Language Residents

an archive of lesson plans

F20 Online: Social Media

August 14, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Maria Segura

Maria Glukhova

Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Day and Date:

Week 3-4, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Social Media

How did you structure the class?

Warm up questions

  • Would you rather have everything on your phone right now (browsing history, photos, etc.) made public to anyone who searches your name or never use a cell phone again?
  • Would you rather never run out of battery power for whatever phone and tablet you own or always have free Wi-Fi wherever you go?
  • Short poll: Do you…
  • Check your phone as soon as you wake up (Consulter son smartphone dès son réveil)
  • Use different devices to watch/read stuff at the same time (Lire des informations ou regarder du contenu (photos ou vidéos) sur plusieurs écrans simultanément.)
  • Check your phone every 10mn just in case (Consulter son smartphone toutes les 10 minutes au cas où.)
  • Reply to every text in less than 10mn (Répondre à chaque message en moins de 10 minutes)
  • Texting and driving at the same time (Utiliser son smartphone au volant)

> Do a quick graph with the answers to show how students use their phones/social media/technology.

General discussion questions

  • Some people “collect” friends in social networks. Is it possible to have 500 friends in real life?
  • What do you think about social media? 
  • How would you define them? 
  • What types of social media do you know/use? 
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of social media?

Activity 1 – Carmen & Twitter

  • Carmen: show the video. Ask students, in pairs, to focus on one of the characters: either Stromae or the bird. How do they change throughout the song?
  • Compare with the original opera Carmen. Quels éléments linguistiques, musicaux, etc. Stromae emprunte-t-il à « Carmen » ? À votre avis, pourquoi Stromae a-t-il fait ce choix ? Que pensez-vous de ce clip ? Atteint-il les objectifs supposés ?

Activity 2 – Create your own social media (cf Katty SP LR 2019)

  • Made-up social media platform: After giving an example of  a social media platform a friend and I created, in groups of three, students have to create new social platforms using either of the criteria provided in the table (they can also add new ones). They have to consider three different categories: Topic, target audience and functions. Also, they have to create a name and a logo for their platforms

Activity 3 – Social media and social movements

Article on how social media affected the “Printemps Arabe” back in 2011. Could be the starting point of a discussion on the impact of social media on social movements: 

  • Do they think social media can be used for more than fun?
  • How different are they from more traditional ways of communicating information? What are their specific characteristics? (direct access/easy to share with a lot of people/younger target audience)
  • What are the risks?

Activity 4 [For Rus] – VKontakte

Go to vk.com and create your own VK account! (you can talk about the structure, differences with FB, copyright..)

F20 Online: Hobbies

August 11, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Maria Segura

Maria Glukhova

Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Day and Date:

Week 3-4, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Hobbies

How did you structure the class?

Warm up – what can you do with this object? (//Rosina SP LR 2015)

The LR writes a word on the board (eg: lamp). Then, they divide the group into two teams. Each team has to come up with the greatest amount of “crazy” ways in which a certain object may be used. Online, the chat could be used, or a padlet where each student/team would write down their words as they come up with them.

General discussion questions

  • What is a hobby?
  • What is your hobby?
  • Why do people have hobbies?
  • Why did you start your hobby?
  • Does your hobby influence your choice of friends?
  • Which hobbies are the most popular in your country?
  • Did you have any hobbies when you were a child?
  • Can you think of any hobbies which are popular with children and adults?
  • Do you think a hobby is different from a sport?

Activity 1 – Lost on a deserted island

  • Each student is asked to write down two/three objects that represent something they enjoy doing (it doesn’t have to be realistic handy objects eg could be a swimming pool, the ocean, a horse) —> hobbies. The class is divided in two/three groups. Each student presents to the rest of their group the object and explains why it represents them. 

— Variant 1.

  • Once every student has described and explained their item, the class is divided in smaller groups. They are now on a deserted island and only have the objects they had chosen with them. They must work together to improve their chance of survival by combining all the objects of the group in fun and innovative ways. 
  • To wrap-up the activity, ask the students to discuss in their small groups or in pairs one of their hobbies. 

— Variant 2.

  • Students draw 2 objects instead of just one, and then they exchange pictures without seeing them *online, we could probably use a folder?*. 
  • Students pick 2 pictures that someone else drew. Their task is to come up with ideas of how these two objects would help them to survive on a deserted island. 

Activity 2 – Creating a club, American campus style

  • Students who have very different kinds of hobbies are paired up/put in groups of 3. Together, they must create a club that they would present to the next Turf dinner. The club must be a mix of their  two hobbies plus another element that I randomly gave them (tea, pets, knitting…). They need to fill in a chart with information about the club and prepare a presentation for the Turf dinner. 
  • Fake Turf dinner: in turn, each group presents their club to the rest of the class. The other students must find, with their partner(s), at least one question to ask to each group.

Activity 3 – Jeopardy

  • In small groups, students have to make small presentations on a hobby’s’ categorie, such as, sports, music, audiovisual, cooking. They should include fun & interesting facts about these categories in relation to the countries where and people who speak the target language. For example: Soccer is the most popular sport in Latin America; Guillermo del Toro has won over 10 awards. 
  • The instructor creates a game on https://jeopardylabs.com/ using info students had mentioned during the class, diving the game into the same categories. 
  • This activity would work better if the presentations and the game are done on 2 separate classes. If you have the presentations on a Tuesday and you play the game on a Thursday to make sure all the questions you include in the game are going to be based on information your students already know from the previous class.

Activity 4 – Hobbies charades

  • Using vocabulary reviewed during the class, on zoom, the instructor sends a private message with a hobbie they had mentioned in class (ex: wine tasting) to a student. The student pantomimes the activity mentioned and the class guesses. The student who guesses gets to pantomime next and so on.

