an archive of lesson plans

Category: Online Teaching (Page 1 of 3)

DE S22 INT/ADV: Subjunctive & Artistic Freedom (Part 1) [Zoom-class]

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Konjunktiv & Kunstfreiheit (Teil 1) [Zoom-class]

Goal of the class:
Learn about “Konjunktiv II” (When and how to use it)
Discuss “Kunstfreiheit” (artistic freedom)
Put pictures in relation to “Kunstfreiheit” and discuss their historical context
Compare artistic freedom in Germany and the US
Discuss the content of a music video based on isolated pictures

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.20:        Welcome (Welcoming students to class, talking about how they feel and getting all the technology starting)

4.20 – 4.33:        “Was würdest du machen, wenn…” (Practicing the Konjunktiv II with the “würde”-form, e.g. “What you would do if you were to win a million dollars?” “I would buy an island if…”. Students join breakout rooms and ask each other one of the two questions in groups of 2-3 people. Three rounds with 2 questions each + always different groups)

4.33 – 4.37:        Review Konjunktiv II (short review of when to use and how to use the Konjunktiv II with its two forms. One of them the “würde”-Form, which we practiced in the task before)

4.37 – 4.45:        “Kunstfreiheit” + pictures (The term “Kunstfreiheit“ (artistic freedom) is introduced and students are then asked to look at 4 pictures, describe them, tell the group what is depicted in the pictures (and the context) and then put that in relation to “Kunstfreiheit”. If the students do not know about some of the pictures, the teacher can help them and explain their context. After that we take a quick look at how artistic freedom is embedded in the basic law for Germany)

4.45 – 4.55:        “Kunstfreiheit” experiences (students join breakout rooms first, and then come back to share with the group. They are asked to share their experiences with artistic freedom. Either because something that they themselves were involved, or something they have heard of and that has a relation to artistic freedom

4.55 – 5.00:        “Danger Dan” impression (“Danger Dan” is the name of the musician we are going to hear a song from. The students are asked to share their impressions when hearing the name)

5.00 – 5.05:        Pictures from the song (students see 4 pictures from the music video to the song “Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt”. They are rather provocative and can be interpreted in different ways and the students are supposed to share their impressions of those pictures, and also what they think the video could be about and what it is supposed to express. Students discuss that in breakout rooms)

5.05 – 5.10:        Watch music video

5.10 – 5.15:        Music video impressions (students share their impressions from the music video and compare it with what they had shared before, when they just saw 4 isolated pictures from the music video)

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Power Point Presentation
Zoom (+ Breakout rooms)
Pictures & videos (see Power Point Presentation)

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

The introduction worked really well because the students seemed to be really engaged with the questions, as they had a lot of fun thinking about those scenarios and “what they could do, if…”. Also, it was a really good introduction and transition to explaining the Konjunktiv II, which is used a lot by Danger Dan in his song and therefore offers a great grammatical foundation for working with the song later on.

When we looked at the pictures, the students were able to identify most of them and put them in connection to artistic freedom. I chose the pictures because two of them are important pieces in the history of Germany, the Charlie Hebdo-picture is important in the context of contemporary European affairs, and the last one was a fun, little story that is connected to artistic freedom. We took a look at the basic law, and the exchange of their “Kunstfreiheit” experiences was really interesting. Same can be said for talking about the name “Danger Dan” and the pictures from the music video. Finally, we watched the music video and the students shared their impressions. Generally, it was a good mix of learning about current affairs in Germany, pop-culture and Konjunktiv II on the one hand, and sharing their impressions, thoughts and experiences on the other hand.

DE S22 INT/ADV: Subjunctive & Artistic Freedom (Part 2) [Zoom-class]

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Konjunktiv & Kunstfreiheit (Teil 2) [Zoom-class]

Goal of the class:
Analyze the lyrics of a song (describe in own words/research context/interpret what artist wants to express)
Compare different parts of a song with each other
Discuss differences and possible interpretations
Discuss whether the song “Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt“ is an example for Kunstfreiheit or Beleidigung (insult)
Discuss whether Böhmermanns „Schmähgedicht“ is an example for Kunstfreiheit or Beleidigung

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.23:        Recap (Recap last class and thereby make a transition to this class’ topic)

4.23 – 4.35:        Group work (students have to get together in 3 groups and analyze the lyrics of one verse based on 3 questions that ask them to describe the lyrics in their own words, research the context of the song and interpret what the artist wants to say and how he writes his song in order to achieve that message. Each group meets in one breakout room, while they have access to the questions and a vocabulary list on our GoogleDoc)

4.35 – 4.55:        Presentation group work (Each group presents their findings according to the 3 questions that were given to them – there is a particular emphasis on finding the Konjunktiv-forms, as they are an important instrument for Danger Dan in his song and also connect to the last class and the grammatical topic)

4.55 – 5.00:        Bridge (We look at the bridge of the song and try to analyze in which ways it is different from the rest of the song and why that is the case)

5.00 – 5.07:        Positionsline + discussion (students have to locate themselves along a position line ranging from Kunstfreiheit to Beleidigung. Based on that they have to discuss their own position)

5.07 – 5.13:        Böhmermann-Affäre introduction + video (Most students probably see the song as an obvious example for Kunstfreiheit, thus I present them a case that could be more critical to evaluate. The so-called “Böhmermann-Affäre” is introduced in a few minutes, and then we watch the video of it)

5.13 – 5.20:        Positionsline + discussion (students are again asked to locate themselves along the same position line and then discuss what led them to their judgements)

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Power Point Presentation
Google Doc (Questions + vocabulary list)
Zoom (+ Breakout rooms & annotate functions)
Pictures & videos (see Power Point Presentation)
(Jan Boehmermann Erdogan poem) https://vimeo.com/163537121

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

This class worked really well! It was a good conclusion to this 2-class-topic, which connected a song as a cultural element, with an important contemporary topic and a grammatical input. The class had different elements (discussions, group work, interpretations, media consumption etc.), a coherent structure and a few take-home messages.

