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How to Teach Spanish Grammar Inductively

7/9/2016

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Direct grammar instruction has become a no-no in the face of more proficiency-based instruction, but there is still one way to teach grammar that is not frowned upon.  Teaching grammar inductively has definitely been on the uprise for a number of reasons.  Research has shown that inductive grammar instruction is...

1) More effective, especially for brighter students
2) More engaging for students
3) More interesting for students
4) Easier to retain

This isn't to say that direct grammar instruction does not have its' advantages.  It is definitely more time consuming to use an inductive instructional method.  Direct instruction also tends to do a better job of dealing with exceptions to the rule, whereas an inductive method is going to help students focus on the big picture basics.  

Remember, nothing says that you have to use one method all the time.  Some concepts definitely lend themselves better to an inductive approach than others.  I certainly encourage you to try both methods with your students and see for yourself which method is more effective for you.

Developing an Inductive Grammar Lesson involves essentially 5 step: 
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Step 1:  Students analyze examples of correct language
This could take the form of phrases, sentences, or a paragraph depending on the level of students you are teaching.  The important part is to make sure that you provide plenty of examples of the targeted structure in use in various situations.  Don't give examples that show exceptions to the rule at first, those will come later.

Step 2:  Students create rules based on their observations
Have your students analyze the examples and try to come up with a rule as to how that particular verb or grammatical structure is used.  Do not worry if their rules are not exactly "right".  They will have a chance later to amend them.  This step is all about the thinking process and focus on correct examples.

Step 3:  Students test their rules against more examples
Provide students with additional examples of correct language that includes the targeted structure.  They will need to see if their rules hold up against these additional examples.  This is a good time to include some examples that go a bit deeper and challenge the most general form of the rule.  Look at including examples that represent a less common situation that students may come across.  

For example, if you are targeting verbs like gustar and have shown students examples in Step 1 that include the subject liking both singular and plural items, perhaps include some examples in Step 3 that show the subject liking to do an action and multiple actions.

Step 4:  Students modify and add to rules as necessary
Ask your students to take a second look at the rules they originally wrote in Step 2.  They should change or add to their rules based on the additional examples that you have shown them.

Step 5:  Students apply their rules when producing language
Give students some targeted, scaffolded activities in which they can now apply the rules they have developed.  This works best in writing, at least at first, until the rules have a chance to be internalized a bit more.  This is the point at which, as the teacher, I would step in to correct any misunderstandings that students may have as evidenced by their work on the application exercises.

If you would like to see some examples of what Inductive Grammar Lessons look like, I am currently posting them in my store.  You are welcome to look at them for ideas, or pick them up to save yourself some time.  


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El Tiempo Unit (Week 2)

2/6/2016

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We ended our unit on weather today so I thought I would share some of the activities that we did during the week.  

Our goal for the end of this week was to be able to write a brief weather report, in Spanish, expressing the current temperature and weather conditions as well as future temperature and weather conditions.

This will feed directly into my next unit on making plans and accepting/rejecting invitations.  Since the weather often dictates what types of leisure activities we may do and when/where we might do them, we will be recycling a lot of these ideas during the next lesson.  But for now, we are starting with a written weather report.


Day 1:  Our main activity was an interpersonal speaking/information gap style activity taken from my Integrated Performance Assessment on the Weather.  Since I knew I was not going to be assessing that mode this time around, but I still wanted to practice it, I just used it as a class activity.  Here is a portion of the activity so that you can see the general idea:

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Day 2:  I wanted students to practice answering questions about weather in both written and spoken form.  I grouped my kids by threes and gave each group a set of 15 weather speaking prompts.  Each student took on the role of either the interviewer (asks the questions), interviewee (answers the questions), or the reporter (writes down the interviewee's responses to each question).  They switch roles every 5 questions so that they get to practice listening, speaking, and writing.  This is actually a concept that can be applied to most worksheets if you are looking for ways to differentiate.  Here are some of the questions we worked with of varying difficulty:
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Day 3:  We spent some time on Google Classroom looking up the weather for various cities and writing weather reports based on the information given on the English site www.weather.com.  

