I had to present a 10-minute mini-mini-mini grammar lesson to a small group in my grad class on Thursday. And now, I have to “beef it up” by adding 2 of the following things we’ve been reading about: positive input enhancement–where you use underlines, caps, bold, and (I think) vocal Read more…
Two things were missing: interpersonal interaction and sufficient authentic input. Also, engagement had been stretched a little thin, either by note-taking (although in a form not quite as dry as other methods) or a pretty solid week of writing and revising. My Spanish 3 pack needed to be exposed to more Read more…
If you have to teach grammar, teach it authentically. Use models by native speakers for native speakers, and break down Presentation. Attention. Co-Construct an explanation. Extension activity. P.A.C.E. kind of reminds me of my English methods class. We learned that isolated explicit grammar instruction was one of THE least effective Read more…
Page 1 is a perfect review of Spanish 1. It is also a chance to connect literature to each individual student. I hope it can also be the basis for TL conversations about identity and origins. I’d like to spend a day or two on interpreting the page, a couple Read more…
Page 1 is a perfect review of Spanish 1. It is also a chance to connect literature to each individual student. I hope it can also be the basis for TL conversations about identity and origins. I’d like to spend a day or two on interpreting the page, a couple Read more…
I plundered the Spanish kids book section at my local library. I’ve got 9 books to peruse and plan around. First, we have some recipe books to complement the cooking unit for Spanish I: Available at Amazon Most recipes are under a page and include some very Mexican ingredients (nopales, anyone?) Read more…
I’ve tried to stay afloat, reading a textbook, starting a master’s program in Spanish instruction, poring over lists of authentic texts and designing new units. Now I can breathe, but I’m moving in circles. I’ve been teaching Spanish for 5 years, but it seems I was only in the kiddie pool until Read more…