Chelsea+Unit+Plan+2

Here is my unit plan... Please let me know if you need any clarification or have any other questions/comments. user:barnar18

I really like your idea for letting them shop for school supplies in a real Spanish online store. Also, the fashion show project has often been used quite successfully -- and students tend to like it. You asked about more ways to practice -ar verbs. Since I'm not really a Spanish person, I don't have any specific ideas. However, I will give you some general feedback that's related. I would encourage you to change your question from "how can they practice -ar verbs?" to a question that is based on real communication. What ideas do you want them to be able to communicate? What real-life situations do they desire to participate in? Verbs are used in every situation -- they can learn the skill of conjugating through worksheets and games, but that's like learning scales while developing musical skills. You don't perform scales -- but scales build skills that enable you to perform real music. So, with that in mind, what's the "real music" you are after? Once you know that, you'll have a better idea of what sorts of practice activities can lead to their ability to perform. Also, remember that a lot of learning and awareness can come from comprehensible input. The more exposure your students have to ar-verbs used in context, the more likely they are to internalize the concept. Eventually correct conjugation will begin to look and sound right or wrong -- but only if they've received tons of input. So, your idea of watching the chapter video is a good one. But, I would caution you to have the focus be on comprehending the intended meaning of the video //before// you analyze the verbs. user:Anny1

Re: your question about whether or not there were too many activities - This is hard for me to determine -- but my first impression is that it doesn't seem like you have too many activities. However, it will be important that they all lead to a larger goal. Many of them strike me as "oral worksheets" -- that is, you're building skills, but the tasks are very controlled and contrived -- for instance, "describe 5 objects" or "match verb ending with the verb" or "describe what you're wearing". These are valid practice activities, but they perform the same function as a worksheet -- to build skills. If they are not contextualized in a larger purpose that you //and// the students understand and agree to, they are not guaranteed to produce proficiency. Your activities make sense with the final projects you've designed -- just make sure they are directly and explicitly linked from the beginning and every day. Also, be sure that proportions are right -- I"m not sure it makes sense to spend 90% of the time skill building and only 10% putting the skills to work -- students also need to practice their recital pieces before they perform. (Usually, skill building would be about 30%, practicing the "real" thing 40%, 20% dress rehearsal, and 10% performance.) That said, I suggest you actually decrease the time on skill-building activities and add a few additional activities that are more embedded in authentic communication in preparation for the final projects. And give them a vision from day one as to what exactly they're working towards and why that is worth doing. O.k. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense at all! I can tell that you are really trying to design engaging, purposeful practice for your students. This is great! Now, I'm just pushing you to expand the depth of the practice. user:Anny1

Your unit looks like a lot of fun!! I really like your ideas about "El Corte Ingles" and the fashion show. I also think using "El Corte Ingles' could be a really effective transition from school supplies to clothing since they sell both. Good thinking.  As for your questions, I think that my advice for -ar verbs is going to be a little different than Anny's.  I agree with what she is saying about spending less time practicing but I have been having trouble because I don't give enough practice (in my opinion).  That being said, to me it seems like you are doing a great job of providing the students with structured practice.  Some suggestions for conjugation practice that I have used and that my students really liked were a conjugation race game.  I gave them a worksheet with a list of subjects (people and things) and made four different sections.  For example, A1= tu, mi mama y yo, usted, etc. A2= el hijo de mi hermano, Susana, yo, etc.  I had kids sit in lines (by team) and gave them a verb (a different one for each set A1/A2/etc). They had to conjugate for their subject and then pass the sheet back so that the next person did the next subject and so on. I realize this is not super contextualized but they really liked it and even explicitly told me it was good practice.

Another simple way that I had my kids practice conjugation was to write down 3 sentences about themselves (it was what they were going to do but you could say what they are wearing or something along these lines to link it to whatever activity you are using) the first two were about them and the last was about them and someone else. I had them volunteer to read their sentences. Then I had them pass their papers to the left and asked again. They had to conjugate the verbs to put them in ustedes/el/ella forms. It sounds really simple and stupid but it actually worked really well.

Also, if you are interested I found a good youtube video on -ar verbs that my kids really liked. It's called "conjugation back" and is a remake of sexy back. My students ask me to watch it daily. Hope this is somewhat helpful...if I think of any more suggestions on -ar verbs I will come back and add them. user:burhopam

As for your second question, I might take Anny's comments on practicing and performance and make modify your activities a little bit. Maybe you could cut the time you do the small practice activities back a little bit or make them part of a larger activity so that they help students reach a bigger goal. I don't know if that makes any sense to you...for example, maybe you could give the students something to read about "El Corte Ingles" that has -ar verbs in it. You could read for meaning but then analyze the -ar verbs as well so that their meaning and the meaning of the overall passage are both important to their understanding of the lesson. I hope this is helpful!

Your unit looks great! user:burhopam