It’s time to try something new! That’s what a new semester encourages me to do. I love starting class with a hook (video, meme, song, article, etc. in TL of course!) that gets them curious about the culture. On the final, there was a “trivia” section based on the “hooks” with open-ended questions in Spanish. This part had the highest scores, which indicates that the students remember a lot from these activities. I do the Can of Questions; however, I feel like it is time to mix this up. I was the one writing the trivia questions, aka doing all the work/learning. The level 1 students are showing signs of intermediate skills, but they are hesitant to ask questions in class. So… now they will write the questions!
When I asked them to write a trivia question in the past, many of the questions were “What is…?” and there were many repeats. So I made slides that have different question words and one blank. I used cultural pictures in the backgrounds (Day of Dead skeletons, the little balls from Spain’s lottery, DalÃ’s “Persistence of Memory,” some Guatemalan dolls, a Mexican bakery) to add one more connection. I made enough copies for each student to receive one card and cut them out. Before break, I tried this once and I will now start to do this daily. After the hook, I pass out a card for them to write a trivia question based on that day’s hook using the question word they have. Then we collect them in a can so that we can use them immediately, the next day or for those extra minutes at the end of class.
Eventually I may laminate the cards (see above), pass those out, and ask them to write their question on a blank just to cut down on the organizing part. I will also partner/group them up (4 students to write one question). Many possibilities to keep it fresh!
Next step…
I’m going to let them create a Trivia Team (with a team name, color and all) and we are going to track their points for one week or so (see example above). I like the traditional trivia format of each team having a time limit to answer the question. I will probably use dry erase boards (1 per team) and my trusty cube timer. I’ll have a little prize for the winning team at the end. One day, I dream of this trivia event becoming a school-wide (or district!) competition. Perhaps soon!
Visit el Mercado or click here for a free download of the slides and score grid in Spanish if you want them. It’s TRIVIA TIME! We also have the cards in Italian.
Any suggestions?? Have you done anything like this before?
This sounds like an lot of fun, especially if it ends up being a school-wide competition!
I had one thought for you… Perhaps to save you some time(and money) in laminating, they sell dry-erase pockets that you can slide any paper in and out of and students can write and erase directly on them. I bought mine at the teacher store on sale last summer and have used and reused them already so many times. They are great for stations too and could work for your question activity too.
Nice idea! Especially for a station or if I did the activity occasionally. The only problem is that I want to save all the questions, well the good ones at least, and the dry-erase would rub off. And I would need one for every student for every class for every day. If I laminate and they write on a blank, I’d need only one set of 30 laminated cards and just cut up white paper for them to write on. I’ll have to keep thinking about this one.
Is it possible to use page protectors as a cheap way to do this? http://www.staples.com/Avery-Page-Size-Sheet-Protectors-Diamond-Clear/product_64101?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:64101&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=64101&KPID=64101&kpid=64101&gclid=CKWNyZfLgsMCFeOPMgodKGIAlA
I am a little bit confused-are the trivia questions the students generate based on that day’s specific hook? I do a trivia question every day after our class “warm-ups”-but it tends to be the same kids answering, so I am interested in mixing it up!
Yes! The questions will be based on THAT day’s hook. Then repeat the next day.
What are some examples of your hook questions?
Thanks!
Let’s say the daily hook is a music video by Jarabe de Palo and this is for level 1. I’m hoping they come up with simple trivia questions like “Where is Jarabe de Palo from?” or “How many members are in the band Jarabe de Palo?”
Hi Kara, nice idea! My mother tongue is Spanish so I can help you with one slip of the mind on the board (“los iguanas” should be “las iguanas”), I believe. Hope I’ve helped you. Happy holidays!
Thanks!!
Do you have a compiled list of the Hooks that you use?
Glad you asked! We are just starting to compile them to share. We have started a CATEGORY called “CULTURE” on the right sidebar. It will take some time to add to this, but we are trying to put only the best up (fresh, authentic, relevant, full of culture). There’s also a category called “VIDEOS” that has some great ones. Hope this helps!
Thank you!
FYI, with the new website change, we have condensed our authres under “Culture.”
Great ideas as always! Thanks for sharing. In order to save time, I don’t know if it would work, but what if you (we 🙂 ) project the question and have the students answer thru Kahoot or Socrates? Is it possible to save their answers that way?
You can definitely use Kahoot. Let me tell you why I choose not to… 1) I want to increase their listening skills and mimic a real trivia environment. On Kahoot they can read the question. 2) It doesn’t take long, but it still takes ME time to type in the questions. I want this to be all about them and I want it ready at any moment. For the last month, I just passed out slips of paper and I’ve been keeping those. I throw out repeats or weak ones as I look at them (not in front of the students though). It was interesting though when I read a really bad one to the class. They recognized it was not good and we fixed it. Good learning moment!
I LOVE this idea. I was able to incorporate it in my Spanish 2 class after we watched a movie about Soccer. The students worked in pairs to create a certain number of questions. I was able to access the PDF a few months ago, but I want to print a color copy, and when I click the PDF it takes me to Godaddy.com. Any idea why? Is there another way for me to get this PDF?
You found a moving glitch. I’ll fix it asap.
I think it’s fixed now.
Thanks for the fix and the quick response!
One more question…How can I access the PDF with the 9 interrogatives on one sheet? I previously printed them out, but they were black and white and I would love to make color copies to laminate. I just would prefer the small ones instead of the large size.
When you print, select the “handouts” option or choose 9 (your choice of how many) slides on one page. It’s somewhere under the printing options.
I know that is an option if printing from a PowerPoint, but because the file is a PDF, that is not an option in the printer settings, because I did try that.
Ok, nevermind. I was able to do it on a different computer, just not the one I used yesterday. Thanks!
I can’t seemto find the videos you mention
Which video are you wanting? We now have all of our favs categorized here -> http://www.creativelanguageclass.com/chispas-authentic-resources/
Thank you for your great ideas on trivia games! I especially like the idea of tracking points, as I think this would definitely get participants more engaged. If I decide to use trivia as a learning tool in the future, I will definitely consider this!