The addition of a vocabulary list to the group work was very important and ensured efficiency, which allowed for a greater focus on the presentations and the discussions later. In those discussions, the students were really engaged and seemed interested in both the topic as well as the others’ opinions.  The position line worked really well and also as I expected (everybody saying it is Kunstfreiheit), which allowed me to introduce the “Böhmermann-Affäre” as a less clear-cut example for that topic. It is worth mentioning that the class ended about 5 minutes later – which is acceptable considering the complexity of the topic and the importance of the last discussion.

ES S22 INT My hometown

Language Resident: Franco Rivas Quiroz

Level: Advanced

Class theme/topic discussed: My hometown (Online)

Goal of the class:

Students will be able to:

  • Describe their home city/town and express what they like/ do not like about it. “Lo que me gusta de mi ciudad es que / lo que no me gusta es que” “Lo que más me gusta/ lo que menos me gusta

Use comparatives and superlatives to express similarities and differences among cities “Sao Paulo es más grande que Valparaíso” “Santiago es la ciudad más grande de Chile”

  • Express desires for the future and explain the reasons for that. Example: “me gustaría vivir en Nueva York, porque hay muchos restaurantes allí”

Class structure:

Warm up:

Mi lugar favorito: Students will show us a picture of their favorite place in their hometown and explain why do the like that so much.

Activities:

  • -The facilitator describes his hometown (Valparaiso) and shows pictures using a powerpoint presentation. Students are encouraged to ask questions about it if they want to know something else about it.
  • -Students are divided in pairs or groups of three using breakout rooms. Each one in their corresponding groups describes their hometown and talk about what they like/do not like about it. After that, some students share with the rest of the class what they like the most and the least about their hometowns, while the facilitator shows pictures about their hometowns using the projector and Google Images.
  • -In groups or couples, students talk about the city where they would like to live, and explain why. Then they share it with the rest of the class.
  • -Students see 4 images of cities around the world (Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Morelia, Mexico; Singapur, Singapur). In breakout rooms, they discuss the following questions: what city do you think it is? Which one of them do you think is  more quiet? which one is it closer? which one is more similar to your hometown? They share with the rest of the class after that.

Wrap up:

Using Jamboard, students design how the perfect city would look like and they give it a name. Then they share to the class.

Resources used: Powerpoint presentation, Google Images, Jamboard.

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

Students participated well. They seemed engaged trying to figure out what cities they were and comparing them to where they came from. It seemed like students had fun with the last activity and laughed. What didn’t work that well was the fact that in one of the breakout rooms, students were not talking at all. I asked them about the questions and they started speaking, but maybe they were too shy to start speaking, or they had already talked about them quickly.

FR SP21 INT/ADV Advertising & Slogans

Language Resident: Marie Segura

Class theme/topic discussed: Advertising

Goal of the class: learning vocabulary about advertisement, learning more about French culture and especially the advertisement culture. 

Structure:

ACTIVITY 1 – Slogans

  • Show the students a list of French slogans and a list of brands and ask the students to pair them up.
  • What are the characteristics of a good slogan? (repetitions, rhymes…)
  • In pairs, ask the students to come up with the best slogan to sell a simple object (something they use everyday).

ACTIVITY 2 – Discussing (French) commercials

  • Brainstorming: what aspects do publicists rely on to sell specific types of products? (eg for coffee: seduction, luxury…)
  • Show the students a French ad and ask them to guess what it is trying to sell + what aspects  are emphasized 
  • Reflection: show them an infamous car ad that was taken down and ask them what they understand + what they think about it. What is it trying to sell? Who is the target audience? Is it efficient?

ACTIVITY 3 – Create your own commercial

  • In pairs: give each group a picture of an impossible object. Ask the students to write the scenario of an ad promoting it: what is the target audience of the ad? where does it take place? Who are the characters? Is there music? What happens?
  • Present your ad to the rest of the class. 

Resources used:

Bouygues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSAuAd9mcc4

Kinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zSl7xldK8U

Powerpoint, pictures of impossible objects

ES S21 INT/ADV Abortion Laws (Marea Verde)

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez 

Class theme/topic discussed : Abortion Laws in Latin America

Goal of the class 

  • Discuss “Marea Verde”, the pro-choice movement born in Argentina

Class structure

  • Activity 1 Green/Blue Scarves: I show students pictures of people of protestors wearing green (pro-choice) and blue scarves  (pro-choice). Have you seen these pictures before? What do these people stand for?. 
  • Activity 2 Marea Verde: Students hear a short presentation to contextualise the pro-choice movement “Marea Verde”, which started in 2018 in Argentina.
  • Activity 3: What do you know about reproductive rights policies in the US?  Students discuss in pairs and then volunteers report in the main room
  • Activity 4: In small groups students choose 2 different countries (a Spanish speaking country & another one) an do a small research on reproductive rights public policy from those 2 countries. What to these countries’ policies have in common? Are there any differences? 
  • Activity 5 75 Opiniones: Students are given a list of 5 questiones used by a Peruvian Organization to gather opinions about abortion within the country. They discuss how appropriate they think these questions are to address the issue and whether they would use a different set of questions.

Resources used

https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/factsheet/fs-aww-lac-es.pdf

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

  • ADV: The class worked great! I was worried about how students would feel talking about more controversial topics, but they were very talkative and seemed to enjoy the class a lot. For activity 3 almost all groups chose different countries so it was very interesting comparing that many policies. 
  • INT: It was a good class too, we weren’t able to have the same dynamic, thought-provoking discussion as with the advanced group but students still enjoyed it.
  • ** I asked both classes in advanced if whether they were interested talking about this topic or not, and how did they feel about it.

JP SP21 INT/ADV: Hyakunin Isshu, Waka, Renga

This topic can be done in a class or two classes.

anguage Resident/Assistant Name:  

Kozue Matsumoto  

Day and Date:  

Wednesday April 14, 2021   

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  

Intermediate 

Class theme/topics discussed:  

  • Movie trailer 
  • Make Renga 

Goal of the class:  

  • Understand a movie trailer  

anguage Resident/Assistant Name:  

Kozue Matsumoto  

Day and Date:  

Wednesday April 12 – 15, 2021   

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  

Intermediate 

Class theme/topics discussed:  

  • Movie trailer 
  • Hyakunin isshu 
  • Renga 

Goal of the class:  

  • Understand a movie trailer  
  • Understand hyakunin-isshu, waka poetry, and other ideas around waka
  • Make some renga 

How did you structure the class?  