Extra activity  – Guess who

  • Part 1: At the beginning of the class ask students 10 questions about hobbies ( Who likes cooking/baking? What do you like to cook/bake?). The instructor asks students to reply the yes/no question using the “thumbs up” icon on zoom. Whoever has clicked the icon has to write down on the chat what it is that they like to do (Baking cakes).  *Check if it’s possible to clear the chat on zoom”
    • Do you like playing sports? Which one?
    • Do you like cooking? What do you  like to cook?
    • Do you like baking? What do you like to bake?
    • Do you like arts and crafts? What do you like to do?
    • Do you like watching films? What genre?
    • Do you play any instrument? Which one?
    • Do you like reading? Which one is your favorite book?
    • Do you like listening to music? What genre?
    • What’s your favorite thing to do? (If previous questions don’t provide enough info)
  • Part 2: At the end of the class, the whole class plays guess who. The instructor randomly chooses one student and the rest of the class starts asking questions to guess who is the chosen student. Repeat a few different times
    • Do you like ball sports/extreme sports/water sports/ outdoor sports?
    • Do you like savory/sweet/hot/cold/spicy/ food?
    • Do you use thread/paint/pencil/paper/etc?
    • Do you like action/comedy/crime/drama/fantasy/historical/horror/thriller/romance/etc.?
    • Is the instrument you play a woodwind/percussion/string/brass/keyboard?

Extra activity version 2 – Guess the sport

  • Display on your screen/Send to your students a picture with about 20 sports. Either the instructor or one student chooses a sport from the display. The rest of the class has to guess which sport was chosen by asking questions to gradually get rid of the different sports. Specify that they have to ask broad questions like: 
    • Do you like ball sports/extreme sports/water sports/ outdoor sports?
    • Do you like savory/sweet/hot/cold/spicy/ food?
    • Do you use thread/paint/pencil/paper/etc?
    • Do you like action/comedy/crime/drama/fantasy/historical/horror/thriller/romance/etc.?
    • Is the instrument you play a woodwind/percussion/string/brass/keyboard?

F20 Online: Case Study

August 10, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Maria Glukhova

Day and Date:

Week 5+, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

  • All languages
  • Originally, it was for very advanced students, but the scenarios + tasks can be adapted for different levels

Class theme/topics discussed:

Case Study (https://writingcenter.ashford.edu/writing-case-study-analysis)

Goal of the class:

To talk about global issues such as Women’s Rights and Education and to work on problem-solving.

How did you structure the class?

Activity 1 – Brainstorm. What is a case study and why/how can we use it in Humanities?

Activity 2 – Students are divided into two groups. They receive two different cases with all the information about organizations they work for, the problem they try to solve, statistics, etc. Their task is to find an optimal solution, create a project, think of the recruitment, write down their goals and perspectives, etc. Then they have to present everything they have come up with to another group.  

Organization 1:

You are a non-governmental organization (NGO), and your focus is Women’s Rights. Your headquarters is located in country X. According to statistics, the majority of women (65%) in country X doesn’t work because they are not allowed to participate in activities other than taking care of their families and households. Additionally, in this country, girls are often forced to get married when they are 12-14 years old because this is a tradition. Moreover, many girls in this country don’t have access to education and often cannot read or write.

What steps can be taken to improve the situation of women in country X?

Organization 2:

You are an educational non-governmental organization. Your headquarters is located in country Y, where you work with children and teenagers (4-16 years old). According to statistics, most children (65%) from small villages and underprivileged areas of country Y have no access to education because their parents can’t afford to pay for school. Additionally, most of the schools are very small, and professional teachers are not motivated to work there. Moreover, children work hard on farms to help their parents, and they don’t have time to study. Often children cannot read or write, especially girls, because most of the schools are for boys.

What steps can be taken to improve the situation with education in country Y?

Tasks for each organization:

1. What is the name of your organization?

2. Describe the situation and the problem. Why is it important to solve them?

3. The goals and objectives of your organization.

4. Your strategy (what will be your focus? how will you act?)

5. Who will you work with? (your audience)

6. You need employees, – people who will work in your organization and help with the project. Write down what personal and professional qualities you would like them to have.

7. Your Manifesto – at least 5 points (Education comes first, etc. )

8. Come up with a project that your organization will be working on to help solve these problems. Describe the plan and program (at least 10 points, for example: building a school for girls, etc.)

9. You also need volunteers. What are their responsibilities? What kind of help do you expect from them?

The budget of your organization that you can invest in the project is $400,000

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

Zoom

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

How could this class be improved/ modified?

F20 Online: Music

August 10, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Marie Segura

Maria Glukhova

Day and Date:

Week 3-4, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Music

How did you structure the class?/Ideas:

Activity 1 – Gathering vocabulary

Create a wordcloud for students to quickly brainstorm on music instruments/genres/etc..

Activity 2 – General questions for discussion

  1. When do you listen to music? Is it always the same? Does it depend on the day? (Quand écoutez vous de la musique + toujours la même? Ou dépend du moment?)
  2. Do you listen to music when you work? (Musique quand travaillent?)
  3. Do you play any instrument/make music? (Faites vous de la musique)
  4. If you could play any instruments, which one would you pick? What style of music would you like to play if you had a band? (Si vous pouviez jouer de n’importe quel instrument, de quoi voudriez-vous jouer? Quel type de musique si vous aviez un groupe?)
  5. Do you agree that “music soothes the heart” (La musique adoucit les moeurs)
  6. What was the last festival/concert you attended? (Dernier concert/festival)
  7. What’s your go-to song when doing a karaoke? (Quelle est votre chanson préférée pour un karaoké)
  8. Do you know any francophone artist? What’s your favorite song? (Une chanson ou un artiste français qu’ils connaissent + leur chanson préférée)

Activity 3 – Presenting francophone/X nationality artists

  • Pair students up. Ask them to look up an artist and fill in a table on a shared google doc. (nationality, music style, favorite song…)
  • Students present their artist to the other groups.

Activity 4 – The Voice

  • Brainstorming: what does a judge base their criticism on? What adjectives can they use? (maybe show an extract from the show). How do they convince people to join their team?
  • Students are the new judges for the Voice France. Students are asked to turn away from the camera. The LR plays some songs, and students have to decide whether they want to turn around or not. Then, they have to explain their choices: why did they choose this song? What do they like? What could be better (potential)? Or why didn’t they turn around? What was missing? 

