Obrita con Seis Expresiones

I was recently at a website called The Creative Language Class with a ton of exciting and inspirational ideas that really got me thinking about how to spice up my lessons. 

Though I generally start off the year strong, I often fall into a pattern which eventually becomes a bit of a rut and it's good to mix it up from time to time and have some fun with the language. 

One of the ideas I saw there was The Five Phrase Skit which sounds like a load of fun but isn't going to work for my particular classes and teaching style, so I decided to change it up a bit and make it into a Six Phrase Skit with a different set of rules.

In the original Five Phrase Skit, the students are encouraged to act out a skit using only those five phrases and no other dialog at all, if I understand the directions correctly.  And I am sure that it is all kinds of fun, especially with students who are just learning the language.  But I teach Spanish III and up and want my students using the vocabulary to create longer sentences and interact with the vocabulary in creative ways.  So in my version, I will give them six phrases (three for each participant) from their current vocabulary list and ask them to write the dialogue themselves using the phrases I've selected in order.  It gets them to stretch a little to figure out how to use the vocabulary but still encourages them to speak in complete sentences and to write creatively.  I will have to give them a little more time to collaborate than I would for The Five Phrase Skit, but I think it will be worth the time and investment.

Here are the six phrases that Spanish III will receive on Tuesday:

• ¡Qué lástima!
• el centro de rehabilitación
• los impuestos
• Vamos a participar en una marcha.
• Me interesaría mucho.
• los derechos

Those are not simple phrases and I imagine they will have to think hard in order to get them into a cohesive dialogue but they always seem to surpass my expectations when it comes to creativity, so I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

If you get the chance, you should definitely stop by The Creative Language Class.  It was their idea that got me thinking about this in the first place, and there are so many great ideas over there!

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK