First Day Activities

The middle school where I work has three 12 week sessions of 7th grade classes that cycle through the three languages we offer here (French, German, Spanish). Today I just got my last batch of 7th graders for the year, and last week I came up with a new activity that I think is a good one for Day One with students who are unfamiliar with you, the language, and/or your room.

I frequently have had problems with students just not being aware of the resources around them - words that are on posters, where to find markers/scissors/etc, and where the homework is listed. Even after weeks together, some students still weren't aware of everything they had available to them, so I came up with a "Room Investigation" activity.

I looked at my room - the posters, the bulletin boards, the layout, etc - and came up with questions for three categories: German vocab, German culture, and class procedures. Using just the materials visible in the room, they had to answer questions such as "How do you say blue in German?" (I have color posters on one part of the wall) or "What is Oktoberfest?" (there are several Oktoberfest posters) or "Where are the German dictionaries?" (there are a bunch on a bookshelf).

You can see the full worksheet here (and if you'd like a copy, click on "File" and scroll down to "Make a Copy").

This gets students moving around the room (breaking up an otherwise procedure/policy heavy first day) and gets them some fun and also practical words while getting them a better idea of what's around them. Hopefully this will help clear up confusion as well!

- Frau Leonard

Was ist in der Tasche - Student Vocab Help

I've previously written about the activity Was ist in der Tasche?  It's a good, quick game to introduce or practice a vocab/cultural topic.  But because of the vocabulary involved in being able to ask helpful questions, it's something I haven't done much with German 1.  This year, I wanted to fix that and bring this activity down to the lower levels!

Each student got an index card.  I had them write "Was ist in der Tasche?" at the top.  First I explained the activity to them.  There was a bag ready to go, but before we started the actual 20 Questions we needed to come up with a process for not just asking random questions, but asking good questions.

Since they're limited to 20 questions total, I asked students if they thought it was a good idea to start specific.  Should they be asking things like, "Is it a cat?" and "Is it a pencil?"  The class agreed that wasn't a good strategy.  As a class, I had them brainstorm different categories and qualities they could ask about to narrow down the topic as much as possible before getting specific.  I then helped them with vocabulary and structures (as necessary).

Here are the topics they came up with (questions in English to open this up to other language teachers!):

Sample of student card

• Size:  Is it big/small/long/short?
• Texture:   Is it hard/soft/smooth/rough?
• Shape:  Is it round/a circle/a square/etc.?
• Color:   Is it blue/green/etc.?
• Location:  Can you find it in a classroom/at home/in nature/etc.?
• Living:   Is it an animal/object?
• Activities:  Can you eat it/throw it/carry it/etc.?

Again, these questions and categories were based on what the students thought would be helpful.  As I wrote their topics and questions on the board, students were writing the sample questions on their index card.  I told them to put the card in their vocab notebook and hold onto it for the next time we did the activity.

To see if their questions were good, we did two rounds of "Was ist in der Tasche?"  For the first round, there was an apple.  We haven't done food yet, but the word Apfel has come up multiple times with our cognate exercises.  The next round had a frog in the bag.  We also haven't learned very many animals, but my animal posters made it something they could figure out (especially once they found out it was a green, living creature you would find in nature).

For both rounds, students were able to figure out what it was within 10 questions.  At the end, I asked if there were any other questions they felt needed to be added based on actually going through the activity.

I think the cards will really help them ask better questions - too often the students get stuck, completely unsure what to ask about (especially the first few times they do the activity).  We'll see how it goes!

- Frau Leonard

Idiom of the Week Board

I saw this really cute idea on Pinterest for an idiom of the week board.

In this past I've tried to do an idiom of the week/month/whenever I got around to it.  I think I tried too hard to make it a part of weekly instruction.  I tried to do quizzes and get the students to come up with examples...  Really, it was all great in theory but was harder in practice.  The problem was always that it was another thing I had to keep track of and make activities for.

What I like about this is it's something I can have up and don't have to draw attention to it.  If students are interested, it's something they can keep track of and use on their own.  If students do use the phrases during class, that's something I can praise.  If students don't use the phrase... well at least I can beef up on idioms on my own ;)

- Frau Leonard

Reverse Crossword Puzzles

This is an activity I got from one of our resource teachers in Howard County.  It's a vocabulary related activity that can be used with basically any unit (and for any language).  Basically, students will work with groups to generate clues for a crossword puzzle.  Groups will then trade crossword puzzles and try to fill in the crossword puzzle created by the other group.

This is a fun twist on a pretty standard activity.  It's also helpful in getting students some practice in circumlocution - how can I describe a word without using the word itself?

If you're interested in an example set for your class, click here for an animal vocab set.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Take about 8-12 different vocabulary words from your current vocabulary unit.  Use any online crossword puzzle generator site to create a crossword.  For the clues, just put the words themselves.  Create about 3-4 sets of crosswords like this, each with different vocabulary words (there can be some overlap, but most words should be different).
   
