Thursday, July 5, 2012

Spanish 3A Almost Done...Some Random Tidbits about It

I can see light at the end of the tunnel on 3A...here is a photo of my extremely high-tech process of laying things out on the floor to organize them...and just a teaser for you of the extremely awesome stick figures I've been drawing.


This book will have pics to go with (approximately) every other story, starting with lesson 3.  I had kids doing retells all this past year with no pics, and they did fine, but I do think the pics make them focus better on their retells; plus, they are just fun.  I have to tell you I laugh out loud when I draw these little pictures sometimes.  Well, at least I crack myself up.


Also, I am interspersing some Mad Libs in place of the regular story scripts in the last half of 3A.  You know, when the students get so whiny and tired of everything you do?  I had so much fun in April and May with writing some of the 3B scripts as Mad Libs (it was experimental) that I'm adding that in for 3A as well.  If you end up not liking the Mad Lib thing in your actual classes, you can always just use the reading as a script instead. I'll write more soon about exactly how to do a Mad Lib in class.  It was a blast for me and mine.


Also...please don't be shocked...but this book will call for quite a bit of explicit grammar in the lesson plans, as well as...gasp...HOMEWORK.  That is just how it is for my teaching life, right now, at my school.  We teach explicit grammar and we do homework.  I have gone over to the dark side.  You of course do not have to do those parts of the lesson, and I'm being careful to call the homework "optional."  Giving homework definitely has its down side, but the reality in my higher socio-economic community is that parents as well as students expect it, and if you don't give it, you aren't taken as seriously. I think this is particularly true for levels 3, 4, and AP, but we are giving homework in levels 1 and 2 now as well. I still don't let it weigh so heavily that it makes a kid fail Spanish, but it's there, and it will affect their grade over time.


Ok, back to Lesson 26.  I'm on Lesson 26 out of 30.  3A should be finished and edited by July 15.  My plan is to have it printed and up for sale online by July 31, hopefully with 3B as well so they can go as a set.  But if 3B isn't quite done, I'll start selling 3A on July 31 or earlier so that those of you who are waiting with baited breath and needing to start doing some early planning can do so.  I totally get it.  I'm the Queen of Pre-Planning, hence these detailed lesson plan books, right?


I've got two blog posts on my mind that I'll write soon as well:  One on Acting/Getting Actors and another about Gesturing the Vocab.


Ok, really now.  Back to Lesson 26.

1 comment:

  1. Jalen I can't wait to see your level 3 book. I have had quite a positive response to using your books the last two years in Spanish 1 and 2. I am interested in seeing the madlibs, grammar and homework ideas you have. Thanks for your hardwork.
    Glen Irvin

    ReplyDelete

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