  1. Trailer #1 (20 min) 
    1. https://youtu.be/ZjNlJLjDzjk  
    2. What kind of characters? 
  2. Karuta or Hyakunin isshu (15 min) 
    1. What is this? 
    2. A collection of Waka poems 
      1. 100 poems from 100 poets throughout the history  
      2. Created in the early 13th century 
      3. Who are poets? 
        1. Emperors, aristocrats, monks 
    3. There are lots of other waka collections 
      1. Some of them include regular people’s poems and poems with writers unknown from ancient times  
    4. What Is waka? 
      1. Haiku (5.7.5) vs. Waka (5.7.5.7.7.) 
      2. 柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺 by 正岡子規 
      3. ちはやふる 神代もきかず 竜田川 からくれなゐに 水くくるとは by 在原 業平 (9th century) 
    5. As a game 
      1. How the game works 
    6. Renga 
      1. Difference between waka 
  3. Trailer #2 (15 min) 
    1. https://youtu.be/MU6FqgKawxQ   
    2. What’s new here 
    3. New Character? What’s she like?  
    4. What’s a message shown throughout the trailer? 
    5. The effect of adopting story that was originally written in a manga format. 
  4. Let’s make renga (30 min) 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)  Class agreement, breakout rooms 

Zoom, Sharescreen, Youtube, Whiteboard 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?   

Intermediate:

  • Today’s trailer was a lot easier to understand for them. They were able to guess the relationship of 3 main characters. 
  • They know some sort of card game is related, but they had little idea. One student was able to guess that it would be something with poems. That was great. 
  • Introduced this game, Hyakunin Isshu, Waka, and Renga. I talked a lot for this to explain what they are. It was like I’m doing a Japanese class in a junior high school in Japan. At least they got the new ideas and cultures around Hyakunin Isshu and Waka poems. 
  • The trailer #2 was fun. This time we guessed what’s going on and also tried to listen carefully each phrase in the trailer. From these phrases, we thought about shared value that these characters are having (team work) in contrast to the best player (individualistic). 
  • Renga was a fun activity. This is a collaborative poetry, so you have to follow 5-7-5 and 7-7 format and also develop the idea and theme that previous people present. They created funny poems collaboratively. 
  • I used whiteboard for this collaborative activity. They just type their work on to whiteboard by themselves. This worked out very well. 
  • I shared music when they were working on poems. It was a good and fun addition to the class. 

Advanced:

  • Today’s trailer was a lot easier for them to grasp the story. They were able to find more details than 11.1 students 
  • We talked a lot about Hyakunin Isshu, Waka, Haiku, and Renga. They knew Haiku but they didn’t know Waka. 
  • We discussed the difference between Karuta and Hyakunin Isshu, which also called karuta occasionally  
  • With trailer #2 we talked about certain values that Japanese society likes to hear and see in pop cultures and entertainment. Some elements, friendship, collaborative work, hard work, are so popular and they are seen a lot of pop cultures 
  • We also talked about a little strange cinematography. This might be because the film tries to adopt the styles of comic. 
  • Renga making was so fun. I used background music to play while they are thinking so there is no awkward silence. Their works are so funny. 
  • I used white board for the renga making activity, and it worked well 

How could this class be improved/ modified? 

  • Renga making was so fun. I used background music to play while they are thinking so there is no awkward silence. Their works are so funny. 
  • Renga activity can be done in breakout room instead of whiteboard. I was thinking which way to do. This time I used whiteboard. But I think breakout room works as well 

Trailers

Haiku, Waka, and Renga Whiteboard

Students’ Renga Works

DE SP21 Study Break: Easter Escape Room

Excel file used for Easter-themed virtual Escape Room:

(Each group of students playing against each other gets a separate file. We used Google Sheets so they can all work on the same sheet within their group. The Excel file can be imported into Google Sheets, if necessary).

The Key file has one tab with the solutions and one “Student” version tab that can be copied for the files to be used and filled by the students.

ES S20 INT/ADV Fake News

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez  (cred. to José Gómez & Tamara Olivos)

Class theme/topic discussed : Fake News

Goal of the class 

  • To exchange information in an argumentative way
  • To hypothesize about the veracity of different news
  • To understand, summarize and present a piece of news as a professional TV presenter

Class structure

  • Activity 1 Intro questions: : Students answer some questions about different ways of keeping up with news (TV, online newspapers, etc.), the time they dedicate to it, the importance it has, etc. 
  • Activity 2 Fake News Video: I show them one video of a piece of fake news from an online newspaper (El Mundo Today) with lots of comic fake news. They answer some questions about it and, in case students do not figure out that the piece of news is fake, I reveal it and tell them about the existence of this online newspaper. 
  • Activity 3 Pieces of News: Students receive different pieces of news. Most of them will be fake, except for one. In pairs, they have to read the piece of news, understanding it to be able to summarize the main content. 
  • Activity 4 Discussion Students present their news in a very professional way, as if all the news were true and very serious. They will have to discuss afterwards about which news are fake and which one is true. 
  • Activity 5 White Lies:  Fake news are full of lies, so students talk about white lies. Are they good or can they be good sometimes? Do they lie a lot? Are they good liars? Have you ever been caught lying?
  • Activity 6 Follow-up Excuses:  Students are given a list of hypothetical situations and have to come up with excuses to avoid getting into these situations. 

Resources used

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

  • This was a great class for both section. They talked a lot in their small breakout groups. Because using handouts on zoom is harder, having each news article on a different google doc made it easier to share with students.  
  • The intermediate class needed some extra help with the vocabulary on the articles so it is good to jump back and forth between breakout rooms for that section.

DE SP21 INT/ADV – Student Presentations

Note: This is a two-part class! I did one class brainstorming and then one to two classes presenting.
ADV: 15-20 minutes per presentation, over several classes
INT: 5-10 minutes per presentation, can be held in one class, depending on number of students.

