Popplet

Popplet is a web 2.0 mind mapping tool. It can be used to have students explore their ideas about a topic. Students can work together or on their own to map out ideas and add some images, links, or information. This is a great tool to get them to see the big picture of how somethings are related to others. It's really great for politics and cultural aspects that are difficult to see without first putting them into a context.

At a simpler level, this could be use to help beginners sort new vocabulary. Students can achieve deeper encoding of new knowledge when they process words and make new connections. (Brandl 2007, p. 83).

Tutorial on using Popplet in Spanish

¿Dónde estás, Yolanda?

Get students up out of their seats and moving with this one! Students can dance and sing along as you lead them through gestures that help them understand the lyrics to the song. For example, when the line ¿Dónde estás, dónde estás, Yolanda? comes up, place your hand above your eyebrows and look all around.

This TPR-style activity is a great break-up or warm-up activity to get students out their seats and using nervous energy productively.

Eyes and Ears

In this activity, one partner (Eyes) gets to watch the video without the sound while the other (Ears) must close their eyes or turn away from the screen. As Eyes views the silent images, they must describe what they see, as best they can, to their partner, Ears.

Next, Eyes either covers their ears completely or leaves the room entirely. Then the video is replayed but Ears doesn't get to see the images, only hear the audio. Ears makes notes of what they are listening to. When the clip is over, Eyes returns the classroom and Ears describes what they heard.

Together, the two try to make meaning out of what they have seen and heard. Have them answer some comprehension questions about what they heard and saw.

Here are some examples:

If your only interest is assessing listening comprehension, use "cierto" or "falso" questions like these:

1. Según Voldermort, la familia de Harry ha muerto por él. 
2. Hay un serpiente grande y un dragón en el video.
3. Harry quiere terminar esto con Tom como ellos han empezados, lejos.

The following questions can be answered orally or written out, depending on whether you want to assess listening comprehension and oral production of the language or production of written language. 

1. ¿Quién ha muerto por Harry según Voldermort?
2. ¿Cuáles son los animales míticos en el video?
3. ¿Cómo quiere Harry terminar esto con Tom?

Notes:

(1) Depending on the level or particular context, this activity might require a pre-listening activity that draws the students' attention to the topic and any new or key vocabulary. 

(2) If your language is not Spanish, you should try to choose another video of a popular movie in your target language--it helps if there is a lot of action.

Whole Brain Teaching

Whole Brain Teaching is a way to get students completely absorbed in the learning. This could be adapted to a language class simply by translating the phrases. For more on how this works, register on this website: http://wholebrainteaching.com/ and check out the free workshops.

I think this type of exercise would be most helpful in learning phrases in the target language or learning facts about culture, grammar, history, literature, etc. What else could we use it for?

Brain Gym

1) Hydrate! 2) Find some personal space 3) Follow along 4) Have fun!

Brain gym is a way to wake up students and get the blood flowing. In the language classroom it can take on a whole new element of learning: TPS or Total Physical Response. TPS was developed by James Asher in the early 1970's and, put very simplistically, involves teachers giving "commands" to students in the target language and students following those commands to both show understanding and connect physically to the meaning of the language.

To adapt brain gym to your language classroom, think about the script you will use with your students. Is there any vocabulary they will need in advance of doing this activity? Is there any portion of your explanation that needs to be in the first language? (The really great thing about brain gym is the answer to this question is probably no!) Have fun!