My Spanish II class is currently reading Piratas del Caribe y el mapa secreto by Mira Canion. As I was absent from school on the day students were finishing up Chapter 2, I had them finish the chapter by reading along with the audio CD. After reading, I asked students to fill out a google form to gauge their comprehension, as I was not there to monitor and adjust as I normally would. I found that students did not comprehend as much as I expected they would. So, I needed a resource that would send them back to the text.
In the teacher’s guide (which I recommend buying), Mira provides a sentence sequencing activity for Chapter 2. She also recommends several ways that this activity could be used in class, but I wanted something a bit different than the options provided, as I felt many of the variations rely on a higher comprehension rate than what my students currently had. Enter the Jigsaw method. First, I photocopied the the strips in three different colors, as I knew I would have three large groups. (Luckily, I have pretty small class sizes - 14). I then divided the sentences into three sections. I gave the “pink” group the first five sentences. The “blue” group the second five, and the “yellow” group the last five. In order for this to work, the sentences must NOT be in chronological order when you copy them. I also made sure each student had their own set of five of sentences. Students then cut the sentences apart. As a group, they put the sentences in the chronological order of events in Chapter 2. Since each student had their own set of sentences, they were able to work together, but still have their own set, which is essential for the next part of the activity. Now, the jigsaw. I assigned each member of the “pink” group a number 1-5, each member of the “blue” group a number 1-5, and did the same with the “yellow” group. Students rearranged themselves into new groups, based on their assigned numbers. There were now 3 members in the “1” group - one with pink sentences, one with blue, and another with yellow. The same was true of the “2, 3, 4, 5” groups. These students now worked to combine all their events into chronological order. As they already had their own set in chronological order, combining the three groups together was not as hard as ordering all 15 sentences from the beginning. This activity got the students to go back to the text and discuss the chapter, thereby aiding in comprehension. It also has the benefit of cooperative learning and a bit of movement. After the jigsaw, all students were at 80% comprehension for the chapter, with many at 90% or above!
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My Spanish students are beginning to read Mira Canion’s Piratas del Caribe y el mapa secreto, and I was looking for some pre-reading activities to get started. The Teacher’s Guide has a few short, comprehensible readings about Veracruz, Henry Morgan and buccaneers, but I was looking for a way to do more than simply read the short informational articles, I wanted them to engage. Enter “What is the answer to this question…”
First, let me explain the activity. The teacher writes the “answer” to a question on the board or chart paper. Each student is given a post-it note and must write a question for the “answer.” It doesn’t matter if the question is correct or incorrect. What matters is that students are thinking about the “answer,” thereby activating their prior knowledge and preparing to read. Second, let me explain how I used this activity pre and post reading. Pre-Reading. Before reading the informational articles, I wrote three “answers” (Henry Morgan, Veracruz, bucaneros) in the center of 3 separate pieces of chart paper. I gave each student 3 yellow post-it notes, one for each “answer.” I asked them to come up with a question for each answer, writing each question on a separate post-it note. Students then placed their post-it notes on the appropriate chart paper. I read a few of the questions from the chart paper that corresponded to our first reading in order to further increase student involvement in the reading as well as set a purpose for reading, which was to determine if any of these questions were accurate. We then read one of the three articles, circling and personalizing as much as possible. Post-Reading. After reading the article, we determined the accuracy of some of the pre-reading question. Students were then each given an orange post-it note. I asked them to write another question for the answer, although this time, their question had to be one that was accurate. Students placed their orange post-it on the chart paper. We then read the new questions. This helped to verify information that students had just read and provided another opportunity to interact with the text beyond reading. We then repeated the process with the remaining two articles. Post-Reading Twist. The questions that the students wrote could be re-phrased into true/false statements for a formative review or quick reading check. Post-Reading Twist #2. Rewrite the questions to be statements, using questions/statements from all three charts/answers. Read each statement and have the students identify the correct answer. This very low prep activity turned out to be a rather entertaining way to introduce an informational text. The students came up with VERY creative pre-reading questions that really increased engagement. This activity also got them moving somewhat and helped to break up the reading process without losing engagement. |
Jessie Oelke
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