.
Design A Story! – Students can work one on one with a chatbot to come up with a story together! A creative way for language learners to design a story about any topic of study, create an engaging story for an intended audience and consider questions as well – to design their own adventure within a story!
Sample Prompt – You are co-writing a narrative story with a student who is learning the Spanish language and has an A1 or Novice Mid proficiency level. The story involves three to four characters, a plot, conflict, rising and falling action and a conclusion that resolves the conflict. Be creative and original in storytelling. Provide helpful feedback to help correct grammar and/or spelling mistakes.
Assessment Prep/AP Lang Practice – Before an upcoming performance assessment, design a chatbot to serve as a conversational buddy to review essential questions and unit performance objectives.
Sample Prompt – You are a teacher of Spanish who is assisting a student practice their language skills before an upcoming integrated performance assessment. You review the following essential questions by engaging in a dialogue to help the student practice respond and share their thoughts about: What makes up a balanced lifestyle? How do you define wellness in your community? What routines, habits and foods contribute to healthy living? Be sure to keep the conversation all about a balanced lifestyle and how we maintain wellness in our daily lives. Repeat and recycle key vocabulary that involve cognates from the Spanish language. Be supportive and provide feedback related to the student’s use of grammar and spelling when appropriate.
With these different chatbot uses in mind, there are two current platforms that I have used which allow language teachers to generate these bots for students and they do not require any identifiable personal information from the student, such as emails or full names. The student is an anonymous participant but perhaps uses their initials only or an assigned numerical code, so the teacher can later review the conversation on their end once completed.
Chatbot Design Platforms & Resources
Mizou – It allows teachers to design their own chatbots, search within a community of available chatbots, set their own to “public” or “private” and students are provided with a link to access the session, once the teacher has made it “live”. You can view tutorials on their site.
SchoolAI – This AI tool has MANY capabilities, as they are considered an “all-in-one” platform for educators. The site has “spaces” available for teachers to set up for students to practice their language skills.
*For both of the above tools and many others, I have created and shared simple five minute or less tutorial videos on the Lo Logramos Youtube Channel, be sure to subscribe to stay connected to future AI Tools tutorial videos for language educators & language instruction!
*To learn more about how to transform your language classroom with AI, you can check out my newly launched asynchronous course: The AI Tools Institute for Language Classrooms to assist language teachers of any language! A seven session journey with guiding slideshows, resources, guides, helpful reflective questions and many videos, all in one space!
Chatbot Choice Board
To receive your own copy of the handy Chatbot Choice Board, please head over to the private Team Lo Logramos Facebook Community. There you will be able to request to join our community and later, access the Chatbot Choice Board for use in your language department or with your language students!
Thank you for reading! I hope that you keep experimenting, sharing and learning about how Generative AI can help transform your language classroom and your students’ language learning experience! I do hope we stay connected and feel free to reach out with any questions, wonderings or comments! @team_lologramos
LoLogramos – Get a $5 off discount when you use the code LTL5 at checkout, exceptions may apply
It has been great to focus on one goal a month since the beginning of 2024. So many times we start school strong to find ourselves drifting as the months go bye. So far, in 2024, we have concentrated in collecting moments and doing more of what we love. So, in March, we will continue with … Make it Happen!
To me, to ‘make it happen’ is to accomplish what you dream of or desire by doing what is best for you and your students. It does not mean that it is easy or that it is a quick fix. It will probably require effort to solve problems and face different challenges. Thus, I want to encourage you to take the first step, take action, and make it happen!
It was the end of January and I remember thinking: What do I want to accomplish? How am I going to do it? Then, I learned about the #GoalsProject through social media and I signed up as soon as I got the green light from my school.
#GoalsProject – Make it Happen!
The #GoalsProject is done by students all around the world based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (I wrote about the SDGs in What Do You Do When You Learn Something New?). The UN SDGs are the solutions to world problems and a call to action to make it happen.
The #GoalsProject is a richly infused 6-week global collaboration project based on the SDGs to promote taking action in the classroom. It requires students to practice 21st century skills: learning skills, literacy skills, and life skills, which are essential for students to succeed in life. As a world language educator, this was exactly what I envisioned for my students!
The #GoalsProject also encompasses most of the principles of Powerful Learning. And what better way to provide voice and agency to my students than through taking action for the SDGs.
To introduce the project, students talked about the SDGs and learned about their importance and how crucial it is to help in achieving these goals by 2030. This year, students dug deeper into SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production.
Middle school was given 3 SDGs to choose from, and SDG 12 was the one we picked for sixth grade Spanish. I chose SDG 12 because it relates directly to the work we do at school with TerraCycle ‘to recycle the unrecyclable.’
Activities and Tasks: Make it Happen!
Some of the activities we did and some tasks my 6th-graders performed in Spanish class during their participation in this program are these:
Participating in a Virtual School Assembly
Responding to Youth Ambassadors
Having a video-conference with students in the Dominican Republic
Completing a KWHLAQ graphic organizer
Listening to videos about the ‘Circular Economy’
Completing a Systems Thinking Compass
Creating a poster for Fact-ivist!
Brainstorming solutions to problems related to SDG 12
Let me share a little bit about these tasks below. There are links to the sources used as well.
Participating in a Virtual School Assembly
The Virtual School Assembly was a webinar in which my students participated with thousands of other students in the world. It showed students the scope of the project and gave purpose to what they were doing.
Responding to Youth Ambassadors
After listening to what Youth Ambassadors from all over the world did towards the SDGs and why, my students found inspiration to start their contribution to helping achieve the SDGs. Their responses in the Padlet showed how impacted students were by the Youth Ambassadors speeches/ presentations to a personal level.
Having a video conference with students in the Dominican Republic
Connecting with students their age from another country in Spanish and learning about their projects was a highlight for most of my students.
Completing a KWHLAQ graphic organizer
To show students’ thinking we used the KWHLAQ graphic organizer which is based on six questions:
K – What do we think we know about this topic?
W – What do we need to find out?
H – How will we find out the answers to our questions?
L – What are we learning and what have we learned?
A – What action will we take?
Q – What new questions do we have?
Using the KWHLAQ helped me see what students learned and what their interests were.
Listening to videos about the ‘Circular Economy’
The Ellen MaCarthur Foundation is all about the circular economy, which is key in achieving SDG12, Responsible Consumption and Production. We listened to some videos on this topic and discussed them.
Completing a Systems Thinking Compass
I loved having students complete the Systems Thinking Compass because it is a tool that helps students see the interdependence of any system.
The Systems Thinking Compass is easy to understand as it uses the four points of the regular compass but renaming them. So the N for North, becomes the N for Nature. The E for East becomes the E for Economy. The S for South becomes the S for Society, and the W for West becomes the W for Wellbeing.
For example, having the SDG 12 in the center and thinking about the impact of consumption and production from the lens of Nature, Economy, Society, and Wellbeing helped students identify the issues and then connect their commonalities. It was probably the most difficult activity we did as it required them to think in systems, make connections, and then present their ideas to the class.
Creating a poster for Fact-ivist!
Researching data related to the SDG12 in Latin America was challenging as they had to find reliable sources. Students did their research starting from a simple Google or Bing search and narrowed it down to relevant sources like the World Bank, UN.org, Paho, Agenda2030lac, IDB, etc. In the end, students were able to identify data related to the SDG 12 that was interesting to them and complete their assignment of creating a poster using data.
At the beginning, data such as the amount of food that is wasted, was surprising to them, but it made this SDG real! Then, they created a poster to represent the data found using a digital art tool like Canva. The cherry on top was publishing their poster for the world to see. You can check them out in the Fact-ivist Gallery.
Brainstorming solutions to problems related to SDG 12
Using a storyboard, students sketched their possible solutions to problems related to SDG 12, from recycling to creating innovative ways to wasting less food. They came up with such great solutions! Then, they wrote a sentence or two about their sketches.
Make it Happen!
In a fun way, students learned about the SDGs while having the opportunity to think about the world’s needs and contribute with their different perspectives to make a change. This experience was very powerful as it showed students what they can do to help the Earth and that they can do it.
I am happy to have made it happen for my students!
Si tienes estudiantes que están en la edad del pavo 🦃, te habrás fijado en que hay momentos en los que es difícil gestionar sus emociones. No hay que ser un lince 🐈 para darse cuenta de que se trata de una etapa complicada…
Seguro que en tu aula tienes estudiantes que en ocasiones se sienten como la oveja negra 🐑⚫️ de la familia o de su grupo de amigos. A ellos hay que ofrecerles mucha empatía.
Otros posiblemente avancen como una tortuga 🐢 en el aprendizaje del español. No pasa nada: podemos pararnos un momento, bajar el ritmo, acompañarlos en su lento caminar y darles un empujoncito para que avancen más rápido y alcancen a sus compañeros.
Tal vez algunos sean unos gallitos 🐓 que necesitan reafirmarse en el aula. A ellos hay que tratarlos con mano izquierda, llevarlos a nuestro terreno y ganar su lealtad.
Probablemente no falten los ratones de biblioteca 🐭📚, aquellos a los que sí les gusta estudiar. Es posible que en ocasiones no quieran hablar porque temen quedar como repelentes ante el resto de la clase. Hay que saber entenderlos y administrar sus intervenciones, para no exponerlos demasiado si no lo desean.
Alguno habrá que tenga memoria de pez 🐟🤔 y apenas recuerde cuándo usar el subjuntivo… Debemos ser pacientes y no transmitirles presión.
Linces, gallos, tortugas, ratones… pueblan nuestra lengua cuando queremos hablar de comportamientos o actitudes humanas. Para todos estos animales hay un sitio en nuestra arca. Así que, ¡no seas gallina 🐔, da el paso y usa los modismos con animales en el aula!
Nosotros te ayudamos con una infografía muy mona 🐒 en la que aparecen algunas de estas expresiones junto con su significado.
As the new year started, I thought about what is important to me. To keep my line of thoughts, I brainstormed a phrase for each month. So far, I came up with ‘collecting moments’ for January, and I chose ‘doing more of what you love’ or follow your passion for February.
I realized that my students’ work in the unit “Visible e Invisible,” where we talked about ‘identity,’ encompasses both phrases perfectly: “moments” and “passions.” One definition of ‘identity’ describes it as “the characteristics determining who a person is or group of people are.”
In some earlier posts, I wrote about ways I work on identity and what I do for projects. If you are interested in reading about those topics, here they are:
Throughout the unit on ‘identity’ students went deep into learning, thinking, and expressing themselves about who they are, describing both the visible and invisible parts of -self.
Including all Modes of Communication
As a language teacher I make sure that projects include all forms of communication. Interpretive tasks, such as reading articles or watching videos, interpersonal, and presentational tasks related to the topic. The presentational tasks are usually the culmination of the project where students bring together what they learned throughout the unit.
A couple of resources I used for the interpretive reading and listening are an article on the ‘iceberg cultural’ and the story “El dia en que descubres quien eres” by Jacqueline Woodson, which I read aloud.
Students learned basic ways of saying who they are and what they are like in this unit geared towards the interpersonal mode of communication. Some resources that we used included Amy Lenord’s “Yo” unit and “Mi red personal,” an activity I did in an ISTE professional development webinar a few years ago. These activities and tasks helped students talk about themselves during T.A.L.K. practices and assessments.
I incorporated art into the unit. Students analyzed art like ‘Braiding’ by Lin Tianmiao and ‘Caja de memoria viva’ by Adrián “Viajero” Román (see: Professional and Personal Experiences Inform My Language Curriculum for more information about these pieces of art) to help them understand the concepts of visible and invisible developed in the unit.
The final project included a drawing of a half-face to represent the visible and invisible parts of self, writing a composition/essay, and recording a video where they talked about themselves using FLIP. After they completed the tasks, I asked them to complete a reflection about what they learned and I was amazed reading them.
Students’ Reflections
Let me share some so you can see for yourself,
I am proud that I wrote a whole essay in Spanish. I liked that we got to draw as part of the project. I learned that I know more vocabulary in Spanish than I thought and I learned that everyone has a different personality.
I learned more about identity and more vocabulary. I also realized that identity has a deeper meaning. I hope people who view my artwork realize that the half face is to show the ‘visible e invisible’ on a person. I learned that everyone may not seem as they appear. I learned a lot of new words and their meanings so I can create more complex sentences.
I liked how I was able to learn more about myself because I described myself in a different way. I am proud of my drawing because I put down all the characteristics that make me, me. I learned that people see themselves in a way I could not see them, and I learned more about what they think of themselves and tried to make them feel like I understood them.
When I look at my self-portrait, I want people to know that there is more to everyone than what meets the eye. Even if someone is your best friend there are still many things you don’t know about them.
The QR codes from their recordings and the half-face drawing were displayed outside the classroom, so the community could learn more about who my students are. 🙂
Moments and passions also guided my students in their “Visible and Invisible” unit on identity. I wonder what phrases will guide me in the months to come.
Decía Chaikovski (o tal vez solo dijo, o quizás nunca llegó a decir, pero eso ahora no importa) que si no fuera por la música 🎶, habría más razones para volverse loco 🤪.
No sabemos si estaríamos más locos o no, pero de lo que no hay duda es de que, sin la música, a nuestras clases de español les faltaría algo 🤔. Y no nos referimos solamente al hecho de poner canciones en el aula para que nuestros alumnos completen espacios en blanco, sino a tratar la música como un tema en sí mismo.
En este sentido, nos parece muy interesante el tratamiento que se le da en la unidad 9 del libro Etapas Plus C1📚, en la que se presentan una serie de actividades que siempre podrás adaptar a niveles inferiores (de hecho, ¡funcionan muy bien con B1 y B2!).
En ellas, se trabaja el tema de la música a partir de la idea de recuerdo, de vivencia, de experiencia. Y eso es algo que nos parece precioso 🥰 (y sobre todo, implementable* en el aula).
¿Quién no tiene una canción asociada a una determinada época de su vida? Pensemos en los tiempos de la escuela 👩🏻🏫, en aquel viaje sin los padres 🚍, en aquel primer amor ❤️, en aquel verano 🏖🏕… ¿Acaso no son momentos asociados a alguna canción?
Así pues, ¿qué te parece si promueves entre tus estudiantes ese viaje al recuerdo? Imagínate cuánto vocabulario podrán usar para hablar de sentimientos asociados a canciones 🗣. Piensa en las estructuras de las que podrán echar mano. Y además, combinando los tiempos de pasado…
Pero puedes ir más allá: haz que el español también forme parte de su recuerdo. ¿Qué canciones relacionan con las diferentes etapas y contenidos en su aprendizaje de nuestra lengua 🎶📚? Seguro que entre sus canciones favoritas hay alguna en español que les ha permitido practicar el subjuntivo o en la que han aprendido alguna palabra que ya no olvidarán nunca. ¡Hagamos que hablen también de ello!
Aquí te dejamos una infografía 👇 que podrás utilizar si finalmente te animas a llevar la música a tus clases de español. Nosotros te damos la “partitura”. ¡El ritmo lo pones tú!
* Nota: Sí, lo sabemos, implementable no está en el diccionario. Ahora bien, la RAE no la censura, por atenerse a las reglas de derivación, así que nos hemos permitido el lujo de usarla 😌. Y además, ¡nos gusta mucho esta palabra! 🥰
We all know and understand that READING is a fundamental practice to acquire vocabulary in context and understand how target structures function. Our learners need {ACQUIRED} INPUT in order to create OUTPUT. With this in mind, how do we as language teachers also take on the role as “literacy coaches” in our classrooms? How do we navigate through all of the authentic text or texts adapted for L2s and select the ones we feel are most beneficial to our novice, intermediate or advanced learners? And, what types of literacy strategies can we incorporate to make the process of reading meaningful and valuable for ALL of our learners?
*SELECTING THE RIGHT TEXT
-Is the text an appropriate reading level for students? (Itshould be easy to read! i+1)
-Will the text capture the students’ interest?
-Do students’ need prior/background knowledge to comprehend the text?
-Is the text culturally relevant & engaging?
Text samples can be word clouds, comics, music lyrics, poems, train schedules, tickets, info-graphics, memes, tweets complied (#authres), simple articles, fictional stories, etc.
There is SO much out there– you just have to simplify and choose what is best suited & engaging for your learners. Also, you can transform a “high linguistic” level reading to novice level by using the embedded reading technique by Laurie Clarcq & Michelle Waley (Hombre de globo sample*) Ultimately, I feel that units of study CAN be planned around literature and appropriate texts through guiding essential questions and authentic resources, as opposed to isolated vocabulary lists and by drilling grammar points.
In addition to these incredible sources, we now also have Generative Artificial Intelligence tools such as Diffit.me, Briskteaching, MagicSchool.ai that can assist with leveling a text for our students and creating multiple versions, to ensure comprehensibility and to serve as being at that right level for students. These tools also generate guiding questions, open ended prompts and a variety of other activities which measure reading comprehension.
*FREE VOLUNTARY READING (FVR) LIBRARIES
Last year, I set up Free Voluntary Reading every Monday with our Spanish II students beginning in late February. We completed our Do Now, had our partnered chats about our past weekends and dove into our pre-selected (*non-authentic) readers as a class with an independent follow up activity. We read for fifteen minutes quietly and when finished, students used their notebooks to select one of the activities from the Lectura Libre options table to demonstrate their comprehension of what they had read during class time. In order to select which reader was the right one for each student, we completed a “book tasting” in advance.
I was able to order 2-3 copies of the same text (many were ordered from Command Language Performance Books *I do not work for this company) and students were able to pass books around the classroom. I encouraged students to look at the front cover, back cover and open up to the middle of the book to read a few sentences. If the book was too difficult for them to understand/comprehend, they were asked to pass it along and try a different book. They scribed their thoughts on this “speed reading” log and at the end of class, selected which book would be “theirs” for FVR every Monday.
