I decided to post today and share an activity I did with my students this week. The idea occurred to me on on Sunday night, and the students seem to have really enjoyed it.

Basically, the activity is a murder mystery. I passed out two different activity sheets (see below), but each student only received one of the sheets. The first sheet has a list of suspects and descriptions of them. The second sheet has clues and evidence related to the crime. I gave the students time to read the sheet they received, and then told them they could talk in Spanish about what they had read to try and figure out who the murderer was. At this point they exchanged information because not everyone had the same information. After this, we had a class discussion about their ideas. They told me what they thought and made accusations and I challenged their ideas asking them to show how their ideas were based in the evidence. After the interest in this started to die down, I asked them if it were possible that two of the suspects had worked together. This led to more interesting conversation in Spanish.

I gave them some online comprehension questions to answer on Moodle last night as homework, which gave them another opportunity to read the material. Then today in class, I asked them to work in pairs and list the suspects from most suspicious to least suspicious, and then write a summary of what they thought actually happened.

It has been a great activity and I hope some of you will use it! Feel free to make changes if you like, and if you see any errors that I missed, please let me know. Oh, and I’d also love to hear how it goes if you do use it.

I did the activity with Spanish II and Spanish III.

Documento 1:

¡Asesinato!

Hubo un asesinato en el pueblo de Estelí, Nicaragua. Las autoridades encontraron el cuerpo del heladero, Hernando Méndez, en el parque central de la ciudad, el sábado a las nueve y media de la mañana. La policía dijo que no había ninguna herida en el cuerpo y que pensaban que alguien lo había envenenado. ¡Tienen que usar las pistas y la evidencia que leen para descubrir quién lo mató!

Los sospechosos son:

Manuel Fernández: Un amigo del Sr. Méndez. Los dos trabajaron juntos durante diez años, antes de separarse para abrir dos heladerías nuevas en lugares diferentes. La heladería de Sr. Méndez ha tenido más éxito que la del Sr. Fernández. A pesar de la competencia entre los dos negocios, seguían siendo amigos. O al menos, eso parecía. Hablando de su amigo, Manuel le dijo a la policía, “Lo quería como si hubiese sido mi hermano. Su muerte es una gran perdida, no sólo para mí, sino para toda la comunidad.”

María Paula Reverte Méndez: La esposa del Sr. Méndez. Ella conoció al marido en la secundaria y se enamoraron a primera vista. Salieron por tres años antes de casarse. Un año después, ella dio a luz a su único hijo, Pancho. Ella pasa los días cuidando a su hijo y a veces trabajando en un restaurante cerca de la casa. Además a ella le gusta mirar las telenovelas por la tarde. Todos dicen que María Paula y Hernando eran una pareja ideal.

Pancho Méndez: El hijo de Sr. Méndez. Pancho tiene dieciséis años y es estudiante en la escuela Belén Fe y Alegría de Estelí. A Pancho le gusta estudiar las ciencias y pasar su tiempo fuera de la escuela jugando el fútbol. Recientemente, hay mucha tensión entre el hijo y el padre. Hace una semana, Pancho tuvo una pelea muy grande con su padre. El joven estaba enojado porque su padre no le permitió ir a jugar fútbol con sus amigos. El padre lo necesitaba en la heladería. Pancho le dijo, llorando, a un periodista, “¡No sé por qué le grité a mi papá! Si pudiera tenerlo en mi vida otra vez, trabajaría en la heladería cada día.”

Juana Florencia Miraflor: La gerente del parque central. A ella le gusta escuchar la música pop de los Estados Unidos. Ella dice que descubrió el cuerpo cuando llegó al parque el sábado por la mañana. Ella fue la primera en llamar a la policía. Todo el mundo sabe que a ella no le caía bien el Sr. Méndez. Hace un año, ella compró helado en la tienda del Sr. Méndez para servir en una fiesta. Pero el helado no le gustó por nada y le exigió al Sr. Méndez que le devolviera el dinero. El Sr. Méndez le dijo que no iba a devolvérselo, ni un centavo. Ella se enojó muchísimo y le prometió que nunca volvía a comprar nada en su estúpida heladería.

