Language Residents

an archive of lesson plans

Category: Spanish (Page 1 of 14)

Spanish Conversation Class

ES S24 – Adv. CC: What would you do if…?

May 10, 2024 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Mayerly Gómez S.

Day and Date: 04-16-2024

Language and Level: Spanish Advanced class (6 students)

Class theme/topics discussed: What would you do if…?

Goal of the class:

-To share opinions and discuss about what students would do in different situations.

How did you structure the class?

*Music in the background*

– Greet the students and ask them to tell how they are feeling today. The students are asked to write in a piece of paper a situation to complete the prompt “What would you do if…?” (¿Que harías tu si…?). After everyone has written a situation, the students sit in a circle. As a whole class, one student reads his/her situation, and the next student has to briefly answer what he/she would do in that situation. Then, the student who answered has to read his/her situation and the next answers and so on until everyone has participated (20min).

– With a different partner, the students are given some cards with situations where they have to explain what they would do. They discuss ideas only with their partner this time (20min).

– Then, the students are given a sheet with different dilemmas. They have to pick one of them and roleplay the situation for their classmates. After each roleplay, students are encouraged to put themselves in the situation and say if they had done things the same way or differently (15min).

– Space for general questions, closing, and remind important dates and events (last day of language tables, international study break and OLC about projects (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Speaker

– Printed sheet with cards about “What would you do if…?”

– Printed sheet with situations to roleplay

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Today’s class flowed effortlessly, with students fully engaged in the roleplay activity. Their enthusiasm was contagious as they acted out different scenarios. I was impressed by their creativity, as many of them went above and beyond, adding rich details and expressions to their performances. Laughter filled the room, which is a sign of their enjoyment and sense of camaraderie. Witnessing their happiness and active participation was truly rewarding.

How could this class be improved/modified?

For this class, I would not modify or change anything.

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES S24 – Adv. CC: Traveling

May 10, 2024 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Mayerly Gómez S.

Day and Date: 04-18-2024

Language and Level: Spanish Advanced class (7 students)

Class theme/topics discussed: Traveling.

Goal of the class:

– To talk and discuss about traveling experiences and preferences.

How did you structure the class?

*Music in the background*

– Greet the students and ask them to tell how they are feeling today. The students work in couples. They are asked to look in their phones for a picture about the last place they traveled to or visited. They have to explain and give more information to their classmate about the picture. After some time, volunteers can share their pictures to the class and explain a little about their visit (20min).

– With a different partner, students are given some cards with questions related to traveling. They are encouraged to discuss their ideas using the cards (10min).

– Then, the students are given a piece of paper with questions about their ideal vacation trip. They discuss ideas with a different partner and at the end, volunteers share their thoughts with the whole class (15min).

– Students are given a sheet with different hypothetic situations about traveling. They have to pick one and discuss with a partner about what they would do in the situation (10min).

– Space for general questions and closing (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Speaker

– Printed sheet with cards about traveling

– Printed sheet with questions about the ideal trip

– Printed sheet with different travel problems to solve

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Overall, I would say the class went well today. We decided to have the class outside because the students suggested it, and it turned out to be a great idea. Everyone seemed excited and being outdoors made the atmosphere more relaxed and friendly. It was nice to see how being outside made it easier for everyone to talk and share their stories. Many students had cool travel stories to tell, and they were also eager to talk about their upcoming summer trips. Today’s class showed me how nice it can be to have class outside, where everyone feels comfortable sharing and learning together.

How could this class be improved/modified?

For this class, I would not modify or change anything.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES S24 – Int. CC: Problem Solving

May 10, 2024 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Mayerly Gómez S.

Day and Date: 04-15-2024

Language and Level: Spanish Intermediate class (3 students)

Class theme/topics discussed: Problem solving.

Goal of the class:

-To discuss and share opinions to solve problems related to different scenarios.

How did you structure the class?

