This week we did some work to lead up to the song "Billy la Bufanda". We wanted the song to be completely comprehensible to the students. Therefore, we did a mini-story this week about a character who had a toothache and how he resolved his situation. Once they mastered those structures they needed for this song, we started working on the song. They completed a personalized question and answer session about if they had gone to the restaurant, pharmacy, watched a basketball game, if they love spaghetti, etc. Next, we read the lyrics together as a class and acted the song out. We had someone come to the front and play “Billy” and the class discussed the plot and answered comprehension questions. Only after this did we watch the music video and sang along to the song, and the students absolutely loved it, especially because they knew everything the song said. Afterwards, they completed activities answering questions about where Billy had gone in the song, and even translated some of the lyrics into English. I think this activity was perfectly well-rounded and applicable to this level. We used the song as a springboard for having a great deal of comprehensible input and personalized discussion that interested the students. The song is entertaining and well-suited for their language level. Even after the oral and aural sections of this lesson, they were able to enhance their writing skills and produce their own language based off of the song. I made a PowerPoint using screenshots from the song in which the students will use to look at and discuss the song in their own words with a partner. I will definitely use this lesson in my future classes.
I have been researching a little bit about using technology in the classroom. After pondering the subject the last few days, talking with a few teachers in my department, and forming my own opinion, I have decided that technology does not need to be present in a class in order for the students to acquire a language, but there are many benefits to using technology as a support resource. I understand that many schools do not have access or the resources to provide technology to their students. These students absolutely can still acquire a language by engaging with someone who speaks the language (the teacher), reading books, short stories or articles, and eventually writing. However, if technology is available, it can be implemented in creative ways in order to develop important 21st century skills.
I believe there are a few pieces of technology that I would love to try in a Spanish classroom. First and most importantly is the SMART Board. This would be one of the most beneficial technological resources, because it is so versatile and could be used with almost every lesson. In my comprehensible input focused classroom in which I am student teaching, I would use the SMART Board during storytelling time, or when we are creating one word images with conversation. A different student could go to the board and add a different component of the story so that it is one more visual to aid the students in comprehension. It would also save timed to switch between applications we used daily, such as YouTube for songs, PowerPoint, and Microsoft word. Another great application I would like to try is Google Classroom. This would be a great place to put all of my classroom information on, such as videos of myself, copies of assignments, additional readings, etc. Students would benefit from this because they could use it as much as they felt necessary to keep up with the class, and it would be an organizational tool for myself. They could also find links to other resources I would like to use in my class such as Story Kit and Kahoot. |
BlogThe following are my opinions and reactions to some of the texts about second language acquisition I have read throughout my teacher education. Archives
March 2016
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