Questions in an Envelope

Here's another activity/technique I got from the World Language Academy I attended this summer!  I already used it with my combined German 3/4 class and it worked out really well!  Check out Slide 152 from the Power Point Presentation.

If you're doing a communicative activity with partners or small groups, Questions in an Envelope is a way for you to help scaffold the activity for students who need a bit of extra help.  Basically, you give students a topic to discuss.  That's it... just a topic.  No questions to go through, just enough of a prompt to give them idea of what to talk about.

Now, obviously this is more of a challenge for some students than others.  That's where the envelopes come in.  As students are talking, if they get stuck (they go about 10 seconds without thinking of something new to say about the topic), they can open the envelope.  Inside are strips of paper.  Each strip of paper has a question related to the topic.  When they pull out a strip, students now have a new way of discussing the main topic.

If students get stuck again, they can pull out another strip and another.  After time is called, students count how many strips they pulled out.  They put everything back in the envelope, switch partners and discuss the same question again.  Their goal is to try to have fewer pauses in their conversation and pull fewer questions out of the envelope each round they go through.  And if students did pull out questions in their earlier envelopes, they'll probably still be in mind as they go through their second or third discussion.

Here's the example topic and envelope questions from the Power Point mentioned above:

The activity I created for my German 3/4 class was a get-to-know you interview.  This was a mixed class that had two groups that had never previously interacted as well as a few transfer students who were new to the school.  Since they'll be working together all year, I wanted them to meet and be forced to interact right from the beginning.  

I had students have a conversation with their partner.  Anything they wanted to talk about, they could.  The only rule was that they had to speak for a full 2 minutes.  I explained the envelopes and gave each group one.  After time was up, students moved on to another partner and repeated the process with someone new.

With each partner, however, I upped the amount of time they had to speak.  The first partner really was just a warm up, and as they got more comfortable (and possibly were exposed to more and more questions from the envelopes) I pushed them to speak more.

First Partner = 2 Minutes

Second Partner = 3 Minutes

Third Partner = 3 1/2 Minutes

Fourth Partner = 4 Minutes

To make sure they were actually paying attention to what their partners said, students had to keep notes.  After each round of interviews, they had to write down the most interesting thing they *learned* about their partner (this way if students ended up with someone they already knew, they'd have to try and find out something new).  

I may not have needed to do this last part, but I had three different envelopes.  Each envelope was a different color and had five different questions.  They circulated around the groups so that a variety of questions were available to the class.  If you're interested in the questions I used for this activity, click here.

I'm really excited to try this activity out with some of my lower levels.  It's scaffolded enough that even weaker students and students with less vocabulary/language background can still have 2 minute conversations with each other.  Working this in early in level one will hopefully build speaking confidence as they progress to upper levels.

- Frau Leonard

Der heisse Stuhl: Midterm and Final Exam Alternative

I can't be the only one out there who doesn't like multiple choice exams.  They're my least favorite means of testing (when was I ever in Germany and was presented with four choices to respond to the situation at hand?), but admittedly I do a lot of it come midterms and finals.  With five preps and a short grading window, it seems the easiest way to get it all done.  There is something I do, however, for my upper level German students that gets us away from the scantron sheets.

As part of their final, I have students do an activity called "der heiße Stuhl" or "Hot Seat."  One of the teachers where I did my student teaching did a very similar activity during the semester, but the way I use it works best as an end of semester "exam."  The premise is that each student will undergo an interview for about 5-8 minutes in front of the class.  Their classmates will primarily be the ones asking them questions, I only take over towards the last 2 minutes of their interview.  They write their own questions, based on the topics we've covered that year.

Note: In my experiences, most classes are up for the challenge once they get all the information.  However, for classes that are particularly hesitant, you might want to schedule "practice" days when they get to interview each other for 1-2 minutes at a time just to settle them in.

Step One: Introducing Heißer Stuhl
To give them time to a.) wrap their heads around the idea and b.) prepare their questions, I usually introduce this a few weeks beforehand.  The idea of speaking for 5-8 minutes in front of their classmates freaks some of them out at first.  The key is to assure them that it won't be as bad as they think it will.  Since they will be interviewing each other, to a certain degree they have control over the process.  Which leads us to...