Alfredo Lazo: El entrenador del Real Estelí Fútbol Club. Es un gran fanático de Diego Maradona. Vive en el centro de la ciudad. No tiene hijos y nunca se casó. Muchas personas piensan que él sigue enamorado de la Sra. Méndez. En la escuela primaria, el Sr. Lazo asistió a la misma escuela que Paula Méndez. Siempre la veía con admiración pero siempre tenía miedo de hablar con ella. Aunque ha tenido mucho éxito con el fútbol, siempre se ve triste o enojado. el Sr. Lazo estuvo aún más enojado cuando oyó que unas personas lo acusaban del asesinato, “El Sr. Méndez no era un amigo mío, lo admito. ¡Pero no soy de matar a nadie! ¡La gente que me acusa está completamente loca!”

Documento 2:

¡Asesinato!

Hubo un asesinato en el pueblo de Estelí, Nicaragua. Las autoridades encontraron el frío cuerpo del heladero, Hernando Méndez, en el parque central de la ciudad, el sábado a las nueve y media de la mañana. La policía dijo que no había ninguna herida en el cuerpo y que pensaban que alguien lo había envenenado. ¡Tienen que usar las pistas y la evidencia que leen para descubrir quién lo mató!

Pistas y evidencia:

El alcalde de Estelí dice que vio a Juana Florencia Miraflor afuera de la tienda del Sr. Méndez el viernes por la mañana.

La policía encontró una lata de arsénico en el garaje de la casa de los Méndez. La Sra. Méndez explicó que el marido tenía unos problemas con ratones en la heladería.

Un estudiante de la escuela dijo que Pancho Méndez quería participar en un partido de fútbol el sábado. Era un partido importante porque el Sr. Lazo iba a estar. Sr. Lazo siempre busca a nuevos jugadores para el Real Estelí Fútbol Club. El estudiante no sabía si Pancho fue al partido.

Cuando la policía investigó la heladería el sábado por la tarde,  descubrieron una ventana rota. Adentro, vieron que la caja registradora se había desaparecido.

Eduardo Rivera, un profesor, dijo que Pancho estaba muy enojado con su padre. Al hijo no le gustaban las reglas del padre. Pero dijo también que no podía imaginar al chico matando a nadie nunca.

Sofía Nuñez, una madre de cuatro niños pequeños, dijo que asistió a una fiesta en la casa de la Sra. Miraflor el sábado por la tarde. Dijo que había helado muy rico de la tienda de Manuel Fernández.

El cartero de Estelí dijo que hace una semana, llevó una carta del Sr. Lazo a la casa de los Méndez. El sobre llevaba el nombre de Sra. Méndez. Le pareció un poco extraño.

El banquero le dijo a la policía que el lunes por la mañana, Manuel Fernández depositó una gran cantidad de dinero en su cuenta. Es común que el Sr. Fernández pase por el banco los lunes, pero normalmente no tiene tanto dinero.

El Dr. Daniel Quetzal le hizo la autopsia al Sr. Méndez. Dijo que había arsénico en la sangre.

El gerente del Mocha Nana Café en Estelí dijo que vio al Sr. Lazo pasar una tarde en el café con una mujer hace un mes. Dijo que no recuerda quién era la mujer. Además, vio al Sr. Lazo y el Sr. Méndez en su café la mañana de su muerte, pero no estaban juntos.

La esposa de Manuel Fernández dijo que él llegó a casa a las siete de la tarde el viernes y no salió otra vez hasta las nueve y media de la mañana siguiente.

Un exjugador del Real Estelí Fútbol Club le dijo a un periodista, “Sr. Lazo es un poco antipático y negativo, pero él no mataría a nadie.”

Un ciudadano anónimo dejó una carta en la oficina de la policía: “Yo sé que el asesino es Lazo. Siempre quería lo que Méndez tenía. Lo vi en el parque central el sábado por la mañana.”

