All I did in my Spanish class during high school was write! We practiced and praticed and praticed, but it was only ever read by 2 people: my teacher (who circled all my errors) and me. My classes were sometimes given the chance to practice with our friends in class but it was basically pointless because we were all rookies in Spanish and it was so much easier to share High School drama in English! I wanted to learn Spanish, but needed to actually SPEAK it in order to get improve.
Now I’m a Spanish teacher and I know how hard it can be to get students to speak in the language during class. (Day 1: no problem, but by Year 2, Day 35 it is much harder). Obviously some students are much more motivated to use it and much less embarrassed to make a mistake in front of their peers. However, if students actually have a REASON to communicate then they usually will.
I am teaching descriptions right now. Why would a kid need to describe what they look like he is standing in front of me? POINTLESS. He could describe his favorite actor… but again… POINTLESS if I know who it is already.
Here’s a fun way to get your students describing people!
1.) Tape a name of a celebrity, teacher in the school, or tv character on each students back. Their job is to figure out who they are!
2.) Teach them how to ask… “What am I like?” and phrases like “I know that already”, “What else?” and, of course..”YOU ARE _______”
3.) If your students need extra motivation not to cheat (like mine) give each student a clothes pin and if anyone hears them speak English during the activity they get to take their clothes pin. (This way they are never really OUT of the activity. If they lose their pin they can try to get one back by “catching” someone else using English.)
** have extra names on hand just in case some students want to keep playing after they figure it out!
Warning: This activity might spark excitement in the class and you may hear laughter and/or students using the target language. Every single student may not speak Spanish the entire time, but isn’t 5 minutes better than 0 minutes?!?
Has this sort of activity worked for anyone else? Any other great ideas to get students SPEAKING the language in class? Share a fun idea below – I’d love to hear it!
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Great idea! I don’t teach spanish, but that sounds like an excellent idea… my brain is already at work trying to decided how I can adapt it or similar games for SCIENCE! Thanks for the idea!
Kristy –
Love working with teachers of other subjects. Another science teacher at my school uses iPads too and she inspires me by seeing how she uses tech in totally different ways! Good luck on the new school year!
I love this idea! I am in the process of earning my degree to teach high school Spanish. I am a kinesthetic learner so these types of lesson games are awesome! I want to target each one of my students learning style. 🙂
Did you break them up in teams?
Were the children using full phrases in the tl to describe the person?
I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments! I am always thinking about how I can turn every activity from 1 student speaking to 30 speaking. For example, as a new teacher when I would review bellwork, I would always ask for volunteers and then wait while one student gives me an answer and the rest of the class yawns or tries to sneak a peek at their cell phone. Now I have all 30 of them sharing with each other. It has opened many doors for many students. My motto is “100% active participation all the time” (a tall order, but it keeps things interesting!) Thanks for your post.
I am struggling with coming up with activities for the students to do so they can speak. Can you give an example of how a bellwarmer would work in your class? Also, does anyone have any ideas on how to get more speaking into a Spanish 3 class with 25 students (appr.) and actually using the language in a real situation and then giving them a grade for it? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your creative ideas! I am a first-year Spanish teacher transitioning from social work to education. I love activities that cause students to interact and communicate. I have a long way to go (teaching as I complete my master’s), but often check your site and hope to learn a lot at the ACTFL conference this month. If you have any suggestions for other quality blogs I would appreciate it 🙂
Again, MIL gracias.
LOVE your ideas! I have done the activity where you tape a celebrity to the backs of my students in French I and they absolutely love it! I am all about getting them up and moving – and if they’re speaking in the target language, what more could you ask for?
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Love this article! We have already learned descriptions, but this will make for a great review activity on a Friday! Thanks for posting.
Whats the cloth pin for?
There is a game is played at baby/wedding showers that if you say a certain word, someone can take your clothes pin. The person with the most at the end, gets a prize. I adapted it for class. So instead of a word, if they say anything in English, someone can take their pin.
My L1 is Spanish. I am a teacher of English now. And I did exactly the same activity but in English 😂. It was so fun.
And it’s cool to know that my mother tounge is being tought as I tought English.
I just realize I made a mistake 😂😂😂
No worries! All about communication. 🙂
Sounds great! Now I need one just as cool for everyone of my units. I’ll keep reading I’m sure I will find more. What I love is all the contingency plans to keep it engaging and avoiding English. Brilliant. Time to Xerox it! Thanks for sharing!
~Regina