Input activities for stories... adapted for online learning

Thank goodness I teach with stories! I can continue to give my students engaging, compelling input and I am not focusing on grammar or spelling. I am also communicating with them on a daily basis with the Pregunta(s) del Día.

Below, I am sharing some ideas for input activities for stories that you can do online. 

I am using lots of Google Classroom, so most of the things below would be "handed out" and "collected"there. We are also using Google Meet, which I love because I can see their faces and talk to them. Right now, we meet five days of the week, but I am really hoping we get a flex day. I have had 6 days so far, so I am not an expert at all, but just sharing some ideas 😊. 

My students are really liking story/song of the week, so some the ideas below have resources for the song that I will be using this week: No te vayas by Carlos Vives.

1. Word Walls: I have words posted all over my classroom, but students don't have that at home. Give them a list of the interrogatives and the sweet sixteen. 
• Tell them to write it down and keep it handy for when they are "in Spanish class."
2. Reviewing and/or previewing key vocabulario y estructuras: Gimkit, Quizlet Live, or Textivate Match (see here or here).
• Whenever I give key vocabulario y estructuras, my students usually know most of them and I sprinkle in some new ones. So, this is review and gets them thinking about what the story will be about.
• Also, they will not learn these words before the story, they will acquire them with all of the input activities below!
3. Clip chat --> Create slideshow with screenshots, record self telling the story with Screencastify (or Loom or Google Meet), and create an Edpuzzle with that video. The questions in this Edpuzzle are EASY because I really just want them listening to the story, but just knowing that there will be a question coming up make students listen more attentively! 
• Tip (learned during la maestra loca's online workshop):  During your recording, ask your students to act our certain words (like you do in class). 
• Another tip (learned during la maestra loca's online workshop): During your recording, say some of your students' names and/or pretend they are in front of you.
4. Another Edpuzzle option: If you are using a video (like a music video!) for your story. Create an Edpuzzle with the video and make multiple choice questions (easier to grade) with the text of the story. See an example here. 
5. Running Dictation (learned during la maestra loca's online workshop): Create "breakout rooms" in Google Meet (this involves creating "other Google Meets" that students can go in and out of -- not as easy as Zoom) or  Zoom (I can't currently use 🙄).
• Students can come in and our of "main Google Meet" to read sentences that you (the teacher) are showing and then go back to their group.
• I haven't tried this yet, but hope to!
• Students can upload pictures of their work (if they hand write) or a doc to Google Classroom
6. Match pictures to sentences: This can be a reading or a listening activity and can be done alone or with a group. Here are a few options:
• Give students (alone or in groups) the pictures of the story. Students read the sentences (shared in a doc in Google Classroom) and write the letter of the picture being described. 
• Give students (alone or in groups) the pictures of the story. Teacher creates audio of him/her reading the sentences. Students write the letter of the picture being described. 
7. Textivate in teams (learned during la maestra loca's online workshop): Set up a Challenge with teams.  
• Check out an example here.
8. Cierto/Falso: In groups or alone, give students a doc like this and they have read the sentences and write if they are cierto or falso. They should also correct the false ons. You could also record yourself saying the sentences. 
9. Put events in order: In groups or alone, give students a doc like this and they have to order the events. You could also record yourself saying the sentences.
10. Comprehension questions: Give students a doc with a list of comprehension questions. Then, do either of these:
1.  Record yourself saying the answers to the questions out of order. Students have to figure out which question is being answered and write the sentence. This is similar to a dictation, but a little trickier.
2. Give students the answers to the questions out of order. Students have to figure out which question is being answered and write the number of the question next to the sentence. 
11. Read, read, read and read some more: Set up a Sequence in Textivate: parte 1 and parte 2.
12. Dictation: Record yourself and do one of these:
• Students write what you say and illustrate each sentence. 
• Say true/false statements. Students 
13. Listen and draw: Record self saying sentences. Students illustrate. Upload illustrations to Google Classroom. 
• Use the illustrations the next day. Say sentences and students have to point to what you are saying. You can record the sentences or do it live with Google Meet (or Zoom).
14. Agárralo - AKA The pencil grab game: Use grid mode in Google Meet so you can see everyone. Give students a partner to look at. They have to be the first to give a thumbs up or thumbs down. Keep track of points, but who really cares about the points!?!
• I have not tried this, so it might not actually work and/or it might be totally chaotic.
15. All the worlds a stage (learned during la maestra loca's online workshop, I think Karen Rowan's idea originally): Have students "come to class" with old toys (stuffies, action figures, etc.). Tell the story and they have to act it out with the toys. This could be so funny with Google Meet, seeing them all acting things out. 
16. Read some more: Create a Kahoot Jumble.
17. ¿Quién lo diría? y/o ¿Quién lo haría?: See example here (thanks to Deanne Roach!)
18. Video responses: Students can upload video responses to Google Classroom. These video responses could be predictions, reactions, questions, or anything else.
19. Pear Deck: This can be used for a lot! More coming soon on this...