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Eva Saunders

Day and Date: 4/15/2021, 4/20/2021, 4/22/2021,

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate/Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: Presenting

Goal of the class: Learn interactive ways to present a topic

How did you structure the class?

Class 1

A) “Word of The Day” Game: Students are given a very specific and not well known word that fits the topic of the day (For example a slang word: “Trantüte”). They write a quick description of what they think the word could be (on a card, piece of paper, or in Zoom they would privately message you). When all have submitted their description, you read all of them, including the correct one and let the students guess which one is right. I do this at the beginning of every class as an ice breaker, but it can also be done as a quick random activity.

B) Presentations Discussion: What makes a good presentation? Which ones do you remember best? Tell us about your favorite and worst presentations you have heard or seen. As the teacher, filter out bullet points of Do’s and Dont’s that the students can have access to.

C) Brainstorm: What you could do in your presentation? Each student deliberates for themselves. The questions are asked one after another, so the students have to sit with them for a bit to give them a chance to go deeper.

1) If you had to talk about a topic, what would you talk about and why? – everybody gets 5 minutes to think about a topic (or optional: topics can be assigned, but I found they enjoy picking their own more)

2) How would you put a new spin on it? – 5 minutes

3) Think of an interactive exercise to incorporate in your presentation – 5 minutes

4) Which other aspects of what we reviewed earlier (your bullet points) can you incorporate in your presentation? Brainstorm for 10 minutes (or until the end of class)

D) Optional homework: Pick a topic and prepare a 5-10 (INT)/10-20(ADV) -minute presentation. Think of an interactive exercise and a new way to present your topic.

Note: If you don’t want to do it as homework, students can work on a shorter presentation in the next class in the first half and present in the second half of the class

Class 2:

Students present their topics. Afterwards you can have a discussion about what they liked, what new things they learned, etc.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.), Props: Share Screen function in Zoom for presentations, Google Doc to write down bullet points

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

This class worked very well, the students were very engaged talking about presenting in the first half. The second half was quiet work where they could start preparing the concept of their presentation and brainstorm ideas about how to present it. Every five minutes I changed prompts to help them brainstorm.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

You could have less prompts and more talking about presenting, but with four people we had a good chunk of time at the end for prep. It reduces some of their homework time to let them start on it in class and gives them a chance to really think about it and take their time.

FR SP21 INT/ADV (Fake) News

Language Resident: Marie Segura

Class theme/topic discussed : News and fake news

Goal of the class: Discuss pieces of news, improvise

Structure of the class:

  1. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  • How do you like to stay informed? Do you use newspapers, online newspapers, social media… ?
  • What was the most memorable piece of news you ever watched?
  • If you are someone who usually follows the news, has there been a time when you decided to stop? Why and for how long?
  • Do you read newspapers in other languages?
  • If the news reported your week, what would the headline be?
  1. FIND THE TITLE
  • Each student is sent a short article, without the title, and is given a few minutes to read it. Then, they are sent in breakout rooms in pairs/groups of 3 with students who don’t have the same article.
  • Each student has to explain the content of their article (without showing the text) and together they have to find the most original title
    • For the advanced class: find a second version for the internet, like a clickbait
  1. KAHOOT: FAKE NEWS?

Students have to guess whether the piece of news is real or fake.

  1. ROLE PLAY: WHAT HAPPENED?

Each group is assigned one of the “real” titles from the previous activity. Together, they must come up with a story to go with the title. They have to prepare a presentation in a news-report format: they have to be either a journalist or the protagonist of the story. Each group then acts in front of the rest of the class.

Resources used:

Kahoot

Newspapers articles (without titles):

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

ES S21 ADV Accents and Stereotypes

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Tamara Olivos

Day and Date: February 2, 2021

Language and Level : Spanish Advanced

 Class theme/topics discussed: Accents

Goal of the class:

  • To talk about different accents in English and Spanish.
  • To talk about how accents influence our perception of people

How did you structure the class?

Ice breaker: “House Treasure Hunt”. The instructor will post items on the chat (one at a time) and students must try to find the item and bring them back as soon as possible.

  • A kitchen item that starts with a “C” (cuchara, cazuela, cubeta, copa)
  • The longest book/textbook you can find
  • Something yellow
  • Scissors
  • A small box
  • A broom

Warm up: Which accent is your favorite in Spanish and in English? Which accent is easiest/hardest to understand in Spanish? Why? Are you good at imitating accents in English?

Activity 1: We watch a video about the different accents in English. What did you think? Did she do a good job? Did you like her accent? Where is she from? Because the video is pretty long, the instructor can pause after each accent and discuss the questions above.

Alternative: Watch this video instead about Spanish accents, although it’s in English.

Activity 2:  We watch a series of videos by HBO Latino where they discuss stereotypes and their lives in the US. We discuss the videos. What is the stereotype? What is the situation in their states?  How can we change this? What’s the main reason for the rejection of people different from us? Has anyone made fun of your accent, in English or Spanish?

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Zoom, YouTube

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I skipped the accents video because my previous class didn’t enjoy it very much. I added an alternative because it may be easier for students to talk about Spanish accents. This class loved all the HBO videos though and had lots of comments. Because we skipped the first one, we had a lot of time to spend on the HBO videos.

DE SP21 INT/ADV – Environmental Protection

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Eva Saunders

Day and Date: 4/29/2021

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate/Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: Environmental pollution and protection

Goal of the class: Being able to talk about how to protect the environment

How did you structure the class?

A) “Word of The Day” Game: Students are given a very specific and not well known word that fits the topic of the day (For example a slang word: “Schmarotzer”). They write a quick description of what they think the word could be (on a card, piece of paper, or in Zoom they would privately message you). When all have submitted their description, you read all of them, including the correct one and let the students guess which one is right. I do this at the beginning of every class as an ice breaker, but it can also be done as a quick random activity.

B) Green Politics Vocabulary: Give each student or group of students a few words relating to environmental protection (see examples below) . The students shall find pictures that illustrate each word and write a description of what each word means.