Activity 5 – “Close-listening” [I usually do one class on it (Rus)]

  • Choose a song that has as much ‘material’ in it as possible: a lot of cultural references, good lyrics with maybe some philosophical aspects in it, an inspiring/controversial/simply interesting music video, etc. 
  • Give students a “free-writing” task/a discussion question that would help students to get into the topic that a song is about
  • If the lyrics are too difficult, give students a vocab list and go through it together (or they can work on it in pairs)
  • Give students the lyrics but with some blanks. Students have to fill them in while listening to a song. (There are different ways of choosing which words: the most difficult ones; related to one theme; adjectives, etc.)
  • Depending on a song, you might want to read and discuss the lyrics together after listening to the song for the first time + check if the students got the missing words right. 
  • I usually play a very philosophical contemporary song that has become extremely popular in Russia (Basta – Sansara: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiCL0-U9WxI). The main idea of it that “our children will be better than we are” and that “when we are gone, we will not disappear because we will still be singing through our children’s voices: we are the same people being replaced in an endless circle of Sansara”. After we listen to the song and go through the lyrics, I ask a lot of questions about what they think, and the conversation usually goes on until the end of the class because it is a very deep topic. It might also be a good way of starting to talk about different generations, parents-children relationships, etc. 
  • Another way of working with just one song would be to play it without a video, and then ask students to describe what they imagine would fit as a music video (they can, for example, come up with a ‘script’ in pairs). After everyone is done, students share their results. 
  • Then everyone is watching the actual music video and students discuss whether it is similar to what they expected or not.  

Activity 6 – Making a group Playlist [credits to Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez]

  • Students should do some research on different music genres. Each group randomly (or not) gets a genre of music (hip-hop, rap, indie, etc.) and looks it up in a target language.
  • After everyone is done, students and an LR create a Spotify/(Rus)VKontakte playlist with all the good songs they found.

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

Zoom, Youtube, Spotify  

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

How could this class be improved/ modified?

F2020 Online: Ice-breakers #2

August 7, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Marie Segura

Day and Date:

Week 1, second class, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Getting to know each other #2

How did you structure the class?

Warm-up

Use a very short poll to start your class, eg:

  • What’s the strangest thing you did while attending an online meeting? (Multiple choice)
    1. Ate breakfast
    2. Wore pajamas
    3. Brushed my teeth
    4. Cooked lunch/dinner
    5. Watched Netflix
    6. Other but my lips are sealed
  • What’s your best personal remote work hack? (Open text)
  • In one word, how are you feeling right now?

Activity 1 – Interviewing each other

  • Pair up participants in twos.
  • Give them a list of questions to ask each other.
  • Ask each pair to interview each other, either via email or in breakout rooms.
  • When all the participants convene together in the same virtual room, each participant will introduce the participant they interviewed.

Activity 2 – Thumbs-Up or Thumbs-Down?

  • Students should choose a view that allows the entire class to be seen at once. They can also use a voting function if one is available in the virtual tool. Students take turns stating something they like/dislike or something they’ve done. For example, “I like shrimp.” or “I’ve visited Washington, DC.” Classmates indicate their similarity or difference with the person by showing a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down (or by using the voting function).
  • To personalize the activity even more, challenge students to offer an activity or accomplishment that they think is rare or unique about themselves, and see if anyone shares it. For example, “I cleaned out my refrigerator last night.” or “I was born on February 29.”

Activity 3 – ‘One Random Object’ Virtual Training Activity

  • Ask a student to pick one random object that is in their room and not tell anyone what it is.
  • Explain that the other participants will have to guess what it is, by asking questions that require a yes or no answer.

Online tools you can use:

You could use a chat board for this, but it is not necessary. You could just run the activity by speaking and maybe use a virtual board to record the scores.

Activity 4 – ‘Take a Picture of Something’ Class Activity

  • Ask participants to take a picture of something.
  • Typically, you choose a specific theme. For example, ask participants to take a picture of their shoes, or a picture of something that is on their workstation or the view outside their window.
  • Remember to ask participants to take the picture and upload it before the training session starts, as otherwise it might take too much time out of the training session if they were to do it in real time.
  • Ask participants to share the picture on a virtual board.
  • Start a discussion. For example, you could ask why they chose that particular item on their desk, or what they like the most about the view they can see from the window etc.

Online tools you can use

Online whiteboard, chat board, or a shared google doc.

Activity 5 – Find someone who

  • To run the activity online, create a 5 by 5 table with interesting facts, one for each box of the table. For example, you could write things such as: speaks more than two languages, has been to Argentina etc. Or, it would be a good idea to tie the facts with the topic of the class.
  • Share the file with the table with your participants, either in advance or during the session. You can share by email, through the file-sharing feature of the web conferencing system or with an online sharing tool such as a Google doc. Alternatively, you could do the activity in real-time using a tool such as Padlet.
  • Depending on the size of your class, send students into breakout rooms or do it as a whole class. Ask participants to write their name under each of the statements that apply to them.
  • Ask them to share the answers and discuss.

Activity 6 – Would you rather

  • Send students into breakout rooms in groups of 3/4.
  • Send to every room a series of “would you rather question” and ask students to discuss and defend their opinion.

Resources used:

  • Shared google doc
  • Zoom chat
  • Breakout rooms

Some comments:

There are too many activities in the class, but depending on the group, some may work better than others, I think it’s always better to have a variety of activities at hand, and some can also be used to start any other class.

Potential technical difficulties: students may not be able to take a picture, so activity 4 may have to be skipped. Having too many breakout room changes can take a lot of your class time, maximum twice in one lesson should work.

F2020 Online: Ice-breakers #1

August 7, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Marie Segura

Day and Date:

Week 1, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Getting to know each other

Goal of the class:

  • Dealing with the administrative aspects of the class
  • Assessing the students’ technical capacities
  • Introducing myself
  • Getting to know the students and their needs/interests/feelings about the class

How did you structure the class?

Setting up Zoom

  • Ask students to make sure they put the name they want to use as their username or to change it accordingly (maybe add their pronouns)
  • Brief explanation that the videos should be turned on as often as possible (except if discussed before or if impossible) because it makes conversations more natural. The mic will be off to start with/during instructions but students should feel free to interact before the class starts/after instructions/in breakout rooms. If a you have a big group, maybe ask them to raise hand or signal themselves before speaking (but it truly depends on the size of the group, it may be easier to just jump in).

Activity 1 – Where are you joining us from?

  • Depending on the size of the group, it may be useful to use a word cloud
  • Ask students where they are (city, country…)
  • Start introducing yourself by explaining where you are + where you are from, then ask students to introduce themselves: name, where they join from, where they are exactly, what their workspace looks like (if they have the video on) or what their virtual background represents for them, why they chose it etc.

