One of the hardest modes of communication to teach students is interpersonal communication. I was desperate to find a way to make this a regular part of my class routine, but I was struggling to come up with something that felt genuine and at the same time encouraged students to not just revert to English when I moved to another part of the room. I have yet to find the perfect system, but I am happy with this as a start.
I purchased some inexpensive slap bracelets from Amazon in 6 different colors. Each students gets assigned a color at the beginning of the year and wears the corresponding bracelet during our "Pregunta y Respuesta" sessions.
I have written before about the benefit of deciding on some essential questions for each unit or theme. Once I have decided on the essential questions, I create a template like this:
I purchased some inexpensive slap bracelets from Amazon in 6 different colors. Each students gets assigned a color at the beginning of the year and wears the corresponding bracelet during our "Pregunta y Respuesta" sessions.
I have written before about the benefit of deciding on some essential questions for each unit or theme. Once I have decided on the essential questions, I create a template like this:
My students then practice the question or answer with the students that wear the opposite colored bracelet. After 5 minutes or so I will switch the grid so that they are practicing the corresponding question or answer like this:
The first week we are focusing on these questions I repeat this process three times so that all students are practicing all questions and answers within that week.
During the second week, we practice another full rotation, but this time, I switch the prompts to English so that they are requires to remember the Spanish themselves:
During the second week, we practice another full rotation, but this time, I switch the prompts to English so that they are requires to remember the Spanish themselves:
As I rotate around the room, if I notice someone speaking English, I remove their bracelet temporarily as a reminder to stay in the target language.
Here is the Pregunta y Respuesta template if you would like to try it in your own classroom.
Here is the Pregunta y Respuesta template if you would like to try it in your own classroom.
| pregunta_y_respuesta.pptx |
How do you work on interpersonal communication in your classroom? Share your methods in the comment section below!
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