2. Divide students into groups of 2-5.  Each group gets one of the crossword puzzles.  Their job is to create clues for all of the words.  Their clues can be complete sentences, examples, descriptions - it doesn't matter how they do it, so long as they don't include the word in the clue itself.
   
   Be careful - some students will get confused their first time doing this activity.  Tell them that they should NOT write anything in the actual puzzle - they are ONLY writing in the clue section below the puzzle.
   
3. Once students have generated their clues, have them erase the actual words (white out or write over them in a really dark marker).
   
4. Students trade their completed puzzles with another group.  Groups now try to solve the new puzzle.

In order to get a bit more use out of the puzzles (so that multiple groups could solve the same puzzles once they'd been created), I made these boards for the activity:

I got large pieces of construction paper.  On one half I attached some graph paper and on the other have is just a sheet that says "Waagerecht/Across" and "Senkrecht/Down" (arrows include on the sheet to help students who are unfamiliar with the words).  I then had them laminated.

Groups still receive a paper copy of the puzzle as described in the steps above.  Once they're done, however, they write their clues on the right side (emphasize that they should NOT write the word itself). They then draw the blank puzzle on the left side (when I have student aides, I have them draw in the puzzles ahead of time).  They do this with wet-erase markers.

When groups trade puzzles with each other and try to solve, they fill in the puzzles with dry-erase markers.  Once finished, they can erase their answers using a tissue but the puzzle and clues will remain.

- Frau Leonard

20 Questions: Was ist in der Tasche?

 Here's a quick activity I use to introduce a new vocabulary unit and to encourage creative thinking!

I'm sure you've played the game 20 questions.  The premise is simple - you have a person, movie, object, or whatever in mind.  The other person has to figure out who/what you're thinking about.  They're allowed to ask you up to 20 questions, but the catch is that you can only answer with a yes or no.

In this case, you have a bag.  The lovely orange bag to the left is one that a mentor teacher gave to me my first year teaching (yes, it has lasted this long!) when she introduced me to this activity.

Find an object related to whatever topic you're going to be discussing.  I usually use something that's related to a topic we're about to start, but it's an object that students already can identify.  Here are some examples for unit starters:

• CD for Music
• Mr Potato Head for Body Parts
• Party Hat for Gifts/Birthdays or to introduce Piggeldy's Birthday Party
• Toy Bus for Transportation
• Stuffed Cat for Animals
• Toy Apple for Food
• Cards for Weekend Activities

It's also a good way to review vocabulary before midterms and finals, and can even be used to introduce a subset of a unit.  For example, I use a stuffed Wildschwein to introduce a reading and video we do on Wildschweine during our Animals unit.

If you start this with German 1 students, it's typically easy to explain the directions and goal of the activity (even completely in German).  The real trick is helping them figure out what to ask and how to ask it.  Help students as they start by giving examples of questions.  Good starting questions and hints:

• Adjectives: Ist es (rund/gross/klein/rot/braun/schwer)?
• Categories: Ist es (ein Tier/eine Schulsache/Kleidung/ein Spiel)?
• Actions: Kann man es (essen/tragen/fahren)?
• Location: Findet man es (zur Schule/zu Hause/im Kaufhaus)?
• Ist es normalerweise im Klassenzimmer? (I've put enough objects and toys from my classroom in the bag over time that students immediately get suspicious and start looking around for missing items.  Because of my pig collection, the first question is almost always, "Ist es ein Schwein?")

Once students do the activity a few times, they're better at narrowing down the category - though sometimes a class will hit a brick wall and you may have to subtly give clues to get them back in the right direction.

As students ask their questions, I keep track of the questions by putting a tally on the board.  Sometimes I'll tease students that they don't get to see the object if they get through all twenty without figuring it out - they always want to know what it is! - but revealing the object and discussing it is important to segue into the next part of your lesson.  If you're introducing a new unit, for example food, you can then move on to building a word web as a class, listing words they already know related to the topic.  If you're introducing a new facet of a current unit, then discuss what they already know about the object in question.

One last note: This activity is in some ways similar to Black Stories, though with some obvious differences (question limit, different topic, range of vocabulary needed).  Students in general, I find, have difficulty with creative thinking.   Coming up with questions is initially difficult for them when they're first introduced to either activity, and starting lower levels with the occasional "Was ist in der Tasche?" helps them stretch their creative muscles and build them up to Black Stories in German 3 and 4.

- Frau Leonard

Color Coded Student Packets

I wasn't very good at planning during my first year of teaching.  I was a day by day kind of teacher, and aside from being highly stressful, meant I made a lot of copies each day.  Trust me, that sucked.

As I got more organized and collected a mass amount of material for each unit (see Three Levels of Planning), I found that I hated having to figure out which worksheets to hand out which days.  A few years ago I started doing packets for each unit.  Each packet contains all of the notes and activities that I plan on doing in that unit.  There's a title page so students know the topic, they're color coded, the page numbers are labeled... and best of all, I only have to make copies and hand out papers once a unit.