Activity 2 – Introducing myself, Jeopardy Style

  • In pairs, students are asked to think of two questions they would like to ask to get to know me. Pair them up orally and ask them to come up with two questions in a private chat or use the breakout rooms.
  • Then, they are shown information about the LR on a powerpoint presentation (for instance dates, colors… that are answers to questions you may ask to get to know someone). To be allowed to ask the questions they have just prepared, students must, in pairs, try to find the question that might match the answer. 
  • Eg: on the screen, write you birth date. Students should ask you “When were you born? “, “When is your birthday?” etc. If they find the right question, they can ask you an extra one that they had prepared.

Activity 3 – Speed dating

  • Split your students into groups of 3 or more and allocate them to breakout rooms.
  • Ask each group to write down as a list on an online whiteboard or virtual sticky note all the interesting things that they all have in common (ask them to avoid obvious things, such as all being students or taking a conversation class) and something unique to each participant. They will have 5-10 minutes for this task. (online tip: set a timer for your breakout rooms + send a message 2mn before the end to warn the students that their time is almost over).
  • At the end of the 5-10 minutes, ask each group to share their list to the rest of the class via an online whiteboard.

Extra-activity 1 – New Academic Year’s Resolutions

  • Share with your students a google doc with a table showing different resolutions. 
  • (If the class is big) Students are separated into groups of 3/4 and sent in breakout rooms. In turn, they randomly pick a number (can use an online tool/Siri for that or just choose randomly) and discover their new year’s resolution. Then, they have to convince their skeptical friends that they are actually going to keep their resolution this year and to explain why it is so important to them.

Advanced: Besides explaining why it’s an important resolution, students have to explained how they plan on doing it. The others, the skeptical friends or relatives, can ask questions about the resolution.

Extra-activity 2 – 2 truths 1 lie

  • Ask one participant to write three statements about themselves: 2 true and 1 false.
  • Ask the other participants to vote on which statement is true and which is false.
  • After the first person has shared their statement and the group has decided which statement is false, the first person will reveal the truth.
  • Move on until each person in the group has shared their statements.
  • The participant with the most incorrect votes wins.

Online tools you can use:

Resources used:

  • Breakout rooms
  • Online whiteboard, chat board, other collaboration tools such as Padlet or Lino.
  • Google doc to share with the class in the chat
  • Ppt presentation

F20 Online: Movies

August 2, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Maria Segura

Maria Glukhova

Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Day and Date:

Week 3-4, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Movies

How did you structure the class?

Activity 1 – Talking about a specific movie (that you’ve asked your students to watch for the class)

  • While watching a movie, students should write down (in a shared Google Document) 10 words/phrases that they did not know, and that they want to use. Students should also write down an English translation for these words.
  • Each student needs to give 3 words that come to their mind when they think about the movie
  • They then need to explain their choices
  • Give 4 reasons to go and see the movie+ 1 reason not to (or the contrary).
  • Discussion about the themes used in the movie.

Activity 2 – General discussion about movies

  • What’s your favorite movie of all time?
  • What movie could you watch 50 times?
  • What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen?
  • What’s a movie you like even if everyone else hates it/you hate even if everyone else loves it?
  • If you could be the villain in any movie, who would you be and why?
  • If someone was to make a movie about your life, what would you like to see in it? What genre would it be? Name 3 things you’d like to be included in it?

Activity 3 – Getting to know French movies

  • Brainstorm about movie genres and characteristics
  • Show students trailers/posters of movies and ask them to guess with what synopsis and/or genre they match. Either create a poll, put students in breakout rooms or create a kahoot.
  • In pairs, the students are given the poster of a French movie and have to determine the genre and imagine the scenario of the movie. 
  • They then present the movie to the rest of the class: they first describe the poster, then  explain what they think the movie is going to be about.

Activity 4 – Jury at an Award

  • Variant #1: Students have to choose: meilleur film, meilleur acteur, meilleure actrice, meilleure musique de film, meilleurs decors, meilleurs costumes, meilleurs effets visuels/speciaux and to justify their decisions.
  • Variant #2 (cf Blanca): Students become part of the jury of the awards. After seeing part of the trailers of those films, they have to vote for the best film, best music and best animation (sharing their personal preferences and professional aspects that they can notice). 
  • Variant #3: Students watch a series of short films/animations that an LR chose for the class. All short films can be about one theme, or completely random. After watching them, students work in pairs and decide, which are their top 3 (they should come up with arguments). Then students present their choice to the class and try to prove that their top 3 was the best choice. 

Activity 5 – Creating your own movie

  • In pairs, students have to come up with a plot for a new movie. They are asked to choose random numbers that correspond to specific constraints they will have to put in their movies (genre/objects etc). They have to write on a shared google docs where they can find guidelines.
  • Potential variant (cf Blanca): Students become directors and potential leading actors and actresses. That is, each “director” interviews different potential actors in order to hire the most suitable one for a specific genre that will be randomly assigned. The directors will make questions that are important for them in order to hire an actor suitable for that film genre and the actors invent a personality that would be suitable for that genre as well. Once the interactions finish, the directors share the names of the hired actors and actresses and see if the assigned genres matched or not. 

Activity 6 – Turning it French

In pairs, ask students to choose a famous movie and imagine a French version/parody of it. When and where would it take place? Who would be the characters? Would the story change? Share a common google doc to allow them to write their thoughts and see how the others are going + give them guidelines (original movie/French version columns for instance)

Activity 7 [It was a great class about stereotypes!]

  1. Students should finish two sentences:

He was a true Russian/French/X, but he never…

She was a true Russian/French/X, but she never…

This frame helps to understand what stereotypes students have about ‘true Russians/Xs’, men and women (e.g., He was a true Russian, but he never drank vodka -> “drinking vodka” is an attribute of a stereotypical Russian person.

2. All the results from the previous activity should be written on a whiteboard. Then we talk about why and from where the students have such images of Russians/France/X.

3. In groups of 3-4, students should come up with their own movie script (maybe in a specific genre). The movie should be Hollywood-like and about a (stereo)typical Russian/X person as a protagonist. The teams should come up with an idea, a movie title, and a plot summary. If there is time, students should also draw a poster with all the information about the team and present it on a ‘festival’ to their colleagues.     

4. Conclusion and a follow-up discussion.

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?

How could this class be improved/ modified?

F20 Online: Hometown

August 1, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Maria Glukhova

Day and Date:

Week 3-4, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Hometown

Goal of the class:

To talk about students’ hometowns, so they could make a virtual tour for everyone.