C) Household items: (See examples below) Together with the students, go through pictures of machines or appliances and let them fill out the English words (or ask them and fill in for them). Pronounce each German word together.

D) Discussion:
Advanced: How can we use these household items to be more mindful of the environment?
Intermediate: How can we describe these machines? What do they do? (Good exercise to learn relative sentences).

E) Extra Activity: Pick one machine, but don’t tell the students which one. Now they have to ask questions to guess which of the machines you are thinking of, for example: is it being used outside or inside? Is the color grey? etc. Once a student guesses correctly, they will pick a word and everyone else will guess again. (Can be yes/no questions to make it more advanced, but doesn’t have to be).

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.), Props: Share Screen function in Zoom, Google Docs & Google Sheets (for exercises)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

This was inspired by two assignments from the book “Passwort Deutsch 4” in another class, so I re-used the vocabulary for this class, because protecting the environment is something I noticed the students are very interested in. They learned a lot of fairly simple vocabulary to be able to talk about this topic better. It worked out well.

Examples:

Green Politics Vocabulary List:
Die Umweltschutzbewegung, Alternative Energien, Die Umwelt verschmutzen, Abgase (Pl.), Das Gift, Umweltfeindlich, Müll & Recycling, Der Smogalarm, In einer Bürgerinitiative aktiv sein, Der Stromverbrauch, Der Lärm, Umweltschädlich, Die Katastrophe

Houshold items List (Excel)

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I wouldn’t change anything.

RUS SP21 ADV/INT: Untitled Goose Game

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

MARIA GLUKHOVA

Day and Date:

Thursday, 04/06/2021 and Thursday, 04/08/2021

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:

Untitled Goose Game

Goal of the class:

To play Untitled Goose Game together, practice imperatives, and have fun.  

Untitled Goose Game for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details

How did you structure the class?

  1. Greetings, announcements, general questions.
  2. In advance, create a vocabulary list with necessary words (especially verbs). Work on this list together with your students and ask them to make imperative forms of verbs: run! swim! etc. It’s also helpful to talk about directions: go left, jump on, etc. 
  3. Open the Untitled Goose Game on your computer and share the screen. Most likely, you can change the settings and choose your target language as the language of the game.
  4. Explain the rules. You’ll be the one playing, but your student will have to tell you what to do.
  5. Show them the “To-Do List” for the first episode. Read it together. You can also play it together for a few minutes to give students an idea of how the game works.
  6. Divide students into groups. In the break-out rooms, each group has to come up with instructions for you to complete one of the tasks from the “To-Do List.” For example, one group can think about hiding the food, while the second group has to steal the key. They can brainstorm for 5 minutes or so.  
  7. Once everyone has a strategy, open the game again. Each group has 3-4 minutes. They have to guide you and tell you what to do to complete the task: “Run up, hide in the grass, wait until the farmer can’t see you, grab the carrot,” etc. 
  8. Have fun! 🙂

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Untitled Goose Game, Zoom

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class worked out great, we had a lot of fun! I did two classes on this game because it takes time to work on vocabulary, explain the rules, etc. Also, make sure you know how to play this game first because it’s not always intuitive.  

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is.

JP SP21 INT/ADV: Asian Stereotypes

Language Resident/Assistant Name:  

Kozue Matsumoto  

Day and Date:  

Tuesday March 3 & 16, 2021   

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  

Intermediate & Advanced 

Class theme/topics discussed:  

  • Stereotypes towards Asians and Half Japanese people 

Goal of the class:  

  • Think about stereotypes  

How did you structure the class?  

  1. Language Table Reminder (5 min) 
  1. Study Break date? (1 min) 
  1. Good News? (10 min) 
  1. Asian Stereotypes (45 min) 
    1. What kind of Stereotypes exist towards Asians and Half Japanese?  ? 
    2. Have you had such experiences?  
    3. High school experiences? students hang based on race? 
    4. What is stereotype?
    5. Why does this happen? 
    6. Internalized racism in Japanese people?
    7. Why do we need to talk about?  
    8. What stereotype do we have?
    9. What can we do for that? 
  2. Asian history and now
    1. Idea of model minority  
    2. At the same time no matter how hard we work, there are hate crimes against us 
    3. Hate crime against Asians over covid 
  3. Japanese history 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)  Class agreement, breakup rooms 

Zoom 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?   

Intermediate:

  • Today’s topic was complicated and not easy to talk about. So I was wondering how long this was going to last. But students shared a lot of experiences and thoughts around the topic.  
  • We are all Asians in this class. I believe that this fact helped them to talk more honestly and share their own personal stories.  
  • I appreciate their honesty and effort to discuss the complicated and sensitive issues. And they had a lot of ideas, thoughts, and experiences related to it.  
  • They said that the more they think the more difficult and complicated the issue looks, but they said that such complexity shouldn’t discourage them to keep talking about it.  
  • There are a little more silent this time as they needed to think and find a way to say in Japanese. At the same time, things that they said were a lot longer and more complicated than other classes.  

Advanced:

  • We talked about stereotypes. This turned into a little different topic from the 11.1 class. Students in the 11.1 class are all Asian Americans who live in the USA. Students in this class are half Japanese and lived in Japan. Experiences around stereotypes created the topic around “why do Japanese people think about us that way?” 
  • They also witnessed Japanese people’s reaction to their white fathers and had some thoughts around that.  
  • They also think about their Korean friends and Japanese people, and how different their attitudes towards their own cultures. 

How could this class be improved/ modified? 

