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Outstanding Spanish and French Teachers Go Beyond Fun Spanish Class and French Class Activities and Create Joy

October 16, 2016 By Personal thoughts and beliefs of E.B.Shrager - do not represent those of any past or current employer.

Students will remember you by how you made them feel. Become one of those amazing teachers that converts Spanish Class Fun Activities into a joyful classroom - - just add Transition Videos
Students will remember you by how you made them feel. Become one of those amazing teachers that converts Spanish Class Fun Activities into a joyful classroom – – just add Transition Videos

Only four entries in google for "Joy in Spanish Class"Something is afoot in my Spanish classroom this year.  For the first time in 30 years, students walk in sighing with relief that they are in room 363 because it is so “chill” in here.

Every fifty-minute period we go through about 8 activities on 100 slides with no gaps or down time.   One new student mistakenly thought he had stumbled into an Honors class because of all we do. We aim for 90% target language from day one –  past students confided their first month was stressful. Current students express their relief and joy at being in my class.  Joy!

There are over 20 million entries in Google for “Fun Spanish Class Activities” but there are only four for “Joy in the Spanish Class”

Only four entries in google for "Joy in Spanish Class"

Fun activities are the preterit tense with defined beginnings and endings.

Joy is the flowing imperfect tense with no defined ending.

Fun is external. Joy is internal

One fun activity for the past 20 years has been our “Song of the Week.”  Students love the five minutes of the class devoted to wonderful songs.  This year is different. To keep students in the target language and on task, I developed transition videos.  The unintended consequence is that they make students feel joyful!

Six to ten brief 30 to 60 second transition videos are sprinkled through out the 50 minute class period releasing a steady stream of endorphins as students sing along and imitate the announcer’s voice.

According to http://www.emedexpert.com/tips/music.shtml music is powerful.

Music enhances intelligence, learning, and IQ. 

Music fights fatigue.

Music calms and  relaxes.

Music improves memory performance.

Music reduces stress and aids relaxation.

Music improves mood and decreases depression.

Music is a great anti-anxiety remedy.

Transition videos are the glue in between fun Spanish class activities that create joy.  Other teachers using them report the same experience – one confided it was the first time she overheard students in the hall gushing about her class and the only difference is the transition videos.

 

 

Scroll to the end for videos in English, French, German, Italian, Latin and Mandarin.

As my students walk in each day they hear “the day song” and soon they are using the words to express their feelings.

1.  When I am ready to start, I play the class count down video – students know to be seated and quiet as they count down the 3 -2 – 1 ya!  French version below!

Students use this expression spontaneously before beginning anything.

2  I greet them, ask how they are, and tell them the objective of the day and the class activities of the day – all on 3 slides.   I play the “Take out the Homework” video and show the answers on the board while I quickly check for completion.  Since day two of the school year when I first played it, my students spontaneously tell me ‘la tengo’ or ‘no la tengo’ and if someone doesn’t have it everyone else asks, “¿en serio?”

 

3. Check for questions and play the musical slide to take attendance – we get nasty emails if we miss attendance for any class!  My students tell me” X está ausente” or “no está ausente, en el baño.”

4.  Play “The Daily Review”song and complete five minutes of review.  My Spanish 1 students can fluently say “cuando necesito gramática perfecta” and “¿Qué hago – repaso, repaso, repaso”

5.   Play “Take Out the Vocab List video and they can all mimic “Favor de sacar la lista del vocabulario.”

I also play the self- talk musical slide that reminds students if they don’t get it right to tell them selves – I don’t have it yet!  I introduce a chunk of vocabulary, practice comprehension with gestures and then show slides with visuals.  My Spanish 1 students use “lo acerté spontaneously in many situations” and even “no lo acerté – todavía.”

6.    Play the video about finding a random partner of the week or if we already did it play the musical slide to find this week’s partner.

My students can say ¿Quién sera? even though they won’t be taught this tense for three more years.

7. Practice with partner(s) usually some kind of spontaneous speech activity – there are videos that show the students how to play guessing games. If we have the computers then they will watch “The Take Out the Computer”  video, “Practice QuizletLive” video, students practice on their own, play the quizlet live video and finally I play the  “Put Away the Computers” video and rearrange the chairs slide.  My students quickly learn the games that have songs to teach the vocabulary and create spontaneous dialogues – month two of Spanish One!  They can all do “más alto, más bajo” and many others.

8. Slide leading into next activity – could be a listening activity or a reading activity or Simon says.  My students all know “vamos a jugar” and can follow it with many games.

 

9. Tidy up the room.

_13 Que desorden Pls no posting – trimmed from ellen shrager on Vimeo.

 

10.Take out the Agenda video and students write down the homework.  My students can say any line from this song at appropriate times.

“ay no me gusta, pero es importante”  “Saco mi agenda, escribo la tarea.”

_20 Saco Mi Agenda Pls no posting – trimmed from ellen shrager on Vimeo.

11. Closure – students sing and then tell me something new they learned.  My students can spontaneously say “Hoy, hoy aprendi ” and complete the thought.