*Music in the background*

– Greet the students and ask them to tell how they are feeling today. The students work in couples. They are given a sheet with different problematic situations. They have to choose one and discuss about possible solutions to this problem. After discussing as a couple, the students share their situation with the rest of the class and the possible solutions they discussed. The other couple of the class has to say if they agree or not with the possible solutions and propose other ideas (20min).

– With a different partner, the students are given some cards with situations where they have to propose different solutions. They discuss ideas only with their partner this time (20min).

– Then, the students are given a piece of paper where they have to write a problem for the other couple to solve. Both couples share out loud the possible solutions for the problem they were given (15min).

– Space for general questions, closing, and remind important dates and events (last day of language tables, international study break and OLC about projects (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Speaker

– Printed sheet with situations to solve

– Printed sheet with cards about different problems

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Today’s class I faced a familiar challenge: maintaining engagement and conversation among students who struggle to generate ideas or lack vocabulary to express themselves. I found myself actively participating to keep the discussion flowing, asking probing questions and encouraging interaction between students. For this group is difficult to keep conversations going without any guidance. Most of the time, I let them talk, and when I see they get stuck with a word, I jump in to provide support. If they all remain silent, I introduce a relevant question to encourage students to continue the discussion.

I was surprised when a similar comment that arose during mid-semester feedback resurfaced. During class, a student expressed a desire for more focus on “real-life situations.” I asked her to explain what she meant so I could better understand and address her concerns. However, she struggled to articulate her idea in more detail. In response, I explained my approach of using cards and varied activities with the objective of immersing students in different scenarios, challenging them to use the language authentically and hopefully, making efforts to use all the language they know to the best of their ability. I emphasized the importance of being prepared to communicate effectively in any conceivable situation they might encounter in the target language. This interaction highlighted the importance of clarifying the objectives of the activities and reinforced my pedagogical approach, which aims to challenge students to use language authentically in diverse contexts.

How could this class be improved/modified?

To help students feel confident about speaking up, I could implement activities to learn new words together and give extra help when they need it. Doing fun activities, like roleplays, can also help them practice using the language. It is important to give students enough encouragement and help to build up their confidence to use the language in a communicative and effective way.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES S24 – Adv. CC: Tongue Twisters + Roleplays

May 10, 2024 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Mayerly Gómez S.

Day and Date: 04-11-2024

Language and Level: Spanish Advanced class (6 students)

Class theme/topics discussed: Tongue twisters and roleplays.

Goal of the class:

– To practice speaking skills through tongue twisters.

– Practice speaking skills through roleplays about different situations.

How did you structure the class?

*Spanish music in the background*

– Greet the students, ask them to share with a classmate how their day is going so far. In pairs, with the help of a sheet with tongue twisters the students are challenged to read and repeat them as fast as they can. After some time, they are asked to pick their favorite and say it out loud with the objective of trying to understand as a whole class what the tongue twister means (25min). 

– With the help of a PPT, the students do a roleplay activity called “Keep the conversation going”. The students are shown different situations, and they must be creative to keep talking and not make the conversation stop (25min).

– In pairs, the students are asked to think as a couple in one situation, assign roles to each other, and keep talking (5min).

– Space for general questions, share final thoughts and closing (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Printed sheet with tongue twisters

– PPT with different roleplay situations

– Speaker

– Computer

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

For this class, students enjoyed practicing tongue twisters. They allowed students to challenge their pronunciation, fluency and boosted their confidence. Additionally, students got very creative during roleplays, where they actively engaged with various scenarios, asking questions about vocabulary specific to the situations they encountered. These activities were useful to help the students test their linguistic abilities and enjoy the process at the same time.

How could this class be improved/modified?

I would not change anything this time. The students seemed to enjoy the activities while practicing their Spanish skills.

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES S24 – Int. CC: Word Association + Preferences

May 10, 2024 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Mayerly Gómez S.

Day and Date: 04-08-2024

Language and Level: Spanish Intermediate class (3 students)

Class theme/topics discussed: Word association + discussion about preferences.

Goal of the class:

– To play a game to recall vocabulary related to different topics.

