Minute by Minute Spanish

Spanish Lessons

Spanish 1 Day 1 Lesson Script for 90% Target Language

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Spanish 1 Day 1 Free Daily Tech Guide for 90% TL and VCI class
90% Target Language Class day 1

 

How do we create a comfortable environment for our lower level Spanish classes while striving for the 90% target language goal?

Today on “Spanish Teachers in the US” a teacher  asked this heart-felt question.

For me and my first year students, the answer is visual comprehensible input. (vci)

I support everything with a visual – my daily flipchart has 60 – 100 slides of visual support. I believe that first you use direct instruction of 50 survival expressions and train the students to speak to the teacher and  also to one another in Spanish.

2020 Update – Distance Learning Day 1 Lesson 

Hybrid Day 1 Lesson

Next, you script your lessons minute by minute, embedding audio, movies, transitions, pages, worksheets, everything you use so that students understand what to do, even if they don’t understand everything you say, they get the message without using English.

While I described it in words, Toni Harris and Silvia Vazquez Paramio requested to see what this would look like.   Spot on, that is what our students are thinking while we are speaking in the target language, “Can you give us a visual?”

I’ve created a thinglink to show you the Daily Tech Guide (DTG) that I used the first day of school on September 9, 2015. If you want to use this DTG, you can download it for free from TpT. I have made about 30 or so of these available and hope to add one a day as I teach with it. Enjoy!

 

Day 1 First Day of Spanish One with 90% Target Language and 100% Comprehensible Input

Note: since writing this last year I have come up with Spanish Class Hacks to 90% TL and Classroom Management for those teachers needing a quick DTG for other levels.

I made a poster to explain it with a link.

 

How do we create a comfortable environment for our lower level Spanish classes while striving for the 90% target language goal? Visual Comprehensible Input (VCI) See what it looks like for a Spanish 1 Class on Day 1 and download it for free.
Thinglink of a Spanish One Day One 90% Target Language Class

Video Day 1 from ellen shrager on Vimeo.

 

Free Download from TeacherspayTeachers        More Lessons Available           Survival Expressions – Class Decorations

 

Link to videos mentioned below!

visual lesson plan for 90 TL

 

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Compelling Transitions are Key to Creating Classroom Routines, Managing Student Behavior, and Staying in the Target Language!

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Spanish song and video "Feliz Lunes" is the perfect 90 second transition for students as they come to class on Mondays. Musical Videos make transitions seamless, improve student behavior, classroom management and maintain 90% target language usage.
Spanish song and video “Feliz Lunes” is the perfect 90 second transition for students as they come to class on Mondays. Musical Videos make transitions seamless, improve student behavior, classroom management and maintain 90% target language usage.

 

 

 

 

What if you only have 25 minutes a day to prepare for a class lesson and want to improve class routines, student behavior, classroom management, and stay in the target language?

1. Make a slide for each activity in the day’s lesson.

2. Insert one of my brief 50+ transition videos before the slide and train your students to watch the video in Spanish. Soon they are imitating the voice over or else singing the song. Do this every  day and when you are observed by your administrators they will note your seamless transitions.

3. Buy a remote presentation device or wireless mouse and click to the next slide from any part of the room so you can stand close to students who struggle to behave.

Let’s start with Mondays. Students are coming into your room and an engaging, 90 second video called “Feliz Lunes” nudges them to start thinking in and using Spanish. As the bell rings, click to your slide with your pre-class and start your greetings and attendance taking. Don’t be surprised if the students are still singing it under their breath.

How to purchase “Feliz Lunes”

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New Spanish Teacher Landmines!

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New teachers need to infuse their classes with their latest innovation techniques while being respectful of the experience of their colleagues.

Too late, many new teachers overlook the importance of investing time with other members of their department and getting to know all of the support staff.  It has become such a problem that I added a new chapter to my latest edition of Teacher Dialogues.  New teachers come with fresh and innovative ideas and many tend to discount the value of experience and collegiality with everyone in the building, not just their texting buds.

Experienced teachers will prevent you from having endless meetings with unhappy parents, lend you their version of a video when yours is scratched, and use the photocopying machine well in advance of their classes so that as new teachers rush in with the day’s handouts they can use the machine without waiting in line.  Balancing being a valued and respected member of your department with being an innovate teacher is a concern for this teacher:

Hola a todos. I need an advice! I will be starting my first job next year. It is Spanish 1A in a middle school where I substituted the last trimester of 2016-2017. I know the staff and school and I love it. I want to have an immersion class next year. However, most of the high school teachers follow the textbook and are grammar drive. They want me to teach ch.1-4 Avancemos. As a new teacher I do not know if I should follow them or what I think is the best for them, even if they disagree with me). Y es que no quiero los roces desde tan pronto, si saben a que me refiero.

Any advice about immersion classes, and staying in the target language at least 90% of the time. Where can I learn more about immersion languages programas for secondary education ?

