Tag: trivia
Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Kozue Matsumoto
Day and Date:
Tuesday November 24, 2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):
Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
- Last class: kanji games
Goal of the class:
- Guess how to read unusual kanji
How did you structure the class?
- How are you doing? Hanging in there? Good news if any??? (7 min)
- Hawaiian Thanksgiving dishes – lots of Asian food included
- Guess and read the kanji (45 min)
- Veggies
- Fruits
- Things in the water
- Family names
- Most complicated kanji (10 min)
- Some legendary mysterious kanji
- Officially registered real kanji
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Class agreement, breakup rooms
Zoom, white board
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
- We talked how we feel at the end of the semester. Since everything happened online at home, there is not a huge difference compared to pre-COVID time when students used to move back to their hometown etc.
- We talked a bit about Hawaiian Thanksgiving food
- Kanji guessing game was fun, and they had very good questions such as when these vegetables were introduced to Japan and how their kanji were decided like that.
- One student was sharing her knowledge about how Taiwanese use the same kanji for the same fruits and how a kanji was chosen for a certain fruit because of the meaning of kanji (蕃)
- We guessed some strange and rare family names and some super complicated kanji as well.
- We had a pretty fun time. They used everything they know to guess the kanji, such as a documentary film about fish that they watched the other day, the knowledge of Taiwanese usage of kanji, etc.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
- There are lots of kanji. Some are easy to guess, and others are just impossible to guess. We can do a lot about this.
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.
Below are what we did with whiteboard
Fruits
Vegetables
Things in the water
Rare and strange family names
Complicated kanji
Taito たいと – a family name (not officially recorded in anywhere but there is a story around this kanji)
Biang – From Chinese kanji
Jin ジン – dust
Language Resident/Assistant Name: Eva Saunders
Day and Date: 11/24/2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediante/Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed: Christmas & the holidays
Goal of the class: Learning about German customs and escaping Krampus’ mine
How did you structure the class?
A) Warm-Up: With the lights off and your Zoom background set to a coal mine, tell the students they have been captured and brought to a coal mine because they opened their advent calendars too early! Impersonating Krampus for this is highly recommended & fun (I wore a Santa hat and used a flash light to make myself look frightening)
B) Give them the “escape room” game Google Sheet link and explain (as “Krampus”) how they are going to find the code word to get out (which is “Merry Christmas” in German, but backwards, see Key sheet). Stress that they are supposed to talk to each other to solve riddles together, one at a time. Then set a timer for 45-50 minutes for them to solve the questions and to guess the code word.
It’s good to remind them of the time they have left every once in a while (half time and maybe 5 minutes before, depending how they are doing on time). I plan about 5 minutes per question on average as a guideline. If they are taking longer, feel free to help them a bit by telling them if their answer is right or wrong before they type them in, to avoid detours. And giving hints or more information about a correct answer works well, too.
C) Once the game is finished, go over the answers the students provided or answer any outstanding questions about Christmas in Germany.
D) Extra activity: Watch “Cat-A-Claws”, a 2-minute Christmas themed cat movie https://vimeo.com/381605666 (this is my own production, but available publicly). Find traditions and words we talked about in the movie.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.): Share Screen function in Zoom, Chat, Google Sheets, Vimeo, Course Website as a resource for homework and reference
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The students enjoyed the surprise escape room very much and solved the riddles just in time. I clarified some things during the game and helped a bit to keep it moving. It was a fun way to learn!
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I’ve tried this both with just one student and a group of three students and both took about 45-50 minutes to finish it. If the group is much larger, communication might be hard so they should probably be split up into groups of three or four and you can jump from room to room to help if necessary.
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/2020/11/24/13-1-class-25-11-23-2020/ (Password: GERMAN)
Note: You can use the key document for yourself and then load the blank template tab into Google Sheets to have the students work in the same document. It’s best if one student shares their screen of it so all can see what’s asked.
Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident/Assistant Name: Tamara Olivos
Day and Date: October 21, 2020
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Spanish Intermediate
Class theme/topics discussed: Trivia
Goal of the class: To think fast in the target language. Healthy competition
How did you structure the class?
Ice-breaker: We talk about our pets and our favorite animals. I showed them this picture to discuss dogs in particular. Students can also share funny stories with their pets or share pictures of their pets and describe them. https://www.instagram.com/p/By_fXrinn7D/
Activity 1: Share your screen and select the number of teams. You can choose to have pairs be a team. Write the name of the students where it says teams. For the buzzers, I used a website called buzzin.live. You can host a game, and share the game pin with your students. They will need to use the phone to buzz (it tells you who did it first). You also have to add/subtract the points manually using the + and – signs. You can edit this link, but if you will make major changes please create your own and copy the questions you want to keep.
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/trivia-en-espaol-10
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Zoom, mobile phones.
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
I redid the game taking into account my Advanced class suggestions (I had created a game that was too difficult and asked for their feedback). They loved it and said the questions were neither easy or difficult.