How did you structure the class?

0. Greetings, announcements, general questions.

Activity 1: [all together] Are you in your hometown now? Do you remember how it felt being back home in the spring? Did you notice any changes in the city you grew up in, or was it you who had changed?

Activity 2: [in groups of 3 in Break-Out Rooms] Write down a list of locations that people usually associate with their hometowns (for example, this is my school, this is my grandparents’ house, where I eat my favorite ice-cream, etc.). Does this list seem to be similar to everyone?

Activity 3: [all together]: sharing the results + the discussion. After that: the LR opens Google Maps and shows the students his/her hometown. Navigating in the city, the LR gives the students a tour using as much vocabulary as possible related to location, movement, description, etc.

Activity 4: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms]: The students should do the same: to show their classmates around their hometown with a guide-like narration. 

Activity 5: [all together] Some of the students present their hometowns to everyone.

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

Zoom, Google Maps

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

How could this class be improved/ modified?

F20 Online: BLM, Social Movements, Discrimination

August 1, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Maria Glukhova

Marie Segura

Day and Date:

Week 2, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Black Lives Matter, Social Movements, Discrimination

Goal of the class:

To talk about racial/ethnic discrimination and about social movements that fight for people’s rights.

Useful recourses for LRs:

Books/articles & Film resources about BLM principles (different levels): https://www.dcareaeducators4socialjustice.org/black-lives-matter/resources/middle-high#books 

How did you structure the class?

0. Greetings, announcements, general questions

  1. Conversation starters:

Racism 2020: What is the first situation/context/everyday situation that comes to your mind when thinking about racism?

What kinds of discrimination exist? (age, sex, nationality, etc.)

What do you know about the history of protest in the U.S? What about X language speaking countries?

What role has social media played on the display of news? Where have you been getting all protest related info from? Do you think it has made a difference on how people have found out what’s going on in the world?

“Generation” differences = how are different generations talking about/approaching current issues?

What makes someone worthy of getting a statue/a monument with their name? How important is it to think about the ideology that these monuments represent? Do they represent a person (wow, great guy!) or an ideology? What does removing a statue involve/represent/imply?

2. “Activities”

This topic has to do a lot with the language and the way we name things. For students, to learn what vocabulary is appropriate when we talk about race/ethnicity (more problematic for Russia, for example) might be helpful to read a short text/watch a video, with as many necessary words as possible.     


— Variant 1: 

Take a Facebook/IG post where a person (an activist, for example) examines racial problems/stereotypes/… in your target language. Cover the words that are terms that you want students to learn. Then write them down in a google doc so that students could translate them into English working together. Then ask the students to fill the gaps in the original text. Read the text together and discuss what message an author is trying to convey. 

— Variant 2:  [Mostly for Russia and other countries with ethnic discrimination] 

For some countries, ethnic discrimination is way more common than racial. The everyday discrimination against migrants from the countries to the South of Russia (Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and others) is in almost every advertisement: “I will lease an apartment only to persons of Slavic appearance”, “We will only employ people of Slavic appearance”. So, you could show students these advertisements as an example of how racial and ethnic discrimination is pretty much everywhere.

— Variant 3: 

Give students a few short articles about specific issues (racism, discrimination, etc.). Students should do some research in pairs, read it together, and then present what they have learned about a problem. You may want to give an article with two different perspectives/times (have things changed?)/places. Instead of an article, you can give students an advertisement/flyer/ad from, for example, a different century, that wouldn’t be acceptable now and then discuss what why.

— Variant 4: 

Discuss Black Lives Matter’s 13 principles: Restorative Justice, empathy, loving engagement, diversity, globalism, queer affirming, trans-affirming, collective value, intergenerational, black families, black villages, unapologetically black, black women.  What do you think is the most problematic issue to address/deal with?

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

Zoom

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

How could this class be improved/ modified?

F20 Online: Pandemic

August 1, 2020 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Maria Glukhova

Marie Segura

Day and Date:

Week 2, Fall 2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

All

Class theme/topics discussed:

Pandemic

Goal of the class:

To talk about the current situation with Covid-19.

How did you structure the class?

0. Greetings, announcements, general questions.

1. Ice-Breaker I

Use a very short poll to start your class, eg:

What’s the strangest thing you did while attending an online meeting? (Multiple choice)

  • Ate breakfast
  • Wore pajamas
  • Brushed my teeth
  • Cooked lunch/dinner
  • Watched Netflix

2. Ice-Breaker II 

In pairs, students should come up with the best abbreviation meaning for “Pandemic” in the target language: 

P – pain

A- 

N – 

….

3. Main activity: 

Letter to future/past self: How would you explain COVID-19 pandemic?

—- A possible variation 1: 

Students can do this task in pairs. Imagine yourself being 30+ y.o (/or maybe themselves in September 2021/2/3..). The pandemic is already over, and everything is back to normal. Record a video message to yourself back in April 2020, when everyone was on their first quarantine and self-isolation week. From your experience now (when everything is fine again!!), what would you tell your younger self? How would you describe what happened? What pieces of advice would you give? What warnings? How would you recommend yourself to act? What new hobbies to try? Etc. 

If students could actually record themselves talking, it would be amazing to put all the videos=experiences together in one big video. 

—- A possible variation 2: 

Do the same thing, but for yourself in the future. For example, as a recommendation list. What should you do more/less when everything is back to normal? What have you learned about yourself/other people/the system/etc.? What would you have done differently if you knew the pandemic were to happen?

—- A possible variation 3:

Student 1 gets a “Survivor of the Pandemic” role, Student 2 is the interviewer. In pairs, students should record an interview “How You Survived the Pandemic of 2020” with similar questions to ask and topics to cover (what were you doing? what would you recommend? etc.) Students should record it in a talk-show format and then present to the whole group. 

4. Extra activity: 

Trivia: Make a Kahoot (or any other trivia game) with unusual things that had happened or had been said during the pandemic. Students have to 1) guess whether it’s true or false, 2) identify during what phase of the pandemic this happened, 3) identify where it happened.  For example, presidents/government representatives’ sayings, unusual/innovative gadgets, exotic animals getting into the streets, etc.

*Homework* 

(mostly for “Russians”, but every language will work!)

On Facebook, there is a group called Изоизоляция | Izoizolyacia. After pandemic hit, people were trying to entertain themselves while being stuck at home. They started copying the paintings and other works of art (at first only Russian artists, but now also international).  