  • Depending on students’ awareness on the topic, some introductory video or a good ice breaker might be helpful. This particular group of students have some awareness already, and all are Asians. This situation might have made it easier to discuss the topic.  
  • I also shared some of my own experiences for a few times, which helped them encourage them to share their stories and related ideas.  
  • It was interesting to hear what they say about the topic. They have a lot to talk about. It is possible to spend multiple classes for this topic.
  • Also it would be interesting to spend another hour to think about Japanese culture as national culture and more regional cultures, such as Kyoto culture, Osaka culture. Some peole think that their culture is Japanese culture. Some Japanese people think their culture is their regional culture (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Tohoku, Okinawa, etc.) instead of general Japanese culture

ES S21 INT/ADV Lifestyle – Minimalism

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez 

Class theme/topic discussed : Lifestyles & Minimalism

Goal of the class 

  • To understand information different lifestyles and their relation with culture and language.
  • To reflect and contrast on the long-term effects and consequences of specific lifestyles

Class structure

  • Warm-up:  Students read the word minimalism on the slide and have a couple of minutes to think about what comes to their minds when they see the word. They look up a picture that represents their interpretation of minimalism and share it in breakout rooms. 
  • Activity 1: Students watch a couple of videos on minimalism to check if their idea of minimalism is correct 
  • Activity 2: Students see a small survey on minimalist lifestyle and as a class we choose three main questions: Are you a minimalist person? Do you know anyone who lives a minimalist life? Would you be able to live such kind of life?
  • Activity 3: Minimalist challenge. Students have 5 minutes to think about 15 items in their room/house that they could throw away within the next 5 minutes. Students also make a top 5 list of things they could never get rid of. In small breakout rooms they share their lists and compare.
  • Activity 4: Students decide to change their lifestyle. Taking into account different lifestyles, minimalist included, students discuss the benefits of some of them. They have to find a lifestyle that suits them the best and come up with a plan as to how they will implement that on their daily life from now on.
  • Extra activity: On a google slides presentation, students see pictures of 11 different households and their fridges. These people are from all over the world so students have to discuss 1) Where do they think they are from, 2) What kind of lifestyle they think they have by looking at their fridges. 

Resources used

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

  • The class worked great for both levels. For the intermediate class the first video was slightly faster but, because it was one of the first activities, it worked well anyways. We did the extra activity as well in both classes, students enjoyed working with the pictures a lot more than the discussion-based activities this time, so it would have been nicer to have spent more time on it.

DE SP21 ADV – German politicians & Social Media

Day and Date: 3/23/2021

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: Current German politics, Social Media

Goal of the class: Get to know party leaders (= candidates for chancellor)

How did you structure the class?

A) “Word of The Day” Game: Students are given a very specific and not well known word that fits the topic of the day (For example a slang word: “lindnern” or “verschlimmbessern”). They write a quick description of what they think the word could be (on a card, piece of paper, or in Zoom they would privately message you). When all have submitted their description, you read all of them, including the correct one and let the students guess which one is right. I do this at the beginning of every class as an ice breaker, but it can also be done as a quick random activity.

B) Instagram Profile Revamp: Each student is assigned an important politician (leader of a party or chancellor candidate). They look up one of their Social Media profiles (for example, Instagram or Facebook) and think about how their page could be re-done in order to speak to them as an audience. Alone or in groups, they work on a new Profile Image, Instagram handle (Name), a concise logline, three lines of bio description and three posts consisting of a picture of the politician with a post text. Use of emojis is strongly welcomed. This activity can take about 25 minutes. (Note: they do not create an actual Instagram account, that should be made clear. They can do the task in a Word or Google Doc.)

C) Presenting their work/politician: Students present their revamped Instagram pages to each other, so that the students get to know each politician in a fun and engaging way.

D) Discussion: Compare to existing social media accounts and talk about the differences.

E) Optional extra activity: The students record a selfie video telling their friends why they should vote for this politician’s party.

Example: One student went above and beyond (which was not expected) and photoshopped his answers so it looks real. Can be part of the exercise as well.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.), Props: Share Screen function in Zoom, Google Docs or Word Doc for students to write down their Instagram material

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class worked well. The students seem to enjoy the creative exercises.

How could this class be improved/ modified?
The Instagram task could also be done as homework, if applicable, and the class can be used to talk more in-depth about the parties. If the Instagram task is done in class, the selfie-video exercise can also be done as homework or done in a previous class about politics and watched before the exercise.

JP SP21 INT/ADV: Yokai

Language Resident/Assistant Name:  

Kozue Matsumoto  

Day and Date:  

Monday February 15 & 18, 2021   

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  

Intermediate  & Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:  

  • Yokai  

Goal of the class:  

  • Understand Yokai 
  • Introduce a yokai 
  • Think about yokai of our time

How did you structure the class?  

  1. Study Break Announcement (10 min) 
    1. Have you done origami before? What did you make? What occasion? 
  1. Good news?  (10 min) 
    1. Snow in Houston 
    2. Lunar New Year 
    3. Success (extra stuff) in Chinese  
  1. What is yokai? (5 min) 
  1. What kind of Yokai have you found? (15 min) 
  1. アマビエ Amabie (https://youtu.be/seDUC9Dqep8 or https://youtu.be/WC6vZrg2yZo) (15 min) 
    1. Watch and understand followings  
      1. What Amabie looks like 
      2. What Amabie said to people 
    2. How this is popular in Japan now
    3. Draw Amabie 
  1. (Intermidiate) Let’s think about today’s Yokai
  2. (Advanced) Japanese people/society’s attitude towards yokai, other spiritual existence, and not-so-scientific things (5 min) 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.) 

Class agreement, breakup rooms 

Zoom, share screen, youtube, google images, pen and paper 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?   

Intermidiate:

  • Students researched some ideas of what Yokai is. We also introduced some yokai that they found. They also shared some stories around the yokai.  
  • We watched the video of Amabie story. Amabie is a yokai that became super popular in Japan last year. Amabie is a yokai who lives in the ocean. It is said that if you draw Amabie and show it to a sick person, they will get well. So the coronavirus reminded people of Amabie, and it became a huge cultural trend in japan, like a collective wish towards the people suffering from COVID. 
  • Since we watched the story and know that Amabie looks like (have a bird-like beak, rhombus shaped eyes, long red hear, rainbow color scales, and 3 fish tales on which they can stand), we draw Amabie. That was fun. 
  • We also looked at original amabie. A student found a page that shows various amabie interpretations by comtemporary artists in the world (https://www.ideo.com/blog/16-artist-interpretations-of-amabie-a-mythical-japanese-creature-said-to-ward-off-disease ). 
  • We thought about what the yokai could be in today’s contemporary world. It was fun, but we only had a few minutes to think about.  

