Video Sobre Venezuela

I wanted to take a moment and share a student project with you.  Over the years we have all gotten our share of wow projects and our share of disappointing ones as well.

However, it is rare that students do a project that is something really worth sharing with the outside world and that could potentially serve as a resource to others.  I think this video about Venezuela is just such a project.

My student did the research, found beautiful photography, cited his sources, and put it all together in a nice little video that lasts about six minutes.  It is very professional and I am quite proud of him!

The one drawback is that the video had to be in English because it is for our school's International Festival this weekend.  (More about that later!).  So, because our audience is not made up of Spanish-speakers, all our projects had to be in English.  We will have the video running on a loop on a television at our Venezuela table so everyone can enjoy it.

I think it would make a nice accompaniment to any lesson about Venezuela you might have.  It might even make a nice bell-ringer.

Oh, and here's a picture so we can pin this post over at Pinterest.

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK

Mil Años - Una canción romántica para celebrar el 14 de febrero

I was at our homecoming dance recently and when the song A Thousand Years came on, there was a definite excitement in the air as everyone scrambled to find a partner for this special slow dance.  The song has been with us a couple of years already, so I was surprised that it still generated so much glee on the part of the students.

But, after giving the lyrics another listen, I can see why it is still so popular.  It is one of those forever love songs that never really goes out of style.  Anyone that has loved deeply can relate to it and it has a great vibe for a romantic dance with someone special.

Today I decided to put together a little activity for my students that involved this romantic song - you know, for Valentine's Day.  <3

Step one was to find a version of it in Spanish.  Kevin, Karla y La Banda didn't disappoint.  They have a great version of the song filled with impassioned vocals and sweet lyrics.  And, instead of making a cloze-style activity, I decided instead to swap the order of the verses.  So students listen and number the lines in the order they appear.  This is a simpler activity than cloze and it made the song easier for my Spanish 1 classes to enjoy.

I put a couple discussion questions and a little blurb about the band in the margin and viola!

I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine did.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK

¡Ya Era Hora! - y un proyecto para San Valentín

If you've been following my blog for awhile now, and especially if you are a fellow teacher, you know how hectic things can get sometimes.  So, from time to time, I put the blog on a mini hiatus and take the time I need to attend to the chaos that I call life.

Right now, I'm working on updating my National Board Certification, getting my students ready for the National Spanish Exam, and my department is putting on an International Festival for our town.  Yikes!

Still, I wanted to share this with you so I've fought for a couple free minutes here to update the blog.

Every year at Valentine's Day, I take an hour of class time to have my students make valentines for the staff here at the school.  They are appreciation cards for those teachers, administrators, and staff who make a difference in the lives of our students.  We do them in Spanish (of course) but, since our audience is primarily English-speaking, we make bilingual cards.

The trick to doing this successfully is to make sure that the students express themselves in Spanish first and then translate their ideas back to English.  When students express themselves first in English, they tend to use expressions and vocabulary that they cannot yet say in Spanish.  So I give them a number of phrases and words they can use to express themselves in Spanish on the sheet. 

My students will be making their cards in class on Wednesday and Thursday so I will try to post pictures of some examples as they become available.

Update:  Here are some photos, as promised!

I hope you have an amazing San Valentín, amigos.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK

La Nochebuena ¡Bilingüe!

First let me say that I do not claim ownership of the following.  I was just lucky enough to find it online and, though I cannot track down the original source, I think it might be from Plaza Santillana.  Normally I would say no to Spanglish, as I'm sure you would too.  But I have to admit that this little poem delighted me and I cannot wait to share it with my students!

 

Also, here are a couple of funnies to share with your students!

 

 

 

 

And, in case you are looking for Navidad classroom materials, may I make a couple suggestions?

 

 

¡Hasta pronto, amigos! 

--AnneK

Solidaridad Con Francia - Hagamos Una Diferencia

 

Make a difference:

• The French Red Cross
• Doctors Without Borders
• Secours Catholique
• Secours Populaire

Make a difference:

• The French Red Cross
• Doctors Without Borders
• Secours Catholique
• Secours Populaire

Humor Para Noviembre

I'm often amazed by the sorts of things that are popular on Pinterest and other social media.  I try hard to make good lessons that will interest students and teachers, that use authentic language, and that are culturally relevant.  But what gets pinned  and re-pinned are the jokes.  I guess that makes sense, really.  Jokes appeal to everyone and lessons only really are of interest to teachers, so I'm not complaining.

But try to find seasonal jokes in the fall that aren't all turkeys morbidly trying to avoid their demise!  Yikes!  I don't think I find that sort of thing very humorous, but I must be in the minority on that particular opinion.  I only included a couple of those jokes here, but there are plenty of them online if you are interested.

Without further ado, here is the November humor roundup:

And, if you are looking for an activity to do on Thanksgiving with your Spanish classes, I have one available on TpT for a song.  You get vocabulary, reading comprehension, Power Point with foods and traditions, and a cultural comparison.  It's awesome, I'm just sayin'.  (Spanish 2-3)

And, at the request of my 6-year-old son, I have delved into designing elementary school content as well.  This Thanksgiving Fun Pack is approved by him as fun and got a thumbs up - though the crossword puzzle was a bit hard for him.  It is intended for grades 1-3 but some of it might be appropriate for older or younger learners.

