Ideas for Foreign Language

Exposing students to real life activities and learning in FL classes is not that hard. Combining the language with every day events is fun, interesting and motivated for students. Many ideas can combine one or more subjects across the curriculum; some times students learn better English grammar, Social Studies topics, etc., after they were exposed to the same topics or rules in FL class. Activities need to have rubrics that are clear to the students about what is demanded for him/her to accomplish. Sometimes, these rubrics can be created together with the students. Including choices and activities were students can be creative and apply their own strong learning skills or different intelligences is a must. Creating students learning contracts that have clear expectations, conditions, goals, grading rubric and parent, student and teacher signatures as an agreement is a great way to challenge some students and involving parents responsibility on their children’s’ learning. Using many strategies from co-operative learning styles, like Think–Pare-Share, Jigsaw, Teams, Games, Tournaments is another great way to challenge students.

Learning Centers are classrooms areas containing collections of materials or activities created to teach, practice, investigate or extend a skill or concept. Each of these centers is design for the interaction of students’ interest allowing the students to explore and become more knowledgeable about a specific topic or subject in a differentiated way. Because students have choice the result is a more personal connection to the content. Toni Theisen an High School teacher from Loveland Colorado used the center to teach students about Literature in a FL classroom. In her learning centers students can excel and "gain background knowledge of a story’s setting, the historical and cultural perspective in which it takes place, and biographical background of the author."

Hosting a dinner party: divided into groups of fives, students are hosting a mock dinner party revolving around a contemporary issue/tradition in your TL countries. Each student needs to gather as much information as possible associated with the topic. Each one of the students need to assume the identity of important historical figures and they debate or share how this topic is affecting, shared or helped their country. (For example: a topic for Middle schoolers could be a school, the guests are Monet, Napoleon, Queen Isabel, Margaret Thatcher and Shakira as the hosted. Students can introduce themselves, ask questions about the subject taught in each country schools, their schedule, the cafeteria foods, clothing etc.

Learning stations provide choice and motivation. Set up corners in your classroom. Designate a time each week where students can select a location for learning that suits their own learning styles. For example, a quiet corner for reading magazines or children’s books in the target language. CDs reviewing the past lessons material or music for reflection and relaxation. Board games where students give the answers in TL (Target Language). A corner for one on one peer or teacher tutoring, a group discussion for current, cultural or political events, etc.

Use projects with writing prompts to teach students narrative, descriptive, informative and persuasive writing forms.

· Show a video to the students with information about a country from your TL Ask the students to describe one of the famous sites from the video. What is it called? What is it? Where is it? Why is famous? (Descriptive).

· Pretend you are a teenager from another country. Write about your typical day, schedule, foods, school activities etc. (Narrative).

· Write to a pen pal informing him/her about a coming holiday, compare and contrast the holiday with the one your pen pal is celebrating in his/her country. Think about preparations, family involvement. (Informative).

Write a letter to your parents persuading them to give you what you want or need. "Soften" reasons for

Incorporating the TL with other subjects. During our school early release days students leave school at 1:40 PM. Classes are short and it is a great time to work on multiple subjects units. This year was the 25-year anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It was a great opportunity for a lesson about cognates. After explaining what cognates are and what are "false "cognates, students received a copy of Gordon Lightfoot’s song "The Edmund Fitzgerald" in English. We listen first to the melody, then the music with the lyrics. Later on the students were divided into pares (according to ability and/or interest) and work on finding cognates from the song. After finding the cognates the students who were interested look for other words we study in class and could be located in the lyrics. Before living the classroom each student needed to use one of the new words in a sentence. These were diverse as well, from "I am a man". To " My friend is from Chippewa and has a boat on the lake."

Women History Month. Here is a four level activity about Latinas/Hispanic women extracted from the electronic magazine "Materiales" from the Embajada Española in Washington D.C. This can be a long-term project established by a contract or a week project if teachers delete some of the requirements.

· "Ellas." Level one. Students investigate about the role of women in the family.

· "Mujeres que influyen en el mundo". Level two. To read about three different but powerful women and their contribution to their countries.

· "¿Qué pintan las mujeres?" Level three. Students investigate and compare the work of 3 famous artist one American one Spanish and one Mexican.

· "¿Qué autora estás leyendo?" To express interest on ideas written by authors from Nicaragua, Spain, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

"Hispanic Heritage Month" Seventh grade students in Com-Art classes were studying the story "La Bamba" from Gary Soto. At the same time students in my Spanish class were learning about Hispanic Heritage Month, colors, numbers, seasons and days of the week. We decided to combine reading and Spanish classes learning about the authors (De Soto and Ritchie Valance), learning the words to the song, interacting with computers and the internet in http://www.musicalspanish.com/bambasample.htm and investigating more about Gary Soto’s books and life in http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/soto.htm , http://garysoto.com and http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyl/stobib.htm This activity can be differentiated by the time given to students to work on it, by having students listen to the story on tape and reading together with the recorded version, by adding drawings or skits about the play , TPR, etc.

"Around the World in 60 Minutes" A Cultural Fair. This Fair was created with the intention of motivating talented and gifted FL students, but because our belief in differentiated learning, it was offered to all. We also try to connect across the curriculum in other areas beside FL, such as Social Studies, Com-Arts, Music, Drama, Computers and Technology, Multicultural Education, and more. In the first year, we had 13 students who show interest in participation, but only 10 students presented. They all learned and challenge themselves, each one in his/her own interest and strength. Students chouse a famous character and needed to prepare a minute speech in the TL, posters, charts, maps, props etc. about this figure. Our aim was for the students to research their characters and to "become" this person as viewers are invited on a "Historic Tour Around the World". A reception followed the fair and students received prizes for participating. This was a volunteer project and took place in our LMC at 6:30 PM.

"El Día de Acción de Gracias" An activity for fun. Because this is our American Holiday there is no reason not to teach the names of these foods in Spanish. My students created books, posters or brochures about this holiday. They also translated from Spanish a recipe for "Thanksgiving Pancakes", they color a turkey with clues of numbers and colors in Spanish and wrote sentences in the negative and positive form using the verb "To like", a verb they were studying at that time.