Advanced:

  • We discussed what yokai is. We were able to discuss more conceptual ideas than 11.1 class. They told me that they didn’t have a concept of yokai until I said it in the previous class, but after some research, they realized they have seen yokai here and there in their lives. They didn’t recognize them as yokai at that time.  
  • We also talked about yokai as not mosters, not spirits, but some other category. Probably based on Japanese people’s imagination towards little things in their lives.  
  • Watching Amabie story and drawing it was fun. We saw other amabie drawings by artists in the world. We also discussed how Amabie became a trend in Japan last year under COVID, and how these non-scientific things are still around people’s life 
  • We talked about other non-scientific things around our Japanese life. Could these things be just stupid ideas or do they help people’s mind/psychology in a certain way? How and Why? 

How could this class be improved/ modified? 

  • Yokai is such a unique concept, and one hour might not be enough to fully understand what they are, but I hope they got a bit of sense about it.  
  • Amabie was a good example of relationship between human and yokai.  
  • While they were drawing (5 min or so). There was a silent, but I thought it’s good to have some activities like drawing once in a while, especially when it’s related to the topic.  

Amabie Videos

Amabie Drawings by Students

FR SP21 INT/ADV Tinder

Language Resident: Marie Segura

Class theme/topic discussed : Personality & speed Dating

Class structure:

WARM UP

Create a word cloud and ask students to enter as many adjectives as possible

ACTIVITY – SPEED DATING

  • Give students 10mn to fill in a Tinder profile: they have to imagine a character, to choose their name, where they live, what they like doing etc, using adjectives seen before.
  • Organize a speed-dating: each student will be given 5mn in a breakout room to get to know each of the other students’ fictive character to find their perfect match.

FOLLOW UP

  • Ask students if they found their perfect match and to explain what they have in common.
  • What would their first date be? Where would they go? If there’s still time, students can look for a restaurant online.

> If there is an odd number of students, one stays in the main room with you and you can ask them to introduce their character, and if they invented them, or were inspired by someone etc.

Resources used:

Google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OS0E68vWAwjAdsT63rn_V_ESCR9adZX55qbOtfln6Jo/edit

Wordcloud on Menti

Reflection:

Sending students into breakout rooms takes time, make sure to start early enough so that you can give them at least (!) 5mn to talk with the other person in the breakout room (especially for intermediate students, they probably need more).

ES S21 INT Change.org Petitions

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Tamara Olivos

Day and Date: February 10, 2021

Language and Level : Spanish Intermediate

Class theme/topics discussed: Change.org petitions

Goal of the class: To write a change.org petition

How did you structure the class?

Ice-breaker: Taboo. The class is divided in groups. The instructor gives one person a word in a private chat (the word includes taboo words). Students must describe the word without mentioning the taboo words.

Activity 1: Students read a headline about funding being pulled from Erasmus students. As a class we discuss what is Erasmus and if there is something similar in the US (Fulbright pulled funding during the pandemic, for example)

Activity 2: Instructor asks students to define change.org. What is it? What is it for? Is it effective? Have you signed or created a petition? Encourage sharing as much as possible.

Activity 2: We read a short letter that a student sent to the Department of Education in Spain. Some verbs are in bold to call attention to the verb tense (presente del subjuntivo)

Activity 3: In a google Doc, students read some Facebook comments regarding the headline from activity 1. In groups, students must add a comment stating their opinion.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jp-0RkaEi2Lvjozr8qj1So9zyR65xSFePUAzZsb9Wq8/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 4: Students write their own petition. In groups of 2, students think about a topic that is relevant to them. Who is it addressed to? Some verb suggestions are given, and model structures. This could be a silly activity or a serious one. It will depend on your students.

This activity was taken from:

http://www.rutaele.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/R2_COMECOCOS_Subjuntivo_Changeorg_MMAP_B1B2.pdf

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Zoom, google docs, PPT

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Puente: NO PUEDES DECIR río atravesar colgante unir

Batería: NO PUEDES DECIR instrumento banda música tambor

Ayer: NO PUEDES DECIR mañana tiempo antes día

Noche: NO PUEDES DECIR luna estrellas oscuro día

Película: NO PUEDES DECIR cine actor director rodar

Cangrejo: NO PUEDES DECIR pinzas crustáceo caparazón caminar

Museo: NO PUEDES DECIR arte edificio pinturas cuadros

Sandia: NO PUEDES DECIR jugosa verano fruta semilla

Pijama: NO PUEDES DECIR ropa noche cama dormir

Pintar: NO PUEDES DECIR artista cuadro colores pincel

Doctor: NO PUEDES DECIR hospital anestesia operación enfermo

Flan: NO PUEDES DECIR leche molde postre huevos

Disfraz: NO PUEDES DECIR traje mascara fiesta carnaval

Vaso: NO PUEDES DECIR beber agua cristal vidrio

Aceituna: NO PUEDES DECIR negra olivo aceite verde

Hoja: NO PUEDES DECIR árbol papel cuaderno escribir

ES S21 INT/ADV Slogans

Language Resident Name: Tamara Olivos

Day and Date: April 28, 2021

Language and Level : Intermediate/Advanced Spanish

Class theme/topics discussed: Advertising

Goal of the class: to create a slogan for a product

How did you structure the class?

Warm up: Introduce the topic by asking the students which is their favorite TV commercial. Do you remember a specific commercial from your childhood? What is the goal of advertising a product? What makes a good ad?

Video 1: Introduce some vocabulary necessary for the video (trenzas). Talk about meeting the parents of the person you are dating. Then watch this Argentine ad “a todos nos puede gustar lo mismo”.

Alternative: ask students what they would want to ask the boyfriend/girlfriend of their kid. Write down the questions in the chat.

Mention the differences between Spanish from Argentina with other accents.

Activity for video 1: In pairs, students will have to create and ad for a beverage, creating a new slogan and drawing the TV commercial as a comic. Students will draw using Zoom whiteboard or paint.