Task: 

  • Try it! And upload a picture on Slack. (LRs and LAs should do the same, hehe). 
  • Students should also describe what materials, etc. they used. 
  • People like and comment.
  • There might be a prize for the funniest copy/interpretation.

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

Zoom, maybe VidGrid, Kahoot, Slack

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

How could this class be improved/ modified?

JP S20 ADV Gadgets

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo

Day and Date: April 21, 2020

Language and Level: Advanced Japanese

Class theme/topics discussed:

  • Handy gadgets from Japanese dollar stores

Goal of the class:

  • Describe how to use something

How did you structure the class?

  • Warm-up: Greetings
    – Ask what students did in the weekend. Ask what they think about the P/I grading policy in Pomona.
  • Activity I: Guess how to use these gadgets
    I show pictures of handy/funny/cute gadgets from dollar stores in Japan (e.g. kitchen tools, cleaning tools, stationeries). I ask students to guess what they are for/how to use them. We watch video clips that show how to use them afterwards. I ask students if they would buy any of the gadgets we saw.
  • Activity II: Discussion
    I ask students if they know any handy gadgets from daily life. (e.g. smartphone stand, cheese grater, tiny stapler)
  • Activity III: Advertisement
    We watch a video clip from a tv shopping channel to observe how people advertise a product (with great energy!):
    https://youtu.be/KBrWprkHt6o (first 30 seconds)
    I ask students what they noticed (“They speak energetically and without pause,” “They use many onomatopoeias”). We pick one of the gadgets from Activity I and try to make sentences to advertise it like a shopping channel.

What technology, media or props did you use?

  • Google Slides
  • Youtube videos
  • Pictures from the internet

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

  • Students seemed to have had fun seeing the funny gadgets.
  • Activity III could be developed more if it’s done in a physical classroom.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

  • If I do this class in person, I would develop Activity III more: I would bring a gadget to class and have students explain how to use it and advertise it like a commercial. (I found it awkward to do it when you don’t actually have the item in your hands.)
  • It would be smoother if you ask students to bring/think about a gadget for Activity II before class.

Material: Google Slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Qpt32B8ED56OAuu5QjO1Q80MfTDv0OJ4m7OTdVUhk4Y/edit?usp=sharing

JP S20 INT/ADV Job Interview

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo

Day and Date: February 5, 2020

Language and Level: Intermediate Japanese

Class theme/topics discussed:

  • Job interview

Goal of the class:

  • Learn what job interviews in Japan are like
  • Learn what to talk about in a job interview

How did you structure the class?

  • Greetings and announcements
    – Study Break: Calligraphy Feb. 6th
    – Oldenborg Open House Feb. 13th
  • Activity I: Film Nanimono (2016)
    I first introduce the term shukatsu (‘job-hunting’). Next, I briefly explain the setting of Nanimono, a film that well-portrays the situations of job-hunting in Japan, and we watch the opening scene of the film. We watch it twice, and I ask students what they saw (e.g. black suits, interviews, resumes etc.) as I write them down on the board. We watch another scene from the film about a group interview and talk what we noticed.
  • Activity II: Job interview
    After watching what a job interview is like in Activity I, we practice how to talk in a job interview. I give students a handout that lists sample questions and ideas to build the answers. I explain the meanings of the advanced vocabulary in the handout, explain the typical structure of a good answer, and demonstrate some examples. I also show some video clips for more examples (skip to relevant scenes):
    – https://youtu.be/L9fO-xpWF18
    – https://youtu.be/U_jI1KQkmsk
    – https://youtu.be/Ayb2pWPK9ko
    Finally, in pairs, students ask each other the questions and practice how to answer. I ask some students to share their answers to the whole class.
  • Activity III: What would you do?
    Students in pairs discuss what they would do in the following situations:
    1. Your boss pronounces your name incorrectly everytime. What would you do?
    2. You go to karaoke with your boss and colleagues. Your boss is a terrible singer but asks what you think his singing is. What would you say?
    In a few minutes, I ask some students to share what they discussed.

What technology, media or props did you use?

  • PowerPoint slides
  • Handout
  • Youtube videos
  • Film (DVD from FLRC)

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

  • This class was successful. The job interview practice was challenging for the students, but they find it practical and were very engaged. Every student took notes in their handout and brought it back with them (Usually some students leave handouts in the classroom when they don’t need them after class, but not this time). Students left the class with accomplished faces!

How could this class be improved/ modified?

  • Students, especially those actually planning to apply for Japanese companies, would want more feedback. Because it was hard to correct all of their errors when they were talking at the same time, next time I would ask more students to present their answers after the practice time so that I can correct them.

Materials (Download the files for better view):

JP S20 ADV Fashion

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo

Day and Date: January 28, 2019

Language and Level: Advanced Japanese

Class theme/topics discussed:

  • Fashion

Goal of the class:

  • Discuss preferences and opinions on fashion

How did you structure the class?

  • Greetings and announcements
    – Study Break: Calligraphy Feb. 6th
    – Oldenborg Open House Feb. 13th
  • Activity I: Whose outfit?
    I show students pictures of various outfits. In groups of three, students discuss who/what kind of person would wear them to where and if students themselves would try wearing these outfits. After they discuss in groups, they discuss with the whole class.
  • Activity II: Discussions on fashion
    In groups of three, students discuss the following questions:
    1. What type of outfit do 5C students wear?
    2. What would you wear when you go to:
        – a family gathering for Christmas
        – a friend’s wedding
        – a job interview
    3. Do you take time to pick clothes in the morning? What do you do when you can’t decide?
    4. Do you stick to certain brands? Do you like fast fashion?
    5. Imagine you traveled to a somewhere far away… and you find people there wear completely different from you (e.g. everybody is wearing ルーズソックス!). What would you do?
  • Activity III: Idol group audition
    I mention how idols/groups wear unique fashion and do various types of activities on media (e.g. singing, dancing, cooking, comedy, acting, harvesting…). I divide the students into groups and tell each group to imagine they are going on an audition as an idol group. Using a worksheet, students first ask each other their hobbies, skills and things they want to try in the future. Students list up the keywords and then discuss what they can do as an idol group using their talents. They also decide their group name, goals and theme fashion (draw what they are going to wear on media).
    When they are done, they present their idea to the whole class.

What technology, media or props did you use?

