Getting in more interpersonal mode

A few months ago I blogged about the interpersonal mode and how I needed to do more with it in my class. Well, I'm happy to report that my students have been rocking out the interpersonal mode this second half of the year because of a few easy changes I've made.

Conversation training

Sometimes I do this with inside/outside circles and sometimes I just have students find a new partner, but each time we start small and build up. In second grade that means 20 seconds up to 40 seconds of a sustained conversation in Spanish. In 4th grade and 5th grade we've gone from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes. I post ALL the questions on topics we've learned throughout the year on the board and students must ask, listen, and respond. 

Especially in the upper grades we are working on listening and responding in a way that prevents 2 presentational statements. My 4th graders have gotten especially competitive and ask how long the other classes have gone in order to beat their times. This takes only a few minutes and every other class or so is our bellringer activity.

Combining modes

Per the suggestion in the session I went to, I use an interpretive exercise in small groups to encourage interpersonal communication. For example instead of just asking students to look at a Lost Pet poster and answer comprehension questions about it (although we did do this the first few times) I asked students to come up with some questions in Spanish they might ask and then they quizzed their partners. We did the same with birthday party invitations. Students asked each other questions and used the invitation to answer.

Then we combined the interpersonal with presentational writing as students asked their friend who is too upset to write a poster questions and then create a lost pet poster for them. For the invitations students will open their own invitation business and will interview their new clients about how old they are, when their birthday is and what they like in order to create the best invitation.

Dramatic Play

As an early language teacher I love dramatic play and it's always been a part of my repertoire. I've realized that a good role play not only has students using multiple skills but it's great interpersonal practice! In kindergarten we read Por Favor Sr. Panda. Now students are buying their own donuts but like in the story they must use good manners. The role play also has them practicing greetings, colors (the donuts are all different colors) and numbers as they count out the money. In first grade we did the same but with burrito ingredients as they had to ask their partner what they liked and didn't like so they could make them a yummy burrito.   We also did the doctor role play earlier in the year. 

To make it more challenging and to reinforce math skills I changed the price of the donuts/burritos and give students limited money. Depending on how much money they get they can only buy at certain shops or sometimes they can buy more than one. I asked them to predict which store will make the most money - the store with the higher prices or the lower prices. 

So that's how I'm getting in more interpersonal. How do you teach the interpersonal mode? Share in the comments below!