No te vayas (de tu casa)

Update 3/29/20: Here is a folder with a whole bunch of resources to use.

Teaching online is challenging! One of my main goals is to give my students to get engaging input at this time. (I also want to make connections with them too!)

I surveyed my students yesterday and asked if they would like to continue with story/song of the week. I wasn't sure what they would answer, but the overwhelming answer was yes!

So, for my Spanish 3 class, I am working on activities for the song/video "No te vayas" by Carlos Vives. I love Carlos Vives! And this video is totally appropriate and fun.

So far, I have created this slideshow. My students will know most of the "vocabulario y estructuras importantes". These are my honors students and they sometimes like to have "vocabulary lists". However, they will acquire this vocabulary, NOT through studying it, but rather through lots of INPUT with the story.

I will be working on creating online input-driven activities in the next week, but wanted to share these few things in case anyone can use it. 

I will be creating  created a video (with Google Meet) of me saying the story in the slideshow and I made this Edpuzzle.

I also did something new. I created this Edpuzzle that shows the music video and has the text of the story. Students would do that after hearing me tell the story.  

This doc (still a work in progress!) has some other ideas and links. If anyone wants to help with any of this, let me know and I can give you editing access.

Also, this will be a great accompaniment:

And how sweet is this version!?!

One little part of my online plan --> Pregunta(s) del Día

Update - 6/24/20:

• I started doing this everyday, but that was way too much for me to keep up with!
• I ended up doing two "Preguntas del Día" a week. 
• This was one of the best ways to make connections with my students!

Update - 3/26/20: This is going very well! Here are the questions, videos and answers that I have done so far (click here or see below). And here is the rubric. This is a lot for me to grade, so I am giving them Fridays off.

Whoa! What a week (or two really) this has been! I had my first day of online learning today and I think it went pretty well.

I will be sharing more about my plan in the week(s) to come, but today, I am sharing one little (and kinda basic) thing that I plan on doing every day. (I ended up doing this two times a week!)

I really want my students listening, reading, and communicating. In particular, I want to have individual "interactions" with them. I plan on meeting face to face every day on Google Meet and to have lots of videos so they are getting input, but having one-on-one conversations might be tricky.

So, I have decided to have a "Pregunta(s) del Día" every day. Here is my plan:

• Students will watch a video of me saying the question and my answer. They will also see the text of what I say. I underlined some structures in my answer to help them with their answer.

• Students will upload a video of themselves answering the question. I loved seeing their videos today. I am not a super-sappy person, but I realized that I missed seeing them more than I realized. 

• They will also submit their answer in a Google From that looks like this (see below). I have some extra questions in there the first day, but normally it will just be the "Pregunta(s) del Día". 

• Then, the next day, during out Google Meet, I will choose some answers (easily collected in the Google Form) and share them (verbally) with the class. I will have them guess who said what. Students will get more input that might be about them (which = more engagement). Of course, I will be careful not to share anything too personal that they share in their videos.
• Here is the slideshow of the questions that I will be asking. Any suggestions for future questions?!?!
• Update: I had some questions about how I record these little videos, so rather than type it out, here is video explaining:

This is what it looks like on my Google Classroom:

Google Meet as a screen recording tool

I LOVE Screencastify and use it a lot! I pay for it and create videos to tell stories, to give instructions, and for a variety of other things.

I particularly have been loving creating videos and uploading them to Edpuzzle.

Here are a few examples: here is me giving login instructions, here is me telling a story (Edpuzzle), here is me introducing a unit and giving instructions (Edpuzzle),

As we prepare for a possible move to online learning (my school, as of now, is still on for Monday), I wanted to share a free alternative to Screencastify --> Google Meet. Google Meet is used to meet with students live (which I will definitely be doing), but it can also be used like Screencastify.

Here is a video to explain:

And here is the video that you get for students when you record in Google Meet:

Conversación Simulada... before AP

Note: Even if you don't teach AP or have it in your school, this post will be helpful because it is basically about Spoken Interpersonal Communication and some ways to assess it.

Screenshot take from WORLD-READINESS STANDARDSFOR LEARNING LANGUAGE

If you teach AP and your lower levels are not specifically prepping kids for that test, it can be shock when all of a sudden, students have to prepare and practice for this section of the AP exam!

Screenshot from College Board AP Central

This section is challenging for a variety of reasons:

• It is odd to interact interpersonally without seeing the person... our students are not having a lot of phone conversations! 
• Students have to try to fill up 20 seconds of time five or six times.
• It is very possible that a students says something and then the next questions asks about that very thing. That can freeze up many students!
• Students have to put themselves in the shoes of someone else. 
• Students have to think on their feet and be creative.
• Students have to understand the prompt and pay attention to how to respond. For instance, these are things they might have to do: salúdala, explica, sugiere, invítala, comenta, responde negativamente, despídete etc.
• Students also have to show off some advanced vocabulary and advanced grammatical structures. 

So, what can we do in lower levels to get them ready for this? Or forgetting about the AP test, how can we get them ready for interpersonal communication in general in the real world? The answer is pretty simple: have them do conversaciones simuladas throughout all levels. 

