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Emoji Stories – Fun for all!

Ok, it has been a while, but I am excited to share this easy, fun resource for all! EMOJI Stories!

It was inspired by Cycle 2 Phase 1 of the Stepping Stones Curricular Framework. HERE is the link. The instructions are on slide 2, but they are editable so you can level this up or down.

How do I use it? I had my students follow the instructions. For level 2, just the emojis. For upper levels and my heritage classes, I had them write in the speaker notes. Then, I randomly chose one and started telling a story using a story mountain. We used just a basic Story Mountain (setting/characters, rising action, problem, falling action, solution). The stories were HILARIOUS, engaging and we were able to make some memories together much like when we create OWIs in the classroom. I had so much fun and so did they! They are begging to do it again, which I take as a great sign. :-).

Happy teaching!

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ONE thing you can easily do to promote literacy in your classroom…

Write and Discuss is a powerful tool for developing as writers. The daily practice of Write and Discuss captures what students experience in the world around them, while providing an opportunity to reflect on their thoughts with classmates in writing. Students are given three-to five sentences that they have created out of the oral input from peers or information generated during class time which help fuel their development into better writers!

It is part of the Daily Instructional Framework from Tina Hargaden and has transformed literacy in my World Language and ESL. I will upload an example in the resources. If you make ONE change in your teaching this year, it should be this!

HERE is a link to a simple “How to” I created for my presentations at ACTFL and COERLL. Please don’t hesitate to email me or comment below if you have any questions!

How to Write and Discuss

So, I have had some questions about Write and Discuss (a technique I learned from Tina Hargaden) since my ACTFL presentation. I made a little loom for you to explain further. Hope this helps! Feel free to leave questions or comments!

Some thoughts on Virtual ACTFL and Blogging

Hey there!  Thanks for stopping by!  I am SUPER excited to be presenting at ACTFL this year.  I am also SUPER sad it won’t be in person!  As we all know, it is really different to teach or present online.  I am honestly a little worried my presentation won’t come off the same virtually. In fact, I KNOW it won’t.  So, if you are reading this after watching my presentation, know that I am sorry and I hope to submit another proposal next year.  When I wrote this proposal, I was still living in the ignorant bliss of not knowing this virus existed…. Ahhhhh…. Those were the days! I really wish I was going to be able to present in person this weekend! I am also glad that lots more people will get to attend this year given they don’t have to travel. I have seen some of the presenters, and they are amazing! I am excited to take a deep breath and enjoy some time watching others teach this weekend.

This year has taught me lots of things I never thought I would need to know.  I have learned how to instruct and engage students virtually.  I have learned we are certainly all replaceable at work.  I have learned some kids work better in person than online AND some work better online.  I have learned how to decontaminate, as not to infect my family when I go home. I have learned to leave school at school. I have learned what self-care is, and I plan to start some kind of routine for this over the breakI have learned so very much about my students’ lives as we discuss things moving through the Stepping Stones Curriculum (Tina puts this out for FREE!!!).

I have also been working for Tina Hargaden in CI Liftoff and the World Language Proficiency Project. This has been a dream come true and I have learned soooo much! I am so grateful for the wisdom and guidance Tina has given me, which I now can apply to my own professional growth.

It has been a busy year, even given the majority has been spent in the confines of my home, and I have not gotten to blogging as much as I would like, so… I am writing it here so that maybe I actually follow through: I will blog at least once a week about something I am doing that could potentially help others get ideas!

There. I said it.

Thank you for stopping by, and please follow me to get some updates as I start actually blogging! 🙂

SeñoraKSpanish

Wooly Week with Heritage Learners

So, this was Wooly Week in my Spanish 2 classes.  I decided my Heritage 1 class deserved to get in on the fun! (My Natives 2 / 3 class was presenting projects.) They really enjoyed watching the videos and participating in the activities.  I did level up some of the options to meet them at a level more appropriate for them. We work a lot on reading and writing, which can be kind of tedious, so it is important to remember to let them be kids and have fun too! 

Before we started WW, they chose their favorite Wooly character and created a whole biography and illustrated them!  I am posting some pics below.  

Then, we read Miss Nelson is Missing, an old, but good, book in Spanish. They compared and contrasted Vibra Viral with this.  It was a good comparative exercise.

Finally, I had them come up with a biography for the teacher in Vibra Viral to explain her back story some.  I was able to review some grammar struggles we have with using the preterite and imperfect during this exercise. They had a LOT of fun with this one!  I laughed out loud and was a little confused by the choices of others. 

All in all, it was a great Wooly Week for everyone!  

Welcome to Sra. K. Spanish

Vamos de viaje…

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

I am so excited, and a little nervous, to get this started! I have been on the blogs of so many other teachers over the years, and have found them so useful. So, I thought it was time for me to share a few things too!

I have taught in a dual language classroom, in a bilingual classroom, in middle school and high school Spanish classrooms teaching native English speakers and native and heritage Spanish speakers. I also spent a few years teaching ESOL at the college level.

Most recently, I have been working over at CI Liftoff writing curriculum and coaching teachers in the Stepping Stones curricular framework.

I hope that my experiences may be able to help encourage other educators! So…¡vámanos de viaje!

Follow this blog for more great, free resources! Find me on Instagram (@SraKSpanish) and Follow my TpT store as I build more resources!

My Current Situation

So, you have made it this far! Thank you for coming back!

What is my current situation?

  • Middle school Spanish 2
  • Spanish for Heritage Speakers 1
  • Spanish for Native Speakers 2/3

I am currently using CI techniques in my Spanish 2 class. I am LOVING the changes and progress I am seeing in my students every day! INPUT is the key to success!!! I began in a school where textbooks and grammar were used, and I was not supported in the change. I am so grateful to now be in a school where we are given the freedom to embrace techniques which support comprehensible input.

With my native and heritage speakers classes, I am taking more of a Spanish Language Arts approach. I have a VERY wide variety of levels in both English and Spanish in both of these classes, which can be quite a challenge. I am hoping that getting my thoughts down here and hearing from all of you will help build a community where we can be supported by each other!