– To share personal experiences/preferences with the help of cards.

How did you structure the class?

*Music in the background*

– Greet the students and ask them how they are feeling today. The students are asked to sit in a circle. I will give them a category and they have to mention words related to it and pass to the next person. The objective is to make the effort to recall vocabulary related to specific topics. Topics: Animals, colors, jobs and occupations, and study fields (20min).

– With the help of some cards with statements and pictures, the students are asked to work in pairs and talk about different topics and personal experiences/preferences. After some time, they are told to change couples so they can listen to different people speaking (20min).

 – Based on the previous activity, the students are given a piece of paper, and they have to write their own ideas to complete the phrase “Ten una conversación sobre…”. Then, they use these ideas to keep talking with their classmates (15min).

– Space for general questions and closing. Students are asked to share and mention at least one new word they learnt today. (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Speakers

– Printed cards to share experiences/preferences

– Paper and pencils

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students enjoyed the activity where they named different words related to specific topics at the beginning of the class. It is evident that they get highly engaged when activities are game-related and challenging because I can tell they participate more actively than usual.

While I do not perceive this as something that “did not work”, I have noticed that sometimes the students’ disposition to participate or put in extra effort may not be the best at times. It seems to me they have the potential to extend their ideas further, but perhaps due to a lack of motivation or mood, they tend to keep their contributions short and simple.

I try to encourage them to expand their ideas and make the effort to go beyond providing brief answers. I believe in their abilities and know they can achieve more, but occasionally their level of energy or commitment may not be sufficient or the best. I think this is due to being almost at the end of the semester and all the recent events that have occurred on campus recently.

How could this class be improved/modified?

While this observation is not specifically related to this class, I think it is important to search and use new strategies to maintain students’ motivation and engagement. Given the small group size, actively participating in conversations with the students, asking clarification questions, and encouraging them to elaborate further on their ideas can be beneficial to make the learning experience more meaningful and push the students to use the language as much as they can.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES F23 INT- Thanksgiving

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Día de Acción de Gracias / Thanksgiving.

Goal of the class:

-To share opinions and personal experiences related to Thanksgiving.

-To write ideas and decorate a cup with things we are thankful for.

How did you structure the class?

*Music in the background*

– Greet the students and ask them to tell how they are feeling today and how was their Thanksgiving break. The students are reminded about important dates related to the class and the end of the semester (10min).

– The students are told we are going to share ideas and experiences related to Thanksgiving. Each student is given 5 questions and in a small group, they must ask each other these questions and share their ideas and experiences (30min).

– The students are given a picture of a cup with marshmallows. They must write in each marshmallow different things they are thankful for. The final cup can be sticked in the whiteboard of the classroom only If they want to share it with others (optional) (15min).

– Space for general questions and closing (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Speaker

– Printed worksheet with questions about Thanksgiving

– Printed worksheet with cup and marshmallows

– Markers to color and decorate the cups

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The “thankfulness cup” worked well for this class. They were enthusiastic about completing it with their ideas and decorating it.

This class always gives me a hard time trying to make them speak. I have to guide the discussions most of the time. I kind of understand why I have to do it, but I would like them to be more proactive in terms of making an effort in participating more. Sometimes is the lack of vocabulary, tiredness, not actively listening to their peers or low self-confidence related to their Spanish skills. Maybe if the group was larger, the relationship and interaction between them would be different.

How could this class be improved/modified?

Maybe aiming to teach the students more strategies/skills to keep a conversation going such as making questions, listen actively, show interest, and try to make connections with others. Sometimes I have the feeling some of my students come to class, and they do not pay too much attention to what their peers are saying. This could be the main reason why they do not get engaged in the conversation.  

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

actividad-mi-taza-de-agradecimiento_ver_1-1

Preguntas-sobre-el-Dia-de-Accion-de-Gracias-1Download

ES F23 AD – Roleplays and share personal experiences

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Roleplays and share personal experiences/preferences.

Goal of the class:

– To roleplay different situations and get creative.   

