I have found an AMAZING, FUN way to infuse life into Free Reading time, thanks to a little post via the MN TCI Facebook group. (Thank you, Lydia Ann!)
Enter: Game of Quotes. Here’s how it works. After Free Reading time is done, instead of returning their books to the shelf, students hang on to them and game time begins. Students form groups of 4-5 and compete to find the best passage that fits a specific prompt. Basically, a bit like Apples to Apples, but for books!!! For example, I post the prompt, “Overheard in the teachers’ lounge” and students scour their novels (or other reading material) to find a phrase, sentence or multi-sentence passage from their novel that could fit that prompt. When a student finds a passage, she yells, “Got it!” Now, the race is truly on and students have 2 minutes to find a passage to fit the prompt. At the end of 2 minutes of time, each member reads their passage and group members vote on a winner. The winners of each group share their passage with the class. A much more detailed explanation can be found on The Book Sommelier Blog, where it was originally posted. (The author was inspired by this game...which I secretly can’t wait to play with my nerdy book friends.) When playing the game, it doesn’t matter if all group members are reading the same novel or not. If they aren’t, students end up asking one another questions about their novels...kids are talking about books!!! If student are all reading the same novel, perhaps as a class, the game is just as fun because rarely do two students in the same group find the same passage. Now, students are asking one other where they found “X” passage...kids are talking about books!!! I played this game with my Spanish III class recently, and we all had a blast. The slideshow containing the prompts I used can be found here. There are 25 prompts, broken into 5 different “games.” The prompts are in Spanish, but the English translation is in the speaker notes as well. (If you see any grammatical errors, please let me know and I will get them fixed ASAP.) Of course, regardless of the language you teach, you could always write the prompts in English so that students are focused on making meaning of their texts as opposed to deciphering the prompt. If the prompts are given in English (or L1), they could also be more complex, and perhaps more creative, than those I have included. All in all, this is a powerful, engaging way to showcase student creativity as well as the books in your FVR library. Happy gaming!
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I have been trying to incorporate more reading into my classroom lately, but have been looking for something other than a simple partner read or volleyball read. And as Carol Gaab states, “The brain craves novelty.” With that, I have re-discovered an activity that I once used often, but have not used for quite some time: Match ‘Em. In order to give credit where credit is due, I was introduced to the idea long ago at a BER conference. Barbara Snyder was presenting on communicative activities for the classroom, and this was one that she shared with us. Essentially, Match ‘Em is a pre or post reading activity that practices skimming and scanning skills, while sneaking in those extra reps for acquisition.
What is it, exactly? Quite simply, Match ‘Em is a list of sentences. Begin by creating a list of true statements, and a list of false statements. The statements could be based around a recent story you have asked in class, a chapter you are reading in a novel, or a few statements about a recent PQA session. Take the list of true statements and make 2 copies, one for Student A and one for Student B. Take the list of false statements and divide it in half. Add one half to the list of true statements for Student A; add the other half to the list of true statements for Student B. Scramble both lists so that the true and false statements are intermixed. The statements should also be in different orders that one another. Students pair up. Student A chooses a statement to read to Student B. Student B skims and scans his list of statements to find the identical statement. If Student B locates the identical statement, it is true and both students mark the statement as such. If Student B can not locate that sentence, it is false, and Student A will mark the statement as such. Now, Student B chooses a statement to read to Student A. Student A skims and scans his list to find the identical statement, etc. Once partners have completed the activity, there are a number of options to do as a follow-up activities. Follow-Up #1: Sequential Order After finding all the true statements (based on a novel chapter or class story), have students put them in sequential or chronological order. Follow-Up #2: Draw It Students illustrate one of the true statements. Use their illustrations to create a formative listening assignment the next day! Follow-Up #3: Front-load Information Use the true statements to front-load some information that your students will need for an upcoming class story or novel chapter. For example, if your class will be reading Fiesta Fatal by Mira Canion, you could create true statements about the settings of the story or true statements about quinceaneras. This could lead into a discussion that could help build background knowledge which aids in reading comprehension. Can I see an example? Yes!! I have provided an example of the steps and a completed activity here. The statements are based on Sr. Wooly’s story: No Quiero Levantarme, which is one of my favorite Sr. Wooly videos. Enjoy reading!! 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! There have been a lot of blog posts lately talking about Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) and the benefits that go along with having students read. I would like to add to the discussion and say that I have seen incredible gains in language acquisition by implementing FVR.
