Teaching and Masking Grammar While Staying in the Target Language

As World Language teachers, we run into the big question: Should I focus my attention on communication and practicality or should I focus on grammar.  Often, I hear teachers ask (myself being one of them) “How often do we visit a country where the target language is spoken and get asked to identify the parts of speech?”  Probably not too often.  But does this mean we should ignore grammar altogether?  While more recently, many of us as World Language teachers are more communication and practicality focused (again, myself included), we must take into consideration

Creating a classroom library in world language class

Want to get your students excited about reading in the target language?  

It’s much easier and cheaper than you’d think to create a reading library in your World Language classroom.  By creating a library of children’s books in the target language,students can peruse books whenever they have free time (after quizzes and tests, if they finish projects early, etc.).  It’s a great way to increase their reading proficiency, vocabulary, grammar, and overall fluency.  This article will give you ideas of how to pay for the books, which books to pick, and SIX WAYS TO USE BOOKS in your classroom and/or department.   Read more at  http://theworldlanguagecafe.com/create-a-reading-library-in-your-world-language-classroom/ 

The Stubborn Spanish Subjuntive

The Stubborn Spanish Subjunctive

By Lonnie Dai Zovi

Advanced Spanish teachers have been struggling to effectively teach the Spanish subjunctive to confused students for years.  Some teachers teach it a bit too early.  Some students are not ready to expand their mind that far.  They will quickly erase the progress that they made with the many indicative verb forms.

When I started teaching the subjunctive in my Spanish 3 second semester class (because I thought I had to. My book told me to.) I had students ready to pull their hair out but even worse than that, was that some started to use the subjunctive form for everything. “Ella tenga dos lápices.” and other abominations.

So when should you teach it?

Follow your Language Dreams

Dream On

                                                                                                               by Caroline Marion

When I was a freshman in high school, I did a report on the beautiful and unique country of Switzerland.  There began my dream of going to Switzerland and  hey,  why not aim high. . . work at the UN in Geneva as an interpreter!

My mom had taught high school French before she got married and had seven children.  My only exposure to French before college was learning the song Alouette which my mom taught us kids.  So when I told my freshman college adviser that I wanted to become an interpreter at the UN in Switzerland, she basically told me it was too late to start on that dream.  I had already missed out on the best years to learn a foreign language.  

I continued with my foreign language study (French and Spanish) and added the education block thanks to my sister, Marnie, who told me, “You’d better take the ed block.  What else are you going to do with French?”  So I took the ed block but didn’t give up on going to Switzerland.  When I graduated from college (way back in the 70’s), I headed to Montreux, Switzerland where I worked in a Swiss hotel as a waitress in the dining room. (Yes, a waitress, not an interpreter at the UN!)

That was an eye opening experience.  The Swiss hotel did have some tourist business but also housed several older ladies who rented rooms there on a permanent basis.  They came to the dining room every day and sat at the same reserved table with the number of their hotel room on the table.  We sometimes referred to them by their room numbers.  Well, I thought I knew my French numbers but found out the Swiss had a more efficient number system.  For example, the French number for 70 is 60 + 10 (soixante-dix). The Swiss simply say septante for 70 (sept = 7).  The French use four 20’s for 80, quatre-vingts. (I’m not kidding.)  The Swiss simply use huitante for 80 (huit = 8).  Luckily, I learned those Swiss variations quickly.

Years later I did come to realize my dream of being an interpreter.  After several years of teaching high school French and Spanish, I became an ESL teacher and from time to time would interpret for my Spanish speaking families at parent teacher conferences.  There, teachers would try to impart lots of specific information which I sometimes had trouble translating.  How do I say phonemic awareness in Spanish and then explain what that term means? One parent told me, all I really need to know is this:  Is he behaving?   Is he passing?  Does he have friends?

Follow your dreams!  

This post written by:
Caroline Marion from I Speak Your Language

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/I-Speak-Your-Language

 

4 Tips for Beginning World Language Teachers

I am a retired teacher with a background in teaching French, Spanish and ESL. Here are a few tips for you new teachers entering the challenging field of teaching.