But... how do we do that?!?

In my Spanish 3 class, which started about a month ago, my students have done two conversaciones simuladas. One was related to the story/song "Bailo la pena"(TPT link) and the other was based on the (free) song/story "Sigo buscándote." My Spanish 2 class did one based on the (free) song/story #Idiota. And I plan on doing another one related to the book Berto y sus buenas ideas. Another (free) unit that has a conversación simulada is this unit called "Carlos explora Lima, Perú" (a student favorite!).  And another unit is the 2018 lotería unit (TPT link).

Basically, students have the conversation as if they are a character in the story and/or as if they are talking to a character in the story. 

However, there are a lot of differences from the AP Exam (obviously!):

• For the first couple of conversaciones simuladas, students do them at home (or in our TASC block) and they can listen to the prompt as many times as they want. Eventually, I will put them on a time limit and do it in class. 
• We go over the situation together in English... trying to lower that affective filter.
• They have lots of time to look at how they have to respond.
• They can re-record as many times as they want. I do explain what interpersonal communication is though and I tell them that I want this to be rather quick with, ideally, one recording.
• They don't have to fill up 20 seconds! I do tell them that eventually, that is the goal, so some might try.
• It is actually kind of fun and easier because it is related to something (a story) that we have spent a lot of time on.
• The voice they are hearing is me, so it is also easier.
• The rubric is a bit simpler than the AP one.

Here is an example for the story/song "Sigo buscándote". Depending how you set up your recording, you can do two things: give students this document (click here or see below) and use Flipgrid to record (click here for post about how to do that) (or any other platform that you use) or just put all that information on the recording platform that you use.

I use the Voces Digital platform (much easier than Flipgrid!), which has its own curriculum, but you can add things to it that have nothing to do with what is in there! The student view looks like this:

And this is what the teacher correcting page looks like:

Here is the teacher script. It might only really make sense if you read the story for "Sigo buscándote". The teacher records his/her voice saying the prompts.

As we move forward in the class, students will do more of these and they won't be hearing my voice. For example, we will a unit in Nuestra Historia 3 (Voces Digital) called "En los tiempos extremos". After reading (and doing lots of activities with) a story called "La esperanza entre los escombros", they will have to do this conversación simulada (which won't be my voice):

Scaffolding and Support for a Comparación Cultural w/ Stories

If you read my blog, you know that I love using stories based on music videos. But some might say:

• "Yeah, that is fun and engaging, but what about the ACTFL Standards and the three modes of communication!?!"
• "Yeah, that is fun and engaging, but I teach AP... how will this prepare for my students for AP!?!"

This is the first in what I hope to be a series of posts addressing those two questions.

With stories based on authentic resources (such as songs and music videos), it is easy to hit those standards and do pre-AP assessments. 

The cultural comparison of the AP test is one example of what you can do with stories based on songs/music videos. That cultural comparison is challenging. Students have to speak for two minutes and compare their own culture with something of the Spanish speaking world. They need to start preparing for this in lower levels. And, also, with the cultural comparison we are hitting these Standards (so it isn't just to "get ready for the AP test"):

And, of course (as always) we are hitting the Communication Standard with Presentational Writing and/or Speaking.

So, how to do this with stories based on songs/music videos?!

In my level 3 class, this is a presentational writing assessment, not presentational speaking, as it is on the AP test. Writing is easier and eventually, they will be saying their cultural comparisons... but not to start! #Scaffolding #Support

Students don't know what culture is, so it is important to explain that culture = products, practices, and perspectives. They also (in my experience) have a hard time defining and identifying their own culture. So, how do we get them there?

First, this essential question should be a focus of the story/unit:

• ¿Cómo son los productos, las prácticas, y las perspectivas culturales en la canción y el video de ___(fill in the blank)___ similares y/o diferentes de los tuyos? 

Share this question with students at the beginning of the story/unit. Tell them, they will be writing a cultural comparison essay that answers that question. In order to write a 4-5 paragraph essay, they will need lots of guidance and support.

Then, spend some time with the story, the video and screenshots of the video. They will see and hear lots of cultural products, practices, and perspectives!

For the first cultural comparison (in Spanish 3), as a class, we made lists of all of the cultural products, practices, and perspectives from the video "Bailo la pena" (unit here on TPT).

After that, with the help of our lists of cultural Ps, students worked together and filled out this grid:

They could use this grid when they wrote their cultural comparison.

But, I knew they still needed more support. This is the first two weeks of Spanish 3 after having 9-12 months away from Spanish. So, I gave them this big support:

The final results were excellent! The next time they write a cultural comparison, I will give them less support. The goal at the end of the semester is to do a spoken cultural comparison. 

This week, I am going to have them do a cultural comparison about Sigo buscándote.

Here is the template to do a 

cultural comparison 

 for any music video/song.

Stay tuned for a post about interpersonal speaking and the simulated conversation... that too can be focus and end goal when using stories based on songs/music videos.