In particular, I have seen the benefits pay off in my Spanish IV students this year. For the past two years, these students have experienced FVR twice/week for 15 minutes. These students did not participate in FVR while they were in Spanish I or Spanish II for a number of reasons. However, for the past year and a half, these students have been purposefully dedicating time to reading in Spanish. When we began FVR (in Spanish III), many students chose novels that were written at a beginning level. Needless to say, I felt like they should be choosing more “difficult” books based on their level, but I allowed them to choose any book they wanted to read, and I kept my mouth shut about my feelings of their choices. After all, FVR is all about student choice, not teacher choice. As the year progressed, they grew a bit in their selection choices, but I was still not completely satisfied with what they were choosing. I was also getting quite a bit of push back from the students, as they did not really care to read, especially in Spanish. However, I firmly but kindly insisted that FVR was a valuable way to spend class time. It turns out, I was right. Upon returning to the classroom this year (in Spanish IV), many students chose to read novels written at an intermediate level. Some are even reading novels written for native speakers! And the best part is, they are comprehending the novels! They are talking about books they liked and offering suggestions to classmates looking for new books to read. And while all this discussion about reading is amazing, the best part is seeing the payoff in terms of their vocabulary. Their passive language is larger than I realize, as I often will stop for a quick comprehension check on a word that I have not used in class before, and the students let me know that this check is unnecessary as they have already acquired that word - from reading! Additionally, I am also hearing phrases enter their speech that I have not introduced, but are phrases that they have acquired from reading. The payoff I am seeing in terms of language acquisition is indeed very exciting, but was not instant. Acquisition has happened over time - a year and a half - and with purposeful dedication due to to a proven strategy. FVR DOES WORK, I have seen the evidence in my classroom.
If you have established or are trying to establish a Free Volunteer Reading program in your classroom, a great way to get students to read books is to increase interest in a specific book through a book chat. A book chat is when someone (usually the teacher) presents a book to the class in a compelling way to raise interest level in the book.
A book chat can take ANY form, as long as it is interesting and comprehensible to your students, therefore, you determine if a book chat will take place in the students’ native language or the target language. A book chat could also be done in a combination of both languages, if that is what you want. Again, you are the driving force behind the book chat and need to determine what is really going to draw your students interest. If you are looking for a structured way with which to present book chats, think about a book chat as having three components.
