Asynchronous Elementary Spanish Lessons

 Well this is a year we'll never forget. It's hard to collaborate and share ideas right now because it seems like everyone is doing something differently - live, on-demand, hybrid, from home, from school, on a cart. 

My schedule is completely asynchronous. I post a lesson each day for one grade level and then field emails, comments, and Dojo messages that afternoon as kids and families complete the lesson. I am by no means an expert (and I don't really trust anyone who says they are right now!) but here is what is working for me.

Challenges in the spring - We had very low participation partly because of the following reasons: All the Special Area classes were in different places so it was confusing and overwhelming for families to know where to look each day. I just threw up links on Google Classroom with little direction on which ones they should do. There was no way for me to know if they had completed an activity or not (at least not how I set them up.)

Solutions for this fall:

How to post and organize each lesson - Special Area now has its own Google Classroom for each grade. Check out this post to see how we set it up so that it is easy to find that day's activities. It also is super helpful that we went from some kids having technology in the spring to being fully 1:1 with Chromebooks.

How students know what to do during the lesson -  My school does not have a paid subscription to Pear Deck or Nearpod but if you have access to one of these programs I highly recommend them. The free versions are great for synchronous teaching but you have to pay for the student-paced versions (you're paying for the reporting that comes with it.) Check out this video to see a demonstration I did back in the spring for KWLA. 

I like the Nearpod architecture and especially how it guides students through a lesson with - and this is super important - all of the links, videos, and activities in the same place. This part of these programs is just a slide deck, which is easy to replicate in powerpoint or Google slides.

Because we use Google Classroom all of my lessons are in Google Slides. The first slide has the essential questions and learning targets along with a short video from me explaining and modeling the day's activities. I've written about before how I start the year in English so that students understand the expectations and procedures in Spanish class. These videos are in English now but just if we were in school they will become increasingly in the target language as students get used to how to navigate the online lessons.

Then students click to the next slide which has our daily agenda (something I do regularly in the classroom so it's familiar.) Next, they click through to slides that have Youtube videos to watch and links to click to take them to sites like Quizlet.

 

For K & 1st I included audio files (and modeled how to use the buttons) for those kiddos who can't read yet. This way parents can get them started but then walk away and let the students work independently.

How to know if students completed the lesson and formative assessments - My final challenge has been setting things up so that there is some accountability and I know that the students have actually completed the lessons. I also need to get some formative assessment so I know how to plan for the next lesson. 

For the older students this is fairly simple. The last slide of their lesson is a link to an exit slip in Google Forms that they fill out. 

For grades 1-3 I have one slide where they have to drag pictures of animals or food depending on the grade under columns labeled Me gusta or No me gusta. I also included a video on the last slide that shows how to turn in an assignment on Google Classroom. This is especially important for Kindergarten because they can't produce any language yet. I just want them to turn it in so it is marked done and I can get an idea of how many students are actually watching the lessons. 

So that's currently what I'm doing. How are you structuring your asynchronous lessons? Share in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #earlylang!

¡Sí, se puede!

I have been looking for a way to monitor my students' participation and progress in class but have never found anything that hasn't completely overwhelmed me (even when I was just trying to focus on 4th & 5th grade - who get letter grades in Specials classes.)  Last spring at SCOLT, I met Nadine Jacobsen-McLean, former elementary school Spanish teacher and current president of NNELL - National Network of Early Language Learners.  She explained how she gave grades to ALL 600+ kindergarteners-5th graders every 9 weeks by using ¡Sí, se puede! bubbles. The beauty of the system is that it can be tailored a hundred different ways depending on your needs. 

I use this picture as my binder cover. 

So how does it work?

I have a binder with class lists with 10 bubbles by each kid's name. When I hear them using Spanish relating to our I can statements or I call on them in class I tell them Si se puede and they go up to the front of the room and color in a bubble by their name. I LOVE it for several reasons.

1. THEY are the ones doing the record keeping for me. I don't have to stop, find their name, or write anything.



2. They love getting up in front of everyone and coloring in their bubble. Kids who used to never raise their hands are now straining to be called on. And the few who aren't are getting used to be called on anyway because...

3. No one falls through the crack because I can quickly scan the sheet to see who hasn't talked in awhile and I make to sure to call on them.  

A screenshot of my Si, se puede sheets. I keep them in a binder at the front of the class.