– To share personal experiences/preferences with the help of cards.

How did you structure the class?

*Spanish music in the background*

– Greet the students and ask them to tell how they are feeling today. The students are asked to use their phones to look for a character that represents them, a family picture, and a picture of when they were kids. The students had to show the picture to the class and explain more details about their choices (20min).

– Roleplay activity “Keep the conversation going” with the help of a PPT. The students are shown different situations and they must be creative to keep the conversation going (15min).

– With the help of some cards with statements and pictures, the students are asked to work in pairs and talk about different topics and personal experiences/preferences. After some time, they are told to change couples so they can listen to different people speaking (20min).

-Space for final comments, suggestions/ideas for next classes and closing (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Speakers

– Students’ phones

– PPT and computer

– A printed cards with statements

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students seemed to enjoy all the activities because I could see they were enthusiastic about the topics and sharing their opinions, preferences, and ideas. I would say everything worked well in this class.

How could this class be improved/modified?

I would not change anything about this class. If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES F23 AD – Chilean animals

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Chilean animals.

Goal of the class:

– To get information about Chilean animals. 

– To be able to talk about preferences and experiences related to animals.

How did you structure the class?

*Spanish music in the background – brought some candy to share with class*

– Ask the students how they are doing. At the beginning there were some situations the students had to solve, and some others arrived late. I gave them some minutes to solve their situations and started the class all together (10min)

– Watch a video about “the Chilean Puma”. The students are asked to take notes about the main ideas of the video and write what things were interesting to them to give a specific purpose to watch the video After watching the video, the students are asked to share their opinions and notes to the group in general (10min).

– With the help of a PPT presentation, the students are asked to share their opinions and thoughts about the Chilean animals to the group in general (20min).

– The students play a Kahoot to reinforce the content of the class and test their knowledge about Chilean animals. Space for general questions, share final thoughts and closing (10min).

-With the help of a small card with questions, the students are encouraged to talk in pairs and ask/answers questions related to the topic of the session (5min).

– Talk about the students’ ideas for their project to define their topic. Plus, general questions, share final thoughts and closing (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

– Computer and TV

– Video about Chilean Puma and Guanaco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REcqsHjixEM&ab_channel=StillWatchingNetflix

-PPT about Chilean animals

– Kahoot about Chilean animals  https://create.kahoot.it/share/fauna-chilena/5938af83-a933-428b-9b15-87ea7c847fad

– Small sheet with questions

– Speakers

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

At the end of the class, we did not have enough time to discuss a lot of ideas using the question cards. I would say that even though we did not use the discussion cards a lot, the students got to speak a lot since they were asking and answering questions all the time related to the topic.

My original class organization was different, but I got confused and twisted the order of the activities. I would say this is just fine because the students did not know my initial plan. At the end, I covered all my ideas but in a different order.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Probably pay more attention and stick to my original plan/order. Sometimes changing the order of the activities does not have an impact in the class result-goal (like today’s class) but there are some classes where the order matters towards the main objective.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Animales-ChilenosDownload

ES F23 Intermediate Christmas

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Christmas traditions in Spain.

Goals of the class: learn new vocabulary related to Christmas and learn to write a wish list in Spanish using the verbs “to need” and “to want”

How did you structure the class? 

  1. 10 min: warm-up exercise where I showed them typical Christmas things and I displayed their names in Spanish and in groups they had to match the names to the images.
  • 15 min: afterwards I asked them how they celebrate Christmas in their houses and if they had any special traditions. We talked about this for quite a long time because I have to students that come from countries that don’t celebrate Christmas, so we were talking about their traditions.
  • 15 min: I showed them an example of a wish list and I asked them to make a similar one writing one item that they needed and explaining where you could find it and how much it costed. Then, they had to exchange the lists with each other, and the other person had to decide whether they had the money to buy that present for the other person.
  • 15 min: the last 15 min were supposed to be for the evaluation, but the light went out, so I will hand them out next Monday.

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, handouts, etc.)

PowerPoint presentation

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The spontaneous conversation on how we celebrated Christmas worked super well because we learnr a lot of new things from other countries and cultures. The wish list exercise didn’t work as well because they were tired and didn’t have imagination to think about anything that they wanted, so I had to give them hints on things that they could choose.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I think that next time I will give them a list of things and they would have to choose from that list something that they would want for Christmas and make their wish list based on that.

NavidadDownload

ES F23 INT Chilean food and dishes

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Chilean food and dishes.

Goal of the class: To check information about typical Chilean food and dishes.

How did you structure the class?

*Spanish music in the background*

– Greet the students and check how they are feeling. Ask the students to share ideas about some typical dishes from their countries/cities. Then, they are asked if they know any Chilean dishes. They must share their ideas as a group (20min).

– Watch a video about typical Chilean food and use PPT presentation to reinforce some ideas, ingredients, and details about the dishes (20min). 

– After watching the video and PPT presentation, the students are asked to share their opinions and thoughts about the Chilean dishes to the group in general (15min).

– Space for general questions, share final thoughts and closing. Students are asked what they enjoyed about the class and something they learned from today’s session (5min).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.) –

– Computer and TV

– PPT with pictures and information about food from Chile

– Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LSwZI-FPqs&ab_channel=ElViajeroFeliz

– Speakers

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I had more activities planned for this class, but I did not have enough time to cover them all, which is OK.  The students would take their time to ask a lot of questions which is good, but sometimes they would express their ideas in a slow way, or they would have a hard time to make their ideas being understandable. On one hand it is a positive thing because they get to answer their questions and being able to communicate. On the other hand, it makes the class feel kind of slow paced and quiet. 

How could this class be improved/modified?

Maybe I should have switched the order of some of the ideas I had to the class to focus more on the straight communicative and collaborative activities most of the time.

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Comidas-tipicas-de-ChileDownload
comidas-tipicas-para-imprimire

ES F23 Intermediate Guilty Pleasures

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Guilty Pleasures

Goals of the class: learn about each other’s TV/music guilty pleasures

How did you structure the class? 

  1. 10 min: warm-up exercise in which we all talked about how our week was going and plans for the weekend.
  • 15 min: I showed them a presentation on some of my guilty pleasures (Legally Blonde movie and Jonas Brothers songs). I asked each of them to prepare a similar presentation that included the name of their guilty pleasure, a brief explanation, and a visual prompt (video, image, etc.)
  • 35 min: Each of them presented their guilty questions and we as a class had to ask them questions or make comments on their presentations. (10 min preparation + 25 min presentation).

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, handouts, etc.)

Canva Presentation, Youtube, Google Images.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I think everything worked super well because they were excited to come in front of the class and explain their guilty pleasures. We all laughed together, and we learnt new things about each other’s media tastes. I also showed them some Spanish reality shows and I learnt a lot about American TV culture. Perhaps, I should have managed the time a bit better because we got so excited on the first presentations that the last people presenting had to rush and they didn’t have as much time as the previous students.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I think the next time I will time each presentation and put a limit on questions so everybody gets the same amount of time. However, I think that on my next class on Tuesday I will ask the people who didn’t have much time to present to come up in front of the class and finish their presentation if they are willing to.

Guilty-pleasuresDownload

ES F23 Intermediate Halloween

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Differences between Halloween in the US and in Spain 

Goals of the class: learn Halloween vocabulary in Spanish and learn about Halloween traditions in Spain. Learn how to conjugate the verb “to dress up” (disfrazarse).

How did you structure the class? 

  1. 5 min: warm-up exercise where we talked about our plans for Halloween and about what we did during Halloweekend.
  • 10 min: I displayed images of typical Halloween things (pumpkin, ghosts, vampires…) and I also displayed their names in Spanish, and they had to match the pictures to their names talking to their classmates.
  • 20 min: I displayed the conjugation of the verb “to dress up” in the TV and they had to ask each other questions regarding their Halloween costumes using the correct verb tense and conjugation.
  • 15 min: later, I displayed images and videos of how All Saints Day (1st November) is celebrated in Spain and we discussed their origins and differences in comparation to the US.
  • 10 min: lastly, each of them had to present in front of the class a Halloween tradition that they would do when they were little and, if they had, show a picture.

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, handouts, etc.)

Canva presentation and Youtube.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The part where they explained their own Halloween traditions went super well because I could see that they wanted to share with the rest of the class their own experience. They were also super surprised when I talked about how we don’t celebrate Halloween, but we celebrate All Saints Day. I feel that the first exercise didn’t go that well in comparison because they didn’t know any of the Spanish words for the Halloween items, so they were a bit lost. 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I think that if I had to do this class again, I would give them more context in the first exercise. I thought that I would be easy to match the words to the pictures (vampire is vampiro, ghost is fantasma, which I thought they would connect with phantom, etc.). I thought they would follow more their intuition, but they were just trying to guess their meanings randomly. I think that next time I would bring a little text or a description in Spanish of each item that contextualizes more each word.

Halloween-IntermediateDownload

ES F23 Advanced Artificial Intelligence

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Automatic translation and AI in languages.

Goals of the class: learning new technology-related terms, debating on automatic translation, and learning Spanish idioms

How did you structure the class? 

  1. 5 min: warm-up exercise where I displayed some pros and cons of automatic translation (like the use of Google Translator). I also displayed some memes of funny automatic translations from English to Spanish and vice versa and they had to discuss it in small groups.
  • 10 min: The exercise above led to a 10-minute debate on whether automatic translation was good or not and it was super interesting because people had so many different opinions.
  • 20 min: I displayed an article on the new Artificial Intelligence tool for automatic translation (HeyGen) that allows you to translate videos to any language taking into account the voice tone and the movement of the person’s lips.
  • 10 min: I showed them 2 short videos of a famous Spanish politician speaking. These videos had been translated into English using HeyGen and they had to figure out the original speech in Spanish and then discuss if it was a good or a bad translation (after watching the real Spanish version of the speech)
  • Lastly, I displayed 11 Spanish idioms that I had translated using Google translator to English. They had to work in groups and try and figure out the original idioms considering that idioms usually rhyme. They had to write down their guesses in a piece of paper.
  • 10 min: once they were done they had to exchange the piece of paper with the other groups and the other groups were in charge of grading them according to the real idioms in Spanish that I had now displayed on TV. I told them to grade them as I they were professors at Pomona College and they were correcting a student’s exam. Afterwards, we  summed up the points and we had a winning group of the class! I’m thinking on creating a class ranking so at the end of the semester we have a winning group, but I’m not sure yet of how to do it. 
  • There was a last activity of matching the idioms to their meaning in Spanish but we run out of time, so I will use it as a warm up activity for next Thursday.

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, handouts, etc.)

Canva Presentation and YouTube for showing the videos.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

To be honest everything worked super well, and I feel that they loved everything. I’m really happy because I didn’t know that automatic translation was going to be such an interesting topic to talk about and, since I’m a translator, I could also talk about my experience and they asked me a lot of questions. They also didn’t know about the new software HeyGen and they were really interested in learning more on it after class. The idioms’ part was also super cool because they all were competing with each other and trying to find rhymes in Spanish. They were super imaginative! Maybe the least engaging part was the first discussion (before the debate), where they had to find the pros and cons because I had it was more of a guided conversation and I feel that they would have preferred to jump directly to the debate. (I wasn’t planning on having the debate, it just happened). 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

If I had to do this a second time, I would just ask directly what their thoughts on automatic translation are and have the debate with them directly. Or maybe dividing the class with people against it and in favor and making them debate even if they must defend ideas that are different to what they actually think. Of course, I think this depends on the students, so sometimes it’s hard to guess what they might prefer. 