Overall, I found the kids responded well to the switch.  At first I think it scares them to be getting such a big packet, but as they realize that packet represents at least a week (maybe up to three) of work, they calm down.  For students who are more disorganized, I found this helps a lot.  Instead of lots of worksheets being spread throughout their binders, folders, backpacks, jacket pockets... or wherever else they mysteriously vanish, everything's in one place and there's only one thing to keep track of.

This is also great for when students are absent, especially for extended periods of time.  They have all of the work they'll be missing without you having to keep track of a bunch of different papers to give them.

I think I mentioned in my post on Three Levels of Planning that I keep my grammar and vocab units separate.  At any given time, each class is learning one new grammar topic while doing one new vocab unit- each gets a packet, and color coding helps students keep them apart.  I can say "Get out your grammar packet," or just "Get out the blue packet."

It also makes it clear when I give homework.  I specify the activity, the color of the packet, and the page number (make sure to put page numbers!).

I rotate between the four colors my school has available.  Currently we're using pink and blue in German 1 for the units we're covering.  Our next two units will be in yellow and green.  Once those are done, we'll switch back to pink and blue.  This makes it just that much easier to specify what students should be referring to at any given time.

Though I should add, I only do the cover pages and color coding for levels 1 and 2.  Levels 3 and 4 still get packets... there's just no cover pages and they're on plain white paper.

- Frau Leonard

Incorporating Quizlet

I don't think I can say enough how much I love Quizlet.  I first discovered it when I started teaching.  If you're not familiar with it, check it out.  It's an online flashcard site.  Create a set of flashcards (or search for pre-existing ones), then complete different activities and games to practice, learn and master vocabulary!  There are lots of great features like adding pictures instead of words and sound files to model pronunciation (includes foreign languages!).

The downside is that creating new vocabulary lists is somewhat labor intensive.  I know some teachers have a student aide type them up or simply use the search feature to find appropriate lists.  Good news though - once you've either found or created the lists you like, you don't have to re-create them ever again.  I've found it's been worth the effort.

When I first started using Quizlet with my classes, I had it simply as an additional resource for them to practice and study.  But I found that even if I showed my students the site, by the end of the year they were only sort of aware of it and few were making use of it.  Last year I started incorporating it as a homework assignment and found it really did help improve student performance with vocabulary.

Here are some ways to make the transition to using Quizlet as a homework assignment go smoothly!

• Create Classes:  There's a feature where you can create a "class."  Other users can join the class and you can add flashcard sets to the class.  Just make sure you name the class something that will be descriptive and unique enough for them to find.  

Keep flashcards (and students) organized by classes

Give each class a unique name and make sure the description is clear

• Student Accounts:   Students will have to be logged in when they do any Quizlet activities or else the site won't be able to log the activity.  I have each of my students sign up for an account.  It's absolutely free for them to do so.  I do request that they have their first or last name somewhere in the account name just so it's easier to figure out who is who.
  
  To make sure there's no problems or confusion, I take all new students to the computer lab during the first few weeks of school.  Together I get them to sign up for their account, make them write it down on a sign up sheet (chances are at least a few students will forget their user name), and have them play a few of the games to get familiar with it.
  
  When you check to see if they've done the assignments, you just have to go to their profile page.  In the top right will be a list of their recent activities - the type of activity, the vocabulary set they practiced, and the date.

• Know the Limitations:  If a student is signed in to their Quizlet account and does any of the activities, Quizlet will log it.  That's great, right?  So you just have to check their account to see if they did the activities you assigned?  Well, yes and no.  Quizlet logs the activity, but has no information about how the students scored on the activity or how long they engaged in it.  Technically speaking, they could just click on the link to the flashcards and it would register it on their Quizlet profile.  My only advice is DO NOT TELL THE STUDENTS THIS.  Just tell them that it logs the activity and you can see it.  

• Quizlet as Homework:  I have my students complete two Quizlet activities per vocab unit, both due by the day of their quiz.  They need to do at least one practice activity (Cards, Learn, Speller, Scatter or Space Race) and then take a "Test."  As mentioned above, taking the Quizlet test will show up in their activity log, but it won't have any score listed.  To make sure the kids are actually doing what they need to, I make them print out their scored Quizlet test and turn it in on the day of their quiz.  I won't accept the assignment unless they scored an 85% or higher.  I tell them there's no point in practicing if you stop at 25% or 60% - the point is to increase your score and master the vocabulary.
  
  Whatever you decide as your requirements, make sure they're clear to the students.  Here's the Quizlet Guide I give students: 

• Motivate Students:  As a little extra motivation, I award stickers or candy to whoever is listed as "Set Champions" on the day of the quiz.  Students love competing with each other to try and get a high score.  

Feel free to visit my Quizlet page, especially if you use Deutsch Aktuell 1 and 2 with your students.  The cards are already made - you don't have

- Frau Leonard