  • PowerPoint slides
  • Pictures from the internet (for the picture cards)
  • Worksheet

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

  • Activity I was visually entertaining. It is open-ended and made students talk, too.
  • Students had fun in Activity III. They were creative and talked spontaneously to share their ideas. It was nice to have them draw their costumes.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

  • I would add a discussion on trend fashion next time. (e.g. What kind of fashion item is popular now/went popular in the past?)

Materials (Download the files for better view):

JP S20 INT Causative-Passive

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo

Day and Date: May 4, 2020

Language and Level: Intermediate Japanese

Class theme/topics discussed:

  • Causative and causative-passive verbs

Goal of the class:

  • Review the grammar rules of causative and causative-passive verbs
  • Use causative-passive verbs in conversation

How did you structure the class?

  • Warm-up: Greetings
    – I ask students to participate in the course evaluation (distributed via email) after class.
  • Activity I: Quarantine Bingo
    Using the bingo sheet made by the advanced class last week, we play a bingo game in teams (two students per team); if the statement in a cell applies to either of the team member, they the cell. At the end, the team with most bingos wins.
    (To do this in the online environment, I made copies of the bingo sheet on a document on Google Doc and had students mark in the synced document.)
  • Activity II: Causative
    First, we review the usage and conjugation rules of causative verbs (-せる／させる; make someone do-). Then, to drill the conjugation, I show some pictures and have students describe them with causative verbs (e.g. “I made my child study,” “I made him eat vegetables,” “I made him go to school”). I write down the sentences on the slides as students answer. Next, we play a game that uses causative verbs; it is a rock-scissors-paper game, except students have to follow the commands, “You win/lose” or “Make the opponent win/lose”.
  • Activity III: Causative-passive
    I introduce causative-passive verbs (させられる; be made to do-) by rewriting some of the sentences from the previous activity. We review when and how to use causative-passive verbs. Then, I ask students to describe the pictures from the previous activity with causative-passive verbs (e.g. “I was made to study,” “I was made to eat vegetables,” “I was made to go to school”).
    Next, we discuss the following questions, using causative-passive verbs:
    1. Were you forced to do anything as a child? (e.g. music lessons, sports, fashion etc.) As an example, I show a picture of myself wearing a kendo uniform as a child and talk about my memories back then (e.g. “I was made to learn kendo,” “I was made to wear the uncomfortable uniform”).
    2. Have you ever been forced to buy anything by your family, friends or salesclerks?
  • Closing: briefly explain what we will be doing in the next class (Final class!)

What technology, media or props did you use?

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

  • I chose this grammar rule as the topic because it is one of the hardest in the intermediate/advanced grammar. I designed this class by setting the target grammar first, and then the activities. This way, I was able to structure the class logically and with a clear goal. (I know this was the ideal way to design a class but I often failed to follow this process this semester.)
  • Because my original lesson plan turned out too short in the advanced class, I added more drilling of the conjugations in Activity II and III. This became a good guided practice, especially to intermediate students; they find the task helpful to practice the complicated conjugations.
  • They liked seeing my childhood pictures. It is nice to use personalized materials sometimes in order to catch students’ attention.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

  • It would be better with a couple more open-ended tasks. I would add some discussion questions that make students use causative verbs after Activity II.

Materials:

RUS S20 Adv/Int: Hometown (online)

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name:

MARIA GLUKHOVA

Day and Date:

Thursday, 04/09/2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:

Hometown

Goal of the class:

To talk about students’ hometowns, so they could make a virtual tour for everyone.

How did you structure the class?

  1. Greetings, announcements, general questions.

2.   Activity 1: [all together] Are you in your hometown now? How does it feel going back home? Did you notice any changes in the city you grew up in, or is it you who has changed?

3.   Activity 2: [in groups of 3 in Break-Out Rooms] Write down a list of locations that people usually associate with their hometowns (for example, this is my school, this is my grandparents’ house, where I eat my favorite ice-cream, etc.). Does this list seem to be similar to everyone?

4.   Activity 3: [all together]: sharing the results + the discussion. After that: the LR opens Google Maps and shows the students her hometown. Navigating in the city, the LR gives the students a tour using as much vocabulary as possible related to location, movement, description, etc.

5.   Activity 4: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms]: The students should do the same: to show their classmates around their hometown with a guide-like narration. 

6.   Activity 5: [all together] Some of the students present their hometowns to everyone.

7.   Conclusion and a follow-up discussion.

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

Zoom, Google Maps

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

The class worked out great! I was very happy with the results and the atmosphere of it.  

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is.

RUS S20 Adv/Int: Traveling (online)

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name:

MARIA GLUKHOVA

Day and Date:

Tuesday, 04/07/2020

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Russian, Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:

Where would you go after Corona?

Goal of the class:

To talk about travel plans and about different ways of traveling (moneywise, company, etc. )

How did you structure the class?

  1. Greetings, announcements, general questions.
  2. Activity 1: [all together] What is the most exotic place you have been to? Did you go there by yourself, or with other people? Why?
  3. Activity 2: [in groups of 3 in Break-Out Rooms] Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of traveling solo. Write down as many pros and cons as you can come up with.
  4. Activity 3: [all together]: sharing the results + the discussion. After that: there is a famous Ukrainian (and Russian) TV show about traveling called ‘Орёл и Решка’. It is about traveling, and there are two people in it. Why do you think the show is called that? Make predictions.
  5. Activity 4: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms]: Watch the first 5 minutes of the TV show (Miami episode). Were you right about the main idea? Discuss the structure and key features.
  • Activity 5: [in pairs in Break-Out Rooms] After we discussed the idea of the show together, students work in pairs. They should go to https://34travel.me/post/destinations2018 and get a random country. They flip the coin, and one student has to plan the trip to this country with $100, while the second has an unlimited amount of money.
  • Activity 5: [all together] Student present their travel plans to everyone.
  • Conclusion and a follow-up discussion.

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?

The class worked out well!

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I would leave it as it is.