(1) MORE READING = BETTER WRITERS – Which texts, readers, realia, poems, songs, infographics, novels are you using with students? STUDENTS SHOULD READ EVERY DAY!
(2) STRENGTHENING SENTENCES – Using question words: Who, what, where, why, when, how to help students revise their own writing and create powerful, descriptive sentences.
(3) PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES & SUPPORT FOR REFLECTION – It is important to remember that writing is a PROCESS and it will likely take multiple attempts & revisions for student empowerment. Don’t rush the process, allow students to reflect, revise and refine writing multiple times! Use self-reflection rubrics to help students self-evaluate and monitor their progress. Use peer & teacher conferencing to strengthen their original writing sample.
Below are the steps to have students engage in a Writer’s Workshop:
I’d like to highlight 4: Peer Support with a station rotation activity in class. Students can work together in small groups to assist one another at each station. Here are the signs that match each station, directions are posted below to help clarify what the expectations are for students. They can also use a self-reflection rubric, here is a sample for the writing prompt: Who Am I?
I created this comprehensive slideshow (which you can copy/paste/edit) for any reading activity and to also assist with implementing Writer’s Workshop in the future.
Exploring the world through literacy can serve an enriching experience for our students! By integrating reading into the daily routine of the language classroom, students not only expand their vocabulary but also improve their acquisition of the target language and gain a deeper cultural perspective with authentic sources. There are SO many wonderful ways to infuse literacy strategies in your language classroom! I do hope that reading is part of your future daily practice!
LoLogramos – Get a $5 off discount when you use the code LTL5 at checkout, exceptions may apply
by Ramón Clavijo with Academia Iria Flavia (LTL Contributor)
Cuando hablamos de llevar el cine al aula de ELE, no podemos pensar solo en “poner películas”, sino que debemos aprovechar al máximo todos los elementos que el séptimo arte pone a nuestra disposición 🎞🥰. Veamos, por tanto, de qué manera podemos integrar el mundo cinematográfico en la enseñanza del español.
🎶 La banda sonora: La música expresa sentimientos, nos evoca sensaciones, nos permite crear imágenes a partir de lo que escuchamos… Así pues, una buena idea, antes de ver una película, es ponerles extractos de su banda sonora (que sean fácilmente identificables) y pedirles que relacionen cada fragmento con algún sentimiento, sensación o situación (después deberán tratar de reconocerlo en la película).
👩🦰👴🏻 Biografías de profesionales del cine: ¿Qué mejor manera para trabajar el indefinido que las referencias a la vida del actor o de la actriz que protagonizan la película que vamos a ver? El input puede ser un texto adaptado, el vídeo de una entrevista, el extracto de un reportaje televisivo…
🏆🗣 Galas de premios: ¿Qué tal si después de ver en clase una película que haya sido premiada les pones a tus alumnos el discurso del actor o actriz galardonados, o del director o directora premiados? Te aconsejamos echarle un vistazo a la unidad “D de discurso”, del manual C de C1. ¡Incluso tus alumnos pueden preparar su propio discurso de agradecimiento!
🎞👍👎 Críticas / reseñas: Las opiniones cinematográficas (tanto las profesionales como las de aficionados) son un excelente input para trabajar no solo estructuras de opinión y valoración, sino también las diferencias entre el lenguaje formal y el registro informal. A este respecto, puedes echarle un ojo a la unidad 5 del Nuevo Prisma C1.
📸 El poder de la imagen: Una actividad muy divertida consiste en proyectarles, por un lado, fotogramas de la película que vamos a ver, y mostrarles, por otro, fragmentos de diálogos (si estos son expresivos, mejor). Tus alumnos tendrán que relacionar las imágenes y los textos, prestando especial atención a los gestos de los protagonistas, así como al tipo de lenguaje empleado en los diálogos.
Como ves, son muchos los aspectos que podemos explotar en el aula. Te dejamos una infografía 👇 con estos y otros elementos. ¡Seguro que se te ocurren muchas ideas interesantes para trabajar con ellos!
As 2023 approaches its end, I would like to start by expressing my gratitude to Language Teaching Lab for giving me the opportunity to share my experience and resources here and also to all of you who follow and read this blog.
Mindfulness and Gratitude
In my last contribution for this year, I want to focus on Mindfulness and Gratitude. It is very important to always find the time for them in our lives and of course, in our classrooms and in our households, modelling activities that include these aspects for our younger generations. It must start from home, but it should be a part of the curriculum.
In my Spanish and English lessons, I always try to incorporate mindfulness and gratitude in different ways. Sometimes through stories containing morals or a final reflection, which I have already shared with you in a previous article. And sometimes, through mental breaks in the lessons where I do breathing techniques with students, and also share my “Bilingual Mindfulness” Videos with them so while they close their eyes and focus on their breathing they can also hear these affirmations with soothing music.
They are a fantastic way to practise mindfulness and at the same time reinforce Spanish and English. It can also be done as a pronunciation practice if students say these positive affirmations out loud. There are several videos on my ‘Bilingual Mindfulness’ section in the channel and I will upload more in the future. These videos focus on nurturing positivity and self-esteem and I recently uploaded one that focuses on gratitude. This is the link to the playlists of this section.
New Year’s Resolutions
This time of the year is also the time to look at what we have achieved this year and what are the goals that we still have not reached. Thinking about this helps us think about what we want our New Year’s Resolutions to be. I have some activities for this in the channel that I would like to share with you. There are two versions: one bilingual and the second one only in Spanish. In this video you can find ideas to help your students or children at home think of ideas for their New Year’s Resolutions while reinforcing their language skills.
And lastly, I would like to share with you a CHRISTMAS STORY AND DRAWING COMPETITION – With certificates and prizes for the winners: books signed by the writer Trinidad Miquelarena Peña. Watch the video to find out how you can participate. Share with students, family and friends and encourage them to participate too. 😊
Happy holidays to everyone and a great start to 2024!
GRATITUD Y PROPÓSITOS DE AÑO NUEVO EN LAS AULAS
A medida que 2023 se acerca a su fin, me gustaría comenzar agradeciendo a Language Teaching Lab por brindarme la oportunidad de compartir mi experiencia y recursos aquí y también a todos los que siguen y leen este blog.
Atención plena y la gratitud
En mi última contribución de este año, quiero centrarme en Mindfulness y Gratitud. Es muy importante encontrar siempre tiempo para ellos en nuestras vidas y por supuesto, en nuestras aulas y en nuestros hogares, modelando actividades que incluyan estos aspectos para nuestras generaciones más jóvenes. Debe empezar desde casa, pero debe ser parte del plan de estudios.
En mis lecciones de español e inglés, siempre trato de incorporar la atención plena y la gratitud de diferentes maneras. A veces a través de historias que contienen moraleja o una reflexión final, que ya os he compartido en un artículo anterior. Y a veces, a través de descansos mentales en las lecciones donde hago técnicas de respiración con los estudiantes y también comparto mis videos de “Mindfulness bilingüe” con ellos para que, mientras cierran los ojos y se concentran en su respiración, también puedan escuchar estas afirmaciones con música relajante.
Son una forma fantástica de practicar mindfulness y al mismo tiempo reforzar el español y el inglés. También puede ser una práctica de pronunciación si los estudiantes dicen estas afirmaciones positivas en voz alta. Hay varios vídeos en mi sección ‘Mindfulness bilingüe’ en el canal y subiré más en el futuro. Estos vídeos se enfocan en fomentar la positividad y la autoestima y recientemente subí uno que se enfoca en la gratitud. Este es el enlace a las listas de reproducción de esta sección.
Resoluciones de Año Nuevo
Esta época del año también es el momento de mirar lo que hemos logrado este año y cuáles son las metas que aún no hemos alcanzado. Pensar en esto nos ayuda a pensar cuáles queremos que sean nuestros propósitos de Año Nuevo. Tengo algunas actividades para esto en el canal que me gustaría compartir con vosotros. Hay dos versiones: una bilingüe y la segunda sólo en español. En este vídeo puedes encontrar ideas para ayudar a vuestros alumnos en clase o hijos en casa a pensar en ideas para sus propósitos de Año Nuevo mientras refuerzan sus habilidades lingüísticas.
Y por último me gustaría compartir con vosotros un CONCURSO DE CUENTO Y DIBUJO DE NAVIDAD – Con diplomas y premios para los ganadores: libros firmados por la escritora Trinidad Miquelarena Peña. Mira el vídeo para saber cómo puedes participar. Comparta con estudiantes, familiares y amigos y anímelos a participar también. 😊
No queremos que tus estudiantes te echen en cara que no les has enseñado suficientes modismos relacionados con las partes del cuerpo, así que hoy te traemos una nueva entrega, la segunda de Una lengua con cuerpo.
Te traemos también una nueva infografía, que les podrá ser de utilidad tanto a los alumnos aplicados y motivados como a aquellos que prefieren rascarse la barriga (ay, todos hemos tenido estudiantes de este tipo 🤦♀️🙄, aunque ahora preferimos mordernos la lengua para no desviarnos del tema 🗯❌️).
Seguro que será un material útil tanto para tus alumnos más callados, a los que les da vergüenza hablar en clase 😳, como para aquellos que hablan por los codos y no callan ni debajo del agua 🗣🗣🗣.
Estamos convencidos de que estas expresiones serán de gran ayuda tanto a los estudiantes que atienden en clase 😊👂 como a aquellos alumnos a los que tienes que vigilar con frecuencia 👀, echándoles un ojo cada dos por tres para asegurarte de que trabajan durante las clases.
No tenemos duda de que será un material provechoso tanto para los estudiantes más nerviosos 🫨, que no pueden pegar ojo el día antes de un examen, como para aquellos más despreocupados, que duermen a pierna suelta incluso el día anterior a un examen final 😴🤤.
Podrán usarlas tanto tus alumnos más imaginativos y creativos, quizás un tanto despistados 🙃, como aquellos más realistas y que prefieren tener los pies en el suelo 🤔.
En suma, nos alegrará saber que estas expresiones serán mano de santo 😇🤚 cuando tu alumnado quiera expresarse con más fluidez en español. Al fin y al cabo, los modismos son un recurso muy habitual que ayudará a tu estudiantado a lograr más confianza en su producción 👩🎓👨🏾🎓😌.
Nota: En esta entrada hemos hablado de muchos tipos de estudiantes. Sean como sean, de lo que estamos seguros es de que todos ellos son todo corazón 🥰🥰🥰.
Let’s see some prompts and resources for AI use to get you started.
It is easy to get excited with AI! It is everywhere for us teachers to learn and use. In the context of AI, the phrase ‘Building adapting students’ caught my attention while attending “Elevating Innovation Virtual Conference” earlier this month. I would make that phrase ‘Building adaptive students and teachers’ as for many teachers, this is a new arena. I pondered on this topic of ‘adaptability’ related to innovation.
In sum, how can world language teachers foster and cultivate an environment for students and teachers to build, to design and to create with AI? Once you feel the itch for AI use in world language class, it is almost impossible to stop.
What AI websites for world language teaching are good-to-explore resources?
Some good-to-explore resources are mentioned in the following blogs:
Matt Miller has summarized lots of resources for us
Maris Hawkins did a great job putting resources into action in her latest post
Mr. Hooker also brought us great ideas in his blog
And some well known resources such as ChatGPT, Claude, Canva, Adobe Firefly, Pressto are also worth investigating
What effective AI prompts may you use?
I attended Monica Burns, Ed.D @ClassTechTips during the conference and loved her prompts. For even better results, Burns recommends adding some of the following to your prompts
Curriculum goals
Learning objectives
Standard
Grade level
Student interest
Some of the examples she presented included,
Write [number] open-ended questions for a discussion about [topic] for a group of [grade]. Make sure to incorporate [standard]
I am teaching [topic] to [grade] and they love [interests] Make a list of connections that can help them stay engaged and retain knowledge
Help me see the connection between [topic] like [specific example] and [what I’m teaching this week]
Photo from Monica Burns’ presentation
I am interested in learning from you. As I heard in the conference, “A key to building culture is having empathy for the ‘hidden stories’ inside others” as innovation will always start and end with people. How do YOU use AI in world language classes? What other prompts and resources have you used effectively? What other tech tools are your go-to ones?
Cuando un estudiante está con el agua al cuello 👤💧🔝, necesita que le eches una mano 🫳❤️. Si confía en tu capacidad como profesor o profesora, si entre vosotros se establece una relación de lealtad, estamos seguros de que acabará poniendo la mano en el fuego por ti 🫳🔥. Y no porque tú te creas el ombligo del mundo 🌎, sino porque habéis llegado a ser uña y carne 🫶.
Pero no solo nuestros estudiantes necesitan ayuda. También nosotros necesitamos sentirnos arropados. Cuando tenemos la sensación de que nos hemos levantado con el pie izquierdo 🦶😞, cuando sentimos que no somos capaces de dar la cara 🫣, cuando estamos irascibles y sacamos las uñas 💅 a la menor adversidad… siempre viene bien sentir el apoyo de una sonrisa amiga 😄. Sobre todo en nuestra profesión: somos lo que transmitimos, y si expresamos optimismo, nuestros alumnos aprenderán mejor👨🏾🎓👩🎓🥰.
Estamos seguros de que cuando te encuentras en una situación así, hay alguien a tu lado en disposición de ayudarte 😊, alguien que, sin pelos en la lengua 👅, te aconseja de manera sincera. Nosotros, por nuestra parte, tal vez no podamos hacer mucho desde estas líneas, pero lo que tenemos claro es que, si algún profe necesita recursos para sus clases, no vamos a quedarnos de brazos cruzados 🙆🏻♀️.
Por eso, te dejamos una infografía con unas cuantas expresiones idiomáticas relacionadas con las partes del cuerpo, por si la encuentras útil para llevarla al aula. Y es que el español, como un buen vino, es una lengua «con cuerpo» 🍷🤭.
Teaching and celebrating international days in World Language classes helps students see the power of learning languages. The International Days in September are particularly special to me. They help me set the tone of what is important in class, they help expand students’ global views, and they help me see how (un)comfortable students are in an immersion-style class. We celebrate International Literacy Day, September 8 and International Dot Day, September 15. In this post, we will only talk about International Literacy Day.
International Literacy Day (ILD) has been recognized on September 8 since 1967, when UNESCO chose this day as a reminder of the importance of literacy as a human right. Each year, UNESCO adopts a theme and the one for this year is “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.” I wondered if my students would grasp this theme, and I was pleasantly surprised when they surpassed my expectations.
I presented UNESCO’s theme, an image, a poster, and a book to my students, and used thinking routines to help go deeper into comprehending the concept of “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.”
First, students found cognates, such as, ‘promoting’ ‘transition’ ‘foundation’ ‘sustainable’ and ‘societies’. and familiar words, within the theme for the year.
Then, students studied and described the image from the ILD concept note to go deeper in their understanding. It was developed by UNESCO and showed the relationship between literacy and the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The image I used is the following:
There are posters with the Sustainable Development Goals icons in my classroom, so my students are very familiarized with them. They observed the symbols in the image, and started making connections. Here, they ‘got’ the word ‘peaceful’.
The second visual was the poster created by UNESCO to celebrate ILD. Students worked with a peer and in small groups to describe the poster and then discussed it as a class. The poster I used is the following:
Students loved the poster! It brought the words ‘literacy’ and ‘world’ to the forefront. I had to explain with gestures the word ‘building’ as it is not a cognate or a familiar word to my students. After I helped them figure out the meaning of “building”, they got what “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies” meant. It was one of those ‘Aha’ moments in learning.
I chose a book that showed a concrete example related to the ILD theme for 2023. I read “El violín de Ada” written by Susan Wood and translated by Shelley McConnell. It is based on the story of the “Cateura Orchestra” in Paraguay that made its instruments with recycled materials. Students immediately connected the story to ‘building sustainable and peaceful societies’. Many of my students play instruments so they made a personal connection to the story.
Moment of truth! It was time to put ideas together. I asked them to connect the theme, the book, the image, and the poster to see how much they really understood. For this, students used the Project Zero Thinking Routines “10×2” in 5th grade and Hexagonal Thinking in 6th grade.
I loved how my 5th graders stretched their thinking and completed the thinking routine using a limited number of words. They wrote words familiar to them and then they asked me if words like ‘creative’ ‘talented’ ‘curiosity’ were cognates and tried to figure them out in Spanish. Students felt so proud of their work, and I was proud too.
I gave each of my 6th graders a printed sheet of paper full of hexagons. They had to individually write a word connecting the resources in each hexagon. Afterwards, in groups of 3, they glued their cut hexagons by grouping them by themes. In the end, they had to write a phrase that described the groupings. It was my first time using hexagonal thinking and I loved how students worked individually and in small groups, and what they created. All groups concluded that education is fundamental for building strong communities. ‘Wow!’ I thought, ‘they got it.’
Have you integrated international day celebrations into your world language classes? How do you think teaching and celebrating international days in world language classes might impact your curriculum? If you have not started celebrating international days yet, start by choosing one that you want to share with your students. Then, think of one or two activities that you can include in your class. Next year you will revisit your plan and I am sure that you will be adding a spin to it. This is one way of starting integrating international days into your world language classes. International day celebrations set the tone for what is important.
The content provides information about the origin of the expression “la junta de la trócola” and suggests teaching students the names of common car parts in Spanish. It also includes an infographic for reference.
En los años 90, el dúo humorístico Gomaespuma hizo un anuncio de radio en el que el mecánico de un taller le decía a un cliente que la reparación de su coche iba a resultar muy cara debido a que estaba estropeada la junta de la trócola.