My reply:

Welcome to the most rewarding profession!  I have a really good sense that you are going to be one of those wonderful teachers students remembered fondly because you are wise enough to seek advice from veteran teachers!  Over my 30 years, I have noticed that the best teachers honestly analyze what they do, seek advice from veterans, admit mistakes, and try new things.

I run my 7th grade classes as 90% target language classes and I think that is what you want to do as well!  For me, immersion means bilingual and I have no expertise with that.  The key to running a 90% target language class is to have everything be 100% compelling and engaging.  The best way to do this is to create a daily tech guide and use direct instruction for Survival Phrases.  Many people have their handouts and posters for these expressions – but my 50 are put to music that enters their brains like nothing else I have seen!

 

Every day I create a flipchart with our activities and musical transitions.  You can, too!  And you can teach what is expected of you so that you fit into your department.  Be circumspect. Let your colleagues come to you about what you do rather than flouting it to them.  Because not only are you paid to teach, but also to be a supportive colleague.  Even when your students make comments about how much they love the transition videos and the music, and that other students are jealous they don’t have your, be circumspect.   If you can  teach what they require and quietly do it with your flipcharts, you will be successful and rehired.

You can download the first day’s flip chart and watch videos of the first week, here

If you feel that this fits your teaching style, let me know and I’ll be glad to help you.  Welcome to the profession, I’m so delighted to be your colleague.

 

 

 

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Class Closure? Yes! Thanking Students for Learning? No!

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Class closure activity for Spanish, French, German, Mandarin Chinese, English and Italian
The perfect class closure – singing in your target language about what you learned today! English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish!

A teacher shared his class closure of thanking students for learning and their responding with thanking him for teaching them.  Many of my Junior High students also say ‘gracias’ at the end of the class as they file past me as I stand outside my door and in the hall.

I hadn’t analyzed it before so this blog started me thinking as to why we are thanking one another. I believed they are thanking me for the extra effort I put into making our time together meaningful and interesting.

I am thanking them for their wise choices during class, for their effort, and for making me a better teacher with their questions and observations.

I hesitate to thank them for learning as I don’t want learning to be something they do for adults, rather a gift they give themselves.

Most of us veteran teachers recognize that the “Millennials” were given awards for showing up and it really didn’t help them to build resilience and genuine self-confidence. Many are depressed because they aren’t constantly being praised for every little effort in their jobs.

We are doing a better job with the “Linksters” or post 2000 generation we call “Gen Z.” Let’s keep it up by helping them to be reflective about their learning each and every day!

To this end, I play the song below and then ask in the target language what they specifically learned today.  They use the vocabulary from the song and add to it what they learned, making it their own. Yes, it is level one and we don’t officially teach the past tense,  but all of my students can use it in this context and yours can also!

For a better closure to Spanish class, we sing along with the closure video, “Hoy Aprendí”

Hoy, hoy aprendí

Una palabra nueva

La cultura de otra tierra

Hoy, hoy aprendí

De una música que me llena

Y las noticias de Venezuela

Hoy yo aprendí

A hablar español

 

For a better closure to French class, we sing along with the closure video, “Objectif De La Journée”

Aujourd’hui, Aujourd’hui, j’ai appris

Un nouveau mot, une nouvelle phrase

La culture d’un autre pays

Aujourd’hui, Aujourd’hui, j’ai appris

Peut-être une nouvelle chanson

Et les nouvelles de la France

Aujourd’hui, j’ai appris à parler français

 

For a better closure to German class, we sing along with the closure video, “Das Ziel der Lektion”

Das Objekt der Lektion

Nun, Schüler

Was habt ihr heute gelernt?

Heute, heute habe ich

ein neues Wort, einen neuen Satz und

etwas über die Kultur eines anderen Landes gelernt.

Heute, heute habe ich

ein neues Lied gelernt, das mich erfüllt.

Die Nachrichten aus Berlin

Heute habe ich Deutsch zu sprechen gelernt

 

For a better closure to English class, we sing along with the closure video, “Today I Learned.”

Today, Today I learned

A new word, a new phrase

About the culture of another country

Today, today I learned

A new song that fills me

The news from the USA

Today I learned to speak English!

For a better closure to Mandarin Chinese class, we sing along with the closure video,

今天学到了什么？

jīn tiān xué dào le shen me ？

上课了

同学们 今天学到了什么？ 新词，新短语 其它国家的文化 一首新歌 中国的新闻 今天我学会了说普通话

shàng kè le

tóng xué men

jīn tiān xué dào le shen me ？

xīn cí ，xīn duǎn yǔ

qí tā guó jiā de wén huà

yī shǒu xīn gē

zhōng guó de xīn wén

jīn tiān wǒ xué huì le shuō pǔ tōng huà

For a better closure to Italian class, we sing along with the closure video, “Oggi Ho Imparato.”

Oggi ho, imparato

una nuova parola, una nuova espressione

la cultura di un altro Paese

Oggi ho imparato

una nuova canzone che mi riempie

delle notizie da Roma

Oggi ho imparato a parlare l’italiano.

©Ellen Shrager 2017

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