Day 4:  We listened to the song "Hasta Que Salga el Sol" by Don Omar and practiced changing the lyrics based on the vocabulary and verb structures we had worked with during the week.
Here is a portion of one of the activities that we did so that you can see how we applied our new found vocabulary to existing grammatical structures:
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Day 5:  ​Today was assessment day!  After two weeks of working with weather (one week of listening/reading activities and one of speaking/writing activities) it was time to see if they met their goal of being able to write a brief weather forecast.  The assessment was a simple enough concept but really gave them a wide range of things they could have said.  I will grade it using the ACTFL presentational rubric for novice level.  Download your own copy of the assessment here:
weather_writing_assessment.pdf
File Size: 680 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

So how did they do?  It's becoming clearer and clearer with every assessment that most of them are at or soon will be at the Novice-High level, which is our goal for the end of the year.  Here are some examples of their writing:
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You will notice that there are some mistakes that are being made pretty consistently which shows me what I need to continue to focus on with them.  Overall though, I am very pleased with the increase in complexity and detail that they show over a level 1 student dealing with the same topic.  The growth is evident by the more sophisticated use of vocabulary and the ability to talk about future weather conditions (rather than only current conditions).  They are getting more and more consistent with using complete sentences, which is encouraging knowing how hard we have worked at this.  At the beginning of the year, many of them didn't really understand what the term "complete sentence" and "verb" meant.

Many of the lessons used during this week are up in my store.  Look for the links to find the specific products or just look at the information here - I hope it inspires a new lesson for you!
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Building a Foreign Language Library

4/30/2014

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One of my favorite events is next week - the Scholastic Books Warehouse Sale!  The same company that runs the book fairs at local schools has a warehouse sale a couple of times a year for teachers.  I have been going twice a year for about the last 7 years or so and I have built up an extensive classroom library as a result.  They have a lot of titles in Spanish and since they usually are not as much in demand at their school book fairs (depending on where you live), they are pretty cheap.

I love using children's books in Spanish in my classroom.  Typically, I use them to do "grammar" scavenger hunts.  When I first introduce a grammar topic, before I expect my students to be able to apply their knowledge, I want them to be able to recognize other people (authors) using it.  So, I set them loose on the book shelf with the mission of finding examples of what they just learned.  My kids love getting a chance to look at the books, many of which they read as children in English.  They scan the book looking for the specific things I have asked them to look for and list examples to show what they were able to find.

Scavenger Hunt topics I have used (just to name a few):

cognates
definite & indefinite articles
forms of SER and ESTAR (since they show up so frequently)
Ser vs Estar
present tense endings
preterite tense endings
imperfect tense endings
Preterite vs Imperfect (find sentences and justify the usage)
Por vs Para

Once you have the books, the possibilities are really endless.  When they get to the point that they can read a bit, children's books are the best place to start.  The language is simple, there are pictures for reading support, and they feature characters that students are familiar with (Clifford, Froggy, Captain Underpants, Elmo, etc.).  It is also easy to differentiate lessons by grouping your books by difficulty.  I code my books A, B, C, D, or E according to the reading level.  I can assign "E" books (the highest level) to my native speakers and "A" books to my weak students.  This way the activity is interesting and challenging for all of them!

Here is a link to the Scholastic Books website where you can find out if there is a warehouse sale happening near you:

Scholastic Book Fairs Warehouse Sales


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DIY Dry Erase Boards

4/26/2014

3 Comments

 
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Dry Erase Boards are one of my favorite classroom tools for a number of reasons.  Although I am not a fan of the drill & kill method, sometimes it has to be done.  Having students write and display their answers on dry erase boards gives me a good sense of who gets it and who doesn't without having to wait until I have time to look at their written work.  It also tells me what exact mistakes my students are making or what they are misunderstanding.  This informs my future instruction and allows me to tweak future lessons so that I am zeroing in on those weak points.

In addition to the feedback I get from these types of activities, the students get immediate and specific feedback as well.  They too can begin reconstructing their understanding immediately and ask questions.

My typical Dry Erase Board Activity looks one of a few ways.
1.  Vocabulary recognition - I give a word and students draw pictures that represent the meaning of the word.  I can quickly see which words are causing them trouble and use them more in class.
2.  Vocabulary Production - I display a picture, they write the Spanish word.  I scan the room and remind about common spelling errors.
3.  Grammar Application - I display sentences with a verb that needs to be conjugated.  The students change the verb accordingly.  I scan the room for errors and give both individual feedback and whole class reminders.

Here is a link to some Dry Erase Board Activities that are available in my TpT store:


Preterite Tense Dry Erase Board Activity Pack


What's that?  You don't have individual dry erase boards for your students?  You don't feel like spending $30 for a set of 10 boards?  $90 for a class set?

One of my colleagues moonlighted as a Home Depot employee many years back and told me that melamine sheets actually work just like a dry erase board and is MUCH cheaper.  I went the very next day and purchased a huge sheet of melamine for around $30.  I paid $5 to have it cut into 32 one square foot dry erase boards and "voila" - a class set for $35 instead of the close to $100 that I would have paid retail.  I have been using the same boards for 8 years and they are only now getting to the point where I am thinking about replacing them.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to make your own boards:

How To Make Your Own White Board

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     I have been teaching Spanish for the past 15 years in a large Suburban School District.

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