Here’s an idea that Kara and I have been playing around with in our classes. We were inspired by a comment from Robyn a while back. Thanks for sharing with all of us!
Most classrooms have the teacher up and busy and the students sitting and quiet. This is great group activity to get students up and moving and using the language.
Step 1: Get students on their feet.
Step 2: Post a question/fill in the blank statement with your projector.
I set it up like this. Each colored box will house an answer to the question.
Step 3: Students read the question and find the answer that best suits them. Then they move to that corner of the room.
(You could post a piece of colored paper in each corner so they know exactly where to go for each answer)
Step 4: Have some fun!
I used this activity first thing on the day back from Christmas break. I wanted my students to “use” the language without writing or feeling pressure to produce a lot when they are rusty. They were hesitant at first, but then they got excited. We all got to see how others answered the questions without the painful one-on-one questioning. My favorite part is that it is a new way for students to get comprehensible input. I used familiar words but included a lot that was new to them too. I love letting them see new vocab in a context without it being on a list!  They had a chance to talk about their break and still used the language. Success!Â
My tips for making this activity work:
- – Use a lot of cognatesÂ
- – Have some quirky questions/answers
- – Allow them to talk it out with a friend (some needed help understanding)
- – Use a pic if they need to know a word to answer the question
- – Keep it moving (10 mins. was plenty)
- – Ask questions (What kind of tech did you get? a phone? videogames?)
I can’t wait to use this with different units! I can see questions like…
What did you eat for breakfast today? Nothing- I’m hungry!, fruit, cereal or toast, other
What do you usually drink in the morning? Pop, coffee, water, it depends
What is the perfect dinner? a big salad, hamburger with fries, steak and potatoes, popcorn and candy
Any ideas for a fun question we could use for a certain unit? Let’s brainstorm some fun ones below!
This complete lesson is available on www.Adiostextbook.com, our Spanish Curriculum site.
This sounds great but I think it would be even better if we added something for them to do in the TL when they get to their corner of the room – maybe each “group” has to 3 minutes to create a short skit about the topic and then they present either within their groups or to the whole class.
I asked about 10 questions, and then did a follow up writing task – summarize your vacation in 20 words. I like your skit idea though – or maybe just have them present 1 fact about a friend’s vacation in TL. Something other than just writing. Thanks for sharing!
Oh and by the way, I read absolutely every single post, I am subscribed to your blog, and I have used so many of your ideas to great effect РI meant to post at the New Year but I was sick and over-exhausted so a belated Feliz A̱o Nuevo and a HUGE thank you for creating such wonderful and inspiring lessons and especially for so generously sharing!
Aww, Thanks Bianca! We love knowing some ideas are helping other teachers. We all work so hard, we need to help lighten each other’s load!
This is actually an awesome idea! For some reason my students ask me to play “4 Corners”, which is where someone in the middle closes their eyes and everyone goes to a corner of the room. The person in the middle picks a corner and whoever is in that corner is “out”. Obviously, we don’t play that, because it has no educational value, but I think they would enjoy this activity because it is essentially that game, but with value!
You can actually play 4 corners with some educational value. My students love to play “4 corners” as well. So, I post in each corner “a little, a lot, a whole lot, and not at all” in Spanish. Then, the person in the middle poses a “do you like” question while shutting their eyes. Each person goes to the corner that represents how they feel. Then, they say how they feel about that topic (in Spanish, of course) and then open their eyes. They must then choose someone standing in the corner that represents how they feel. That person must tell why they feel that way (in Spanish). If they can answer the “why” or some other question about the topic then they get to be in the center. My kiddos love it because it’s a game they already love, but with an educational twist! 🙂
That is brilliant!! =) My kids are ALWAYS asking to play games, and my teachers never played games, so I really don’t know any. I am trying to do new things and really spice up my classes this year for them, but the games thing still is tough. If you guys ever wanted to post about creative game ideas, my students would be eternally grateful!! 😉
I have a new game idea (well kind of new!) coming this week. So glad you are trying something new!
I don’t know, I think you could make that educational. If you’re going over direction words you could have the person call out “el grupo due la esquina derecha” or something like that.
I also play a 4-corners style game along with some of the people who commented above me. I don’t usually plan to play this specifically, but if there are even five minutes left at the end of class, my students beg me for this game. To play, one person stands in each corner. Then either I or another student say words or phrases in English from our current unit, and the first person who I hear say the correct answer gets to advance clockwise into the next corner. If somebody is in that corner, that person is out. Once one person is left, I call three more people up to challenge them, and we play king of the hill style.
Not a ton of communicative value in this game, but it’s cool for vocabulary recognition, and all of my students have loved it.
I agree that it may not have a TON of educational value, but when we only have a few minutes to spare, we just choose four verbs or vocabulary words for each corner and just having them hear the word can be helpful (really….it’s only 5 minutes!). The verb option is a little bit more challenging if you call each corner a verb, and the caller must conjugate it instead of simply stating the infinitive verb…..a little bit more educational 😉
I’m glad you were able to use this game! Another one that I use to keep them on their feet and to practice numbers big and small is a game called living numbers. There are two variations. The first requires two teams. Each team member gets one digit (0-9) written on a piece of paper (I did mine on card stock and am still waiting for them to get laminated) until each team has enough numbers to form 0-1 million (some students have to have more than one digit for it to work). I call out a number in the TL and each team has to figure out what the number is and send the students with those digits to stand at the front of the room in the order of that number (so if it’s 103, the student with a 1 stands first and so on). Whichever team gets it right first gets a point and the first team to reach 15 wins.