The Hook The language (native or target) that you use to present the hook can be determined by what you want to do in the classroom on that particular day. For example, a hook could be a great lead into PQA or to introduce target structures present in the book. The language you use could also be determined by how much time you want to dedicate to the book chat. The purpose of a hook is to immediately draw students’ interest to the book, by creating a text to self connection between the students and the book. Various Hooks 1. Rank Order. Ask students to rank order items that are related to the story. Option 1: Once students have items ordered, students share out their list to the whole class. Discuss the lists, comparing and contrasting students’ lists with one another. Option 2: Students share and compare their lists with a partner. Using rejoinders, students react appropriately their partner’s list. 2. Four Corners. Label 4 corners in your classroom as 1, 2, 3, 4. Project text/images of four items related to the story. Generate a list of statements or questions about the images. Students move to the corner that best answers the statement or question. From here, you can practice numbers and math, seeing how many students choose corner 1 compared to corner 2, etc. You can ask students to explain or defend their choices as a whole class share out, or pair students from different corners to talk for 30 seconds about their choice. 3. Make a prediction. Project an image (preferable one the students are unfamiliar with), quote or other interesting item related to the story. Ask students to make a prediction about what the image is, what the quote means, etc. Have students share out their answers with the class. This could also extend into a One Word Image (as created by Ben Slavic), depending upon student interest. 4. Personalized Questions and Answers (PQA). Ask students personal questions that can relate to the story. PQA can last as long as you, the teacher, would like it to. Just be sure that when you wrap up the PQA session, you take some of the students’ comments and relate them to the story. 5. Poll Everywhere*. polleverywhere.com is an online, interactive poll conducted in real time. You create a poll, and students use their devices (cell, chromebook, etc.) to respond to the poll in real time. Students can instantly see the results of the poll when projected. Ask questions that are related to the story. For example, if you are doing a book chat on Brandon Brown quiere un perro, create a multiple choice poll that contains images of various breeds of dogs and ask students to vote for their favorite. Create an open-ended poll that asks students where they hide things from their parents. Watch the results come flying in! *To use polleverywhere.com, you will need to create a free account. 6. Google Earth & Maps. Using google earth, or google maps (street view), take screenshots of the various setting in the story. Use the images to compare and contrast what they see to their town. Use the images to predict where in the world the story takes place. Use the images to discuss cultural elements present. 7. Video. Show a short video clip that relates in some way to the story. After the clip, discussion can ensue, ask students to list what they saw in the clip. Connect these items to the story. For example, when Book Chatting Bianca Nieves y los 7 Toritos, show a short clip of a bullfight (if appropriate for your setting) and discuss what students saw. 8. Would you rather. This is similar to PQA, but with a twist. Ask students what they would rather do in situations that mirror those found in the story. Depending again on how much time you would like to dedicate to a book chat, you can ask anywhere from one to several questions. Allow the discussion to ensue and connect to the story. Summary Before reading a summary, be sure to connect the hook in some way to the story. For example, if you are doing Four Corners with Berto y sus buenas ideas, it is a good idea to mention that these are all things the main character of the story enjoys as well. Share a BRIEF summary of the book with the students. The summary can be as short as a few sentences, or a paragraph or two or it can come straight from the back of the book. As you share the summary, have the book in your hands so students can get a visual of what the book looks like - cover art, length, illustrations, etc. Read Aloud Find a section of the text that is both comprehensible and compelling. The section does not need to be very long, just enough to pique the interest of your students. Once you identify the section you wish to share, read it out loud to determine how long the actual reading will take. Remember, you want students to become interested in the book; keeping the reading well under three minutes is enough time to secure students’ interest, especially if you have hooked them earlier. If your read aloud is over three minutes, you certainly can “cut” parts from the reading to decrease the amount of time spent on the read aloud. In other words, you do not have to read every word from the section. Find the parts that will draw your audience to the story, and read just those parts. For example, if there are a few sentences that contain unknown structures or vocabulary, and if these sentences are not essential to the comprehension of the read aloud passage, skip them. Remember, you are trying to increase interest, not necessarily narrate the entire story. It is also important to read the section aloud ahead of time in order to practice reading. The read aloud should be fluid; it should not be choppy. This is a chance to model pronunciation and intonation in the target language, as well as demonstrate what good reading skills “look” like to your students. Furthermore, by reading aloud the section in advance, you can practice adding character voices to any dialog sections, adding dramatic pauses, choosing an inflection that will match the content, etc.to make the reading more interesting to your students. When you are set to do your read aloud to students, be sure to share with them any necessary background information that they may need to understand the passage before reading. For example, it is helpful to tell them what has happened in the story immediately prior to section you are about to read, or if there is a minor character involved that you have not yet discussed. Those are the component of a structured book chat. The link below is a google slideshow (also embedded) with examples of ready to go hooks, summaries and read alouds for the following novels:
Ready to Go! Book Chats |
Jessie Oelke
#deptofone providing compelling and comprehensible input Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
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