Un vecino le dijo a la policía que vio a Sr. Fernández hablando con la Sra. Méndez el sábado por la tarde. Los dos estaban en frente de la casa de los Méndez. La Sra. Méndez empezó a llorar y Sr. Fernández la abrazó por mucho tiempo.

En la oficina del Sr. Lazo, encontraron una carta escrita por Pancho Méndez. En la carta, Pancho le dijo al Sr. Lazo, “No me importa lo que me dice mi padre. Yo voy a jugar fútbol. No me puede detener. Espero que pueda impresionarte cuando vengas al partido. Me encantaría jugar para el Real Estelí Fútbol Club en el futuro.”

Una vieja que vive en el norte de la ciudad dijo que hace dos semanas recibió una invitación a una fiesta en la casa de la Sra. Miraflor. Según ella, la carta decía, “La invito a una fiesta en mi casa. Será muy linda con mucho helado de la mejor heladería en Estelí (todos sabemos que el helado de Méndez es lo peor). Espero que pueda asistir.”

So, I know that a number of kids in my school complain because the Spanish program is too easy. I can react and say, “Well, that’s just ’cause I’m doing my job well. I make it easy for them to learn.” But I’m in a private college prep school and many kids don’t respect a teacher who has an easy class. And my pride doesn’t like to hear these comments.

Yesterday, I asked them to list the teachers whose classes were their favorites and most interesting. I noticed, in their responses, that the favorite classes were the many of the classes that they listed as their most difficult classes. I think this is because these are accomplished teachers who can effectively help their students arise to the challenges they give them.

I feel like I want to make my class more challenging. But is it just because I want my class to be more challenging, so that the kids will respect my class? I don’t feel like that’s all. I feel like kids don’t engage or pay attention enough in class because they aren’t worried about their grades. I also feel like they feel bored when it’s not challenging enough.

Maybe this is all because I need to work on my teacher skills with circling, personalizing, etc. It may be that if I were a better teacher, they wouldn’t care about how challenging the class was. But right now, my intuition tells me that many students are unhappy with the challenge level.

On the other hand, I have some students still who are struggling even with the current level. I fear that by moving ahead too fast I will leave them in the dust.

I think in my school, 40% of the students may be “4%ers,” and this presents me with some issues in the curriculum I offer and my assessment.

I guess, as a second year teacher, I’m still really processing a lot of what I do, and what I believe about teaching.

The conversation is found below. My students seemed to like it, and it made for good conversation. I am now thinking of printing out a facebook photo with all the Spanish comments under it, as another text for a class. I’ll post again whenever I do that.

————————

Yo: Eli, estás?

Eliana: hola! como estas?

Yo: Bien, ¿y vos?

Eliana: bien, recien llego del trabajo. asi q venis a la Argentina?

Yo:¡Sí! En diciembre. La semana de la Navidad.

Eliana:q bueno, igual te vas justo para mi cumple, yo cumplo el 31

Yo: ¿En serio? ¡Qué lástima! Mi madre también cumple el 31 de diciembre.

Eliana: y donde vas a estar para esa fecha? tu familia ya debe estar acostumbrada a que viajes…

Yo:Sí, mi familia ya entiende. Será la tercera navidad que paso en otro país. Voy a estar en Bogotá, Colombia el 31.

Eliana: q bueno, ya conoces colombia?

Yo: No, ¡será la primera vez! ¿Vos conocés Colombia?

Eliana: no, lo mas lejos q fui de la argentina fue uruguay, jaja. estoy esperando las vacaciones para ir a brasil!!

Yo: ¿O sí? ¿Cuándo vas? ¿Con la familia?

Eliana: el 14 de febrero. voy con mi hermano, la esposa y mi novio, en auto….

Yo: En auto? ¿Y a dónde llegás?

Eliana: la verdad q mucho no se, maneja mi hermano. igual creo q vamos a pasar la noche en algun hotel por la ruta. es casi un dia entero de viaje. creo q vamos a florinopolis

Yo: Ahhh. ¡Qué bien! Yo no conozco Brasil.

Eliana: dicen q es muy lindo

Yo: Sí, seguro que es.