Hasta pronto, amigos.  --AnneK

Más Vale Tarde Que Nunca

The students in our chapter of Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica decided that, even it it was a day late, they wanted to put up an ofrenda at the school to generate interest and to educate the student body on the meaning of the holiday. 

I want to take a moment to offer a special thanks to our SHH chapter president.  She is a minor and I don't have parental permission to put up a photo or mention her name here, but she is a super star!  She organized the effort, stayed late after school, lead the group that put up the ofrenda, and created an informational poster to help people understand the meaning of Day of the Dead and how it differs from Halloween.  She did all of this without any prodding from me and with no incentive whatsoever (no grade, no extra credit, no name up in lights).  She is, quite honestly, one of the best people I have ever had the privilege of calling my student.  (And if you knew just exactly how amazing my students are, you would realize what a compliment that is!).  She is headed for great things in the future and I can't wait to see what she does with her life.

Do I have amazing students or what?!  I hope your Día de Muertos was a good one, amigos.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK

Día de los Muertos y Halloween

Halloween and Día de Muertos snuck up on me this year somehow.  It seems like school is just a whirlwind of meetings to attend and paperwork to do, and I haven't had a moment  of peace.  Normally my Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica puts up an ofrenda, but we didn't get that organized this year.  Nor did we do anything to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which is sad.

But I don't want Día de Muertos to go by without at least a little recognition so I'm going to do a comparison/contrast activity with my students. 

I figured we would start by watching these two videos and talk about the images, emotions, and atmosphere created by each one.

Halloween:

Día de los Muertos:

And, because you know me, I put together an activity for them to do as well.  I have a lot of Spanish 1 students this year so the article I have referenced  on the worksheet is in English.  I probably should put something together in Spanish too but, as I already told you, this sort of snuck up on me this year.

Since tomorrow is Día de los Muertos, I know my timing is bad and you probably won't be able to use this during the current school year.  I'm sorry.  But, put it up on your Pinterest board, save it to your hard drive, Tweet it, or whatever you like.  It will be there for you next year.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK

¡Que Se Levanten y Se Muevan!

I recently returned from the 2015 FLANC conference, which was a lot of fun and very restorative.  One of the things I got to thinking about while I was there are ways to get my students more physically involved in their learning.  Kinethetic learning is a good thing.  It keeps students alert, assures that everyone is participating, and it changes up the routine from time to time.

I got a couple of really good ideas, one of which I'm going to share with you today.  This is an activity that works well when students are first exposed to new vocabulary and are not yet comfortable enough to communicate with it yet.

The basic idea is to offer a choice to the students: ¿Qué te gusta más, el chocolate o el vainilla?  Then students will gather on one side of the classroom or the other to show their support for the one they choose.  In my case, I used a Power Point with pictures and the words written in Spanish.  Arrows pointed them in the direction to go.  Once kids get with their groups, discussion is certain to ensue and you will have to be fast to provide them with Spanish so that they can stay in the language to every extent possible.

My vocabulary was loosely based on 3A in Realidades 1, which is breakfast and lunch foods.  I had to add in some extra words, so this doesn't match up perfectly and if you want to use it in your classroom you will have to make some adjustments.  You can download the file here or you can click on the image above.

Of course, teens do not like to be cubbyholed so I had to provide vocabulary such as Me gustan los dos.  And Depende de la situación.

My personal favorite part of this activity, besides all the great conversation it generated, was the final part in which I gave my students a blank slide and had them pick their own two vocabulary terms to contrast.  They picked the words, found pictures, and I am picking a selection of them to share with the class on Friday.  They seem to be excited and some are already urging me to pick their slide to share.  It should be fun!

Hasta pronto amigos,

--AnneK

Ésto Te Va A Hacer Sonreír - El Tiempo Progresivo

I'm always looking for fun content to add to my grammar instruction.  Even though I love grammar and find it fascinating, I do realize that my students do not always share my enthusiasm.

So, since I'm always on the prowl (so to speak) for that great content, I squealed with delight when I found these looping pictures.  My first thought: These are amazing!  My second thought: The Present Progressive Tense!  My third thought: Yes! It's great to be a Spanish teacher!

¡Miren, miren, miren!

	Spanish 1 & 2 ¿Qué está haciendo el hombre? ¿Qué está haciendo la sombra de él? Spanish 3+ ¿Qué está pasando en la foto? ¿Qué mensaje nos está comunicando el artista?
	Spanish 1 & 2 ¿Qué está haciendo el hombre con los brazos? ¿Y con las piernas? Spanish 3+ ¿Qué está pasando en la foto? ¿Qué está haciendo que nos hace pensar en pájaros?

The questions are just what occurred to me on the spur of the moment and are the sorts of things that I would ask students in the large group before splitting them up into pairs to discuss similar questions with other pictures.

Other pictures? you ask.  Oh yes!  The artist's name is Romain Laurent and he has a lot of these great looping photos.  I found these particular pictures in an article on Neatorama.  But I found a lot more of his great moving pictures on his Tumblr page.  And you can find Mr. Laurent's online portfolio here.  The front page of his portfolio is comprised of static pictures - not looping ones, but they are outstanding.  Films and GIFs can be found by clicking links in the upper right.

Happy descriptions and conjugations with this one, amigos!

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK