How have we traditionally taught grammar?In the most traditional language classes teachers implement the PPP model of grammar instruction. Students are Presented with a grammar structure, they Practice the formation of the structure, and then try to Produce the structure in meaningful ways. In languages that have verb conjugations students would get the infinitive formContinue reading “Pop-Up Grammar”
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TASKS: What? Why? How?
It’s not a BLT with extra tomato, it’s Task-Based Language Teaching. First and foremost, I am in no way an expert on TBLT. What I have learned about tasks I have learned, mostly, from Bill VanPatten, and Claudia Fernández. So here, I am sharing my understanding, and my personal application of TBLT in my classroom.Continue reading “TASKS: What? Why? How?”
Reflecting on ACTFL 2022
The 2022 ACTFL Convention and Expo has come and gone and it was so great to see some old friends, and meet some internet friends for the first time! I got into Boston Thursday afternoon so that I could go to the SIG (Special Interest Group) Chair meeting. It was nice to get to seeContinue reading “Reflecting on ACTFL 2022”
Illustrating Lyrics
Last night on #LangChat we had a GREAT discussion on ways to use music in class, take a look at the archive of the chat! The idea that I shared was an idea I learned from Leslie Davison at iFLT 2018 in Cincinnati when I was an apprentice demo teacher there. The idea is prettyContinue reading “Illustrating Lyrics”
Optimizing PQA
TL;DR Ask the same question to a bunch of students, fish for details, before moving on to another question have students write what someone else said. Something I struggle with often is making PQA engaging for everyone. If you are unfamiliar with PQA (Personalized Questions and Answers), it is a communicative activity where you askContinue reading “Optimizing PQA”
CopyCat: A Quick, No-Prep, Post-Reading Game
I got this initial idea from Eric Richard’s Grafted Writing book, but today I gamified it a little bit because I needed to fill some time. Essentially: students COPY (not summarize, because we want them to read the right forms, and write the right forms) a number of sentences. Today, I had students do fiveContinue reading “CopyCat: A Quick, No-Prep, Post-Reading Game”
Brain breaks that won’t break your brain
A Brain Break is a pause in instruction to let students refocus, I’ve heard said that we should take our students average age (16 let’s say) and divide it by 2 (8) and after that many minutes you should change activities or take a break. I In a class of 45 minutes that means weContinue reading “Brain breaks that won’t break your brain”
Spoons! The classic card game with a reading twist!
I think we might all be familiar with the card game Spoons. Players pass cards around, trying to get 4 of the same card with a few spoons (one less than the number of players playing)in the middle of the table. When a player gets 4 of a kind they grab a spoon from theContinue reading “Spoons! The classic card game with a reading twist!”
Podcasts for Intermediate Learners
I got this idea today thanks to my new Department chair, Monsieur Jacobs. We have alternating Wednesdays at my new school. Classes are longer, but students only go to half of their schedule. For teachers, that *could* mean that their class sections are split, and starting the school year that could mean if you continueContinue reading “Podcasts for Intermediate Learners”
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