My public school seventh, eighth, and ninth graders in Spanish One produce spontaneous speech even if they don’t want to – they can’t help themselves because music enters their brains and remains like nothing else that I have tried in these past 30 years.  You can make your own songs or use mine.

You can even use  my videos,  created by native speakers, and offered here  on TeacherspayTeachers. Or click here for the starter kit!  They help support several Venezuelan families. We are making them in French, Mandarin, German, and Latin, and English.  What I love about TeacherspayTeachers is that it helps new teachers to quickly climb the learning curve by selecting tried and true activities from veteran teachers still in the classroom, like me!  If you need something new to get your students spontaneously  speaking in the target language – this is it!

 

Click here for English Videos

 

Click here for French Videos

 

Click here for German videos

Click here for Italian videos.

Click here for Mandarin videos

 

Explore your Spanish options from this Pinterest Board.  

Filed Under: 90% Target Language Class, Classroom Management, Comprehensible Input, Daily Songs Improve Classroom Structure, Transition Videos Tagged With: 100% comprehensible input, ci, classroom management, comprehensible input, German, Italian, Latin, Mandarin, Spanish class, spanish class songs, Spanish song, Spanish Survival Vocabulary, staying in the target language, student behavior, tprs, transitions

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“What are your best classroom resources for Spanish 1 first time taking Spanish?”

June 29, 2016 By Personal thoughts and beliefs of E.B.Shrager - do not represent those of any past or current employer.

Tee Denombre asked this  great question on the FB page “Spanish Teachers in the US.”

My students respond to compelling Comprehensible Input – especially audio that is supported with a strong visual.

Picture4 Picture10Students (and their parents!) can pull out phrases from a song months after I have played it in class as part of my “song of the week” series.  Music seems to attach to the long-term memory fairly easily but I have noticed that many of my students recently seen to just latch on to the chorus while previously students would latch on to the whole song.

Is this a direct correlation to their social media connections being so brief? Picture14

I don’t know but this year I started to make brief transition videos and they are ‘sticky’ —  students can go through a class and sing the 30 – 60 seconds songs and voice overs for as many as eight transitions.

I’ve also noticed that they work the vocabulary into their conversations in Spanish in class.  For example, my seventh graders sing the “Saquen la tarea” song while taking out their homework and really punch the ‘ya’ at the end.  Then they start to use it in class – spontaneously.Picture12

A chance encounter with some Venezuelans looking for work as musicians started the idea of having native speakers perform these songs and now we are rolling out this series of over 50 transitions on TPT.

Picture6

How do you get started?   Use a remote mouse or presentation device so you can click from anywhere in the room.  Make an outline of your lesson, insert a slide for each activity, and then insert a Spanish Transition Video to introduce it.

Soon your students will be trained to use Spanish even for those challenging transitions – you may be surprised that certain students usually looking for opportunities to get off task instead are watching and participating in the Picture9music!

Below  is a sampling of some of the transition videos.

If you are looking for Picture2

fun resources that stick in students’ brains and pop out spontaneously,

resources to help you and them stay in the target language,

resources to improve classroom behavior and make  your class more fun,

then  look below and pick the ones that match your teaching style.  Fifteen are available this week with the rest be completed this summer.

 

 

 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ PREVIEW VIDEO CLIP ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Feliz Lunes – Start the week off thinking in Spanish

Al Principio de la Clase – train students to stop talking when the video ends.

Saquen la Tarea – after a few days it will be easier to do this in Spanish than English

Sesenta Saludos – Take attendance while students try a new one each day.

Las Noticias Internacionales – perfect introduction to daily headline reading

Repaso Diario – Great intro to daily review

Grupos de Dos – Students learn how to get together with their partner without using English!

¡Vamos a Jugar charadas!

La Cultura – Fascinating way to remind students of all of the elements of culture!

¡Que desorden, Señor! – Clever and Colorful reminder to clean up room!

Adiós Libros – Perfect Transition to Clearing Desks for Assessment

Perfect Transition to New Song by showing 10 genres of music sung in Spanish

Saco Mi Agenda – Students will soon be singing along and writing down their homework.

Querido Viernes – The perfect pack-up for the weekends song that has students singing in Spanish all weekend.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ If you have an idea for a song or transition video contact me and maybe we can make one for you! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 100% comprehensible input, 90% target language, best resources for Spanish, ci, classroom management, comprehensible input, new Spanish teacher, Spanish decorations, Spanish desk reference, spanish room decorations, Spanish song, Spanish Survival Vocabulary, Spanish Teacher, Spanish video, Spansih Survival Vocabulary, staying in the target language, tprs

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New Spanish Teacher Landmines!

August 28, 2015 By Personal thoughts and beliefs of E.B.Shrager - do not represent those of any past or current employer.

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!

https://minutebyminutespanish.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/survival-summary.mp4

 

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.

 

 

 

Filed Under: 90% Target Language Class, Comprehensible Input, New Teacher, Reflective Teacher, Uncategorized Tagged With: 100% comprehensible input, 90% target language, Chinese, ci, French, German, Italian, Latin, Mandarin, Spanish, Spanish song, Spanish Teacher, Spanish video, Spansih Survival Vocabulary, staying in the target language, transitions

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