Tag: speaking activity

Y’all… Picture Cards!

Okay, so I am not sure about where YOU teach, but down here in Texas there is a BIG push for us to get the kids doing more interpersonal and presentational speaking. And, of course, writing to get them ready for that AP exam. It seems to me that kids don’t get excited about too much in class, so when I find something they like, I RUN with it!

So, I was using some random pics of Mark Wahlberg as conversation starters the week before spring break. Why Mark Wahlberg, you ask? Well, my students would tell you I have an obsession. LOL. I figure, if I HAVE to find some pictures to talk about and do that all day, they may as well be something I like looking at. (My students even made an IG account a few years ago where they edit pics of Mark and I together, and they have been passing the torch over the years). Anyway, I digress…

So, I decided to make some that hit the cycles of instruction I use from the Stepping Stones materials. I also have required vocabulary I have to teach, so this has worked out perfectly. It allows for personalized learning because I can evaluate the output according to level.

I have used them by printing them with the pic on the front and the prompts on the back. There are LOTS of ways to use these!

For Interpersonal Speaking, I hand out a card to each pair of students in my class and then I have them choose one of the prompts on the back. I give them about 90 seconds to collect their thoughts and then I have them start by using the prompt to give some info and ask some questions. The partner has to look at the picture (provides scaffolding) and talk about it with their partner.

For Presentational Speaking or Writing, I give a card to each student. For this one, I told them which prompt they had to use, gave them a couple minutes to prep and then got them talking ( or writing).

You can use any pics you want. I have more of them for sale in my TpT store HERE.

Happy Teaching!

Alana

Find me on Instagram (@SraKSpanish) , Facebook (sra k Spanish) and Follow my TpT store as I build more resources!

Get Them Talking! – A Listening/Speaking Review Activity

In the district I teach in, we have some required topics and vocabulary. This doesn’t always mix easily with the world of CI. I have found, through my work with Tina Hargaden, that it is possible to integrate required lessons/topics/vocabulary and still make lessons based in communication.

So, how do I do that? Well, one thing I do is follow the curricular framework presented in Tina’s book, Foundations. There are six cycles of instruction, and those really help me frame every lesson and keep a structure, yet still have flexibiity.

Recently, I had to teach house vocabulary. After introducing the vocabularyThis, I created THIS activity for us to do together. I incorporated a section for us to do together, a listening activity and then an interpersonal communication opportunity for students where they practice listening and speaking with a partner or group. This could also be done virtually by having students submit a video of them talking through their “casa.”

HERE is a Loom video I recorded explaining how I used this resource. Although it is in Spanish, you can absolutely put text boxes over the words (there are only a few) in your language.

I hope this helps with some ideas for teaching these required vocabulary sets and/or topics while keeping lessons focused on communication!

Happy Teaching!

Alana

Find me on Instagram (@SraKSpanish) and Follow my TpT store as I build more resources!