Si bien aquellos eran tiempos en los que no existía la “viralidad” de hoy en día, la expresión “eso va a ser la junta de la trócola” se extendió al lenguaje común para hablar de una reparación muy cara, aunque la mayoría de la gente probablemente no supiera a qué parte del coche se refería (e incluso hubo quien pensó que en realidad se trataba de algo que no existía, y que simplemente se había usado en el anuncio porque sonaba gracioso).
Por eso, te dejamos esta infografía. Esperamos que te sea de utilidad.
Por cierto, la junta de la trócola sí existe ✅️: se trata de una polea que ayuda, mediante una correa o cadena, a transmitir la potencia del motor a cada componente del vehículo para que este pueda moverse.
En otra entrada anterior hacíamos referencia a esos elementos de la lengua aparentemente caprichosos llamados preposiciones 🤪. Y finalizábamos aludiendo a un superpoder 🦸♀️🦸♂️: el de cambiar el significado de los verbos a los que acompañan.
👉 No es lo mismo romper algo 🔨 que romper CON alguien 💔 (aunque en algunas rupturas amorosas puede haber alguna rotura de jarrones y vajilla 🏺🍽).
👉 Seguro que os gusta que vuestros amigos se rían CON vosotros 🤣, pero no os hace tanta gracia cuando se ríen DE vosotros 🤣👉🙍🙍♀️.
👉 Podemos tratar de entender A alguien 😄🫂 (expresar nuestra empatía hacia esa persona, ponernos en su piel y comprender por qué se siente así o por qué ha actuado de esa manera) aunque no entendamos DE psicología ni sepamos deletrear “Nietzsche” 🤔.
👉 Si le damos algo A alguien, se lo ofrecemos, pasa de nuestras manos a las suyas; pero si damos CON la solución a un problema 🤔💡, simplemente la encontramos (al margen de que luego queramos compartir o no nuestro hallazgo).
👉 No es lo mismo querer cambiar nuestro país ♻️, y transformarlo en un lugar mejor para vivir 😊, que cambiar DE país 🧳✈️👋🥺 (en todo caso, haríamos esto último si los intentos de transformación no obtuvieran resultado y, resignados, optáramos por buscar otro lugar para vivir).
👉 Seguro que nuestro grupo de B1 ya puede contar anécdotas en el pasado 🗣⌛️✅️. Para eso, cuentan CON el indefinido y el imperfecto, y nosotros hemos contado CON muchos recursos para explicárselo. Y, por supuesto, cuando hemos tenido dificultades para llevar el contraste de pasados al aula, también hemos contado CON los consejos de los demás docentes 👩🏫👨🏫.
👉 Hoy en día, en la era de las noticias falsas 🗣🗞❓️, la gente cree casi cualquier cosa 👀👂, pero nosotros siempre creeremos EN nuestros estudiantes 👨🏾🎓👩🎓👍 (porque confiamos en ellos y sabemos que van a usar el subjuntivo sin problemas). Eso sí, ya no creemos EN los Reyes Magos 🌠👑🐪👋 (porque esos buenos tiempos de inocencia ya han pasado).
👍 Hemos tratado DE explicar 🤔💪🗣 estos cambios de significado con varios ejemplos que pudieran ser ilustrativos. Esperamos que a vuestros estudiantes les puedan resultar útiles 😊, aunque ya sabemos que no es fácil tratar CON 🤝 las preposiciones, ya que se trata DE un tema complejo. Pero no por ello deja de ser apasionante… 🥰
Las preposiciones son “personajes” particulares a la hora de aprender un idioma. De pequeños nos aprendíamos la retahíla en orden alfabético y la recitábamos con orgullo en clase. Pero ya de mayores llega el problema de aprenderlas en otras lenguas y comienzan las dificultades 🫣: reflexionamos sobre ellas 🤔 y nos damos cuenta de que ni siquiera podríamos explicarlas en nuestro idioma 🤷♂️. Y, por si fuera poco, dependiendo de la lengua, cambian de posición y hasta de nombre 🤦🏽 (y resulta que se llaman “posposiciones” ↩️).
En suma, que al final nos resignamos a tratar de usarlas… y ya está, aplicamos alguna regla mnemotécnica o simplemente actuamos por “ensayo y error” (al fin y al cabo, como diríamos en Galicia, “malo será” …).
Y es que si queremos establecer un símil con la física, podríamos pensar que las preposiciones son la parte “cuántica” de la lengua: nos da la impresión (es solo una percepción) de que se comportan de forma caprichosa, de que son difíciles de controlar… 🤪 Nos desesperamos porque los patrones que creíamos haber establecido no se cumplen 😨 y maldecimos porque la comparación con otras lenguas no solo es insuficiente, sino que genera confusión.
Puesto que las explicaciones tradicionales no son satisfactorias, debemos recurrir a otros modelos explicativos, como por ejemplo, la arqueología 🏛.
“¿La arqueología? ¿Habéis perdido la cabeza?”🤪. Bueno, lo de “arqueología” es una nueva metáfora (como puedes ver, nos gustan mucho los símiles). Esta disciplina rastrea los orígenes 🧐, y si hablamos de buscar el origen en el uso de una preposición, tenemos que hablar de gramática cognitiva 🧠, un apasionante enfoque que trata de llegar al significado primitivo de las preposiciones, para entender y explicar su uso presente (enfoque especialmente útil en el aula de ELE).
En la entrada de hoy no vamos a ofrecerte ninguna fórmula mágica para enseñar las preposiciones a tus estudiantes. Lo que vamos a hacer en las siguientes líneas es hablar de amor 👨🏻❤️👨🏽👩❤️👨👩🏻❤️👩🏽.
Ahora sí que puedes pensar que hemos perdido la cabeza de verdad 🙄. Pero todo tiene una explicación 🙏. En efecto, si nos hemos atrevido a relacionar las preposiciones con la física cuántica y con la arqueología, ¿por qué no íbamos a intentar hacer lo mismo con el amor? Y si de paso nuestros alumnos aprenden algunas colocaciones con preposición, pues mucho mejor…
En español nos enamoramos DE alguien 💞 (igual que hacen los italianos), mientras que en portugués, inglés y coreano (esta última usa posposiciones) la gente se enamora “con” otra persona. Podemos enamorarnos de muchas formas, pero una posible manera es hacerlo A primera vista 👀💘, después de una cita A ciegas 🙈❤️.
Tras un tiempo de enamoramiento, en español nos casamos CON esa persona de la que estamos enamorados, al igual que en portugués y coreano, mientras que en inglés y en italiano no se usa preposición para expresar tan bonita unión.
Pero como el amor es eterno… mientras dura, llega un momento en que se acaba, y necesitamos expresar dicho fin ❤️👋. Y para eso también tenemos las preposiciones: así, en español rompemos CON alguien o nos divorciamos DE alguien 🙍♀️🙍💔, al igual que en las lenguas anteriores (excepto en coreano, en donde nos divorciamos “con” alguien).
En fin, que las preposiciones nos acompañan en las diferentes etapas de nuestra vida. Están ahí, son necesarias y tenemos que convivir con ellas. Y lo mejor es hacerlo con humor.
I work at a school where there are lots of possibilities to develop professionally. I have attended conferences, workshops, and summer institutes to keep on learning, help improve my teaching, and become aware of the latest trends in language teaching and learning. Also, at school, I have signed up to be part of committees or all-school work groups to tackle specific and relevant topics related to the whole school. This summer, I had the possibility of having great collaboration within the world languages department as part of a summer grant.
I find these two days to be a foundation for the work I am hoping we will do as a department moving forward.
What made these two days so special?
We had…
a set time – two days!
a space to meet without interruptions
a specific goal to achieve
a full agenda with time to plan in smaller groups
an enthusiastic group of language teachers
Why is this important?
We…
got to know each other at another level
learned from each other
had fun working together
started to build a shared understanding, knowledge, and skills on language teaching and learning specific to our school
all benefited from the work we did together. Individually we would not have been able to achieve the same results
Through this experience we enhanced collaboration within a world languages department to ultimately benefit students’ learning, growth, and empowerment. It felt that by working together, we might create a strong, cohesive, and state-of-the-art language department.
Looking forward to a school-year full of collaboration!
What has worked for you? What suggestions do you have moving forward? Please, share in the comments or at connect@languageteachinglab.com
Entre los personajes del mundo hispano que contribuyen a exportar la lengua española encontramos mujeres y hombres procedentes del mundo del arte 🎨 (por ejemplo, Frida Kahlo o Salvador Dalí), de la literatura 📚 (tales como Cervantes o García Márquez), de la música 🎼 (pensemos en Shakira) o del cine 🎬 (Penélope Cruz, por ejemplo).
Por ello, es frecuente ver referencias a ellos en los manuales de español, ya sea para introducir contenidos lingüísticos, ya sea para presentar contenidos culturales.
Sin embargo, los países hispanohablantes no solo están bien representados por personajes procedentes de dichas disciplinas, sino que la nómina se amplía a sectores como la cocina 👩🍳👨🏾🍳, la investigación científica 🧑🔬👩🏽🔬 y, por supuesto, el deporte 🥇.
Pues bien, en relación con este último ámbito, no podemos dejar de hablar del tenista español Rafa Nadal 🎾, quien hace unos días anunció un parón ⏸️ en la competición oficial con el fin de recuperarse completamente de su lesión y volver a ser competitivo en 2024 ⏯️.
Nadal es un abanderado del deporte español (y de hecho, lo es literalmente, ya que fue el encargado de portar la bandera de España en la ceremonia inaugural de los Juegos Olímpicos de Río 2016) y uno de nuestros mejores embajadores. Y ese aprecio que se le tiene se manifiesta con frecuencia en un grito de guerra popularizado no solo entre la afición que asiste a los torneos, sino también en el periodismo deportivo: ¡Vamos, Rafa! 🗣💪
Sin embargo, en ocasiones (bueno, en realidad, en muchas ocasiones) nos encontramos con que a ese mensaje de ánimo, cuando es reproducido en prensa escrita, le falta algo: la coma. Y es que ese grito de guerra debe escribirse con coma. ¡Con coma vocativa, por favor! 🙏
Así es como debemos escribir cuando nos dirigimos de manera expresa a alguien 🫵, ya sea para darle ánimos 💪 o para hacerle algún reproche 🤨. Es decir, desde el ¡Vamos, Rafa! al que nos hemos referido hasta el viral ¿Qué mirás, bobo? con el que Leo Messi se dirigía a un futbolista neerlandés tras un caldeado partido entre Argentina 🇦🇷 y Países Bajos 🇳🇱 durante el pasado Mundial de fútbol ⚽️.
En ambos casos, por muy opuestos que sean los mensajes, debemos usar la coma vocativa.
Podemos decir que los signos de puntuación son los grandes olvidados de la ortografía española 🥺. Nos esforzamos en poner las tildes 🧐, tratamos de usar correctamente la g y la j, advertimos sobre los peligros de confundir a ver y haber ☝️, nos enzarzamos en peleas 🗯 (lingüísticas, eso sí) acerca de la tilde en solo…, pero nos olvidamos del punto y coma, los dos puntos, el guion y, por supuesto, de la pobre coma 👋.
Por eso, te dejamos una infografía en la que se indican varios casos (aunque no todos) en los que debemos usar la coma, con el fin de mejorar nuestra expresión escrita, evitar enunciados ambiguos, estructurar mejor nuestro discurso y, por supuesto, animar a nuestros estudiantes con un alentador ¡Vamos! 💪🥰.
Hello! My name is María Martínez and I am the creator of the channel BILINGUAL CEREBROS. I am also a former MFL Coordinator, Spanish and primary teacher with over 24 years of teaching experience, almost 20 of them in the UK and for the last 4 years in Germany.
But today I am not speaking as a teacher, but as a mother of a young girl raised bilingual (English and Spanish) and now a polyglot. At age 13 she can speak fluent Spanish, English, and German, all three languages fluently as a native. She is also currently learning Italian and French at B1/B2 level and is interested in learning Japanese soon.
In this article I am going to share with you some of the tips that worked for us as a family living in a multilingual household.
TIP 1 – Have a 100% pressure-free attitude:
The first and most important tip I can give you is without a doubt: HAVE FUN! Your approach must be 100% pressure-free. If children feel an obligation to learn the language, it suddenly becomes a chore, for them and for you. Your attitude is key. You need to be really relaxed about it. Yes, there will be days in which you will barely speak ‘the target language,’ but there will be others in which the opposite might happen. It is not about quantity but quality and meaningful learning that will have a long-lasting effect.
In our case the target language was Spanish as we lived in England until my daughter was 9, so she was constantly being exposed to English first in the nursery, then the school, playing with her friends, watching television, etc. You need to accept that the target language will progressively be acquired, not from one day to the next. The main thing is not to stress. So, start slow and build it in gradually from day 1. Well, I should say from day 0, as you can start from pregnancy 😉 I remember talking and singing to my little girl in Spanish before she was born.
TIP 2 – Play anytime!
The second tip is related to the first one. What better way to have fun than playing in the target language. Any kind of games, from dolls to racing cars to board games, riddles, etc. At first, it is not that easy and they won’t understand everything, but that doesn’t matter, the purpose is to foster that enthusiasm for the second language. When they are playing games, they are learning in a relaxed way without even realizing it and it gives them that thirst for knowledge as they will want to discover new ways to express themselves. As we all have very busy lives, sometimes making time for these games can be difficult, but the key is to use any opportunity during the day. For example, I remember playing games such as ‘Veo-Veo’ (I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…) as my daughter and I were in the car, bus, while shopping, etc.
Another example is ‘Palabras encadenadas’ (Chain-words), where we have to say a word and start a new one beginning with the syllable from the previous word. For example: amigo – gorra – rápido, etc. There are many more games like these or different variations of these games that can be simply done orally as you are busy doing other things, while cooking, cleaning, going for a walk around the park, etc.
Another game my daughter and I loved to play (and still do) is ‘Para el lápiz´ (Stop the pencil), where you can create your own categories (food, country, professions, colors, drinks, etc.) and need to find words for each category with a different letter from the alphabet at the time. This one needs a bit more time and preparation, although all you really need is a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Below is an example, but different variations of the game can be created with more or less categories depending on the age and level. Normally we score 20 points if we are the only ones with an answer in a particular category, 10 points if we have a valid answer but the other player has an answer too and finally 5 points if we have the same answer as the other player/s (It can be played in pairs or small groups).
Game: Categories
TIP 3 – Leave behind false and old-fashioned misconceptions:
This tip is also related to attitude, but in this case, I am referring to the NEGATIVE belief that some families have in some multicultural and multilingual homes. Some believe that learning a second or third language will delay the acquisition of the mother tongue. WRONG! Unfortunately, in my years as a teacher in England, I came across many families who did not want their children to be classified as “EAL children” (English as an Additional Language). They thought this was a bad thing and for many years there was a kind of stigma about it. Even today, there are still many parents who delay the introduction of a second language due to this fear. It is scientifically proven that learning different languages from childhood unlocks parts of the brain that will allow you to learn languages in an easier and faster way. The sooner the better. It is the best gift you can give your children. Do not rob them of this experience by having an outdated misconception.
TIP 4 – Bilingual storytelling:
This is something that could be done every night and alternate languages; one night in the mother tongue and the next day in the second language. If you can do the same story in both languages, your child will gradually acquire vocabulary and language structures in a very natural way. Today, there are tons of stories online that can be found in any language. Repetition is also very important. Read the same story several times so they learn it well and can eventually try to retell the stories using their own words. You can use puppets when they are younger, as they are a great tool to keep their attention while you read the story to them and then to retell or role-play the story. In my channel, BILINGUAL CEREBROS, you can find a section in which there are already 30 tales and fables and soon I will upload more.
TIP 5 – Real-life experiences will enhance and speed the language acquisition:
Traveling, when possible, to the country or countries where the target language is spoken, is the best way to learn and reinforce language learning. One of the reasons my daughter learned Spanish faster was spending summers and sometimes Easter in Spain with our family. She had the opportunity to make friends there too. However, as we all know, it is not always possible to travel and there are many other real-life experiences that you can do even without leaving your country. For example, go to an authentic restaurant from your heritage in your city; ideally one in which they have staff who can speak the target language, and model for your child ordering a meal, asking for the bill, etc. When they are older and more confident in their language skills, they can be the ones ordering the meal. This is a great experience and a good skill to learn. If you are lucky to know people from your country who also have children of a similar age living in your city, arrange play-dates so that they can play with other children using the target language. If that is not your case, you could find a new friend or ‘pen-pal’ of a similar age in another country and arrange online play-dates via Zoom or any other platform. Technology nowadays makes these different opportunities much easier and it gives us many more choices. So, let’s use them to our advantage!
TIP 6 – Exposure to other accents in the target language is important too:
I guess this tip is more relevant in the later years when they are already bilingual or have a secure level. However, I think that as ‘heritage’ speakers, it is also vital to be exposed to a wider variety of accents. In the early stages of language acquisition, parents are their role model, but as they grow older, they should be exposed to as many other accents as possible to enrich their learning and to also learn different vocabulary. This is also an easy thing to do with the Internet. For example, with YouTube, Netflix, watching films and series from different regions and countries in which the target language is spoken. And again, when possible, of course, traveling to those places.
TIP 7 – Listen to music in the target language:
Expose your child to a wide range of singers and music genres from different generations and nationalities. I love sharing with my daughter the music I grew up with and the music I started liking later in life. Music is great for learning new vocabulary and language structures in a fast way.