ES S20 INT/ADV Traveling

May 10, 2020 /

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez (Credit to Marie Segura)

Class theme/topic discussed : Travel

Goal of the class 

  • Practice vocabulary related to traveling and means of transport
  • Get to know popular touristic destinations in Spanish speaking places

Class structure

  • Warm up: Questions (Do you like traveling? What does traveling mean to you? What are the advantages and disadvantages of traveling? Do you think traveling is a form of education? What places have you been to? Would you like to travel on your own?
  • Input:  Story about one of my trips (emphasis on means of transport and activities I did there)
  • Activity 1: What type of traveller are you? Students have been given a free trip but they can’t choose where to go. In pairs, students fill in a chart explaining what type of traveller they are and rank a list of things they like to do the most when traveling.
  • Activity 2: Organize the trip. Organize a surprise trip for another pair of students using their preferences. Each pair of students receives another pair’s list of preferences. Now they have to organize a surprise trip, by first choosing a destination (4 destinations are proposed on a handout with the main activities you can do there but they can also choose another Spanish-speaking destination and look up for information online) and then deciding on different aspects of the trip: length of the trip, means of transport, housing, activities organized there. When they’re done, students pick 10 items out of a list that they would pack for this trip. They can add things if they want to. 
  • Activity 3: Presenting the trip/Receiving the Gift. Each group presents the trip they organized to the rest of the class (and especially to the group who receives it who has to react)
  • Activity 4: Customs role-play. Students are on their way to their destinations. In small groups they have to recreate getting to the airport, checking their luggage, going through customs and everything people usually have to do when in the airport.
  • Activity 5: Filling a complaint. Students come up with a complaint about something going wrong with their trip (the flight got delayed, the airline lost their luggage, the place they where staying at wasn’t clean enough, etc.) 
  • Activity 6: COVID-19. ¿How has traveling changed since the virus started spreading? What measures have been taken by airlines/airports? Do you think this is going to have a more permanent effect on traveling in the future? How are airports and airplanes going to look like after the pandemic is under control? 

Resources used

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

  • The class worked okay. Trying to use the handout was hard because of zoom, but after trying to make the questions in a more conversational way, it worked okay. Because only 2 students joined the class, we only did the first 3 activities.

Annex

  • Traveler’s handout
Viajero-handout.pages

ES S20 INT/ADV Literature/Idioms

May 10, 2020 /

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Class theme/topic discussed : Literature & Idioms

Goal of the class 

  • To practice literature related vocabulary
  • To become familiar with Spanish speaking authors and popular titles
  • To recognize common idioms

Class structure

  • Warm-up: Questions about reading taste & habits (Do you like reading? How often do you read? What was the last book you read? Who is your favorite author? Which one is your favorite book? Do you have any favorite character? Do you have any reading routine?) 
  • Activity 1: I show students the book covers of 6 Spanish literature classics. After randomly reading  the back cover of the books, students have to match them to the book cover and come up with a title for the books. At the end students comment on which book seems the most interesting for them.
  • Activity 2:  Santiago en 100 palabras: I show students a Micro-stories. After reading 2 examples,  in groups, using a template provided by the organization in charge of this contest, they have to write a micro-story.  (https://www.santiagoen100palabras.cl/web/#libros)
  • Activity 3: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Students have a list of idioms commonly used in Spanish. In groups they have to guess the meaning of each idiom. I explain what the real meaning of each idiom is before jumping onto the next activity.
  • Activity 4: Using story cubes,  in groups, the class comes up with a short story where they put the idiom in context.
  • (extra) Activity 5: Childhood texts stories. I tell students a story about how this children story that marked me greatly when I was a kid. They do the same. 
  • (extra) Activity 6: Students are randomly assigned one of the idioms we have been using all along the class. They have to write the idiom for their classmates to guess, but only using emojis.
  • (extra) Activity 7: Students watch a video where you have to guess new idioms based on emoji phrases.

Resources used

  • PPT
  • Youtube
  • Story cubes
  • “Santiago en 100 palabras” handout

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

  • The class worked well. Even though we didn’t go pass activity 3, they seemed quite engaged when reading and commenting on the books’ blurb.

Annex

Santiago en 100 palabras handout

S100p-¿Y-cómo-es-el-cuento

S100p-Periodista-por-un-día

ES S20 INT/ADV End of Term Report

May 10, 2020 /

Language Resident: Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Class theme/topic discussed: End of term report

Goal of the class:

  • To look back on the year and prepare some goals for the upcoming year.
  • To practice past tenses, conditional
  • To  exchange information about the future to be able to hypothesize 

Class structure

  • Warm-up: Students discuss  whether they know or the meaning of the following words: Goals, balance, accomplishments, to achieve a goal, to be thankful.
  • Activity 1: Students discuss the following questions: What goals people usually propose for themselves? Can you think of 2 or 3 goals related to these areas of life? (Health, work, money, family, couples, studies, friendship.
  • Activity 2:  Year’s balance/ recap: in pairs students complete each other’s chart of memorable things that happened to them during whatever period of time you are talking about. Then they share. (In case the conversation his going to slowly, use the questions in the annex) 
  • Activity 3: (cred. Marie Segura & Mikiko Saigo) New Year’s Resolutions: (This activity takes place during a family dinner/dinner with friends) Students are separated in groups. In turn, they roll the dice and discover their new year’s resolution. Then, they have to convince skeptical friends/family that they are actually going to keep their resolution this year and to explain why it is so important to them and how are you going to do it.
  • Activity 4: Students become fortune tellers and predict each other’s future with the help of the story cubes and some images. They will make predictions about health, success in work and education, and love. 

Resources used

  • Resolutions sheet
  • PPT

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

  • As the last class of the semester, it worked pretty well. For activity 2, if it’s an online class, it’s better to have the questions in hand.

Annex

  • Activity 1 Table: 
SaludTrabajoDineroFamiliaParejasEstudiosAmistades
Ej.: comer más sano





  • Activity 2 Chart: 

Cosas divertidas que hice: …
Algo nuevo que aprendí: …
Gente interesante que conocí: …
Lugares que visité: …
Algo que nunca olvidaré: …
Algo de lo que estoy orgulloso/a: …

  • Extra questions for Activity 2: 

¿Cuáles han sido los momentos más destacados?

¿Qué cosas nuevas has probado durante este año?

¿Cuáles han sido tus momentos más felices?

¿Qué has aprendido durante este año?

¿Cuál ha sido tu mayor éxito personal? ¿Y cuál tu mayor éxito profesional?

¿Cuál ha sido el mayor aprendizaje sobre ti mismo?

¿Qué harías de forma diferente?

¿Qué quieres mantener durante el próximo año? ¿Qué te gustaría cambiar en el año nuevo?

  • Resolutions sheet
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