Each group will share their work with the rest of the class. We vote on the best product and slogan. Would you buy this?

Video 2: The teacher will give the students a handout with the written ad with some missing words. They must fill in the blanks with the video. Play video twice.

Review their answers by asking each student to read one sentence. Explain the words they do not know.

Alternative: Assign a part of the video to small groups or have small groups fill out the whole handout. They can help each other fill out the handout because the video is pretty fast.

Alternative: compare to the 2020 version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcO7xfik1Xw&ab_channel=MarketingDirecto

Activity for video 2: We will watch the video a third time so the students can focus on watching the video only. After this they will answer some questions about the ad in groups of 2. They will share the answers to the class.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Handouts, Zoom and YouTube

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Para los gordos, para los …….…….., para los altos, para los bajos, para los que ríen, para los ………………..….., para los que lloran, para los optimistas, para los …………………, para los que lo tienen todo, para los que no tienen nada, para los …………..…., para los que juegan, para los cerrados, para las familias, para los …………….…, para los reyes, para los …………….., para los ……………, para los náufragos, para los rockeros, para los que van, para los que van en tren, para los ………………, para los que sufren, para los motociclistas, para los de allá, para los que trabajan, para los de acá, para los ……….…….., para los que te quieren, para los que no te quieren, para los que te quieren mucho, para los que te quieren poco, para los ……………..……, para los nudistas, para los supersticiosos, para los originales, para los …………….………, para los calculadores, para los pelados, para los ………., para los que leen, para los que escriben, para los ……………….………, para los gemelos, para los distintos, para los …………………., para los que viven solos, para los que viven …………………, para los guiteros, para los que …………………, para los primeros, para los últimos, para los hombres, para los……………………, para ella, para los músicos, para los transparentes, para los fuertes, para los que…………..………, para los que participan, para los que suman, para los que no se callan, para nosotros.

  1.  Explica el eslogan del anuncio
  2.  Público al que se dirige
  3.  Características del producto
  4.  La voz en “off”: ¿tiene siempre el mismo tono? ¿Por qué?
  5.  Cuál es la imagen principal. Señala ejemplos en los que aparece fija la imagen, otros en que el plano se mueve y otros en que la imagen aparece y desaparece.
  6.  ¿Por qué al final al decir PARA TODOS sólo aparece una botella?
  7.  ¿Cómo es el ritmo del anuncio?

DE F20 ADV – German politics

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Eva Saunders

Credit to: INES FISTER, DE F17 INT German Parliament – Bundestag
(I modified her class for online. Had the group research be homework so we had more time to discuss current politics and added some explainity videos.)

Day and Date: 11/10/2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: German government and current politics

Goal of the class: Discuss current politics and trends in Germany

How did you structure the class?

A) Warm-Up: How do you feel right now that the US election is over? Did you celebrate?

B) Discussion: Did you know yesterday was the first anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Berlin? How much do you know about that? Fill in knowledge gaps, if needed with a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWn75LSO48

C) Homework Recap: Students present their research about a German political party each. Then talk about 6 major parties in Germany and where they are on the spectrum. Look at how large each party is in the Parliament. Discuss some topics the parties have discussed recently or topics the students are especially interested in.

D) Extra Activity (if not talking about the fall of the wall or if students want to go deeper):
a) Video about how parliament is elected: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAkG_D8nKTc&list=PLfRDp3S7rLds47DhlHPlRwTSK4DP5fmuo&index=55

b) Video about how chancellor is elected:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLHEBeSKfPI

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.) Prop: Share Screen function in Zoom, Chat, Youtube, Google Sheets, Course Website as a resource for homework and reference

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I modified the previous lesson plan to having the students each present a party that was prepared as homework, because they seemed to be interested in the current policies and we had more time to talk about that this way. But the research could also be done during the class. I assigned each a party, so we didn’t hear about the same party several times.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave as is. I asked the students which direction they wanted to go deeper in and they wanted to know more about parliament elections. They were very interested and engaged this way.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Virtual Handout in target language: https://courses.pomona.edu/la-german-2020/blog/2020/11/10/13-1-class-22-11-10-2020/  (Password: GERMAN)

ES F20 ADV Jobs & School dropouts

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Class theme/topic discussed : Jobs & School dropouts

Goal of the class 

  • To exchange information about job experience
  • To discuss the current job & student dropout rates situation in Spanish speaking countries

Class structure

  • Warm-up:  In one minute and in pairs, the students had to think of as many professions they could think of.
  • Activity 1(cred. Blanca Barranco): In pairs or small groups students answer some questions about their own job experiences: type of job, working conditions, best and worst things about the job, etc. They will have some extra vocabulary hints on the screen about payments, contract and job terms, which will also help with the comprehension of the following activity. 
  • Activity 2: Student watch a video on school dropouts and why some students in Latin America and the Caribean have to choose between going to college or working. They comment on it
  • Activity 3: Each student choose Spanish speaking country (the US included so we can compare). They have to search info about that country’s dropout rate, unemployment rate, and labor laws (working hours). After commenting on their findings, students discuss the following questions: What country’s situation surprised you the most? What do you think is the cause for these rates/laws? What could be done to have a better situation?
  • Activity 4: Students do a role-play simulating a job interview. They will receive a handout with possible questions, but they will also be encouraged to use their own questions.
  • Activity 6 (extra): Having discussed younger people’s situation, we watch a short movie that talks about how hard it is for people over 35-40 to find jobs. Have this happened to anyone around you? Do you think it is a good strategy for hiring people? If you were in a hiring committee, what would you take into account to hire a candidate?
  • Activity (extra2): The teacher shares some personal experiences regarding job interviews. For example, questions of the current position interview for Pomona: Would it be a problem for you to live in a small place such as Claremont?
  •  

Resources used

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

  • I had issues logging into zoom again, so we started the class at about 4:20 pm instead, on google meet.  Other than that, the class worked really well, students liked the topic. I have noticed that this group enjoys doing “research” activities (like act. 3) a lot more than previous groups, so I will keep using that method .
  • Ended up just doing the first 3 activities

Annex

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