1.  Have students choose a name in the target language. Students really like the chance to choose their own name. (Hold off on this until the second or third week of school to be sure you know their given names.)

2.  Don’t forget to look around your school for foreign language resources right under your nose.  ESL students, foreign exchange students, and immigrant students might enjoy visiting your class and sharing their culture. Make it one of your goals to teach an understanding and appreciation of other cultures.

3.  Students need a lot of oral drill to develop speaking skills.  It’s hard to keep those drills interesting.  Two drills I often relied upon were surveys and a game called “The Teacher Says” where students have to repeat grammatically correct sentences and fill in the blank with a logical word trying to “match” the teacher.  Below are a couple links to free products.

Freebie – Spanish –ER/-IR Verb Game – La Maestra Dice

Freebie – Jour de Neige – Snow Day Survey

4.  Another thing to do to keep your class interesting is to target multiple intelligences.  Use music, actions and visuals to liven up presentations and enhance memory.  Here is one paid product that uses visuals to drill making questions in French.

Ask the French Teacher (interrogative review game with cartoon visuals)

Best wishes for a great school year!

This post was written by Carolina Marion.  Visit her store by clicking here! 

Caroline Marion 

Interactive Notebooks in the World Language Classroom

If you've been searching on the internet recently for new ideas to try out with your World Language students odds are you've come across a tool called an interactive notebook.  So what is an interactive notebook?  It's a place where students can personalize notes on a variety of topics by using paper in different shapes, sizes, and folds.  Due to the variety and endless possibilities an interactive notebook allows students it truly creates a unique learning experience for all involved.  Some teachers have students create tabs or dividers in spiral or composition notebooks to organize the concepts covered in each course; however, interactive notebooks can also consist of an isolated grammatical topic or a unit of themed vocabulary as well.  And, the beauty of interactive notebooks is that they can be created anywhere whether its an actual notebook, a 3 ring binder, or a large poster.  

Here are some tips to help you get started on the journey of interactive notebooks:

1.  Use Colored Paper

Color is so important for visual learners and a best practice for interactive notebooks in the World Language classroom is to incorporate color into the pieces of paper that are to be attached to the student's notebook.  Be sure to purchase paper that allows one to read pencil or pen well.  Paper that is too bright or dark will cause issues with readability once students add notes to the pages.  For this reason pastels are encouraged.  Various hues will also help students differentiate the various concepts covered.  For example, you may choose to do a unit on present tense verbs but offer handouts for one type of regular verb in green, another in orange, and a third in blue, etc.

2.  Cut Down Margins

Interactive Notebooks are awesome for students to manipulate and study on their own time outside of class, but the truth is they take time to assemble.  No one wants to waste an entire class period watching his or her students cutting and pasting.  To eliminate this from happening use the paper cutter to trim off the margins as much as possible before the folds are distributed to students.  This will save valuable instructional time.

3.  Stay Away From Globs of Glue

Students will need to use glue sticks, glue, or tape to attach the various shapes, sizes, and folds to their notebooks.  All three have their advantages and disadvantages; however, the most annoying aspect of using regular tubes of glue is the reality that globs are easy to acquire.  If tubes of glue are what you have available for your students be sure to model and talk about the importance of using small dots.  Globs are dirty and can cause everything in the notebook to stick together.  It also impairs one's ability to jot down notes on the paper which defeats the purpose of an interactive notebook.  

4.  A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Some folds in interactive notebooks are complicated to assemble.  This is where a picture can be so helpful for you and your students.  Consider taking pictures of the steps required to piece together the parts of the interactive notebook you plan to use.  These images can then be displayed on the interactive white board as you walk students through the process of creating the folds or placed on paper with captions explaining the steps for each and distributed to small groups of students.  

5.  Jump In and Try It Out!

Don't be afraid to take a risk on trying interactive notebooks out in your classroom.  It's okay to change up the routine from time to time and even if you try it and find out it didn't quite work the way you anticipated, you've still learned something along the way.  To help alleviate your fears here are a few resources to help you dive in and explore interactive notebooks with your students.  

Spanish Speaking Countries and Capitals Interactive Notebook Activities by Island Teacher.