Step Two: Writing Questions
Students are required to bring 20 questions to the interview, questions which they have written ahead of time.  These questions need to be spread across the various topics we've covered this year.  I give them a worksheet which contains not only a sample question but lists the topics we've done so far.  Since they have to write their own questions, they get a mini-review as they go through former topics scavenging for decent questions.

There are some ground rules for the questions.  They shouldn't have any questions like "Was bedeutet 'das Nilpferd' auf English?" or "Wie sagt man 'suitcase' auf Deutsch?"  And if they ask questions like "Möchtest du nach Deutschland reisen?" they need to be ready with follow-up questions like "Warum (nicht)?  Wann?  Mit wem?"

I also hint that, "Hey, since these aren't due for a few weeks, wouldn't it be possible for you guys to get together, share questions, and practice interviewing each other ahead of time?"  I don't require it, but I feel that sharing their questions ahead of time gives them more review and practice with the material if they need it.

Step Three: Interviews
Depending on class size, you might want to do interviews across two class periods.  I had about 11 students this year and we needed two 50 minute class periods to get through all the interviews.  Keep in mind, you need roughly 10 minutes per kid.

I have a stool (sometimes a comfy chair - depends on what's available) that I set up in front of the classroom.  Whoever is being interviewed gets to sit in this "heißer Stuhl.  I would recommend starting with a volunteer so that shyer students see "Hey, that wasn't even that bad... I can do that!"

It's important to let students know that they have to provide detailed answers to questions - a yes/no or one-word response is not sufficient!  Even if the person asking the question didn't prompt them for more information, they need to think of more things they can say about that topic.  Make sure you hammer in on this point from the beginning!

During the interviews, I keep track of both who asked questions and how many each student answered.  When students are asking questions, I color code it somewhat just so I can see if it was spread out, if they asked about two questions per classmate, or if they just barraged certain classmates with questions.  I also will not count questions that did not meet the requirements I outlined above.

When answering questions during their interview time, I keep track of:

• how many questions they answered
• how long they spoke (I use a timer - I want to keep the time and number of questions similar for each student)
• if they provided detailed responses in complete sentences vs. if they said the bare minimum
• if they hesitate or stumble a lot when speaking
• overall pronunciation, clarity, volume, speed
• if they understood the questions and answered appropriately
• if they switch to English or can't answer a question
• grammar range and vocabulary range (not so much writing down every error as keeping track of what they have control over)

As I mentioned earlier, I end each of their interviews with my own questions.  When students first start writing their questions, after the basic guidelines, I give them this warning:

They start the interview, but I get to end it.  That means if they give each other really easy questions, I'm going to have to come down with the more difficult ones.  If they give each other decently hard questions, I get to give them easier ones.  If they avoid certain topics, I will be compensating with the topics they missed.  They start with the control over these interviews, but if they can't handle that responsibility, I'm ready to take it over.

I haven't really had any problems with them making it "too easy," but I usually have to throw in at least one "harder" question just to keep them thinking on their feet ;)

Step Four: Grading
After interviews, collect all the questions students turned in.  You'll be grading them on:

• the quality of the questions they wrote (number of questions, if they met the content/difficulty requirements, grammar/spelling)
• how many questions they asked during the interviews (compared to their classmates - student with the most questions asked usually sets the bar)
• their own interview (see above for things to look for)

I currently do still give multiple choice exams in addition to Heißer Stuhl, but because of this process I can give them a shorter "exam."  Here's a breakdown how I calculated their final exam grade this year.

**EDIT**
I had someone ask to provide more information on how I grade this exam.  I've tried to give an explanation of how I used the above handouts - let me know if anything's still unclear!

How to grade students as they interview each other

How to grade students when it's their turn to be interviewed

I've had a lot of success using this activity as an extension of the German 3 Final Exam.  Students usually do pretty well, or at the very least better than they thought they would.  I'd highly recommend trying it out - if not in place/in addition to your end of semester exams, then maybe throughout the quarter (example: one student interviewed a week).  It's been a worthwhile process!

- Frau Leonard