Inteligencia-ArtificialDownload

ES F23 Advanced Music festivals in Spain

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Different music festivals in Spain

Goals of the class: practice and review the subjunctive, learn vocabulary related to festivals (what to bring and not to bring, types of music, stereotypes depending on the types of festivals you go to, safety in festivals)

How did you structure the class? 

  1. 10 min: warm-up exercise where I gave them a sheet with questions like “find a person that has played in a music band” etc. (similar to the intermediate) BUT, I highlighted the verbs that were in subjunctive, (all verbs in Spanish that are followed by an order should be in subjunctive) and we reviewed this grammatical tense. 
  • 10 min: I asked them if they knew any Spanish music festivals and I also asked them to tell me their favorite American music festivals. I put them in pairs, and they had to talk about an anecdote that happened to them in a festival or concert.
  • 20 min: I displayed a power point presentation with the 8 famous music festivals in Spain and with important information (type of music, location, price, main artists). They read the information out loud and asked about new vocabulary.
  • 10 min: I displayed some questions that they had to debate regarding festivals (is it safe? Is it better to go with friends or alone? Etc.
  • 5 min: I reviewed vocabulary of things that you should/ shouldn’t bring to a festival and we talked about stereotypes depending on how people see you depending on the music you listen to/festivals you go to.
  • 10 min: we did a final activity in which they had to ask each other 2 questions in order to guess to what Spanish festival they thought the other person would go depending on the answers. They were forbidden to ask directly: “to what festival would you go?” Instead they had to guess based on the answers of their favorite type of music, their budget, etc. At the end we said how many people were right about the rest of the class and we made a ranking with the winners.

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, handouts, etc.)

Canva Presentation, Google maps, twitter, instagram (for showing them the profiles of the music festivals and their advertising strategies).

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The final activity and learning about the new festivals worked out super well. They were eager to know the stereotypes that Spanish people have towards the people that listen certain types of music or goes to certain types of festivals, so this part went super well. The part that didn’t go that well was the warm up and the subjunctive because we got into deep grammar before doing the warm up activity. I thought that they already knew this tense, but they had a lot of doubts (which is good) but my idea was to do a review and not to start up with grammar.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I think that next time I will rather do one class focused on learning uses of subjunctive rather than talking about it quickly in the first minutes. I feel that it was too much to try and explain the subjunctive in this class and maybe it made them feel frustrated because they felt that they didn’t know this grammar tense.

Festivales-de-Musica-en-Espana-AdvancedDownload

ES F23 Advanced Horoscope Lesson Plan

December 8, 2023 /

Class theme/topics discussed: Horoscope and zodiac signs.

Goals of the class: learn how to read/say the horoscope and review the future.

How did you structure the class? 

  1. 5 min: warm-up exercise where we all reviewed together the months, seasons, and zodiac signs. I asked them to tell me what they knew, and we brainstormed together.
  • 15 min: I displayed the horoscope for each zodiac sign for last weekend and each of them had to read their horoscope and tell the class if it was right or not depending on how they had spent their weekend.
  • 15 min: I displayed a picture from a Spanish newspaper that described the personalities of each zodiac sign. We read it all together, and we asked each other if they thought those descriptions matched their personalities or not.
  • 10 min: We did a quick review of the future tense where I gave them some verbs in present and then they had to put them in future. Afterwards, I asked them to work in pairs and highlight all the verbs that were in future in the horoscope texts that we had read before.
  • 15 min: Finally, I asked them to write a horoscope prediction for the weekend for their classmates using all the verbs in future. At the end, they had to read them out loud.

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, handouts, etc.)

Canva presentation and future tense handout

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The reading of their own horoscopes was super fun because they could relate, and they could say if it was true or not. It was also a super fun way to learn more from each other. The last part where they had to write their classmates’ horoscope predictions went a bit worse because I thought that they had a better knowledge of the future tense than what they actually knew, so some parts were not really well said and they had difficulties conjugating the verbs.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I think that for this level I should have explained the future in more detail, not just a quick review, that’s why we are going to continue on the same topic and next Wednesday we are going to review the future in depth.

Horoscopo-AdvancedDownload
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