"Day of the Dead" podcast

Having concluded a two-day lesson on the Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead" a few weeks ago, I went searching for a podcast to perhaps use next year.

I found a podcast that recounts a young man's experience celebrating "Day of the Dead"-you can find it here. It appears as though he is an exchange-student doing some type of study abroad and went with his host family to take part in the traditional festivities of the holiday.

In the classroom, I would use this podcast to identify the typical traditions and practices of this holiday like the young man mentions, such as the celebrations in the cemetery and the products they create and buy. We could use it to create a discussion or even have students do their own follow-up podcast about their opinions on the holiday.

Skype & Global Cooperation

I think a cool project idea would be to link two target language classrooms using Skype. Skype is a tool that facilitiates video chats for FREE around the world.

In my experience my students have always taken quite an interest in gestures of the target culture. For some reason they love to know those little gestures that kids their age in other cultures use everyday, such as if you don't believe someone, you're bored, you're angry, etc.

Using ePals, I would find a classroom of native Spanish-speakers learning English who were around the same age and language level as my students. My classroom could research and discuss with the Spanish-speaking classroom some of their typical gestures and vice versa, maybe in small groups, each with a different theme or gesture. They could use wikis, ePals, or even Skype to exchange information, learn about, and practice these gestures and plan a short role-play presentation showing what these gestures would look like in the target culture. Then, we could Skype each classroom to have students from both countries see live student presentations of these gestures in role-play scenarios.

The possibilities really are endless with the global cooperation tools and all the technology we have at our fingertips!

ePals' "Classroom Match"

ePals has so many cool features that seem easy to use in the classroom.

I would use the Classroom Match. It's great how you can search and see the profiles of all the different classrooms that want to connect. It gives you their location, their language, and an age group that you would be working with. I also love that you can search for specific areas of interest!

As a Spanish teacher, I would find a classroom with students of similar ages to my students (13-16) who are native speakers of Spanish learning English. Hopefully they would be at a similar level to my students (beginner) and we could exchange emails on a biweekly basis. It would be great to be able to coordinate with their classroom teacher to cover similar vocabulary topics as we go. For example, when we first learn how to introduce ourselves our first couple of exchanges would cover things like name, origin, age, interests, etc.

I think it's a great way to hit home what I teach. I think a lot of my students don't really see themselves travelling and therefore think they will never have to use Spanish. However with ePals it proves to them that you don't have to travel to communicate with other cultures. They can become 21st century learners and can pick up on cultural nuances, slang, and learn about the lives of people their age in other parts of the world!

Videos in the Classroom

Love 'em, use 'em!

I love using videos in the classroom. In my Video list I linked to a video I'm sure all Spanish teachers are familiar with: Cry Me A Verb. This teacher has created several videos about conjugating regular, irregular, reflexive, etc. verbs in Spanish. He does it in such a funny way and sings to the tunes of popular Justin Timberlake songs.

I showed these to serve as review for a Level 2 spanish class and I also showed them just after I introduced how to conjugate regular verbs in Spanish 1. They're so cheesy, they're funny and not only did the students love them and laugh, but they couldn't stop singing the songs!

Videos and/or video clips are a quick, easy, and attention-grabbing way to enhance and teach course content.

Flickr your Photos!

A picture is worth a thousand words! Flickr is a great tool to store your photos and view the beautiful pictures others have taken from around the world.

Like many other web technologies, Flickr has also made a name for itself inside the classroom. It is a great way to shake up a standard assessment task and is easily compatible with many other applications.

I love the idea of students using pictures to create a new product. Students can create a comic strip like Bubblr to practice oral and written vocabulary and grammar structures. Now, kids can create "virtual books" using their own photos or those they find on Flickr. They can create magazine covers, ads, posters, etc. using the tool they could never live without...their computer! It seems as though several projects that are standard each year can now be given a new life using these new applications. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. It's the same assessment task, just modernized, and it doesn't require a lot of extra planning or effort on my part!

Bubblr

En la recepcion... by MsPwall ** made with Bubblr (PIMPAMPUM)

The above link was created using Bubblr. It was so easy to create this object that students can use for written and/or oral vocabulary practice for a travel unit.

My current Spanish 3 students are learning vocabulary for hotel travel. A typical assessment task would involve several students creating a conversation that could take place at a hotel reception desk. Sure, they could stand up in front of the class with props and role-play the situation. However using Bubblr, they can fill in their own speech bubbles for each person's role! This way, students can accomplish the same task using technology that is fun for them to use, would certainly peak their interests, and above all is so easy to create. I was able to search for the exact type of picture I wanted and once I put in the speech bubbles Bubblr offered to link it directly to my Blogger account so you can view it. All the teacher has to do is specify the grammar structures and/or vocabulary that should be included and the students have a lot of room for creativity! If I used this in class with my students they could create a whole conversation just on this slide. It would also be fun to search for a picture that had some facial expressions with the same people; this way the students would also have to introduce a problem into the conversation or some kind of twist in their story!

Another cool feature of Bubblr is that you can search the archive for comic strips that have already been created and simply adjust them for your lesson or project.