Les Verbes au Présent Cahier Interactif

by Madame H.

Feel free to leave a comment below to share your experiences with interactive notebooks in the World Languages Classroom.

Why study a foreign language

I like to start out my semester answering head on in a positive way the very question that many students negatively bring with them to the foreign language classroom.

Why do I have to study a foreign language anyway???

I hope that you not only find this interesting yourself, but that perhaps it may enable your students to see the benefits of what we already know to be true concerning knowledge of a second language!

Class Mascot Activity

Here’s a fun idea for any world language classroom – it’s amazing how having your own kids in school inspires you. Got this class mascot idea from my daughter’s kindergarten class.

Find a stuffed animal, doll, inflatable monster, gnome, etc. to be your class mascot/exchange student. Pick a different mascot for each class that you have.  Let the students name him and decide where he’s from, why he’s here, what his family is like, etc. Each week, a student gets to take him home and take pictures of him doing activities. Give the student a sheet of paper with lines to write 10 sentences about what the mascot did and a rectangle for a 4×6 picture on the front and blank space on the back for additional pictures. Keep a different color binder with plastic insert pages of the student’s work and pictures for each class.  The other classes will be interested in seeing what all the mascots are doing.

When you talk about weekend activities on Mondays with your class, the student of the week is responsible for talking about what the mascot did and showing off the pictures. The student should bring the mascot to school every day so that he can sit in class and learn the language. Let the mascot be part of class activities when appropriate (games, reading in a funny voice, etc.).  You can also make a flat version of the mascot and have students take pictures of him/her in other random places, cities, or countries.

Written by World Langauge Café

Music Tips for the Language Classroom

Hola! I’m Caroline Marion, a retired teacher who enjoyed using music in my Spanish, French and

ESL classes. I have a few tips I’d like to share with you to help you jazz up your classes. Face the music, the repetition required to learn a foreign language can get downright boring.

Why use music to teach a foreign language?  Music makes learning more fun and memorable. Through songs we can work on pronunciation, phrasing, and informal speech.  Use familiar songs, folk songs, or short melodies to help memorize information.  Choose a melody that is easy to remember.  Below are examples of tunes I’ve used.

Sing Spanish days of the week to the tune of Fray Felipe.

Lunes, martes, lunes, martes

Miércoles, miércoles

Jueves, viernes, jueves, viernes

Sábado, domingo

The phrase “Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta, no llores” (from Cielito Lindo) helped my Spanish students remember that the affirmative “tú” command drops the “s” but the negative command retains the “s” and changes the ending from “–as” to“-es” on “–ar ending verbs”. I had my students memorize this phrase.  When test  time came around, they could hum the melody to remember the rule.

La Bamba can help drill the use of por/para. I used El Condor Pasa (sung by Claudia de Colombia) to drill the future tense.

My favorite song for ESL students is Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp)  - (Allan Sherman) My students liked this funny song and asked me to play it more than once.  Use it at the end of the school year.  Talk about summer camps and ask about your students’ summer plans.

For French holidays like Bastille Day, July 14th, sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise and on Jan. 6th, Three Kings’ Day, sing La Marche Des Rois.

I was never surprised by the number of musically talented students that signed up for French.  No doubt they were drawn to the language that is music to one’s ears. Why not involve your musically talented students and ask them to make up raps to help learn information (vocabulary, grammar rules and verb conjugations)? Make your own kind of music!

You can also use songs for listening comprehension.  Make a copy of the song and delete some of the words for a fill in the blank activity.  Focus on vocabulary, verbs or grammar concepts you wish to drill.  As students listen to the song, they fill in as many blanks as they can. Go over the song and help them with any responses they missed.  Then, sing the song.

To drill parts of speech, have students circle any part of speech you wish to target that appears several times in the chosen song:  verbs (command forms, past tense, future tense, present perfect), nouns, and adjectives. If you want to target more than one part of speech, have students underline, circle and put at X through target words.

ESL teachers might be interested in my freebie, Songs My ESL Teacher Taught Me.

Hope these tips strike the right note with you. Now go for it and have more fun teaching with music!