¡Buenas noches! I’m Cristina, and I teach Spanish to young learners in Miami. Tonight, I’m co-moderating #earlylang chat with moderator Jenny Delfini. 😊 Welcome!
Hey #earlylang! I'm Sara-Elizabeth. I teach ages 5-17, Spanish! They're grouped 5-9, 10-13, 14-17. We meet 60 mins 1x/week for youngers, 90 mins for olders.
A1 I love short music videos for kids (think toddlers) and short, repetitive books. Things I use with my toddler at home are perfect for my novice ss #earlylang
Q1 I've ended up making my own books to read to the Ss. I make them so they use few words, use lots of repetitions and can be used multiple ways. Ss love being read to! #earlylang
#earlylang R1: One of my primary sources are the mini bks/ stories I create that introduce & reinforce language. Along with them, lots of games, songs, poems, & activities which provide opportunities for my kiddos to listen & interact w the lang.
A1 MovieTalk! We were doing Peppa Pig & George going on vacation targeting "I need to take..." last week. Them: "Where's the audio?" Me: "I AM THE AUDIO." Ha. #earlylang
A1: I provide rich input for #earlylang through traditional fingerplays, songs, and modified read alouds. MovieTalk and picture talks are also very effective.
A1 novels: @profeklein has made my #earlylang life SO much easier this year. Pablito last semester in a narration unit, Peter this semester in a Colombia unit.
A1 I’m a big fan of using #authres (authentic resources) as input for my students. I spend waaaay too much time collecting Instagram photos w/ captions, tweets, viral FB posts, etc for my students. #earlylang
#earlylang R1: also lots of spontaneous interactions w my students, talking about the weather as they enter my room, or about their new haircut, clothes, or whatever comes up from them-unrehearsed authentic communication
A2 I have to be careful, but physical responses, drawings, picture matching, & checklists can be helpful. My kiddos tire of constantly drawing. #earlylang
I will say that many videos are linguistically above many of my students; so I use them more as Q & A opportunities, stopping & asking tons of ?s, rather than them listening for comprehension for the whole thing. #earlylang
good to know...my 19 mo is just starting to like videos, so i want to find as many good ones as i can in Spanish. If he's going to watch...he might as well get it in Spanish! #earlylang
A2 Drawing anything! We were doing regions of Colombia & I gave them a blank map and had them drawing & labeling cities, jungle, ocean, etc. #earlylang
A2 I always give them a physical response option (thumbs, up, pointing) or sound effect (sad horns) that they an use to respond to me if they arent ready for L2 output yet #earlylang
I will say that many videos are linguistically above many of my students; so I use them more as Q & A opportunities, stopping & asking tons of ?s, rather than them listening for comprehension for the whole thing. #earlylang
Q2 I start every class with how we "listen with the intent to understand": head up, eyes on speaker, nothing in hands, only L2, respect for the activities. #earlylang
R2: I really like having kids interact w hands on materials such as manipulatives (play food, animals, counters etc) to show comprehension and/or interact w vocabulary. #earlylang
A2 I start every class with how we "listen with the intent to understand": head up, eyes on speaker, nothing in hands, only L2, respect for the activities. #earlylang
Love asking them to go to signs around the room - stand by the place that has the best beaches, stand by the note that gives your opinion of pineapple on pizza, etc. #earlylang
R2: acting out oral language, showing/ pointing to vocab, movement activities such as 4 corners, answering questions using mini whiteboards, thumbs up/down, holding up representations of vocab etc #earlylang
¡Buenas noches! I’m Cristina, and I teach Spanish to young learners in Miami. Tonight, I’m co-moderating #earlylang chat with moderator Jenny Delfini. 😊 Welcome!
R2: acting out oral language, showing/ pointing to vocab, movement activities such as 4 corners, answering questions using mini whiteboards, thumbs up/down, holding up representations of vocab etc #earlylang
R2: polls & votes are also a great way for my kiddos to participate in answering questions & showing preferences while being able to stay in the TL #earlylang
I'm on a mini whiteboard kick right now; it is taming some of my wildebeasts who cannot sit still w/o getting in everyone else's face. And they love using them #whoknew#earlylang
I do the same thing but on their iPads...because it makes them happy and then I don't have to smell the markers haha #earlylang#sometimesit'sthesimplethings
A3 this so depends on the class and the language. I usually start on the 2nd or 3rd day with simple do you like/no like with a partner and grow from there #earlylang
I'm on a mini whiteboard kick right now; it is taming some of my wildebeasts who cannot sit still w/o getting in everyone else's face. And they love using them #whoknew#earlylang
A3 I think one answer is expecting what you've prepared them for. First day, I expect everyone to answer the question "What's your name?" but I know 100% they're all prepared to do so. #earlylang#lovethose4yearolds
A3: you really need to know your students and help them get there on their own. Not all of my gr5 classes are ready; not all of the Ss within a class are ready at the same time. #earlylang
#earlylang R3: Kids want to communicate, so even though we know how important input is for their language growth, I feel we need to also start giving them the tools to interact as soon as possible-starting small w meaningful expressions
other input before I'll ask Ss for output. And even then, it's the kids who want to be courageous. I'm not here to "get" them; they understand more than they can produce. That's fine. #earlylang
If we set up the structure early on with the input, they can provide the output more readily and easily. we don't have to wait for perfection! #earlylang
A3 Also expecting is not the same as demanding. This is different from my older learners, sometimes. I rarely require output in #earlylang but quickly expect SOME will start to spontaneously offer answers.
