Here are 5 things I have tried this week…

Los Meses Del Año en estilo Macarena.  

The kids loved this!  The trick is getting them to practise the lyrics before doing it with the actions.

 

Equipment check in TL

This idea was borrowed from an excellent seminar by Eva Lamb earlier this year.  When teaching students the items in the pencil case then get them to do an equipment check and stitch up their friend.

Persona 1: ¿Tienes un lápiz?

Persona 2: Si, tengo un lápiz.

Persona 1: ¿Tienes una calculadora?

Persona 2: no tengo una calculadora

Persona 1: ¡Señor, mi compañero no tiene calculadora!

12 sided dice revision

Teach a topic, such as family.  Then at the end of the topic go through with the students how the new speaking exams will take shape.  There is a general conversation section.  Get a set of 12 sided dice and set a GCSE group 12 questions of which they must ask their partner at least 7.  I found this was a great way of practising, ensuring spontaneity and helping them to learn to deal with unpredictability.  The students then peer assessed their partner using the following guidelines:

1. Start low, ask yourself: did they do that?  If yes, move up.
2. When you have reached the highest level.  Ask yourself: how well did they do?
3. Pick a mark higher or lower depending on answer to Q2

12 sided dice were a great little investment and did not break the bank.

3 Minute KS3 Marking

 

This is a variation on a strategy suggested by Ross Morrison McGill (known to Twitter people as @TeacherToolkit).  Normally the suggestions from Teacher Toolkit take 5 minutes; this one takes two!!    I cannot find the original link but I believe he suggested only 2 minutes per book.  I have been trying it this week with some success and no perceptible dip in quality.  If you can manage 2 minutes then even better.  Here’s the Math…

2mins x class of 34 = 68mins

3mins x class of 34 = 102mins

Now if you’re like me a class of 34 is a massive amount all at once but the principle really helps.  You can still highlight errors, write a positive comment and set 2-3 targets in this time.

My Favourite Spanish Alphabet Song

I have used this as a way of recapping the phonics we did in the first lesson (see Rachel Hawkes for Powerpoints on this).  The lesson consists of introducing the alphabet sounds and getting a handle on those.  Then I use it as a vehicle to remind the students of the sound and spelling links.  We then look at a verse from a song (without telling them what it is) going through how each word should be said.  If they know the rules, they can do most of the words, before concerning themselves with what song it is.  We use the first verse of this one below…