Today's post is meant to inspire you to push your Level 1 students. While we know they are still beginners, they are capable of doing some exciting things, both at Middle School and High School. Several of you have begun scheduling Skype or Facetime interactions with other schools or classes. Here is another great example of a successful exchange. In a Spanish 1 course at MGMS, Esmith Centeno orchestrated an intercultural chat with a school from Colombia. Esmith has shared with us how she arranged the chat. Students first wrote a letter to a pen pal in Colombia discussing the similarities and differences between the two culture’s families. Then they engaged in a video chat with these pen pals in Colombia to share some basic questions in the target language for both school communities. She helped students create a basic script that they could then personalize for their particular questions and interests. As you can see from the pictures, when they met their new friends, they had a great experience! Thanks Esmith for making this exchange possible for your students!
I was also recently invited to RBHS to view the Spanish 1 Symposium, created by Lisette Geib and Sarah Hulls. Students presented a case study to their classmates and teachers. They were required to research a Spanish speaking country and then pretend to be someone from that country. The goal was to have them incorporate all of the cultural information they learned as well as the language goals. So they had to describe what life is like for them, as if they were from a different country. They were also required to create an artifact that represents them and their country. As students rotated through to listen to their classmates, they practiced interpretive listening, as they asked questions, they practiced the interpersonal mode, and while they were presenting, they took part in presentational speaking. This was a fantastic way to wrap up the course, and provided multiple data points for proficiency scores.
How do you motivate and assess your Level 1 courses? Leave a comment!
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