Ordinal Numbers

I have been incorporating ordinal numbers in my unit about the house. Most students have caught on to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as I do large vocabulary flashcards at the beginning of class and then ask them follow up questions regarding spelling and accents in the target language. "¿Hay acento? ¿Dónde?" They've caught on to "La primera a", "La segunda i", etc very quickly. I'm always trying to find creative ways to work with vocabulary. I found an idea on pinterest and have been thinking of ways to tweak it and make it more interesting.

I wrote the ordinal numbers on styrofoam cups. I also am big on labeling sets so that if one gets separated from the group I can easily identify which group it goes with-this is why there are 10s all on the back side of this one. (I do this with flashcards as well.) I made 12 sets of these so that I could put the students into partners. I have come up with some ideas for what to do with these cups.

Get the students into partners. Shuffle the cards so that they are NOT in the correct order. Then have one student time the other for how fast they can put them in order. Since my students are super competitive I would put the best times on the board. Then they would shuffle the order and then the other partner would have a turn. I have also been thinking about adding a rule that only a certain number of cups could be taken off the block at one time to make it more interesting/complicated.

Does anyone have any other ideas of things I could do with these cups?

What activities do you guys do for ordinal numbers?

Carnival

The days leading up to Spring break can sometimes be a bit of a challenge to keep the students engaged. I try to find a way to incorporate more fun and creative activities at this time. For my Spanish 1-2 (first year) this year we learned about Ponce Carnival and vejigantes. I created a powerpoint and guided notes for them to learn the meaning behind this celebration and the symbolism and history behind the vejigante. The students then were given the opportunity to create their own vejigante mask using a template a friend gave me. They really seemed to enjoy the creation of their mask and I am now thinking about adding on a description portion for them to describe the basic colors of their mask and maybe a portion where they can talk about other students' masks and which ones they liked best. Here are some photos of the students and their creations! It is hard to see the horns due to the angles at which they are holding their masks.

I have found that my senior level Spanish has been in a bit of a rut as we have been in some pretty technical grammar (Heeeeellllllllllloooooo the Subjunctive) plus they have been having a wicked case of Senioritis….yay... I was racking my brain to figure out a way to get them using the language in a fun way. After some reading of other blogs I decided to have them formulate a short skit/movie with certain requirements. I had them get into groups of three and then gave them the project description. The requirements:
               - Use 5 conjunctions that would trigger the subjunctive,
               - Use of the following words/phrases:
                           -Tortugas
                           - ¡Ojalá!
                           - ¿En serio?
                           - ¡Escandaloso!
                           - Tienes razón
Of course there was a more in-depth rubric containing pronunciation, writing of a formal script, grammar etc. After going over all the requirements. I threw a curveball at them:

Each bag contained two mystery props that also had to be incorporated into their skit. I tried to make each bag contain the most random and unconnected props possible. My personal favorite bag had a fake black beard and a plastic waffle. (Which an all girl group received) They have been working on their scripts throughout the week and some students even admitted they are more excited about the project than they were at the beginning. Most groups are choosing to film and edit their projects for the presentation portion. I am always amazed at how creative some of the students get with editing videos. (This same class created "how to" videos earlier this year using commands. Will keep you posted on how the videos turn out!

¡Hola!

I have seen so many interesting foreign language blogs out there and have often times thought of starting my own and I finally came to the decision of "why not?" So here I am! I am hoping to use this blog as a way to share ideas with other foreign language teachers as I am in a very small department and do not have a lot of colleagues to bounce ideas off of. I also am big on self reflections after activities and projects, but my problem has always been that I reflect on it after doing it...but didn't necessarily write it down. Then come the next year I have trouble remembering what changes I had thought about making.

A little bit about me. At this point and time I am in my 7th year of teaching. *gasp* Where did the time go? This is my 4th year at my current district and I have just earned tenure. WOOT WOOT! I teach upper level Spanish courses (juniors and seniors) and rotate years teaching freshmen and sophomore. Feel free to leave comments, feedback, and suggestions as I am always open to a fresh perspective and new ideas!