A3 giving them what they want. A student with a great sense of humor was telling me a joke 2 weeks ago and wanted to know "it's obvious." have heard it used correctly every class since. #earlylang
Language development starts in the womb👶
"A month before they are born, fetuses carried by American mothers-to-be can distinguish between someone speaking to them in English and Japanese" #EarlyLang#LanguageLearninghttps://t.co/T1kRjWtOfW
R3: so a simple beginning is a greeting; in a 30 min class, that may be the only word in Spanish my kinder kiddos say at the beg of the yr; the rest might be listening comp activities; we build from there #earlylang#firstclasses
A3 output comes when it comes, I've heard the cup of water metaphor b4 and liked it, input is what you keep pouring into the glass and output is the overflow #earlylang
A3 Start small with output expectations: Si/no questions, complete the sentence using flashcards. Ss can say word represented by flashcards or not. Even pointing to right card demonstrates comprehension #earlylang
A3 output comes when it comes, I've heard the cup of water metaphor b4 and liked it, input is what you keep pouring into the glass and output is the overflow #earlylang
R3: I try to really listen to what my kiddos are saying in English & then find ways to help them replace that w Spanish (where appropriate)-so, 'Can I have a turn?' becomes 'Un turno, por favor' #simpleyeteffective#earlylang
A4 What @doriecp said - we can use so many #authres visuals, infographics, etc. to support our input and ask for output: opinions, labels, etc. #earlylang
R4: highly interested & motivating visuals & resources naturally inspire kids to want to talk about them; choosing those that match the output kids can achieve at their particular prof level is key #earlylang
A4 and bouncing off of what we were talking about earlier re: #authres video, we can absolutely use them- but go DEEP. Amazing how 90 seconds of video can turn into 2 lesson plans! #earlylang
Seriously, we did 2 Lola episodes in a whole semester. And the Peppa last week? 60-minute class period and we go through 2 minutes. The key is, find a good one and milk it. #GottaBeComprehended#earlylang
In reply to
@WescottSpanish, @MundodePepita, @lovemysummer
I don't use all of them every year; I use some one year, others another year. On the other hand, some days I feel like I could just build my entire curriculum around these three, amongst others lol #earlylang
In reply to
@WescottSpanish, @lovemysummer, @SECottrell
I like the idea of having a bunch of different things in the bank so the units don't get stale and also can be adapted to different grps of students #earlylang
In reply to
@MundodePepita, @lovemysummer, @SECottrell
A5: Partner accountability is just as effective as whole-group. Talk to your partner; I'll notice what you can produce with my Teacher Eyes & Ears ;) #earlylang
R5: lots of confidence boosting & encouragement; also, always having stuffies available to "talk" instead of the kiddo-a lot of kids find this very comforting & gives them courage to participate more actively #earlylang
A5 @Flipgrid is a great tool to use. Ss record themselves speaking. Ts can set privacy settings so that only Ts can see responses or open it up to whole class. #earlylang
A5 I was an introverted kid myself - I feel like I have a sixth sense :-) and can connect with them privately or outside of class to see if they are ready for output. #earlylang
A5 Im looking for whatever shows comprehension, that could be a thumbs up sign, a laugh, a smile. Im pretty adamant about not forcing output, when students want to talk, theyll show that #earlylang
#earlylang R5- I really try to give kids time & space, & other ways to communicate if they are particularly shy or reticent about participating in output. Output of course can also be in writing, many of my introverts are comfortable jotting something down instead of speaking
A5: You have to catch the moment when a particular activity engages your introverted learners and run with it. This week, one of my students sang and danced along for the first time. He was having the time of his life! #earlylang
A5: You have to catch the moment when a particular activity engages your introverted learners and run with it. This week, one of my students sang and danced along for the first time. He was having the time of his life! #earlylang