For me, language learning, more than anything else is a skill. As a foreign language teacher, people expect my students to learn this skills. And I believe that most of these skills are learned unconsciously when truly “acquired.” They can’t develop the skill by simply studying “how.” They have to get input in the target language, and then they will learn as their brain does the work.

So, my problem with assessment is that I don’t see that students actually have tons of control over their learning. Some of them are going to learn to produce at different times, rates, and levels of accuracy. If they all dive into the reading and engage in the classroom conversation, they are still going to learn at different rates. So how can I give them a skills based grade? If a kid is really trying his best, why should he receive a C or D or an F, just because he is a slower learner and probably just needs more exposure to comprehensible input?

I hear over and over, “I’m not a foreign language learning person.” “I can’t learn foreign languages.” And I just think it’s so not right. I believe that almost everyone can learn a foreign language, but some will not be as natural at it. Just like riding a bike or swimming. But with time they CAN learn.

Skills based assessment is great for me as a teacher to see how effective I am. It’s a good way for me to assess MY accomplishments. But I don’t like giving the students grades based on that. I think it could be okay for placement of students in levels, to try and keep the input at the appropriate levels. But how can I hold students responsible for their output?

So, then I could consider giving participation grades. I take the responsibility of the learning upon myself. They just have to be engaged and do what I ask them. But I don’t like this either for two reasons. #1, I don’t like to feel like I am manipulating or punishing my students into participation with their grade. I don’t know that that is good for the classroom environment or student/teacher relationship. I want genuine participation. And #2, then the grade isn’t reflective of their skill level. Then they’re getting A’s which would seem to indicate a certain level of proficiency, but then when they go on to the next Spanish class, they may not be ready.

I suppose I could also teach them lots of culture and grammar, and make my grades based on those things. I know that culture is part of the standards, and that research shows that it helps the language learning process. But if a kid knows the history of Spain forward and backwards but can’t hold a conversation, he’s missing the point. I guess, to be honest, I’m not convinced of culture as an outcome to be assessed. I believe culture enriches the classroom experience and aids the acquisition process, but if foreign language teacher jobs are put on the chopping block, I don’t think people are going to care about culture. I think they are going to want to see kids who can talk. As for grammar, I think that grammar is useful much like culture is. I think grammar can help make language comprehensible at times, and sometimes speed the acquisition process for some students. But I guess I see grammar and culture as the means to an end, and not so much ends in themselves. So why test those things? Why should these things be reflected in their grades?

I told you this summer (while at the Concordia Language Villages) how I liked the portfolio idea. I really do. And I just didn’t get my act together to implement that this year. And maybe that’s my answer. Portfolios. Students record and reflect on their experiences with language and culture. — Yep. portfolios.

Except that with portfolios… even with those, I still have the problem of the kids possibly finishing with grades that are not reflective of their skill set in the language.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments would be appreciated!

Maybe this wouldn’t work if I had had the Spanish III students when they were in II. And maybe it won’t work next year. But really it’s working well for me right now, I just don’t expect quite as much output from my Spanish II students as I do from my threes. And I talk a little slower and sometimes a lesson will take two days with them when it takes one day with the threes.

But then I was thinking about how Blaine Ray mentioned combining levels in one class, and how that had worked for some teachers.

I don’t want to do this just out of laziness or because it’s easy. But it really does seem to be working well. Thoughts?

The lyrics are:

Somos piratas perezosos

Nos sentamos y acostamos

Y si nos piden que hagamos algo

respondemos, “¡No hacemos nada!”

I basically translated and modified the words from the Veggie Tales song, “Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.” A lot of my kids really liked the song, and it’s lots of fun.

I focus on music from Argentina and Uruguay because that’s what I listen to and it’s what I’m passionate about. I mix in other artists all the time, but the majority of the music that my students hear will be from these two countries.