The second variation is played as a whole class. Each students gets a digit until there are enough for 0-1 million. I call out a number in the TL and then start my stopwatch. They have exactly 10 seconds to figure out the number and have those students stand in order at the front of the room. If they get it before time is up, they get a point. If they get it after time is up, they lose a point. We play until they reach 15 points. I add an extra rule that if your digit went up last time, you can’t go up again (so if two people have a 3 and one of them goes up for 43 and then i call 36, the second person must go up the second time. This way, everyone is forced to pay attention and participate)
I’ve done something like living numbers, but with sentence making. I cut dry erase sentence strips into smaller pieces and grouped my students in 4s or 5s. I also put different pictures all over the room and groups had to pick one. Then they had a time limit to make a sentence based off that picture with the 4 or 5 pieces of strips. For me/ the class to check, they had to position themselves in correct order. The ,more practice they got, the faster they got and I turned it into a relay race.
I play several versions of this game, but like you new twist! In the past, I have played it where I label each corner in the TL with “a lot”, “a little”, “a whole lot” and “not at all.” Then, I stand in the middle and pose a “do you like ______” question. The students must then go to the corner that represents how they feel. They must then share the “why” with someone in their corner or another question/activity that I pose. Then, during our food unit – but could happen during any other unit as well. We play 4 corners, but this time the corners are labeled: “I like”, “I don’t like”, “I hate”, and “I love”; and I stand in the middle asking if they like certain foods.
Kara did those options once too. During the “what I like to do” unit, she used “like it, love it, hate it” and one other. It was another simple way for kids to recognize new vocab, whether it’s written or spoken. Good ideas!
I’m thinking it could be good for community places/directions. Like “I need toothpaste! Where should I go?” And then have names of community places with maybe a street name to go with it.
I play 4 corners a few different ways. Sometimes I put categories in the corners and then I call sentences with vocabulary in it and wherever that vocabulary fits, that corner is out. Or sometimes I put subject pronouns in the corners(and have 5 areas) and then I call conjugated verbs and whoever is in the corner with the matching verb ending is out. 🙂
Susan, awesome idea…. I think I will try that with food categories. Carnes, mariscos, frutas, etc. Gracias!
Hi, can someone please tell me what “TL” stands for? No entiendo!
Thanks!
Target language.
Target Langauge, the langauge you hope your students will acquire! remember, there are NO dumb questions! don’t you just love being part of this community!?
Target language
Desea, it means Target Language (i.e. Spanish)
I have big classes (34) and I was really excited to try this, but nervous because we’re so crowded. For the most part, it went really well! The kids had a blast but were able to stay on task, especially since I was asking questions of the whole group when they got to their answer spots. It was definitely more fun when throwing in some goofy answer options-they really enjoyed those. 🙂 ¡MuchÃsimas gracias!
Muchas de nadas! 🙂 Glad it went well!
love this idea! just made a great one to go with stem-changers and sports: Cual deporte/equipo/bebida/comida del desayuno/pelicula/programa de tele prefieres? and Que puedes hacer bien?
LOVE YOUR BLOG!!
excuse typos…:-) *hacer*
We’re currently doing a school unit, so we labeled corners with difÃcil, fácil, asà asÃ, y no sé. I gave students a class and they went to the corner that corresponded with their opinion of the class. Once there, I picked some students and asked them about school supplies they need and what teacher teaches the class. Worked pretty well! Thanks for the ideas! 🙂
Nice!
I have done this game about a dozen times since I read this post, and it is now one of my students’ favorite activities. When I do it we have NO INGLES time, so students are barred from using their native language. After students have found their respective corners, I always ask a few deeper questions to some individuals, and they’re usually excited to share and model conversation with me for their classmates. Sometimes I get really lucky and students want to comment on each other’s answers, and class discussions end up cropping up in Spanish that don’t even involve me; it’s just my kids and they’re all talking to each other. Thanks for the great idea!
Awesome! Glad it helped!
So fun! I did this today with my classes and it worked really well with (most) of them. The problem was cutting down on English chatter and keeping everyone focused while I was talking to one group. I am a first-year teacher, so everything seems like it is trial and error, especially since I am the entire foreign-language department at my school. Your blog has lots of awesome and creative ideas that get me through tough planning days.
Also, I noticed that y’all are from Louisville. I have been reading your blog since August and just now realized. I am from Western Kentucky and went to college at Centre College in Danville (class of 2012). I spent 2013 working at the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs in Louisville and just moved to Arkansas for my Teach For America placement. I love Louisville so much. Small world!
Thanks for everything you do! Keep up the great work!
Paige
I have a really basic question-how are you creating the slide with the 4 corners/options? Is it Powerpoint? I use google a lot and Powerpoint not so much-I use my projector EVERY day. Just wondering how you made the slide so that it is divided up into 4 categories, different colors with the question in another box in the middle? Love the idea.
Hello,
I used google presentations for this. The instructions should be very similar on powerpoint: simply click insert –> shapes. Make a square that is about 1/4 the size of the slide. Cut, paste, and drag into the other corners. Then, just fill the squares with different colors.
¡Mil gracias!
I play a similar game…I post 4-6 vocabulary words around the room and give students a post-it note. On the sticky side, they write a sentence using one of the words and stick it to the board. Then all of the students spread out around the room. I choose a sentence from the board to read aloud. Whoever is standing next to that vocabulary word is out and has to sit down. The remaining students can switch places or move to a different spot in the room, and we continue until there is only one student left. The kids LOVE this game, and there is very little prep.
Thank you for all of your fantastic ideas!
This is still a go-to listening activity I love. Now I’m thinking about some other variations. First I love how easy this is to make a template (the 4 colored squares on the screen) then copy/paste to add new ones. To make it focused more on listening instead of reading, I think I’ll remove the questions and just show the answers on the screen. Then that also lets me ask more questions using the same answers.