TIP 8 – Avoid using the second language to tell them off, at least at the beginning…
Always try to use the second language in a positive way. I’m going to start at this point with something negative that I think most of us can be guilty of at some point… and whoever is free of sin cast the first stone…😉 It can be difficult, however, we must try to avoid using the second language to ‘scold’, as they might end up seeing it as negative language and punishment. Of course, we need to use the second language to discipline them, but this must be done with positive language. I am referring here about how sometimes we can get carried away and in the ‘heat of the moment’ the “not so nice” expressions and vocabulary can slip out… Well, no-one is perfect… However, as bilinguals/polyglots, they will eventually come across this language, but in my opinion, this is something that should emerge much later…
TIP 9 – Embrace your heritage:
As part of their bilingual journey, it is important to feel identified with the culture of that language too. Make them proud of their heritage. In all my teaching years, I have met many students who came from multicultural families and who knew very little about their heritage. Growing up in a country that is different from your parent’s heritage should always be seen as an advantage, but unfortunately, I have very often seen the opposite. Some children feel only part of the country where they were born and do not feel close to their roots, to the heritage of their parents. It is sad that some do not celebrate the cultural richness of their families.
Unfortunately, and due in some cases to bullying, xenophobia and the closed-minded people that we sometimes come across in life, there are people who believe that they should hide what makes them special and authentic, their roots and their identity. As parents, it is our responsibility to make sure this is something our children learn and make sure they have a strong foundation where their multicultural background is proudly celebrated. Very often I have come across young people who came from a multicultural background who knew very little about their heritage and that is a very sad thing and it should not happen. As Whitney Houston sang: “Give them a sense of pride…”
TIP 10 – Festivals and celebrations:
Continuing with the previous point, the best way to celebrate and feel more connected to the culture of the second language in your home is through the celebration of traditions and festivals. Do not miss them, they are an important part of language learning. For example, in our house we always celebrate Christmas and the arrival of Santa Claus on December 25, but we also celebrate The Three Wise Men on January 6. There are so many different festivals and traditions to celebrate! It is a very nice thing to incorporate these customs into your family, even if they are not celebrated in the country in which you are currently living.
TIP 11 – Traditional food as part of the language learning:
It is important to cook traditional foods from your heritage so that your children grow up with those foods as part of their culinary knowledge. At the beginning when they are younger, you can talk about the names of the ingredients and as they get older, you can teach them the recipes, you can cook together and you can even research other recipes for traditional foods that you have never cooked before.
Raising a bilingual or polyglot child is an interesting journey in which not only your child will learn but you will learn a lot from them too. I hope these tips are helpful. You can contact me if you have any questions about this topic. In my channel you can find lots of resources that I post weekly to support students in their journey to becoming bilingual and to support parents and teachers too. If you need a particular topic, you can also request it. There are more than 300 videos and in some of my early videos you can hear my daughter’s sweet voice as she collaborated with me in the channel at the start. She was 10 years old at the time and this was during the pandemic when we were at home.
Enjoy your adventure raising bilingual or polyglot children! It’s the best present you can give them!
11 Consejos para criar hijos bilingües o políglotas
¡Hola! Mi nombre es María Martínez y soy la creadora del canal BILINGUAL CEREBROS. Soy profesora especializada en la enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras con más de 24 años de experiencia docente, casi 20 de ellos en el Reino Unido y durante los últimos 4 años en Alemania. También he sido coordinadora de Lenguas Extranjeras y maestra de primaria. Pero en esta nueva sección del canal os voy a hablar también desde mi experiencia personal como madre.
Mi hija Natalie, nació en Inglaterra y ha sido criada bilingüe. En casa hablamos inglés y español desde que nació. Cuando mi hija tenía 9 años nos mudamos a Alemania y ahora a sus 13 años puede hablar con total fluidez inglés, español y alemán. Además está aprendiendo italiano y francés (nivel B1/2) y le gustaría empezar pronto a aprender japonés.
En este artículo voy a compartir con vosotros algunos consejos e ideas de actividades que nos han funcionado como familia que vive en un hogar multilingüe. Espero que os sean útiles.
CONSEJO n. 1: Mantén una actitud 100% libre de presión:
El primer y en mi opinión más importante consejo que puedo darte es sin duda ¡DIVIÉRTETE! Tu enfoque debe ser 100% libre de presión. Si tus hijos sienten la obligación de aprender un idioma, de repente se convierte en una tarea, para ellos y para ti. Tu actitud es clave. Tienes que estar muy relajado/a al respecto. Sí, habrá días en los que apenas hablarás ‘el segundo idioma’, pero habrá otros en los que puede ocurrir exactamente lo contrario. No se trata de cantidad sino de calidad y de aprendizaje significativo porque solo así lograrás que tenga un efecto duradero.
En nuestro caso, el segundo idioma era el español, ya que vivimos en Inglaterra hasta que mi hija tuvo 9 años, por lo que constantemente estaba expuesta al inglés primero en la guardería, luego en la escuela, jugando con sus compañeros, viendo la televisión, etc. Debes entender que el segundo idioma va a ser adquirido progresivamente, no de un día para otro. Lo principal es no estresarse. Empieza poco a poco, y cada día puedes ir introduciendo una nueva palabra o expresión. Puedes empezar incluso antes del nacimiento de tu hijo/a, desde el embarazo😉 Recuerdo haberle hablado y cantado a mi hija en español antes de que naciera. Puede parecer una tontería, pero los hábitos deben establecerse temprano.
CONSEJO n. 2: Juega en cualquier momento:
El segundo consejo está relacionado con el primero. Qué mejor manera de divertirse que jugando en el segundo idioma. Cualquier tipo de juegos, desde muñecas hasta coches de carreras, juegos de mesa, adivinanzas, etc. Al principio no es fácil y no lo van a entender todo, pero eso no importa, el propósito es fomentar ese entusiasmo por el idioma. Cuando estamos jugando, están aprendiendo de una manera relajada sin ni siquiera darse cuenta y les despierta esa curiosidad de conocer mejor el nuevo idioma, ya que querrán descubrir nuevas formas de expresarse. Como todos tenemos vidas muy ocupadas, a veces planificar tiempo para estos juegos puede ser difícil, pero la clave es aprovechar cualquier oportunidad durante el día. Por ejemplo, recuerdo jugar a juegos como el ‘Veo-Veo’ mientras mi hija y yo íbamos en el coche, autobús, de compras, etc.
Otro ejemplo de juego oral es ‘Palabras encadenadas’, juego en el que tenemos que comenzar nuevas palabras con la última sílaba de la palabra anterior: amigo – gorra – rápido, domingo, etc. Hay muchos más juegos como estos o diferentes variaciones de estos juegos con temáticas específicas, que se pueden hacer simplemente oralmente mientras estás ocupado haciendo otras cosas, por ejemplo mientras estás cocinando, limpiando, paseando por el parque, etc. Otro juego que a mi hija y a mí nos encantaba jugar (y todavía lo hacemos) es ‘Para el lápiz / Levanta el lápiz’, donde puedes crear tus propias categorías (comida, país, profesiones, colores, bebidas, etc.) y necesitas encontrar palabras para cada categoría con letras diferentes del alfabeto. Este juego necesita un poco más de tiempo y preparación, aunque todo lo que realmente necesitas es una hoja de papel y un bolígrafo o lápiz.
Te dejo un ejemplo imprimible, pero se pueden crear diferentes variaciones del juego con más o menos categorías según la edad y el nivel. Normalmente obtenemos 20 puntos si somos los únicos con una respuesta en una categoría en particular, 10 puntos si tenemos una respuesta válida pero el otro jugador también tiene una respuesta y 5 puntos si tenemos la misma respuesta.
Juego: Para el lápiz
CONSEJO n. 3: Deja atrás conceptos falsos y anticuados:
Este consejo también está relacionado con la actitud, pero en este caso me refiero a la creencia NEGATIVA que tienen algunas familias en algunos hogares multiculturales y multilingües. Algunos creen que aprender un segundo o tercer idioma retrasa la adquisición de la lengua materna. ¡FALSO! Lamentablemente, en mis años como docente en Inglaterra, me encontré con muchas familias que no querían que sus hijos fueran clasificados como “niños EAL” (English as an Additional Language – inglés como idioma adicional). Pensaban que esto era algo malo y durante muchos años hubo una especie de estigma al respecto. Incluso hoy en día, todavía hay muchos padres que retrasan la introducción del segundo idioma debido a este miedo. Está científicamente comprobado que aprender diferentes idiomas desde la infancia desbloquea partes del cerebro que te permitirán aprender idiomas en general de una manera más fácil y rápida. Cuanto antes mejor. Es el mejor regalo que le puedes dar a tus hijos. No les robes esta experiencia por tener un concepto erróneo y anticuado.
CONSEJO n. 4: Cuentos bilingües:
Esto es algo que podría hacerse todas las noches y alternar los idiomas; una noche en el idioma materno y al día siguiente en el segundo idioma. Si puedes hacer la misma historia en ambos idiomas, tu hijo/a irá adquiriendo poco a poco vocabulario y estructuras por temas de una manera muy natural. Hoy en día, hay muchísimas historias en línea que se pueden encontrar en cualquier idioma. La repetición también es muy importante. Lee la misma historia en distintas ocasiones para que la aprendan bien y eventualmente puedan tratar de volver a contar las historias usando sus propias palabras. Puedes usar marionetas cuando son más pequeños, ya que son una gran herramienta para que mantengan la atención mientras les lees la historia y luego para volver a contarla o dramatizar. En Bilingual Cerebros, puedes encontrar una sección en la que ya hay 30 cuentos y fábulas y pronto subiré más.
CONSEJO n. 5: Experiencias de la vida real:
Viajar, cuando sea posible, al país o países donde se habla el segundo idioma es la mejor manera de aprender y reforzar el aprendizaje. Una de las razones por las que mi hija aprendió español más rápido fue porque pasaba los veranos y, a veces, la Semana Santa en España con sus abuelos, su tía, su tío y su primo. Allí también tuvo la oportunidad de hacer amigos. Sin embargo, como todos sabemos, no siempre es posible viajar y hay muchas otras experiencias de la vida real que puedes hacer incluso sin salir de tu país. Por ejemplo, ve a un restaurante auténtico de tu país; idealmente uno en el que tengan personal que pueda hablar el idioma y sirva de modelo para que tu hijo/a aprenda a pedir una comida, pida la cuenta, etc.
Cuando sean mayores y tengan más confianza en sus habilidades lingüísticas, pueden ser ellos quienes ordenen la comida. Esta es una gran experiencia para ellos y una buena habilidad que deben aprender. Si tienes la suerte de conocer a personas de un país que también tienen niños de una edad similar que vivan en tu ciudad, organiza encuentros para que jueguen con otros niños usando el segundo idioma. Si no tienes esa suerte, puedes encontrar un ‘amigo por correspondencia’ de una edad similar en otro país y organizar encuentros para que jueguen en línea a través de Zoom o cualquier otra plataforma. La tecnología ahora hace que estas diferentes oportunidades sean mucho más fáciles y nos brinda muchas más opciones. Así que debemos utilizarlo a nuestro favor.
CONSEJO n. 6: Variedad de acentos:
Supongo que este consejo es más relevante cuando ya son bilingües o tienen un nivel más alto y mayor seguridad en el idioma. Sin embargo, creo que, como hablantes de “herencia”, también es vital estar expuesto a una variedad más amplia de acentos. En las primeras etapas de la adquisición del idioma, las madres y los padres son el modelo a seguir, pero a medida que crecen, deben estar expuestos a tantos otros acentos como sea posible para enriquecer su aprendizaje y también aprender distinto vocabulario. Esto también es algo fácil de hacer con Internet. Por ejemplo, con YouTube, viendo películas y series de diferentes regiones y países en los que se habla el idioma que están aprendiendo. Y de nuevo, cuando sea posible, viajar a esos lugares.
CONSEJO n. 7: Escucha mucha variedad de géneros musicales:
Expón a tu hijo a una amplia gama de cantantes y géneros musicales de diferentes generaciones y nacionalidades. Me encanta compartir con mi hija la música con la que crecí y la música que me empezó a gustar más adelante en mi vida. La música es excelente para aprender vocabulario y estructuras nuevas de una manera rápida y duradera.
CONSEJO n. 8: Evita usar el segundo idioma para reñir, por lo menos al principio:
Intenta siempre usar el segundo idioma de una manera positiva. Voy a empezar en este punto con algo negativo de lo que creo que la mayoría de nosotros podemos ser culpables en algún momento… y el/la que esté libre de pecado que tire la primera piedra… 😉 Puede ser difícil, sin embargo, tenemos que evitar usar el segundo idioma para ‘regañar’, ya que podrían terminar viéndolo como un lenguaje negativo y un castigo. Por supuesto, necesitamos usar el segundo idioma para disciplinarlos, pero esto debe hacerse siempre con un lenguaje positivo. Me refiero aquí a cómo a veces podemos dejarnos llevar y usar expresiones y vocabulario “no tan agradables”… Bueno, nadie es perfecto… Sin embargo, como bilingües/políglotas , eventualmente se encontrarán con este lenguaje, pero en mi opinión esto es algo que debería surgir mucho más tarde…
CONSEJO n. 9: Enorgullécete de tu herencia:
Como parte de su viaje hacia el bilingüismo, es importante sentirse identificados con la cultura de ese idioma. Haz que se sientan orgullosos de su herencia. He sido profesora de muchos estudiantes que venían de familias multiculturales los cuales no estaban muy seguros de sus raíces. Crecer en un país que es diferente al de la herencia de tus padres siempre debería verse como una ventaja, pero desafortunadamente, he visto muy a menudo lo contrario. Algunos niños se sienten solo parte del país donde nacieron y no se sienten cercanos a sus raíces, a la herencia de sus padres. Es triste que algunos no celebren esa riqueza cultural de su familia.
Por desgracia y debido en algunos casos al bullying, la xenofobia y a las personas de mente cerrada con las que a veces nos cruzamos en la vida, hay personas que creen que deben ocultar lo que los hace especiales y auténticos, sus raíces y su identidad. Como padres, es nuestra responsabilidad asegurarnos de que esto sea algo que nuestros hijos aprendan y asegurarnos de que tengan una base sólida donde se celebre con orgullo su origen multicultural. Muy a menudo me he encontrado con jóvenes que provenían de un entorno multicultural que sabían muy poco sobre su herencia y eso es algo muy triste que no debería pasar. Como cantó Whitney Houston: “Dales un sentido de orgullo…”
CONSEJO n. 10: Celebraciones y festivales:
Siguiendo con el punto anterior, la mejor manera de celebrar y sentir más cercana la cultura del segundo idioma en tu hogar es a través de la celebración de costumbres y festivales. No te los pierdas, son una parte importante del aprendizaje del idioma. Por ejemplo, en nuestra casa siempre celebramos la Navidad y la llegada de Papá Noel el 25 de diciembre pero también celebramos Los Tres Reyes Magos el 6 de enero. ¡Hay muchísimos festivales y tradiciones diferentes que celebrar! Es algo muy bonito incorporar estas costumbres en tu familia, aunque no se celebren en el país en el que estás viviendo en la actualidad.
CONSEJO n. 11: Comida tradicional:
Es importante cocinar alimentos tradicionales de tu herencia para que tus hijos crezcan con esos alimentos siendo parte de su saber culinario. Al principio, cuando son más pequeños, puedes hablar sobre los nombres de los ingredientes y, a medida que van siendo mayores, puedes enseñarles las recetas, cocinar juntos e incluso podéis investigar otras recetas de comidas tradicionales que nunca antes habías cocinado.
Criar hijos bilingües o políglotas es un viaje interesante en el que no solo ellos aprenderán, sino que tú también aprenderás mucho de ellos. ¡Disfruta tu aventura criando hijos bilingües o políglotas! ¡Es el mejor regalo que les puedes dar!
Espero que estos consejos sean útiles. Puedes contactarme si tienes alguna pregunta sobre este tema. Además en mi canal puedes encontrar muchos recursos que publico semanalmente para apoyar a mis estudiantes en su proceso de convertirse en bilingües y para apoyar también a padres y profesores. Si necesitas algún tema en particular, también puedes solicitarlo. Hay más de 300 vídeos y en algunos de mis primeros vídeos puedes escuchar la dulce voz de mi hija cuando colaboraba conmigo en los comienzos del canal BILINGUAL CEREBROS. Ella tenía 10 años en ese momento y colaboró conmigo durante la pandemia cuando estábamos en casa.
Te dejo mis redes sociales por si tienes alguna consulta:
Que el Camino de Santiago es una experiencia vital de gran importancia es algo con lo que muchas personas están de acuerdo 🙋🏾♀️🙋, y así lo vemos reflejado en los rostros de los peregrinos que pueblan y dan color a la Plaza del Obradoiro 😄😆🥹.
Que el subjuntivo es una experiencia vital de gran importancia es algo con lo que no muchas personas están de acuerdo 😒, y así lo vemos reflejado en los rostros de los estudiantes de español 🫣😨.
Sin embargo, ¿será posible aunar ambos, y conseguir de esta forma que el alumnado produzca de manera más espontánea el subjuntivo? 🤔
¡Pensamos que sí! 😄💡 Te presentamos una infografía con la que tus estudiantes podrán expresar sus sentimientos (ya sea con el infinitivo o con el subjuntivo) en relación con el Camino de Santiago: qué les alegra 😄, qué les hace ilusión 🥹, qué les preocupa 😟, cómo prefieren vivir la experiencia 😀 y qué les molesta 😠.
There are many edtech tools and videos to help students with their Interpretive Listening skills. Sites such as EdPuzzle and Lyrics Training and other edutech resources like Forms (Google and Microsoft) are some of my go-to resources. I have also used Bilingual Cerebros, Señor Wooly, and Rockalingua, to name some, to help students expand their vocabulary and language structures.
Videos as Authentic Resources
What first comes to my mind when I hear ‘videos’ is authentic and organic ways of teaching and learning. I use a lot of music videos when teaching. Previously, I talked about using songs as Interpretive Reading tasks. Now, I’d like to share about one of the latest video I have used in class.