Right now I'm just using it for participation and they can use any color they want but you can have them use specific colors for different things (Si se puede con verde for meets expectations, con azul for exceeding expectations, and con amarillo for not quite there but trying.) Or you could use colors to distinguish I cans (con amarillo for I can introduce myself, con verde for I can talk about my feelings, etc.) 

I've told the students that they will get a small treat when they reach their 10 bubbles, which will be a Hershey kiss so that I don't break the bank. I have started the year with just 3rd-5th to see how it would go but it's been so easy for both me and the students that I am going to add the rest of the grades very soon (although I'm hoping the littler ones won't need the treat as a bribe and the bubbles will be enough of a reward.)


Get a free bubble template here!

How do you keep track of your students' participation and progress? Share in the comments below or on Twitter with the hashtag #earlylang!



UPDATE! I've moved to tracking students performance levels in class. Yellow means Novice Low. Green is Novice Mid. And blue is Novice High. I tell students they should have a few yellow, lots of green, and a few blues since Novice Mid is our target. I've had students tell me they wanted to get blue and ask how they can get there. Other students are encouraged that even though they are making mistakes or need help they can still get a yellow bubble for trying.

Give me five!

Part of my professional development plan last year and this year has included improving assessment strategies in my room, including giving students the opportunity to self-assess and peer assess more often. To that end I've started having students self-assess how they felt about each lesson as they leave the room. How? I have five different "hands" they can high five, each with a different statement including "I was an AMAZING listener today," "I tried my best today," "I learned something new today," "I'm still a little confused," and "I'm going to do better next time." Maybe as the year progresses I will add "I spoke all Spanish today."

I'll admit I directly stole this idea from Lisa Prichard's blog My Adventures in Elementary Spanish. My students absolutely love it and besides me stealing it from Lisa, I've already had a middle school teacher, a fifth grade teacher, and a fourth grade teacher tell me they were stealing it for their classroom. I should really stop saying stealing and go with inspired. The only downside to this quick self-assessment is that you do need to remind students that there is a brick wall behind the hands. I tell them I will not feel at all sorry for them if they tell me their hand hurts...because they just punched a brick wall. And because I model everything, I modeled the "right" way to high five.

How do you do self-assessments in your class? Share in the comments below!

Assessments - Stamp Pages

I have a LOT of students - almost 700 in fact, so assessments can sometimes be overwhelming. One of my professional development goals this year is to get better at assessments. One thing I didn't do much last year was self-assessments. The solution? Stamp pages!

I won't lie - I took this idea straight from the Creative Language Classroom and the JCPS Skydrive. I would have loved to use them exactly as I found them but 1) I don't want JCPS on the header when I work in a different county and 2) some of the I can statements are beyond my little one's cognitive abilities even in English. I can't very well teach them how to tell time in Spanish if they haven't learned it yet in English.

Also, since I have less time with my students, I also have to be aware of how much time it will take to finish a unit. Last year, I re-made the Unit 1 - Getting to Know You stamp page with basically the same I can statements and it took the ENTIRE year! This year, I made a smaller stamp page template and planned shorter units. I also changed it from a teacher assessment tool, where I tried to listen to each student individually and then gave them their stamp to a self-assessment tool where students decided if they earned the stamp or not at the end of the unit. I have 4 buckets on my cart that have 3-4 stamps, an ink pad and a sheet of Spanish stickers. At the end of a unit, we watch a video and pass around the buckets.

Before each stamping session I review with the kids how to use the stamps (i.e. Don't put your fingers or nose in the ink pad; Don't stamp your hand or friend's forehead; Only stamp your stamp page.) We also review why we have the stamp pages. I want them to take their pages home at the end of the year and be able to show their families all the things they learned. If their mom asks them "I can introduce myself" then they should be able to do it. If they have a stamp there and can't do it then they are going to be embarrassed. I'm sure some students just stamp away but most of them are actually very conscientious about it. I also have a blurb at the end that asks them to write about what they are proud they can do. Once we finish with all the stamps I will have them look back and reflect on what they can do and what helped them learn.  So that's my stamp pages.

Update January 2015: This year I have converted to shorter half page stamp sheets. The procedure is the same but now students can take their stamp pages home after each unit rather than waiting to the end of the year. It also gives me more flexibility to change my mind on what to teach throughout the year if I want.

If you are interested in downloading a copy I have made them available in Google docs. Just click here for a full page and here for a half page. Once you have them downloaded just insert a text box, type in your I can statements and move them to the middle of the bubbles. Enjoy!