Get more CI out of Quizlet Live (or Gimikit)!

Quizlet Live and Gimkit are great tools for a variety of reasons and many teachers use it.

I love them because they creates class culture by having students work together with different people and I can quickly mix up the groups if I am not liking some dynamics and/or seeing imbalances with teams. I also have 85 minute classes, so I this a great way to break up that long time period.

I sometimes use these tech tools to quickly preview/introduce vocabulary for a story and/or a unit and students play with English to Spanish definitions. This is quick and easy. Here is an example set.

However, far more frequently, we play Quizlet Live and Gimkit with fill-ins and comprehension questions and this is a much more useful and CI focused way to use it. It is also much slower and students have to read and think a lot more! 

A few people have asked about what the sets look like, so here are a couple of sets from Quizlet (I export these to Gimkit too). This one is to review the story "Un hombre un poco obsesionado" (to go along with the song "Ella"). These are some of the questions in the Quizlet set.

When I choose how to play, I choose the version on the right, which requires a subscription (worth it for me!):

Here is an example of fill-ins. This one is to review part 2 of the Intermediate version of "22 otra vez". 

And again, when playing Quizlet Live, I would choose the version on the right.

La Rutina Diaria... otra vez

In Spanish 2, I am tied to certain units and one is the Daily Routine, but instead of the long vocabulary list with tons of reflexive verbs, I have used five stories (and blogged about it here).

This semester we are focusing on one story: "No voy a levantarme". We will use an embedded reading and students will do all the nuggets.

I am not going to spend a lot of time on the other stories. I will quickly do a "Listen and Draw" for one or two or them, probably in the past tense. Students will listen and draw, watch the videos, and then do a Textivate to read the text.

This year I am adding three Edpuzzles (with Pablo from Dreaming Spanish) and a BVP style Task to the unit. Students did the first Edpuzzle to learn about Pablo's day and to get lots of CI! Sharing them here in case anyone can use them!

And then they did this Task (make a copy here). Recommended: Read more about BVP's Tasks here.

Students will also do these two Edpuzzles (here and here) where Pablo's friend Adrià talks about his daily routine. One, or both of these, will be Interpretive Listening Assessments.

Pre-AP Conversación Simulada en Flipgrid

One of the most challenging, and awkward, parts of the AP test is the Interpersonal Speaking section. A Conversación Simulada is a great way to practice for that section of the test and to assess Interpersonal Speaking, which is challenging and oftentimes not assessed.

Arianne Dowd created this Conversación Simulada for my Perú unit and it was went really well. And they will be doing another one at the end of our lotería unit. I set it up on Flipgrid and thought I would share how to do that and what it looks like, so I made  a basic, and a bit rambling, 6 minute video below about how to make a Conversación Simulada with Flipgrid.

If you teach pre-AP or AP, this an excellent way to prepare students for that Interpersonal Conversation that is worth 12.5% of the exam. It is so tricky and strange, and students need a lot of practice. I have an AP workbook (Temas) and my students will be doing most of the practices in there before the exam. But, when it is in the context of a unit like this one or this one, it is much more natural... fun! Also, for grading, I recommend using a table like this, going question by question, and taking notes for each student.

Also, a few thoughts about AP... I love teaching it! But is is a difficult, academic test and students need to practice certain parts. I love that many students can earn college credit and save some $$ and/or possibly take one less class when they study abroad. Is AP for all? No, it is not, but do I see value in it? ABSOLUTELY!

Dreaming Spanish Christmas Edpuzzles

Edpuzzles are really good for Interpretive Listening. And these Dreaming Spanish videos contain lots of information about Spanish cultural products, practices, and perspectives. They will be an excellent accompaniment to my lotería unit (small unit on here TPT and bigger unit here on TPT). 

My students will be doing some (or all) of these during the next three weeks. These will also be perfect for a Blizzard Bag day or a sub day... or a we-all-need-some-quiet-time-day!

I am sharing them here in case anyone wants to use any of them. 

Some are very basic, so really good for Novices.

After the fourth Edpuzzle (Xmas Sweets), I am going to give students some turrón and Ferrero Rocher!

Here are the links to copy them:

• Christmas lottery! (Novice) or Christmas lottery! (Intermediate) (And here is a Running Dictation and a Pear Deck to follow up)
• Christmas in Spain
• Christas Eve and Christmas Day
• Spanish Santa Claus
• Christmas Sweets
• The pooping log
• Christmas Songs in Spain
• El Caganer