The video “Soy Tuya” to talk about Puerto Rico is what I used. I adapted a plan that I had created to fit my novice-mid level students. Students would discover Puerto Rico in a different way … and it worked! Before we started, I asked them what they knew about Puerto Rico and we used OneNote to record their answers. Only then I played the video “Soy Tuya”. They watched it several times, but each time, they had to focus on a particular aspect. This is what I had my student do when watching this video:
Talk about what surprises and/ or impacts you
Name the objects that you recognize
Name things related to nature or the environment
Talk about your favorite part and explain why you like it
After watching the video and completing the tasks mentioned above, I asked them to write what they knew about Puerto Rico. They were able to write a lot and were so proud about it!
Media Literacy
Once I learned what they knew about Puerto Rico, I played the video again and paused it as I needed to focus on some landmarks and important information given in the video. Students learned a little bit of history, geography, flora and fauna, etc. We also discussed the lyrics and the story told through the song (using a little bit of Spanglish for this, I confess!).
One of my questions after watching the video together was “Did you notice what is NOT in the video”? Although at first, they were a little puzzled by my question, they started to mention a few things that were missing, such as hurricanes and their devastating impact. We briefly discussed Media Literacy Q-Tips, and we especially focused on who is not represented in the video.
Vocabulary & Language Structures
The next class, students watched the video again and this time they listed the activities people do and then told me who does what. Students noticed many more activities than I had expected! It gave them the opportunity to practice conjugating with a purpose and in an organic way!
Authentic and Connected
A few days later, when we had a video conference with a Puerto Rican, a dear friend and also a language teacher…my students were ready! They recognized some of the places and faces from the video in the slides she showed them, and asked good follow up questions based on their novice-mid level.
Your Turn
I’d like to know how you use videos in your class. Please, leave a comment or email me at connect@languageteachinglab.com with questions and ideas.
Having passion for reading is something that should be instilled in our students at a very early age. Today it is not so easy. Previous generations had fewer ‘distractions.’ There were not as many channels with such a variety of programs; there was no Internet or social media and video games were more limited. Sadly, that passion for reading that previous generations had, is being lost today due to competing with all these other media.
It is our job, as parents, teachers and educators, to do something about it. Reading must be a vital part of students’ daily lives and we must find ways to promote it, motivate our students and make reading exciting again for the new generations.
In my lessons, both with my students who study Spanish as a foreign language, and with those students who are heritage Spanish speakers, reading stories is very important. Reading opens a door to imagination and creativity. In addition, it helps students reinforce grammar and spelling patterns without needing to use boring and repetitive grammar exercises. Furthermore, reading expands their vocabulary by finding synonyms and gaining vocabulary richness without even realizing it as it models language in a subtle way.
In my channel BILINGUAL CEREBROS, you can find a section in the Playlists where there are already 27 short stories and fables with morals to reflect on. Many activities can be done with them. These are some ideas on how to use the short stories, tales and fables on my channel:
1. Summarize the story using your own words.
2. In small groups, role-play the story.
3. Explain the moral of the story. Give your point of view about what is learned from this story. What value/values does it teach us?
4. Practice your verbal fluency and pronunciation by reading the story aloud.
5. Who is the main character in this story? / Who are the characters in this story?
6. Describe the characters in this story. What is their personality like?
7. Find the verbs in the past tense (Pretétito indefinido & Pretérito imperfecto) and analyze their uses.
8. Compare the English version with the Spanish version. What new words or expressions have you learned with this story/fable?
In addition, students can review these stories at home and listen to the pronunciation again since they are all published on the channel and they can access them for free.
If you need the bilingual version of these stories for your lessons, I can also send them to you for free in PDF or PowerPoint versions. You can email me at: bilingualcerebros@gmail.com to request your copy. Students can use these bilingual versions to compare vocabulary and structures in Spanish and English.
Here are the direct links to the 27 stories that are on the channel so far, and I will continue uploading new stories. I hope they are useful.
No, no pretendemos ponernos nostálgicos y hablar de las canciones que se escuchaban cuando éramos unos yogurines* (aunque alguna de esas habrá en esta lista) 👵💭👴💭🥺, sino de aquellas que podemos usar en clase para trabajar los tiempos de pasado y (¡oh, qué horror!) el tan temido contraste imperfecto / indefinido (ya sabes, eso de hacer avanzar y detener la historia ⏩️⏸️▶️).
𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠í𝐚 (𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐚): aunque hoy en día, al pensar en Shakira, se nos viene a la cabeza la canción que le ha dedicado a Piqué 🙍♀️🤬➡️🧔🏼♂️, la que te presentamos hoy es, “clara-mente”, mucho más útil para reforzar el indefinido 😏. Tiene ya algunos años, pero su uso en clase es atemporal: en ella, la cantante colombiana habla de cómo le cambió la vida haber encontrado el amor ❤, y en ese repaso biográfico nos regala muchos verbos en indefinido.
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐚 𝐭𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐨 (𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐬): maravillosa canción no solo por el continuado uso del pretérito perfecto para hablar de experiencias en el pasado sin marcadores temporales específicos, sino también por las entrañables metáforas que salieron de la pluma del fallecido Enrique Urquijo 📝😔 (recomendamos trabajar también dichas metáforas en clase 📚). Por cierto, la versión acústica que hace su hermano Álvaro es simplemente maravillosa. 🎶❤️
𝐂𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐜í (𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫é𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐨) 👩❤️👨: lo realmente interesante de esta canción es su utilidad como recurso para trabajar el contraste de pasados a partir de la estructura “Cuando” + indefinido + imperfecto 👩🏫. Recomendamos usarla después de haber explicado el pluscuamperfecto 👨🏫, ya que en ella aparecen también un par de verbos en dicho tiempo.
𝐂𝐮é𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 (𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐬): se trata de una canción muy útil para trabajar con niveles altos, ya que da mucho juego no solo para repasar y reforzar el contraste de pasados, sino también para implementar en el aula el tema de los cuentos infantiles 🫅🧙♂️🧚🧜🧞♂️. Nuestros estudiantes pueden hablar acerca de cuentos de su infancia y al final podríamos crear una historia colaborativa… ¡siguiendo el loco modelo de la canción! 🙋🏽🙋♀️🙋🏾♀️🙋🙋🏽♂️🤪📝
En la nube de palabras que incluimos a continuación, tienes algunos de los verbos en pasado que aparecen en estas canciones.
* Respecto al significado de “yogurín” y de otras palabras para referirnos a las etapas de la vida, ya hablaremos de ello en otra entrada… 😉
PD: Recomendamos que escuche las canciones y vea si son apropiadas para sus estudiantes
THE SONGS OF THE PAST
No, we do not intend to get nostalgic and talk about the songs that were heard when we were yogurts * (although some of those will be on this list), 👵💭👴💭🥺 but those that we can use in class to work the past times and (oh, what horror!) the dreaded imperfect / indefinite contrast (you know, that of moving the story ⏩️⏸️▶️ forward and stopping).
☑️ Anthology (Shakira): although nowadays, when thinking of Shakira, the song that has dedicated to Piqué ♂️ 🙍 ♀️🤬➡️🧔🏼 comes to mind, the one we present today is, “clearly”, much more useful to reinforce the indefinite. 😏 It is already a few years old, but its use in class is timeless: in it, the Colombian singer talks about how having found love ❤ changed her life, and in that biographical review she gives us many verbs in indefinite.
☑️ Pero a tu lado (Los Secretos): wonderful song not only for the continued use of the past perfect to talk about experiences in the past without specific time markers, but also for the endearing metaphors that came from the pen of the late Enrique Urquijo 📝😔 (we also recommend working these metaphors in class 📚). By the way, the acoustic version made by his brother Álvaro is simply wonderful. 🎶❤️
☑️ When I met you (Andrés Calamaro): 👩 👨 ❤️ the really interesting thing about this song is its usefulness as a resource to work the contrast of pasts from the structure “When” + indefinite + imperfect. 👩 🏫 We recommend using it after having explained the ‘plusquamperfect’ 👨 🏫, since a couple of verbs also appear in it in that tense.
☑️ Tell me a story (Celtas Cortos): this is a very useful song to work with high levels, since it gives a lot of play not only to review and reinforce the contrast of pasts, but also to implement in the classroom the theme of children’s 🫅🧙 ♂️🧚🧜🧞 ♂️ stories. Our students can talk about stories from their childhood and in the end we could create a collaborative story… following the crazy model of the song! 🙋🏽🙋♀️🙋🏾♀️🙋🙋🏽♂️🤪📝
* Regarding the meaning of “yogurtín” and other words to refer to the stages of life, we will talk about it in another entry … 😉
PS: We recommend that you listen to the songs and decide if they are appropriate for the students you teach
No, no vamos a hablar de psicología. Pero… ¿verdad que queda chulo el título?
De todas formas, si bien no hablaremos de Freud, sí lo haremos de un superpronombre: el “yo”.
De todos es sabido que, a diferencia de otras lenguas, en español no es necesario incluir el “yo” para expresar la persona del hablante, ya que con la desinencia verbal es suficiente.
Sin embargo, en la lengua coloquial, con frecuencia recurrimos a él. Entonces, si no es necesario desde el punto de vista gramatical, ¿por qué lo usamos en ciertos contextos? . Pues muy sencillo: porque así nos lo exige nuestra amiga la pragmática. En efecto, lo que pretendemos en estos casos es hacer valer el propio criterio, individualizando al hablante frente a otras personas.
Tranquilidad, ya os lo explico yo…
Y es que yo pienso que la pragmática debe condicionar el uso que hagamos de la gramática. Vamos, creo yo. Porque, vamos a ver… ¿cómo lo diría yo?… . Es que, de otra forma, no podríamos alcanzar nuestros objetivos comunicativos. Os lo digo yo, que algo he leído sobre esto… .
Bueno, te dejamos aquí abajo una pequeña infografíasobre el tema (está chula, la he hecho yo mismo), para que puedas relacionar los usos de “yo” con los ejemplos que aparecen en este texto. Y yo, yo me voy a descansar ahora un rato. . ¿Qué dices? ¿Que soy un vago? ¿Yo?. ¡Eso lo será el señor Freud!
FREUD, THE SPANISH AND THE SUPEREGO
No, we’re not going to talk about psychology. But … isn’t the title cool? 🤨
In any case, although we will not talk about Freud, we will talk about a superpronoun: the “I”. 😎
Everyone knows that, unlike other languages, in Spanish it is not necessary to include the “I” to express the person of the speaker, since verbal desinence is enough.
However, in the colloquial language, we often resort to it. So, if it is not grammatically necessary, why do we use it in certain contexts? 🤔. Well, very simple: because that’s what our pragmatic friend demands of us. Indeed, what we intend in these cases is to assert one’s own criteria, individualizing the speaker in front of other people. ➡️➡️ 😊 ⬅️⬅️
Tranquility, I explain it to you … 😌
And I think that pragmatics should condition the use we make of grammar. Come on, I think. Because, let’s see… how would I say it?… 🤔. It is that, otherwise, we could not achieve our communicative objectives. I tell you, I’ve read something about this… 🤥.
Well, we leave you here a small infographic on the subject (it’s cool, I’ve done it myself), so you can relate the uses of “I” with the examples that appear in this text. And I, I’m going to rest now for a while. 🛋. What are you saying? That I’m lazy? I? 😤. That will be Mr. Freud!
Your students know that you are into something when you start the class with a game. Not just any game, but one in which they have to draw a snowman! And not any snowman!
It all started when I remembered about a resource I came across a few years ago (I am sorry but I do not know who posted this idea!). Here is a copy of the prompt:
What is the name of your snowman?
“What is the name of your snowman? My snowman is called ‘Botón Inolvidable’ (Unforgettable Button),” I said. The name of each snowman would be a combination of the month of a student’s birthday and the first letter of their first name. Some other snowmen this year were ‘Campana Luminosa’ (Lighted Bell), ‘Zanahoria Típica’ (Typical Carrot), and ‘Bufanda Generosa’ (Generous Scarf).
The tricky part for students was drawing the snowman because it had to reflect its new name. I handed a blank sheet of paper to each student and I gave them time to think how to draw their snowman. The results were amazing! Students loved the challenge and enjoyed the game. They were so creative! A student was absent that day so I asked her to draw it directly in her OneNote. She would print it and would be able to participate in class the next day.
The following class, each student shared the name of their snowman. I wrote on the board the starting phrase so that they could start talking. ‘What is your snowman’s name?’ I would ask. I continued asking questions such as, ‘What does he like?’ ‘What does he want?’ ‘What does he need?’ Their imagination started to fly.
Then, I asked students what they could say about their snowman if I asked them, ‘What is he like?’ I gave examples such as, ‘He is creative’ or ‘He is intelligent.’ They immediately got it and I could see their brains at work. They were ready now to attempt to describe their snowman to each other, which they did quite successfully. Next, they wrote the description of their snowman and continued learning how to talk and ask about others.
After working with the snowman, we talked about important people in our lives. We talked about students’ own teachers, other adults in their lives, and characters in books they read, games they play or movies they watch. The snowman, however, was never forgotten!
It all started with the pandemic and the boredom during lockdown. I have been a teacher for 23 years and creating my channel BILINGUAL CEREBROS was, especially during the pandemic, a way to motivate and support my students and keep my mind occupied.
However, once our lives went back to normal, I decided to continue with this channel as it had grown into a large community, currently more than 7,000 subscribers from all over the world, Spanish and English students and teachers.
My actual students have given me great feedback and encouraged me to carry on with the project as it really helps them revise the content from our lessons and even practice before exams.
I have also received very positive feedback from independent students from all over the world, thanking me because my videos and resources help them learn and many can’t afford to pay for private lessons, so they find my channel very helpful.
Teachers from all over the world have also given fantastic feedback to the channel as the resources shared help them save planning and preparation time. I also share the PowerPoint versions from the videos shared in the channel and they are all free.
In BILINGUAL CEREBROS you can find different sections in the playlists, including: short stories and fables to reflect on, vocabulary and grammar quizzes, reading and comprehension texts including questions and answers, tasks to train listening skills, cultural texts, bilingual mindfulness, songs and some more. There are more than 240 videos with activities and links to printable resources and I upload new content weekly. You can see in the photo below a summary of the different sections in the Playlists.
I love creating and sharing resources. For me it is a real pleasure to know that my resources help not only my students but also many others, and that this help can have an impact in someone’s life and their future. As we all know, languages open many doors, and if my contribution to improve someone’s language skills can have a role in their future, that is the best feeling in the world.
Have you ever wondered why we teach what we teach? I realized that my professional and personal experiences inform my language curriculum in more ways than I have imagined.
It all started when a few years ago, in the educational and pedagogical arenas, there was a big emphasis on culturally responsive teaching. That is when I decided to revisit my curriculum. Among all the units, I started by digging deeper into the typical ‘get to know students’ one at the beginning of the school year. Yes, it is important to know what students’ preferred name is and learn about their favorites, and I do not underestimate this, but to me that was not enough. I wanted my students to learn about themselves, who they are and who they want to become as language learners.
A children’s book, a trip to a museum, and a fellowship are three examples that informed my unit on identity. I developed, tweaked, and grew this unit throughout the years.
A Professional and Personal Experience: A Children’s Book
I had the privilege of meeting Rafael Lopez in person when he received the Americas Award for illustrating Pat Mora’s Yum! MMMM! Que Rico!. Lopez made an imprint on me that day. I bought most of his titles from then onwards (all worth it!).
When I read Rafael Lopez’s, El dia en que descubres quien eres, I knew I had to introduce it to my students. This book reminds us not to forget how you feel when you are new to a place. It reminds us of the importance of making connections and sharing stories among each other. It touches upon the identifiers of race, ethnicity, gender, class, ability, origin, and age and at the same time it develops empathy. I use the Project Zero Thinking Routine CSI – Color, Symbol, and Image – to have students show understanding of the story.
A Personal Experience: A Trip to a Museum
I make a big emphasis throughout the identity unit on the importance of learning about the ‘invisible’ side of people, of others and of our own. Students discover and explore this by walking the same steps I walked many years ago when I saw ‘Braiding’ by Lin Tianmiao while visiting a Chicago museum.
Lin Tianmiao massive installation made a huge impact on me back then. I decided to add this work of art into the identity unit. It seemed the appropriate way of helping students understand how much of what we see and perceive influences what we think about others.
Students use the simple (but powerful) Project Zero Thinking Routine “I see, I think, I wonder” to describe the installation. As a first entry to the art, I only show students the face in the artwork. Once students share what they have written about what they see, think, and wonder, I show them the complete piece of art. In their own words they express what I intended them to understand.
I want to show students that we cannot stop at the visible part of human beings to learn about others. Introducing them to Caja de Memoria Viva II: Constancia Colón Clemente by Adrián Viajero Román seemed the way to go. The following materials are based on the collections developed when Marcela and I participated in the Smithsonian Fellowship.
Students use personal memories to recall what songs or sounds, what smells, what artifacts, and what tastes we associate with home or a special place for us. Only then we analyze the art.
Students observe and analyze the three dimensional work of art first. Then they describe both its exterior and interior. I usually start by showing students some photographs of the visible cube representing the head of a person. The installation is of a black Puerto Rican woman who migrated to the United States in the 1940s.
After they observe the photos from the outside, I have them observe photos of the inside of the piece of art. Students see lots of different objects hanging in the inside walls of the cube.
We continue by using the Project Zero Thinking Routine ‘Layers.’ This routine provides learners with a structure for looking analytically at creative works through its narrative, aesthetic, mechanical, dynamic, and connections.
Example questions for using ‘Layers’
-Who do you think is this person?
-How old do you think she is?
-Where do you think she lives?
-How does this installation make you feel?
-What do you see?
-What is unique in this piece?
-How does it connect with your personal experiences?