As for pop music, I don’t think you can beat Axel. I used his song “Verte reír” last year and it was my first this year, and the kids love it. Cheezy pop at its best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs9JJs1kmko

For some even cheesier pop, Valeria Gastaldi. I’m currently teaching her song “Inventario”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPlM95ouEeY

Next, I’ll mention Los Enanitos Verdes. I think the best way to describe them is like Argentina’s Maná– but don’t tell them I said that. I’m thinking about doing this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvwh_nq9pHY

For something with a little more chill, there’s Jorge Drexler from Uruguay (my all time favorite Spanish speaking musician). You should listen to everything he has written. Last year I did “Todo se transforma” and the kids liked it a lot, but the verses are tough. I did “Volando voy” this year and it hasn’t been as much of a hit. I might recommend “Inoportuna”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGFqd_-tq5Q

In the same vein, Kevin Johansen was born in the US, but his mom is Argentine and he moved there in his early teens (or pre-teen years). I took a risk and did “En mi cabeza” last year and the kids seemed to like it, and I somehow avoided issues with his referring to a girl as, “Mi negrita.” I just told them he was in love with a black girl and they seemed to accept it. I think this year I’m going to do “Ni idea.” If you did this song it would give you a cool opportunity to teach them about the “vos” form as the line “no tenés ni idea” is quite prominent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Ii8OxDzMM

Now, I absolutely must include los Fabulosos Cadillacs. They are super famous but their loud and fast latin rock/reggae usually serves better for music to play in between classes, as opposed to when the students are doing work. I’ve thought about teaching the following song, “Vos sabés”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pXsFQ_y4QE

I also recommend Bajofondo. It’s like techno meets tango, with musicians from Argentina and Uruguay. It’s great for some background music during bell work or any writing or reading that you assign. It’s fun instrumental, and when they team up with Mala Rodríguez or Julieta Venegas it’s really great pop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKG9v7W08uA

Some of the most popular artists that must be included in anything about Argentine music are Andrés Calamaro, Soda Stereo, Charly García, and Fito Paez. But I don’t have any particular songs that I’ve focused on from them because I don’t know that there is anything particularly suited for the classroom. I play their stuff sometimes during bell work. I’ve thought about doing Calamaro’s song “Todo lo demás también” mostly because I like Xoel López’s version. Here’s the Calamaro version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNW7e98OCa8&feature=related

A great background music guy is Astor Piazzola, found where Jazz and Classical meets Tango.

Another good artist for background stuff is Lisandro Aristimuño. Think Radiohead meets Sufjan Stevens. Not necessarily catchy or sing-a-long worthy. The lyrics are poetry and difficult to really get. But I love this guy, and I’ve been listening for years, even before I went to Argentina. His website is lisandro.biz and if I am going to recommend just one song… “Me hice cargo de tu luz” :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cGT5OQ6Pfk&feature=related

Recently, I’ve been playing some Xoel López (aka Deluxe). He’s a Spaniard but lives in Buenos Aires and his music definitely reveals the influence of Argentine National Rock. I love his music. I’m thinking about doing his song, “Tendremos que esperar”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGuY6gpUNrU

Lastly, I give them some Carlos Gardel, the most famous tango artist of all time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJjiFp2Vv4M

Well, that’s all for now. Should be enough to keep anyone occupied for at least a little while. Let me know if you want more!

Today, I asked them to write in English or Spanish, one thing they like and one thing that they don’t like about our class. Below are some responses from my Spanish II students– and my thoughts:

“I like that this class is interactive and easy to understand… I don’t like the idea of enthusiasm because I am always tired.” I tell them that I expect enthusiastic responses and sometimes make them repeat when the response is not quite wholehearted.

“Una cosa a mi me gusta en la clase es la musica y un otro cosa me gusta es cancion. No a mi me gusta el novela nostros leimos.” I need to work on personalizing that novela. I should probably go review some of Jason Fritz. Personalization. Reader’s Theatre.

“A mí me gusta que hay mas energia en la clase. A mí no me gusta que nostros no puedo hablar en ingles.” I am really trying to keep the class energetic, and to be consistent about not letting them talk in English without permission.

“… Also it is very informative and a great place to learn. A thing that I don’t like is that sometimes it’s too upbeat…” I can think of worse complaints.

