Google Forms “Family Feud” version

This past Friday, we played a version of Family Feud in my fifth grade class- by using Google Forms and displaying their answers to determine the most popular option quickly! If you haven’t seen the game show Family Feud, a question is asked before the game show and people respond with their answer. Then the

How I use Calendar Talk

In this post, I am sharing how calendar talk has started working for me last year and this year. Calendar Talk originated from Tina Hargaden and Claudia Elliott has also helped how I see Calendar Talk. If you are unfamiliar with Calendar Talk, many teachers use it as a way to talk about what is

Señor Wooly: Billy y las botas online book activities

I taught Billy y las botas to my Spanish II students in person many moons ago! This year, I decided to teach it to my fourth graders since the website now has the graphic novel in a variety of proficiency levels!! (This is one of the reasons that it is so amazing!). I came back

Diverse MovieTalks/Clip Chats

A recent conversation that Dorie Conlon Perugini started on Twitter about CI being inherently equitable reminded me of something I noted at the end of the year. All of my MovieTalks feature white characters or animals. ALL OF THEM. While I really pay attention to many of the visuals that I present in class, the

Teaching novels online

Teaching online has been more difficult for me than I thought. I had done this before, and I knew what I wanted to do- but then I started questioning everything. I saw what others were doing, and I started doubting what I was doing. I typically know that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, people highlight

A week of online plans: Spain and the Dominican Republic

This week is our spring break. So we are traveling throughout the city via car and social distance. I am also prepping for next week. I wanted to share my general plans for my classes. Luckily, I was able to give out our end of the year books to my 6th and 8th grade classes.

How to deliver CI to an energetic class

No matter how many years you have taught with comprehensible input, all teachers have had an energetic class or two that causes you to tear your hair out to figure out how to give them comprehensible input. It can be due to the time of the day that your class meets (right before lunch on

Part IV: How I plan without a textbook; Comprehensible Input and Authentic Resources

This post is part of a series about how I plan without a textbook. The first part discusses how I decide what to teach, then how I decide on goals and finally assessments. Today, I will look how I plan a unit to include both comprehensible input and authentic resources. I believe that as teachers

World Series: Spanish presentation

Ahem- Go Nats!  My school this year is a mile away from the Nationals stadium.  Every day, a student or teacher is wearing some Nationals gear.  (I actually saw a group of boys at a nearby school playing baseball with water bottles today!)  I have even ordered a shirt to support the hometown team!  I

MovieTalk: El mono necesita las bananas

I am continuing to develop the curriculum within each of my classes.  In Spanish 5, we started out by discussing the fires in the Amazon.  I introduced Señor Wooly’s song No lo tengo to talk about school and classes.  I wrote up a small summary about schools in the Amazon.  I decided that I wanted