The installation helps students concretely see the connection between the ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ sides of a person. One important aspect about this art piece is the fact that you can hear the voice of Constancia Colon Clemente when you are under the installation. It feels you really are in her head!
Future Professional and Personal Experiences
The examples mentioned above – a children’s book, a trip to a museum, and a fellowship – informed my unit on identity. I will surely keep on developing and tweaking this unit in the years to come.
Though usually unexpectedly, my professional and personal experiences will keep on influencing my language curriculum. Therefore, I wonder where my next inspiration will come from.
I can’t stress enough the importance of professional development, as once we do not feel that need, it might indicate that it is time to move forward. What attracts me to professional development (workshops, webinars, book clubs, or conferences) is two-fold. On the one hand I attend professional development for student learning (for a student-centered approach to education). On the other hand, as teachers, we are master learners (as we read in Innovate Inside the Box): We seek instances to learn.
Value of PD and PLC
Throughout my teaching career, I have not only sought professional development but I have humbly presented as well. Lately, I appeared in We Teach Language Episode 150 (who doesn’t like round numbers?).
It made me think how much I cherish and value professional development but even more so, I value Professional Learning Communities.
What are Professional Learning Communities?
Professional Learning Communities are groups of people who get together in person or virtually with a purpose. We all share something in common and we care about it. For example, we might all share the passion of teaching with technology (or want to learn more about it). We might share the need to connect with a diverse group of educators from our state, our nation, or the world. We have different perspectives and we all learn together.
Being part of PLCs opens doors to new avenues for growth, learning, and development. It usually moves us out of our comfort zone and gives us, at times, unexpected instances of leading, both in small and in big projects. Language Teaching Lab, was a seed planted in one of these PLCs.
The PLC I Have Been the Longest with
I especially want to mention the PLC that I have been the longest with: GWATFL. I attended GWATFL for many years before becoming more involved in the organization. Since 2017, I have grown together with GWATFL. Now I have the fortuity of giving back with the GWATFL Member Action Program.
https://gwatfldc.org
The GWATFL MAP started as a project looking “for ways to create more opportunities to connect with and impact our community of language educators.” GWATFL MAP gives its members a chance to participate, lead, and act on GWATFL initiatives. It also gives its members a voice in the organization. A community of like-minded educators has begun and little by little, the program is growing and the impact of its members is becoming more palpable.
Professional Learning Communities: Bigger than Ourselves
In PLCs, we belong to a group bigger than ourselves. We count on and push each other to advance the mission and vision of such an organization, as well as our own. What are you waiting for to begin your own journey in a PLC? Attend professional development opportunities and join a professional learning community. You will not regret it.
“’P’ is for Project” is one of the frameworks that I usually use to help students complete a project successfully in my Spanish language classes. This framework uses words in Spanish that begin with ‘P’, guiding students to identify and follow the different steps of the process while gaining independence. In Spanish, the 7 Ps of a project include: Preguntar / Preguntarse, Planear, Preparar, Practicar. Presentar, Personalizar, Pensar.
‘P’ is for Project
In English, most of the names for the steps use the word ‘P’ except for the very first one, which stands for ask yourself or questions. The framework includes: ask myself/questions, plan, prepare, practise, present, personalize (give feedback) and ponder (think and reflect).
Having a consistent path when doing projects helps students know where they are and what comes next, which lowers their affective filter. It also focuses them on the task at hand and helps them stay in the language!
In my classes the best learning has happened when students follow all the steps. I am going to show you the path my students – in elementary and early middle school – follow when doing a project in my Spanish classes. You can adapt these steps to use in Early Elementary or in High School.
‘P’ in Preguntar / Preguntarse
We usually start our projects with questions. Questions usually bring more questions. The word for questions in Spanish is ‘preguntas’ and ‘preguntarse’ is the action of wondering. It is the perfect way to start our ‘P is for Project’ framework.
I read the following “If we’re willing to ask the questions, we can begin changing things.” (Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, page 71). Though not all projects in my Spanish class lead to substantial change, students might change their way of seeing the world, their understanding of themselves, and their knowledge of other cultures.
‘P’ in Planear
What may ‘Planear’ include? It may include making a drawing, creating a simple outline, chunking what we need to do into daily doables, getting the materials needed, choosing what technology to use, investigating a topic, etc. Before we jump in, it is better to step back and think about what resources you need and what you need to do to achieve your goal.
‘P’ is for Project: Preparar
‘Preparar’ may include creating a graphic organizer, writing the first draft, preparing a PowerPoint or using another presentation edtech tool. My students have realized that usually this step is the one that takes the longest and after doing a couple of projects, they take their time to complete this step thoughtfully.
‘P’ in Practicar
‘Practicar’ is a key part of any project. Usually, in the first project of the year, my students skip this step. Students immediately get to understand that they should have practiced more before presenting in Spanish. When it is a presentational writing, they realize that they should have gone over, edited, and proofread their writing before turning in their final draft. Some students benefit from doing this step consciously as they realize that practicing compensates their effort.
‘P’ is for Project: Presentar
Once students complete Preguntar/Preguntarse, Planear, Preparar, and Practicar, ‘Presentar’ becomes an easy part of their projects. They are proud and ready! They feel accomplished and it often helps develop their self-esteem.
At the beginning of my career, I would have stopped after their presentation, either speaking or writing, was complete. Now I include two more steps: give feedback and reflect on their work. Why do I do this?
‘P’ in Personalizar
‘Personalizar’ has become my students’ favorite part of any project. It is the time in which they give feedback and celebrate their accomplishments and their friends’. If students created a Flip as a presentational speaking assignment, for example, they give personal compliments on each other’s successes. If students created a ‘gallery walk,’ they proudly give their feedback on other students’ work by posting stickers or post-it notes.
‘P’ is for Project: Pensar
‘Pensar’ has become my favorite part of any project. I get to hear students’ reflections on the process and as well as the product. I get to know how they feel and what they think. Interestingly enough, I also get to know how the project has opened their eyes to new products, practices, and perspectives, how it has transformed the way they see the world, and what personal connections they have made. It also gives me a chance to make changes to the project to help the following group of students. I usually use a form to capture their pondering on the project but other times, I prepare a set of questions and discuss them as a class.
So, to me, the ‘P’ is for Project because in my Spanish classes, following these steps -’Preguntar/Preguntarse (to ask questions), Planear (to plan), Preparar (to prepare), Practicar (to practice), Presentar (to present, in writing and / or speaking), Personalizar (to personalize and give feedback), and Pensar (to ponder, think, and reflect on their learning)’- help students engage in their learning by giving them a choice on what they want to learn about, investigate, communicate, and many times act upon.
It is only one page but it lets you dive into so many topics while personalizing it for each of your students.
Many ways to use ‘Mi día típico’ by Amy Lenord
This one page can be used to review many topics already studied, such as clothing, food, time, sports, meals and food, school, chores and other activities, and grammar structures, such as prepositional phrases, adverbs of quantity, sequencing words, besides the conjugation of verbs in the 1st person singular of regular, stem-changing, and reflexive verbs.
It also gives the perfect context to review the verbs ‘desayunar, almorzar, merendar & cenar’ for the specific meals of the day, as opposed to repeating ‘comer’. This is something quite confusing to language learners as these verbs are used differently in English and in Spanish.
Another application of this great resource is to make comparisons and explore new topics.
How I used ‘Mi día típico’
Reading for understanding
Initially, students read the page, it was easy for them to understand the meaning of the statements by looking at the images Amy Lenord included as a clue, plus my acting out, and drawing when necessary.
Later, I used this page for Interpersonal Speaking, Presentational Writing, and Presentational Speaking.
Interpersonal Speaking
After my fifth grade students read the page multiple times and were familiar with the meaning of each statement, I moved to having them ask and answer questions about themselves. They quickly realized that they needed to change the endings of all the verbs and the pronouns from ‘me’ (about me) to ‘te’ (about you) when asking their partner. There were some giggles when they made the questions without making this change, e.g.: ‘Do you brush ‘my’ teeth in the morning?’ instead of asking ‘Do you brush ‘your’ teeth in the morning?’
Scaffolding in Preparation to Present ‘Mi día típico’
Using the resource for presentational writing and presentational speaking needed some scaffolding. The following are some activities and tasks that my students did prior to presenting.
Draw the activities
I had students use this ‘jewel’ to also think about their typical days. I handed a booklet with three pages with the days of the week on each page. The first page read ‘Por la mañana’ (In the morning). The second read ‘Por la tarde’ (in the afternoon) and the third one had ‘Por la noche’ (at night), Students drew what they do during each part of the day on the specific days of the week. This booklet, along with the page ‘Mi día típico’, were our anchor for the rest of the tasks and activities. Students used both as guides all along.
Self-checking competition
I asked students to study the ‘Mi día típico’ verbs and the next day we played a competition. Each student would say a verb and everybody had to write it down. Students numbered the verbs and wrote them down until they thought they had named them all. Then they self-checked their writing against the ‘Mi día típico’ page for spelling and completion of all verbs. To my surprise, not only had they included all the verbs, but they had also added a few more!
Level up the phrases
Then, students chose one of the drawings from their booklet and wrote a sentence in their notebook that later read aloud to share it with their peers. I have to say that they came up with excellent phrases! To push them a little bit more, I asked them to ‘level up’ the phrases, so we discussed ideas on how to do it. Finally, students practiced ‘leveling up’ their phrases into emerging sentences by writing two more sentences and adding some details. They were very proud to share them in class.
Topic and conclusion sentences
The next class, We discussed which could be a good topic and a conclusion sentence for a presentational writing assignment and we jotted down several possible sentences. We used OneNote so everybody knew where to find the topic and conclusion sentences to study.
“We are in RLA,” they said
For reference, RLA is Reading Language Arts. I asked students if they had written paragraphs in Language Arts and they all said ‘Yes’, and we talked about what makes a good paragraph. I asked them to look at their drawings and circle those which they thought could be good illustrations to write about in Spanish. They could choose up to six pictures from any part of their booklet. While they were planning what to write, I told them they should answer: What can I write that will make an impact on Sra.? That way,I would see complete and original thoughts when I read their paragraphs. In other words, their writing had to catch my attention as a reader.
I also told them that we would be writing a presentation in class only using the booklet with the drawings and it would be an assessment. They practiced with different partners until they had a better idea of what they could write about and how they would write it.
Presentational Writing Assessment
It is imperative that I know what students are able to do. It helps me understand what I need to do to move students along the proficiency levels. Using their drawings as the only resource, most of my students included at least a Novice High sentence, evidence that they have already started creating original thoughts in Spanish. As a teacher, I felt accomplished!
Presentational Speaking & Reflection
For the Presentational Speaking they would be recording ‘Mi día típico’ in Flipgrid the following class. In preparation, they chose what to say, they practiced with friends, asked me questions, and shared strategies on how to do it. Then, they completed a reflection about the following:
What went well for you?
What was challenging?
What did you learn about yourself?
What would you do differently next time?
For the most part, students’ responses showed that the presentational writing was better than the presentational speaking because when writing, you can proofread your text, but when speaking, you have to come up with what to say on the spot. For the most part, they said that they could write and speak in Spanish much better than they could have ever imagined. I was proud of their work, effort, and growth.
I find that ‘Mi día típico’ by Amy Lenord is a resource that helps my students accomplish communication. Thank you, Amy!
Teach about Summer in your language class. It can be fun!
It is so near the end of the school year that Summer is in the air!
As teachers, there is so much you can do on the topic of summer that a blog would not be enough. Here are a few resources to help you dive into summer! My favorite is Papa Topo’s song. Which is yours?
Check other resources according to seasons: Spring, Winter, and Fall.
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What do intercultural conversations look like in your language class?
Depending on the age of the students, intercultural conversations can take many different shapes and forms. For the purpose of this blog, I’ll talk about the experience of bringing a native Spanish speaker to my middle school class. This person was from Spain. Why from Spain? We were getting ready to read “Agentes secretos y el mural de Picasso” by Mira Canion and I wanted to introduce them to Spain in a different way. My first impression was that (in general), my students knew little about Spain and had misconceptions about this country. Off to an interesting start!
How might you prepare students to have intercultural conversations?
I am sure that there are many ways to have students get ready for intercultural conversations but I decided to go with questions, facts, and maps.
Asking Questions:
I asked my students what they wanted to know about Spain and wrote each one of their questions. I could see how their minds fed from each other’s ideas, and I was impressed with the array of questions they had. We created a long list of questions.
Categorizing questions:
Next class, I asked them to work in groups of three. They had to read the questions generated in our previous class, find connections among them and group them in categories. They also had to come up with the names for the categories. When they finished, I asked one group to tell me a category and read the questions that were in it. If others disagreed, they would have to explain why and what they would do differently. When all the questions were classified and everybody was in agreement, we paused for a second and re-read all the questions in each category.
Delving Meaning:
Now, it was time to think deeper and discuss how the visitor would feel or react to the questions. We wanted to avoid questions that sounded too direct or even unintentionally offensive, i.e. ‘Why did you come to America?’ We rearranged the questions and tweaked some of them so that they would provoke a positive response in our speaker. When we finished, we re-read the questions once more and … finally, we all liked how they sounded!
This step of the process proved to be a fundamental part of the experience, it sparked empathy and kindness. Students could see that the way we ask questions is as important as what we ask.
Finding Facts:
Now that the questions were ready, students had to investigate and find three to five facts about Spain.The next day, they came excited about their findings. “Quite interesting facts, Sra!” they said. “Did you know that the Spanish anthem does not have lyrics? Did you know that Spain has many World Heritage Sites?”
Reading Maps:
We found Spain and its islands on a world map and also read a couple of simple articles that explained Spain’s location and regions. Students were surprised to find out that Spain is similar to Texas in size. Now, I felt students were ready to meet our guest speaker.
Time to meet our guest speaker
Finally, the day to meet our guest speaker had come! I had sent her the questions in advance so she could prepare for our meeting. She had made a short presentation with images based on the questions my students had asked. As I had anticipated, students were intrigued by all she had to show them about Spain but she did not stop there. She also asked students personal questions such as, favorites, sports, and traveling, to compare their experiences with hers and so that they could relate to what she was talking about. They gave her a round of applause when she finished.
Time to reflect on the learning of intercultural conversations
As my guest speaker spoke practically all in Spanish (really! the 90% suggested by ACTFL) I was curious to know how much my students had understood. I decided to have them do a short reflection using the PZ Thinking Routine: I used to think … But now I think / I know. I added “I learned” and “I liked” for those that needed to express more concrete thinking. I was amazed at how much students had understood and learned through this experience.
In sum, I was happy to see the growth in my students’ thinking and learning. Moreover, I felt very accomplished to have facilitated a successful intercultural conversation.
Presenting global views connects language students to the experiences of others. It engages their minds, hearts, and hands. There are wonderful resources that help language students broaden their perspective of the world, not necessarily limited to the people in the countries that speak the language they are learning. Why wait until they are at an intermediate level? You may start with novice learners. It all depends on what you show them and what you do with it, i.e. how you use the resource, as well as why you are using that specific resource.
Why global views?
I part with the idea that we live in one world and the more that we learn from each other, the better. As a Spanish teacher myself, I moved from showing only things related to the Spanish-speaking world to showing my students the whole world. Of course, a big part of what we do in class is related to the Spanish world, but I intersect resources that go beyond that. Learning about others helps break down stereotypes, expands our worldviews, and helps us become aware of our interconnectedness and common humanity. In sum, it is about helping my students become globally competent.
How do we use photographs as global views ?
To successfully reach the minds, hearts, and hands of language learners, it is necessary to think through how we introduce, develop, and conclude each lesson. It is also important to think about what background knowledge students need in order to understand the topic and what prior knowledge they bring to class. Using resources thoughtfully is key.
Many times I choose to use photographs to do this type of work because they are potent visuals. They tell stories and we can all relate to stories. Photographers have a unique eye as their lens captures a precious moment in time. It is up to us to show these global views and choose how to do it.
The following are some ways in which I have presented global views to my students.
When I taught elementary school, my students particularly enjoyed when I showed them photographs of classrooms around the world and they had to compare and contrast those with their own classroom. As an added benefit, I learned about students’ prior experiences and their families’ history.
My students love when they can choose. When presenting them with several photographs, I let them choose one that talks to them and ask them to do different activities, from simply describing the photograph to creating a story to only asking and answering questions. Other times, I present them with two photographs and we compare them to find similarities and differences. These types of activities propel great conversations.
The National Portrait Gallery has many classroom resources to use when describing portraiture, and some of them can be applied to analyzing photographs successfully. I especially enjoy:
There is no doubt that using the Project Zero Thinking Routines makes perfect sense when analyzing photographs. For this type of work, I would go with the Global Thinking Routines ones.
The Library of Congress has a special tool when it comes to analyze photographs that differs from the tools used to analyze other media. It is a wonderful way to start a conversation about photographs. Check it out!
There are so many ways to go when it comes to introducing global views to students. Of course, the images per se are key in making it a powerful experience.
What resources can we use to engage learners with global views ?
The following are some resources based on photographs. Some of these photographs include the topics of school, food, identity, and landscapes and I have used some of them with my novice students. What is important is to choose what to show and how to present it to students.
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Each time I present global views to students, their engagement is palpable as global views engage language learners’ minds, hearts, and hands. If you haven’t already, give it a try and let me know how it goes in your classes.
April is National Poetry Month. Here are some ideas I have used and I always come back to when teaching poetry in my world language class.
Acknowledgement and Credits
I love professional development and I have attended many amazing workshops all throughout the years. I got inspired and felt refreshed after each one of these experiences. Although many of the workshops were not specifically geared to world language teaching, I borrowed ideas to use in my classes. Unfortunately, I cannot tell exactly from which workshop I adapted each idea. I can say that the ideas come from workshops I attended at the National Gallery of Art, the Portrait Gallery, the Phillips Collections, the Kennedy Center, and other Smithsonian museums.
