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.
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.
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.
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 😠.
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.
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!
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
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‘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
‘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.
Emotions galore
Why is it important to build a culture of trust in our language class? The beginning of the school year is always one full of emotions for me. I love new beginnings and I know my students love them too. Each new year allows us a fresh start. It is like having a blank page in front of us to draw and write our next chapter.
Apart from this initial excitement towards a new year, my students also feel the uncertainty of the unknown. They have lots of questions regarding their new teachers, friendships, and also, let’s face it, how they are going to be assessed. Students want to succeed in school and each year brings new challenges.
Building connections
Teachers want to learn about their students. They want to know about students’ strengths and stressors. At the beginning and throughout the year teachers usually plan activities and tasks that will help them get to know their students better. ‘What do they like?’ ‘What is important to them?’ ‘How can I help students overcome obstacles?’ Building those connections takes time and it is absolutely worth it. The more we learn about students’ identities, backgrounds, and of course, how they learn best, the better. I see building these connections at the center of my teaching. But wouldn’t it be important to start concentrating on developing ‘Trust’ first?
HP Teaching Fellow Challenge-Based Learning
I am so lucky to be a Digital Promise #HPTeachingFellow! The fellowship helped me tackle last year’s new distance learning modality with strength and support.
Along with other fellows, we embarked on a Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) Nano-Challenge.
CBL is about engaging, investigating, and acting upon a challenge. The Nano-Challenge (as it was a small challenge) consisted of exploring the idea of building positive relations with students in distance learning.
The group I belonged to had teachers and instructional coaches. We engaged in the Nano-challenge and investigated different ways of building relations with students in distance learning. After some thought and prompted by questions posed by our facilitators, we came to the conclusion that in order to build positive relationships, students needed to trust us first. Therefore, we shifted our ‘act’ question to answer “How do we build trust for student learning?”
Building a culture of trust
I realized through the Nano-Challenge that by building a culture of trust first, our students would feel safe and supported while in distance learning. Now that I am starting a new school year, I believe that building a culture of trust applies to onsite learning too.
To develop and build a culture of trust in my language class, I put together some activities into a lesson plan. The following includes one of the activities we did. I used the Harvard Project Zero Thinking Routine, “Root Cause” thus, becoming “Root Cause of Trust.” For this part of the lesson I had students work with assigned partners.
In this routine, to build a culture of trust, I used the tree metaphor. Students write the issue in question, trust in this case, in the middle of the trunk. What makes people trust is identified on the tree roots, and what trust reflects or how it is reflected is in the branches and leaves of the tree.
I was amazed at how much students opened up throughout the lesson but in particular during the ‘Root Cause’ task. Students were also amazed at having someone explicitly asking and talking with them about trust.
Giving students agency and showing them you care for what they have to say is key in building relationships and trust. It deepens your understanding of who they are and what they care about. Most importantly, my students understood that I really cared about them. This lesson allowed me to emphasize a classroom culture where learning would happen. And all was done virtually and in Spanish!
Begin with a culture of trust and everything else will fall into place
In times of remote learning (or face-to-face learning), it is not only critical getting to know students or building relationships between students and teachers, but primarily it is about building trust. Once trust is present, as fragile as trust might sometimes be, students will surely share more about how they feel, what they think, and how their ‘mindsets’ adapt and change to the new realities.
We are starting a new year. I should begin having my students talk about what is important to them. I should weave into my curriculum other lessons related to other deep concepts like ‘trust.’ Which concepts would you investigate in your classes?
‘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.
This was me back then
How do you teach to describe people? For a long time, early in my career, I embraced the typical unit on how to describe people wholeheartedly. Most of all, I loved teaching descriptive words. In particular, I was so happy to teach my students how to say the eye color in Spanish.
What a great way to show that ‘green eyes’ or ‘brown eyes’ would become ‘los ojos verdes’ or ‘los ojos marrones’ in Spanish.
I would emphasize the sentence structure needed in Spanish compared to English:
articles + nouns + colors/adjectives – in Spanish
color + noun – in English
Moreover, I was delighted to explain how to use the articles and the colors in the plural form, a concept that was extremely difficult to grasp for my learners. To make things even more complicated, I happily added that in the case of ‘brown eyes’ you could also say ‘los ojos café’ where the adjective remains singular!
My students would practice saying the eye-color through describing family pictures, friends and playing ‘Guess Who?’
I used to teach article-noun-adjective-verb agreement through this unit and I felt accomplished. I was teaching about the language and not necessarily to think and communicate in the language.
Fastforward, I don’t do that anymore
So, what happened? Teaching evolves. Language research provides new approaches and methodologies. We study. We read. Suddenly, it doesn’t make any sense to describe people for the sake of teaching agreement. I mean, I continue to explain the importance of agreement in class to avoid comprehension gaps, but I explain it depending on the functions we use and of course, always in context.
One aspect of teaching that has changed is the push for the decolonization of the curriculum. We want to be inclusive in our teaching. We want to consider the variety of voices that encompass a language. And in doing so, we fall into another trap.
We often present our learners with a textbook unit, where they showcase people from another culture that are probably different from our students, and we ask students to describe them. Without realizing we may perpetuate stereotypes by doing so. We are pointing out differences in our humanity without celebrating them.
How do we break this cycle?
One way I broke this cycle of perpetuating stereotypes in my classes was by referring to the cultural iceberg to frame my teaching.
Students define culture, iceberg, and talk about what the phrase cultural iceberg may mean in their own words.
After we brainstorm what a cultural iceberg could be and what it could be about, we describe visuals, read articles, and watch videos about the cultural iceberg. Even novice learners can do this. It is a question of finding the correct resources, scaffolding the teaching, and putting students into the driver’s seat.
Then, I ask students what words come to mind when they ‘describe people.’ We brainstorm ideas on physical characteristics and personality traits that they could use.
A task that has proven effective for perspective taking was to ask students to describe themselves by their personality traits first. Then, to compare themselves to a family member. Most importantly, have them think about what personality traits from their chosen family member they would like to have themselves and why. This challenged them to put themselves on someone else’s shoes.
After connecting the cultural iceberg to describing people, I asked why it might be important to be able to describe people in Spanish. We talked about people as prisms, gems, and multifaceted unique beings.
This exercise reminds students that a person is more than its physical characteristics. I include an example that shows this from an activity that I created as part of my own professional development during an ISTE conference.
The cultural iceberg becomes our framework
We might continue by asking what happens when two cultures come together and what elements of those cultures are shared at first. We connect the topic to diversity and extend it to linguistic diversity, for example. We can talk about music as a universal language, distinctive but unifying. We can also talk about literature, food, and clothing. We conclude that for the most part these are products of a culture.
After defining the words ‘products,’ ‘practices,’ and ‘perspectives,’ I proceed to ask students to sketch an iceberg and add those words to it.
We refer back to what students said about culture earlier. Students generally conclude that they concentrated on the part of the iceberg that is visible. It is what we see of a culture, mostly its ‘products.’ Just below the surface we find the ‘practices’ or how it is done. Finally, the part of the iceberg that is even deeper, refers to the ‘perspectives’ or why it is done.
Having incorporated the ‘cultural iceberg’ framework in my teaching has allowed me to help my students expand the lens through which they study a language. It has helped them to find the differences as well as the similarities among humanity. It has also helped me anchor my teaching.
What are you doing differently now than when you started 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!
