Interpretive Listening Activity
Prep:
- Download in Spanish or create your own.
- Print.
- Hang a different sign in each corner of the room.
- Prepare some prompts/questions to use.
EXAMPLES
I can give my opinion.
I can say if I agree or disagree.
I can say how often I do something.
I can give my opinion about food. (feminine using “parece”)
Original post published on February 25, 2015
Planning time is valuable, but it seems to get shorter every day with all the other things we have to do. Recently I’ve rediscovered Four Corners and I have found it to be a very valuable, quick to prepare, interpretive listening activity that gets students moving. Even better, it can be used about ANY topic. Just got a foot of snow? Talk about it! Homecoming game is Friday? Let’s chat! Here’s how I’ve been using Four Corners lately.
Step 1: Hang a sign in each corner of the room. Each of these signs are possible “answers” to a question/statement. I’ve found that survey-type answers work best. I like to have a few options, so I have these always available to pull quickly. Honestly, I usually have a few always hanging in each corner at all times. I included a download with my signs at the bottom.
Step 2: Brainstorm a list of possible questions. Add some funny follow-ups. Example: “Do you like to play in the snow?” They move to sign, then you add… “with your grandma?” I try to make something awesome into undesirable, and something horrible into awesome. Note, I’ve also typed the questions and projected them, but I realized that turns it into an interpretive reading. So now I choose to only say them. If I need a visual, I just draw it on the board.
Prep work is done. Now for the fun!
Step 3: Ask a question, let them move to their “answer.” Ask a few follow-up questions once they make their choice. “Oh, you like snow, why?” Even better, get them to ask each other so everyone’s talking more. I’ve even had a white board at each sign for them to list why they chose that sign after they talk to each other.
One variation I’ve used is to print sets of the “answers” and let them lift up the picture instead of walking. This worked better in my smaller, more reserved classes and when we were reading together.
So that’s it! Quick, communicative, movement.
My problem with Four Corners has always been the group of kids that just go where everyone else is going. I find it hard to assess listening comprehension this way. Maybe the more advanced kids are with it, but what about Spanish I, for example? Maybe I’ve just been doing it wrong? I relish the idea of an assessment that involves movement! And I like how you ask them questions to justify their choice. 🙂
Good point Sara! I find that this works well for Spanish 1, especially when I have asked for their opinion (love/like/hate/don’t know). Of course there are a few that probably “cheat the system,” but the follow-up questions hold them accountable. Now, I don’t use this as an assessment, just an activity to practice. I just can’t assess 31 students at the same time and to me, an assessment means I’m going to give feedback and tell them how they performed. But they know these questions will show up again and they seem to take it seriously. How have you done it? Similar?
That makes sense, letting go of the assessment aspect of it. I wonder if perhaps if I explained/modeled it poorly, or didn’t streamline it enough. To answer your question – yes, the more they’re held accountable, the more seriously they take it.
I am new to standards based grading, but your website is really helping me grasp the concepts!
Overall I love standards-based grading. I’m still learning that when you can’t hold a grade over their heads to do something, you have to motivate them other ways. I think they participate in 4 Corners because it is active, quick-paced, not writing (not their favorite bc they do it so much in other classes) and most times, funny.
I only had “de acuerdo” and “no de acuerdo” before–I like this variation! (Even though the college is very grumpy about taping anything anywhere) I, too, have found that followup questions help with the followers.
I wanted to reply to Sara Davis’ comment about kids going to the corner where their friends go… I learned from an elementary school language teacher who uses it a lot that she makes the students write down on a post it note the corner that they have chosen. When they get to the corner they put the post-it note on the wall. This way they cannot change their minds!
I love Kara’s suggestions for using this activity because it is so open-ended and it reduces the need to have different posters for the corners!
I LOVED doing this in my last school – I love the post-it idea/whiteboard to hold them accountable for their reasoning! Now I have classes of 40 that can barely get out of their desks without running into another kid.. any ideas how to incorporate movement or do this a different way?!
When I play four corners in my classes, I use a magnetic spinner to choose a response that is “out,” and the students at that corner have to return to their seats. To keep them accountable, they have signs at their desks that they have to hold up in response as we continue playing. My students love the competition, and this is by far their favorite game.
Love it! Will definitely be adding this to my toolbox for next year. Thank you for sharing the pre-made signs-makes this activity easier for those students who need a visual!
I think there is a problem with the “Siempre” and “Nunca” images- Siempre has a week marked off with X’s and Nunca is all clear! Any way to fix that? I don’t have the cool programs you guys do for creating/editing documents. It’s just too bad I didn’t notice it before I printed them off at Office Depot! LOL
That’s the way I meant for it to be. The X represents when something happened.
I see! It’s funny how one’s perception and point of view- much like our students’- can alter the interpretation! I was viewing the “X’s as removing days from the general activity, so the blank days were days when something was happening, as if by routine.
Hi Kara,
The link to your signs in el mercado doesn’t work anymore – help! I tried to just use the pinterest pins, but it’s not printing out well. Thanks!
Hello Kelly! I updated the link to be direct to the download. Let me know if that doesn’t work for you.