How I teach poetry in a world language class
I love words and poetry highlights each word and makes words come alive.
Let’s briefly talk about a few examples on how I teach with poems in Spanish class,
– I read poems aloud to my students,
– I have them recite poems from memory, and
– I invite them to write their own poems.
The ideas below can be easily transferred to other languages.
Read aloud poems
Some poems are fun to read, some are long, and some others say so much in a few words. The following two poems are great examples for making interdisciplinary connections.
The book Yum! MMMM! Que Rico! Los brotes de las Américas by Pat Mora and illustrated by Rafael López is a collection of haiku and a springboard for teaching a combination of poetry, science, and geography. Get to know the origin of some of your favorite fruits while enjoying illustrations that are sublime! This book is a wonderful way of introducing students to the art of haiku to appreciate words to the fullest. It never ceases to amaze me how a few words can say so much!
Los zapaticos de rosa by José Martí and illustrated by Lulu Delacre creates the perfect ambience to teach about plot in language arts. This poem also includes other topics to explore such as, social justice, empathy, and kindness. The illustrations are as beautiful as the words in the poem.
Reciting poems
Through Poetry off the Page based on Glenis Redmond‘s workshop at the Kennedy Center, students learn how to best recite poems using their whole body through
-positioning themselves to recite by planting their feet on the ground
-projecting their voice to be heard
-personalizing a poem (make it theirs through movement and gestures), and
I wrote about the collaboration with another school in Barcelona, España as part of #SingleVoicesGlobalChoices to write blackout poetry both in the post Empowering Language Learners with Powerful Learning and in the article Connect, Adapt, Try New Things in Best Practices of Online Learning in COVID-19. Basically, blackout poems can be created using the pages of old books or articles. Students, as poets. isolate and then put together single words or short phrases from these texts to create something totally new.
Poetry from Art
I remember vividly the day that docents at the National Gallery of Art walked a group of teachers through different ways of creating poetry based on an art piece. I even wrote one myself! And in English! After brainstorming using a web organizer, I created a poem based on an art piece that is still meaningful to me. I am sharing it below.
After this experience, I learned more about the connection between art and poetry. It is fascinating! The following three books keep on being great inspirations to me:
The Tree is Older than You Are – a bilingual gathering of poems and stories from Mexico with paintings by Mexican artists – selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
Side by Side – New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World – Edited by Jan Greenberg
Poema sensorial
In the PD session, I learned that the following activity is based on “Walk into a Picture” from a booklet provided by Carol F. Peck. In sum, it is about using your senses to express what you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste when confronted with an art piece.
Follow these steps all while enjoying the process:
Look at the art and based on it, answer each question with words or phrases
Line 1. What do you hear?
Line 2. What do you smell?
Line 3. What do you see?
Line 4. What does it taste like?
Line 5. What do you feel on your skin? and
Line 6. How do you feel inside?
Once you have answered each question with words and phrases, circle only one word or phrase from each line
Choose only ONE of the circled words and copy it out on an index card
If the word that you chose belongs to the first line, place it where the teacher tells you
Once all students have placed the words from the first line, proceed to follow the same procedure for second, the third, etc. until you reach the last line
When all the lines are complete, students read the poem together.
If students like the poem, great! If students do not like how the poem sounds, students can move a few words or phrases around
Students read the poem again in silence and if everybody likes it, students read it all together again
(optional) Students can record themselves reading aloud the poem
It seems like a long process, but once you do it, it makes total sense. Trust me!
See an example done by my 5th grade class based on an illustration from the book Gathering the Sunby Alma Flor Ada and illustrated by Simon Silva.
I had so much fun creating poems using the ‘poema corto’ technique during a PD workshop some time ago. Then, I loved seeing my students’ faces when they created theirs and read them aloud to their friends.
Creating the ‘poema corto,’ which literally means ‘short poem’ is quite a long process, but it is totally worth it! Try it yourself or with your students and let me know in the comments how it went.
This is the graphic organizer in Spanish that I provided my students to make it easier to follow the steps of writing their ‘poema corto’
Abstracto (no lo puedes ver) Interno
Colores
Concreto (lo puedes ver) Externo
Verbos (lo que ___ puede hacer)
1. 2. 3.
1. 2. 3.
1. 2. 3.
1. 2. 3.
Steps to follow:
Write three abstract words, three colors and three concrete word
Write three verbs that describe each of the concrete words
Circle one of the abstract words
Circle the color that best describes it
Circle the concrete word that best describes the abstract word
Below the graphic organizer write the abstract word followed by the verb that best describes it
Continue writing the sentence by adding a comparison (a metaphor or a simile) using the three words that you had chosen. Complete your idea
Once you choose a word, you may not use it again. You may not need to use colors
Create two more sentences following the same process
Read the sentences aloud to a friend and choose one to share with the class
(optional) illustrate the sentence and record yourself reading aloud using Flipgrid, for example
Below are some examples written by my 5th grade Spanish students as a second language. As I teach Spanish, the poems were written and later recited, in Spanish. I was so proud of my students’ work. Enjoy!
El odio corre
como un lobo enojado.
Las emociones van y vuelven
como un jaguar enjaulado.
Los pensamientos viven
en una casa
porque los pensamientos viven en mi cabeza.
Los pensamientos leen
en mi cabeza
como yo leo libros.
Los sueños abrazan como un oso de peluche rosado.
Los sentimientos dan vueltas como un globo en el espacio.
Los sentimientos se divierten como un parque de muchos colores.
Los sentimientos comunican como palabras.
Sharing poems and poetry resources
If you know of other Professional Development opportunities for learning other ways to get students excited to learn poetry or other poetry resources, please share about them in the comments.
Other resources by Pat Mora and Rafael López
As an Amazon Associate LTL earns profits from qualified purchases
by Gabriela Barbieri – Marcela Velikovsky – Vicky Masson
Spring is in the air! or we wish it were… Continuing our tradition of bringing classroom resources for language teaching, we want to share with you a list of resources that we hope will inspire you in your teaching during the months of Spring. Enjoy!
“Interdisciplinary Connections” is a column of Language Teaching Lab to show specific examples of connections between world language teaching and other subjects at school
What is the AATSP Poster Contest?
The AATSP Poster Contest is an art contest sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. It is open to K-12 Spanish and Portuguese students whose teachers are current AATSP members.
https://www.aatsp.org/page/postercontest
I already participate in AATSP Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad. SHA is a society for Pre-K through 8th grade students of Spanish or Portuguese and it encourages young students to study languages as well as promoting ambassadorship, service to community, and service to school. I was excited to also participate in the AATSP Poster Contest 2022.
AATSP Poster Contest 2022 Theme
The theme for this year’s poster contest struck me the moment I read it. It is “Valorando nuestras raíces y construyendo nuestro futuro” (Valuing our roots and building our future). Maybe what struck me the most was the present implication in the balance between past and future, moreover in the uncertain times that we live in.
Why did I choose to do it this year?
Apart from loving the theme for the year “Valuing our roots and building our future”, 2022 is a big anniversary for the AATSP Poster Contest – it’s its 50th anniversary!
I chose to have my students participate this year because the poster contest:
Encourages cross-curriculum collaboration (social studies, art, Spanish, and technology)
Verbalizes appreciation for other languages and cultures
Promotes creative thinking
AATSP website suggests some other reasons to have our students participate in the contest.
The message aligns with the message to the school community from the head of school where I work. He constantly talks about creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and perseverance as essential skills to develop in education. I think that all these skills are present when creating the poster and when preparing for the presentational speaking and writing about it we do in class.
Another reason why I chose to have my students participate in the AATSP Poster Contest was to help achieve my goal of including #Powerful Learning principles in my teaching. This project includes the principles of personal and accessible to all students as each student brought their own experiences and abilities to the table. It is authentic and challenging as it is a contest where students of all the United States could participate. It motivates my students “to persist in overcoming learning challenges.”
This project is also collaborative as in many instances, students have to share their progress with each other in my class. Many students reported that listening to others’ ideas prompted new insights into their own learning and for their own project. Students also reflect on their learning at the end of the project as well.
As part of the #ReinventTheClassroom and HP Teaching Fellowship, I created my 2022 Vicky’s Vision Board. Having my students participate in the AATSP Poster Contest aligns with my vision.
How did I do it?
My students knew from day one that the art teachers at school would help with the selection of the three posters from 5th grade, for the 4th and 5th grade category, and the three from 6th grade, for the 6th to 8th grade category. They knew that I would assess their ability to describe their posters orally and in writing.
Students would draw their pictures at home and we would describe them at school. For two weeks they were to draw 10 minutes each night and document their journey with a few photos that they would insert in ClassNote, part of our Learning Management System.
In class, students brainstormed words and phrases for the theme. They also explained what the words and phrases represented. For ‘valuing’ they mentioned words such as, life, family, culture, sports, graduation, and other things that were important to them. They mentioned trees, soil, nature, as well as flags, culture, music, food, religion to represent ‘our roots.’ It was harder for them to come up with symbols for the word ‘building’ that did not include cranes, puzzles, and bricks.
The words ‘our future’ prompted tons of futuristic ideas and topics. They included space, planets, flying cars, UFOs, spaceships. Students also included portals and doors. The greatest challenge for them was to think from a hispanic/latino point of view and consider that lens in their drawings. The project helped them grow in their understanding of ACTFL Standards of Communication, Comparison, Connections, Communities and Culture as well as the Investigate Proficiency Benchmark on Intercultural Communications.
After unpacking the meaning of the theme and ways in which they could represent it through drawing, students immersed themselves into how to describe the drawing in Spanish, orally and in writing. That is where language structures and vocabulary emerged. The need to express ideas helped pinpoint important and necessary sentence starters such as,
The drawing is about…
There is/ are … in the poster
The … is + color because
To the right / To the left / In the background / On the front
The… represents…
Students also used beginning sentences that they had learnt in previous units, such as,
I like / I love
In my opinion / To me
My drawing has
… person … has / is / wants to / prefers …
This project gave me the opportunity to introduce students to topic and conclusion sentences. We brainstormed them as a class and we came up with a few examples of each. Students could possibly memorize and use them in their presentational assessments. Many students included at least a short and brief statement at the beginning and at the end of their speaking and writing. I am proud of students’ progress and language development that occurred during this project.
The collaborative piece in their daily interactions helped them become more confident in their language skills. They would describe orally their poster to a friend or they would read what they had written in small groups. Students knew, though, from the start that they would only be able to use their drawings in their presentational speaking and in their presentational writing. When it came the time they had to speak and write about their drawing without any other support than the drawing, for the most part, they were ready. The project would not have been complete without reflecting about it.
Students’ Reflection Questions and Answers
Students had to answer a few questions in English about their experience. I inserted some of their answers to the questions provided below.
What are you proud of? What went well for you?
I am proud of my presentational writing because it went well for me.
I learnt that I am capable of writing paragraphs in Spanish.
I am proud that after hours of working hard, I finally pulled off a very good drawing for the contest. I think something that went well for me was how I had some good ideas from the beginning, and I expanded it into one good drawing.
I think the Poster Contest was a fun assignment because I got to learn more about Spanish while I had fun drawing the poster and making creative ways to represent the themes in my poster.
I think that I am proud of the work that I put into this project and that all though I am not necessarily the best artist I like how my poster turned out.
I’m proud of my word choices, I took risks with words and overall I think I did well. I think I was good at describing my thinking.
I think that the poster contest went well, because I could write/speak about my poster with some amount of fluency.
I am proud of how I made my poster and how I could explain it with a basic level of fluency.
I think that what went well for me was being able to apply the theme to what I was drawing on my poster.
What was challenging? Making of the poster? Describing your poster in speaking? Describing your poster in writing?
Describing my poster in writing was really hard and challenging because sometimes you didn’t know how to say something and you had to improvise.
It was challenging thinking of an idea and how to add onto it.
What was challenging for me was making the poster because some of the little details were hard
I think it was hard speaking all about the drawing, but it got easier as I did it more.
Overall, I think I did a good job on my writing. I think I could have improved on my speaking, but I tried my best.
I think that one thing challenging was how we had to draw based off of a theme, and I had to think for some time on what I was going to draw.
It was challenging making an idea for the drawing/design of the poster related to the title.
What did you learn about yourself?
I learned something spiritual I’m not sure how, but I felt different when I was drawing
I learned that I had a lot of fun with drawing projects and want to do some in the future.
I think one thing I learned about myself is that even if you are a bad drawer, with some effort you can have an amazing drawing.
I learned that if I study enough, I can talk and write about something I drew.
I think I need to trust myself more because I make the right decision more often than not.
I learned about myself that if I rest after writing and then reread [my writing] it will help
I think I can explain my ideas better
Has this project in any way transformed the way you see the world? How?
This project showed me that there are many ways to make a difference no matter your race, no matter your gender, no matter how other people look at you.
I see all the roots and future that Americans and Spanish have.
Yes, this project has transformed I see the world because now I see how the roots and future of Spanish and Portuguese can come together.
This project made me realize how the world can change in many ways.
It has changed my perspective on other people’s posters getting inspired and seeing new ideas
This project did transform the way I see the world. I used to not really think about my roots or my future, but now I realize that they’re more important than they sound. The future is still unknown, but it’s still important to think about it.
I think this project has transformed how I see the world because looking at my picture I see the Spanish culture and the lively and happy future ahead.
It helps me see the world in the past and then in the future.
It has by when looking at buildings I can see my future and when I look at a tree, I can see my family’s roots.
This project has made me proud of where I come from and made me value my family more.
Because I know that every [person] must work together to construct our future
I am happy to have asked my students to participate in the AATSP Poster Contest. As an added benefit, it helped me get to know my students better.
“EdTech”is a column of Language Teaching Lab where we highlight the use of educational technology in the world language class
What is VideoAsk?
VideoAsk allows you to build stronger relationships with students by getting a personal almost face-to-face response from them. A wonderful way of capturing all your students’ thoughts and ideas at once, in video! Start video asking with your students right away.
Why is it essential for language teaching and learning?
The VideoAsk widget lets you get a personal almost face-to-face response from students on day one and keep on building it. With VideoAsk you welcome students every day, every week, or every semester. It allows you to start an authentic dialogue with each student and add a more personal touch to any assignment. It engages your students with its welcoming and easy to use interface. Students get to know YOU better as well.
Best of all, students do not need an account to answer your questions or give you feedback. In one click, they respond to your video and you get their answers by video, audio, or in writing. You decide. As an added value, you can organize the answers in different folders, name the folder and the video response and much more.
‘Why do we teach…?‘ is a column of Language Teaching Lab. It might help us think deeper on why we teach a certain topic. In addition, it might show a new perspective on how to teach it.
Learning about ‘cognates’ and ‘circumlocution’ helped students feel successful during an assessment. When my students finish their assessments most of the time I ask for feedback. I want to know what my students are thinking and feeling. After the last presentational writing, I asked my students what helped them while they were writing.
In a group of ten students, two said that they thought of cognates to help them write or figure out words to use in their writing. A third student told me that he thought of the game we play where “you say words about something without mentioning the word”. He said that it helped him come up with words to use in his writing.
Why I teach the word ‘cognate’ the first day of class
Many years ago, as summer reading, my students read Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa. As far as I remember, very early in the novel, we learn about the power of ‘cognates.’ That was one of the first words the Spanish teacher taught her class. I teach my students the word ‘cognate’ the very first day we meet as a class.
Learning about cognates makes a huge difference in the quantity of vocabulary a novice proficiency level language student might acquire. I invite students to act like detectives, trying to find clues in words by comparing them to their native language.
How I use ‘cognates‘
Once students feel comfortable being language ‘detectives,’ I purposefully ask them to find cognates in interpretive reading taks and listen for cognates in interpretive listening tasks first of all.
Students immediately realize that by looking for cognates, they already understand many words in the text or audio, even before starting to analyze it.
While having class discussions or group conversations they tend to ask ‘how do you say…?’ I immediately tell them that the word is a cognate and ask them if they can figure out what it can be, which they do 90% of the time. Some of my students even create their own list of cognates and refer to it during practice assessments or assignments.
Where I find resources
Co-creating a list of cognates or presenting students with lists of cognates are ways of increasing the variety of vocabulary they can use. My go to lists are Colorin Colorado and Mondly.
Why I teach ‘circumlocution‘
Teaching circumlocution increases communication in world language classes. I learned about circumlocution during an OWL (Organic World Language) professional development training many years ago. According to dictionary.com, circumlocution is “a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.” In general, we are taught to use the best words to express our thoughts so it seems that circumlocution is contradictory. When it comes to languages, it is not.
Why do I think that teaching ‘circumlocution’ is one of the best gifts I can give my students? Simply put, it helps students stay in the language using words that they know and figuring out how to express their thoughts with the content they own.
How I teach ‘circumlocution‘
Circumlocution expands students’ vocabulary and at the same time, It helps learners categorize. Categories help students be able to express themselves in the language they are learning by making associations among words that share the same or similar carachteristics. Learning circumlocution is a game changer!
I usually use games to help students use circumlocution, like the one my student mentioned after the assesment. I call that ‘Adivina’ which basically means ‘guess.’ It is a low prep game where you show a picture to students. One of them describes one of the objects in the picture and the others (usually in groups) have to guess what it refers to. The one who guesses chooses the next word. A similar game is the famous ‘20 questions’ in which students have 20 questions to find out the chosen word. Both games are favorites in my classes.
What are some structures to use
A simple search in Quizlet or Kahoot will give you ready-to-use activities to practice circumlocution. If you search Teachers Pay Teachers or Pinterest you will also find lots of useful resources.