“Things I like in our class is listening to music. Also I like reading the books. Things I don’t like is singing. I also like to write in our journals.” I am pretty sure that by “books” she is talking about the free reading and not the novela.

“I like in this class that you talk in simple Spanish so that I can understand. What I don’t like about this class is that we haven’t seen any videos in Spanish.” That first part is like music to my ears. As for the second part, I’m working on getting my projector working and then I hope to be incorporating more technology.

“One thing I like about our class is standing up and pointing to things and learning vocab through actions because I am a hands on visual learner. I don’t like that we cannot ask a question in English. I like that we speak Spanish the majority of our class but I would like to speak English if I have a question.” He is one of the few to mention the TPR, but reading this response makes me glad I’m doing it. I think others appreciate it even though they didn’t mention it.

“One thing I like about our class is the reading. It does really help a lot. The one thing that I don’t like is the long Spanish talks because after a while, I will start to zone out.” Yea for reading!  Ouch on the long talks.

“I like the group discussions, that we have in class. I don’t like that we can’t talk in English.” The overwhelming response… “We don’t like the no English rule!” Oh man.

“In Spanish class, I like the reading part. I don’t like speaking Spanish the entire time unless we have permission. I also like the part where we have to stand and do different things (TPR?). It’s a good class!” I honestly didn’t expect the overwhelmingly positive response to the reading. Awesome! And I’ve gotten a couple more comments on TPR now.

“I like that when we don’t understand something in class we can just punch our hand and you will stop and tell us what we don’t understand. I don’t like how we have to speak in Spanish the whole class.” She is one who helps me pace myself right.

“Me gusta mi clase de español porque la conversacion en español siempre muy bien. No me gusta yo tengo la clase en la mañana porque no muy despierto en la mañana.” I love that he chose to write that in Spanish! It has been great to see how many will try to write in Spanish even when I give them the option to write in English.

This weekend I’ll be reading the responses from Spanish III. I’m definitely glad I did this, they gave me some things to reflect on for sure.

Today we talked about what we did on our long weekends. We also talked about the kinds of music we like and don’t like. This was most of the class today.

But will a year of that really lead them to acquire as much as a more structured class? Are they really going to learn as much or more if they just listen well in my class, as they would in a tougher more structured and grammar oriented classroom?

I guess I’m just dealing with some doubts. I’m in the middle of the fourth week, and I feel like time is flying by. This year already seems shorter than my last.

I like just talking to the kids. And I know they are learning some. But I don’t have tons of my own experience to tell me that yes it works for kids to really start speaking Spanish well.

This summer at the iFLT, I sat in on the second half of a session on assessment by Scott Benedict, and it really made me think. Shouldn’t we be assessing student ability to communicate? And isn’t half of that communication output?

I don’t think that my students are going to learn to produce language through practicing output. I believe that they will learn to speak through listening and they will learn to write through reading.

But even so, I’ve got to assess the outcomes that I am shooting for. And I want them to see their ability in the language. I want to lower the affective filter by allowing them to experience success in output. If I don’t test their ability to produce Spanish will they be able to sense my fear that they can’t produce? If I am testing output, is it just so I can appease my fear?

Today, I asked the students write nine simple sentences using the nine phrases and words we have focused on in class over the past three weeks. I told them I would be focusing on noun/adjective agreement in my assessment, which is something they should be fairly comfortable with now. I’m glad I did the assessment though, because it showed me that many still need work to be able to use those structures.

Also, students told me they were glad to do a writing activity, that they want to write. That says something too, I think.

Last year, I gave more credit for sheer participation than I am this year. But I think my students CAN communicate, so I want to find a positive way to assess that communication so that they can experience success with language.

Also, with assessments of output, I think we can encourage them to really be engaged without putting unnecessary pressure in class that will raise the affective filter. As much as I’d like to give participation grades and nothing else in theory, I don’t find I am really happy with the way I’ve done my class participation grades.

I guess I’m still trying to figure out what I think about all of this.

Any assessment insights will be appreciated.