‘Cognates’ and ‘circumlocution‘
My premise is that I teach a language with the purpose of having my students think and communicate (locally or globally) what they want to say and how, in another language. When I provide tools like cognates and circumlocution, students take ownership of their learning and feel successful in class. I want students to stay in the language and also to take risks, so cognates and circumlocution give students superpowers.
Resources mentioned
–Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa – As an Amazon Associate LTL earns from qualifying purchases
by Marcela Velikovsky, Gabriela Barbieri & Vicky Masson
Interdisciplinary Connections is a column of Language Teaching Lab to show specific examples of connections between world language teaching and other subjects at school
Back by popular demand! After publishing our blog “How do you celebrate El Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead?” in October, readers’ interest grew on having other lists of classroom tested resources. Marcela, Gaby, and I decided to start gathering what we use for Winter and December Holidays. Though not exhaustive, this list reflects some of our go-to resources. Enjoy!
‘What’s in a framework?’ is a column of Language Teaching Lab. A framework informs our teaching and it shows a unique philosophy. It gives us a shared language and purpose, and it lets us see teaching and learning from diverse perspectives
What is Powerful Learning?
Powerful Learning empowers all students to work towards a better world providing voice, agency, and time to reflect on their learning journey, all while using technology with a purpose.
As an #HP Teaching Fellow, I am part of the #ReinventTheClassroom program, which is a collaboration with HP, Microsoft, Intel, and Digital PromiseI, and I am a teacher ambassador and an advocate for Powerful Learning.
Essential Questions in Language Classes and Powerful Learning
Essential questions are key in all disciplines and help maintain the focus of what we do. Language essential questions might read:
-How might learning a language expand my worldview to understand and value perspectives, to connect and collaborate in multicultural environments, and to become a global citizen?
-How might learning information, concepts, and ideas in another language challenge and invite deeper thinking, and help develop an inquisitive mind, all while reflecting and taking action?
-How can I best use the language I am learning to express myself and gain understanding in authentic contexts, in person and online?
These essential questions align with the eight principles of Powerful Learning to engage students’ hearts and minds
Personal and Accessible
Authentic and Challenging
Collaborative and Connected
Inquisitive and Reflective
Personal and Accessible
In short, Personal indicates that every student has a unique learning profile. We should rethink learning styles, standards, and averages as Jessica Jackson Practitioner Partnerships Director at the Learning Variability Project explains. She describes the factors that influence learning and how to put into practice some strategies that work for student learning in the GWATFL TIPS Learner Variability video.
It is Accessible when educators remove barriers and provide structures and supports, such as those related to the pedagogy educators use, the use of technology, and the design of a learning environment conducive to learning. Digital Promise Research-Based Design Certified Products verify products that are Accessible. I have used many of them in my language class, such as ‘Actively Learn,’ ‘BrainPop,’ ‘Newsela,’ ‘Microsoft,’ and ‘Quizlet,’ and I would like to explore more.
How does this connect with something I already know?
Real World is a Digital Promise resource that guides you through the steps of the process of finding authenticity in your teaching. Give it a try!
The Challenging principlebrings in students’ strengths, setting high expectations, all while supporting students actively by making it a productive struggle.
I used the Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) framework as well as the app ‘Need a nudge?’ with my Spanish Club, a Spanish Chapter for the AATSP Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad. In the Engage phase, students worked on our Big Idea which was Connections, our Essential Question “How do we invite people from our community to speak Spanish with us?” and the Challenge, which was to design learning experiences to connect with Spanish-speakers in our community. Students went on to the Investigate phase and then the Act phase, all along reflecting and documenting their findings. Awesome learning happened!
Collaborative and Connected
It is Collaborative when students work together to solve problems, learn from and teach each other, collaborate and communicate to create.
This is one of my favorite Collaborative projects ever! The No.More.Plastic project involved more than 416 schools globally across 68 countries, covering six continents. During 3 weeks students focused on the problem, solutions, and how to take action. Students learned about the UN Sustainable Development Goals first. My students created a chant to raise awareness about the use of plastic. They presented their chant at the school cafeteria as they felt it was the place they needed to start reducing the use of plastic the most. It was a moving experience!
It is Connected whenstudents use technology purposefully, connect with their community and across the globe, and educators become co-creators in the process.
My students participated in a global and collaborative project, #SingleVoicesGlobalChoices, opened to Middle School and High School students. We are located near Washington, DC and the other class was located in Barcelona, Spain. Both classes worked on creating Blackout Poems to celebrate National Poetry Day. We used a variety of EdTech tools such as Newsela, OneNote, Flipgrid and Padlet. My students loved the project!
Inquisitive and Reflective
In the Inquisitive principle, inquiry is a vehicle for understanding and it can be empowering. Learners ask questions, seek answers, and seek new questions. Being inquisitive helps making connections.
In the Design it Yourself! Mini-Exhibit by the Cooper Hewitt museum students had to design their mini-exhibit using items found at home.
Students reflected on their work by answering questions such as,
–Has this project transformed the way you see the world?
–What did you learn about yourself?
In the Reflective principle, reflection supports deeper learning in context, it helps with the synthesis of new ideas and to better understand yourself and the world.
When assessing Interpersonal Speaking, I generally use T. A. L. K. (fromThe Keys to Planning for Learning) an acronym where the T stands for Talk/Time, the A for accuracy in content and form, the L stands for Listening, and the K for Kindness. To me this last is the one that helps students reflect the most when they ask themselves ‘How can I help someone else achieve?’ They are putting on somebody’s shoes and being empathetic.
Challenges of Implementing Powerful Learning
Implementing Powerful Learning may be challenging. Consider these tips when you start this journey:
Put one principle into practice and grow from there
Align to the work you are already doing
Consider your “why”
Keep students at the centre of all decision making processes
Quoting Digital Promise, “Powerful Learning … provide[s] opportunities for students to deeply engage in their learning while using technology in ways that contribute to closing the Digital Learning Gap.”
Are you using Powerful Learning in your language classes?
Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead or Halloween? October starts and there is this buzz in the classrooms about what to wear for Halloween. When we get near to the date, the conversation about chocolate, candy, and costumes is constant. Our minds, however, revolves around Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead, its significance on the one hand, and the different ways that is celebrated in Spanish-speaking communities around the world.
Depending on the age group we teach any given year, we use different resources gathered along the way. Therefore, if somebody asks us, ‘How do you celebrate El Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead?’ the answer will vary as we gear our choice of resources to the students we teach, what is going on in the world, and other circumstances. Sometimes we choose to teach resources about Halloween to have students compare the two celebrations.
Resources
Below you will find a list of some resources that Gaby, Marcela, and myself have used related to The Day of the Dead/Halloween in our years of teaching. Enjoy!
What resources do you use to teach El Día de los Muertos / the Day of the Dead? Share them with us!
by Gabriela Barbieri, Marcela Velikovsky, and Vicky Masson –
Interdisciplinary Connections is a column of Language Teaching Lab to show specific examples of connections between world language teaching and other subjects at school
“EdTech”is a column of Language Teaching Lab where we highlight the use of educational technology in the world language class
To say that teaching with COVID-19 in 2020 was challenging is an understatement!
Whether you had to teach 100% virtually or a hybrid combination of online and in person, the challenge in the world language classes was how to address all modes of communication fairly equally. The Google Meet breakout rooms were okay, but I couldn’t get the whole conversation if I wanted to listen to all my students. Sometimes they would see me join the breakout room and become nervous so I felt I was disrupting their conversation. I wasn’t sure how to get my students to do interpersonal speaking in real time, listen to them, give them feedback, and assess them without spending all my waking hours on the computer. I was becoming crazy with all the different tabs I needed open on my laptop in order to plan and teach my lesson.
One day, my prayers were answered. The Director of Innovation and Educational Technology at my school introduced us to Kami. My challenges were solved with Kami.
https://www.kamiapp.com/
What is Kami?
Kami is a digital classroom tool that helps teachers create flexible and collaborative learning environments. I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I tried it and discovered all I could accomplish with only one tool! It was amazing! Kami Interacts with any documents; it creates, sends, and grades assignments all from one place, it works online or offline, and enables students to interact with teachers, resources, and each other by using text, freehand, audio, voice-typing, or video.
https://www.kamiapp.com/
I’m including their video so you can learn a bit more about it.
How I Use Kami
For Interpersonal Speaking Assessments
First, I would create a document with the directions and prompts to assess interpersonal speaking and give it to the student-partners. One of the partners made a copy and shared it with his classmate so they could work together while maintaining the safe 6-feet-apart distance if both were at school and also if one partner was at school and the other was at home. Taking turns, they would use the voice feature to record themselves and complete the conversation. They shared it with me and I would give them feedback inserting an image of the rubric and using either the voice or text message to focus on their strengths and areas for growth.
Interpersonal Speaking Rubric
For Reading Aloud
I also use Kami as a practice tool for reading aloud. I can open any PDF text with Kami and I record my own reading aloud to model and then have students read aloud while they record themselves. This way I can see how they decode the text and what sounds give them the most trouble. In my feedback, I can share some strategies on how to articulate and connect sounds so the listener can understand what they say.
For Interpretive Reading and Annotation
When we read novellas in class, I use a digital copy of the chapter to project on my screen. This way, students can see when I highlight, underline and write as we read along so they do it in their own text. The writing tool allows me to write new vocabulary, but also to verbalize our thinking as we read and make connections to the text. Students write annotations in sticky notes that add to the pages in their book. This is an example of Brandon Brown quiere un perro, by Carol Gaab:
For Presentational and Collaborative Writing
I can open my students’ projects and see who wrote what and when. This helps me know exactly how I can better support them depending on their needs. I can also make a copy for each partner so each student receives individual feedback.
Why I like Kami
Being a language teacher, I design lessons that include all modes of communication, so having such a versatile tool that allows me to interact and use what I already have in one platform is my dream come true! In addition, I always have lots of feedback for my students and time does not allow me to conference with them in person as I’d like. So another perk of this fantastic tool is that it allows me to give them feedback right away and directly on the assignment that they virtually hand-in. I can underline or circle things in their writing at the same time I record or write my explanation.
This is an example of how I used Kami with my novice students
And you? How have you used Kami? If you haven’t used it yet, are you ready to try?
“Interdisciplinary Connections” is a column of Language Teaching Lab to show specific examples of connections between world language teaching and other subjects at school
by Vicky Masson
Interdisciplinary connections
Long-lasting learning happens when students’ minds and hearts are involved and invested in their own growth, when what is being taught sparks their curiosity, and when they make connections. The more senses involved, the better. Interdisciplinary connections are powerful experiences for student learning.
What is Olivia y el violin
Olivia y el violín by Silvina Rocha and illustrated by Vanessa Zorn is a picture book in Spanish about a girl named Olivia who is in search of creating beautiful melodies using her violin. She experiments with different sounds and tries new ways of playing music with her violin. At times she is frustrated, at times she is sad, and at times she wants to give up. However, Olivia persists. She persists till she succeeds in creating music.
When I read the book, I absolutely loved it! At that time I was teaching Spanish in elementary and middle school. The music teacher also taught strings in elementary to second and third graders, and to middle school students. It sparked an idea in me. We got together and looked at the book illustrations. Then, we talked about the content of the book and how it would be a novel way of introducing her second and third graders to violin lessons, so we gave it a try.
Impromptu performance to students starting with violin lessons
We arranged a time that would work with our schedules and off we went! I started reading the book in Spanish and she started playing the violin following what I was reading. The second and third graders’ Spanish proficiency was limited and the book had what we would consider ‘big’ words.
I used all possible body language to make it comprehensible to the students and to the music teacher. She was creating music, sounds, and melodies with her violin at the words’ rhythm.
There is a part in the book that says that violins can jump, scream, mumble, complain, sing in whispers, and stomp on the floor. Well, the music teacher made the violin perform all those actions full of emotion, as if the violin were sort of speaking. The students broke into a loud applause and cheered us wholeheartedly. We were both humbled by our students’ reaction to the experience.
Book becomes part of my classroom Spanish library
The next class, the students asked me to read the story again. I added the book to our classroom library and each time we had independent reading, students reread Olivia y el violin and recalled the experience.
What are some interdisciplinary connections experiences that you have to share?
Syncretic Press: Get 10% discount when you use the code LANGTECH99 at checkout
“EdTech” is a column of Language Teaching Lab where we highlight the use of educational technology in the world language class
by Vicky Masson
Wonder.me is the next Zoom/Teams?
I had the opportunity to attend the #HPTeachingFellow Summer Convening where I experienced Wonder.me first hand. I loved how I could easily navigate this site, forever changing the way I saw online meetings. I am looking forward to using Wonder.me in my language classes.
What is Wonder.me?
Wonder.me is a platform to connect with other people. This connection can take the form of virtual networking, virtual gatherings, and virtual spaces.This platform is simple to navigate and it gives you the freedom to move from one space to another by moving your avatar to another area or circle. Does it sound complicated? Watch this short video to see how Wonder.me works and what it looks like
Wonder.me Introduction
How does it differ from Zoom/Teams?
Zoom and Teams are great and they have their own purpose. I have used both of them when teaching, and depending on what I am planning to do I would choose one or the other. My premise is to choose the best edtech tool for my students to thrive, and Wonder.me gives me another option to connect my students among themselves and to the world.
What do you need to do?
To use Wonder.me in a language class, you need to create an account with Wonder.me, which is free, and you need to become a host – you can also have co-hosts. That way you can invite guests to join your students and you to Wonder.me.
As a host, you set up different areas, decide the content for each area, and plan how students will interact. You decide how much autonomy you want to give your students and you also have the option of talking to all the groups/circles/areas by making announcements when needed. You can decide what background to choose depending on the unit of study. As a host you can include a question that everybody has to answer to join your Wonder.me space and much more!
This 5 minute video gives you an idea of what a host can do and how it is done.
When can Wonder.me be used in language teaching and learning?
Wonder.me’s mission, “to give the world a space where groups can meet and talk” goes hand in hand with the nature of a language class: to have students think in another language and communicate their ideas orally and in writing with others –the chat feature works great for this.
As you can see, there are many possibilities to be explored in a language class using Wonder.me. Here are two examples of how I would use Wonder.me in a language class:
Book circles:
This applies when reading books in your own class or with a classroom partner
When reading the same novel, have students choose or assign students to join different circles for each character in a book
When reading different books, each circle hosts students that are reading the same book
Collaboration Spaces:
This applies to groups in your own class or with groups between your class and a classroom partner. Students navigate to a circle in order to…
discuss topics
solve a problem
provide definitions of their own
create a story
analyze an image using a PZ Thinking Routine
investigate and research
prepare for an interview
Interview other students
One of the features that I like the most about Wonder.me is that you can see where every student is at any given time. That, to me, is precious!.
Do you have a favorite edtech tool to use in your language classes?
“Museums Alive” is a column of Language Teaching Lab that aims to connect the authentic resources of museums, art galleries, and other collections to the teaching and learning of World Languages.
Why authentic resources
Authentic resources in World Language such as art and artifacts help explain and understand the people that created and used them, its history, and its culture. They tell stories, are springboards for deeper learning, and leave memorable impressions to those who come in contact with them. Also, they open our minds to new perspectives and make it easier to relate to different points of view.
What is the Smithsonian Learning Lab
The Smithsonian Learning Lab (SLL) is a platform that connects the millions of objects that belong to the Smithsonian institution to anyone in any part of the world who has internet access. The SLL helps you find digital resources, create content using online tools, and share them with the world.
Why use the Smithsonian Learning Lab in a World Language Class
What a better way of learning a language than using the authentic resources from the SLL! The platform has millions of authentic resources at our disposal. The SLL collection that my colleague and I created, “Using Authentic Resources,” can give you ideas on what type of art and artifacts to choose and how to include them in the World Language class.
The artwork included in this collection helps students understand how art reflects culture by exploring and learning about cultural topics. It increases their language proficiency and develop global competence and 21st century skills.
How we Teach with the SLL: PZ Thinking Routines, SDGs, and EdTech Tools
Creating a collection with the SLL allows you to have all that you need accessible in one place. Most importantly for teachers to consider is how you present the unit for student learning. All while, they use EdTech tools for a purpose: from Flipgrid to EdPuzzle to Teams or Google Docs. The SLL allows you to create collections with interdisciplinary connections.
People, Place & Time: How Art Reflects Culture
The collection “People, Place, & Time was presented at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language Conference 2019.” It explores how integrating museum resources, Global Thinking Routines, and the Sustainable Development Goals can help students understand who the people are, when and where they live, and what they do. In the collection teachers will find guiding questions to help with lesson planning, presentation slides, museum resources, examples of student work, and links to the three case-study collections.
Using the SLL is quite simple. In the following GWATFL TIPS video, “Introduction to the Smithsonian Learning Lab,” Tess Porter, Digital Content Producer at the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, explains how to use the SLL. Follow her tips and in no time you will have your own collection to use with your students.
In short, using authentic resources helps develop global competence and prepares students to communicate and interact in the world. It helps our students move beyond their inner circle and familiar contexts to understand people from different cultures with different points of view.
Using the SLL digital resources combined with Project Zero Thinking Routines and relating what we teach to the Sustainable Development Goals connect students with real-world global issues, all while raising empathy and curiosity.
How do you teach for Global Competence with Authentic Resources? How would you use the Smithsonian Learning Lab in your teaching?
. Pues muy sencillo: porque así nos lo exige nuestra amiga la pragmática. En efecto, lo que pretendemos en estos casos es hacer valer el propio criterio, individualizando al hablante frente a otras personas. 
. Es que, de otra forma, no podríamos alcanzar nuestros objetivos comunicativos. Os lo digo yo, que algo he leído sobre esto… 
.
. ¿Qué dices? ¿Que soy un vago? ¿Yo?
. ¡Eso lo será el señor Freud!
