I changed schools this year and am teaching levels one and two again. For me, this means simplifying my resources for lower levels. And, since we have the constant threat of going virtual/remote, adapting them for online or self-paced lessons as well.
I was so excited when Martina Bex and Nelly Andrade-Hughes published their Día de Los Muertos asynchronous/flex lessons! They were exactly what I needed to get my creative juices flowing. They are also the perfect starting point for teaching vocabulary for this CGI animated short movie:
I have used this as a movie talk for levels 3 and 4 for several years. This year, I simplified the vocabulary (NOT the grammar!) and upped my game with this slides template from Slidesgo.com. Super easy to use!!
Here is the movie talk slideshow I came up with:
Click here for your own copy.
The slide deck includes slides for pre-teaching important vocabulary. I got tickled with the dancing girls GIF and included it on every vocab slide just so I could hear my students groan about how dorky their teacher is. (I mean, if they are groaning at me, they don’t have time to make fun of anyone else in the room. It’s a very focused strategy I use.) I am also a huge fan of Kara Kane Jacob’s CEAUTHRES blog. She has so many amazingly compelling resources! I definitely created my vocab slides with her in mind.
**Important Side Note**
I am very concerned about proper representation. I purposely search and find appropriate images that represent all of my students. I literally teach students from all over the world and want them to see themselves in my lessons. It is extremely important for humans to see themselves as RESPECTED and VALUED members of the general population. It is also extremely important for students to see humans who are possibly different from them as being RESPECTED and VALUED members of the general population.
How I Pre-teach Vocabulary
Each slide teaches a different targeted structure. I have multiple images that either do or do not depict an image of that structure. In level one, I pause at each image and ask yes or no questions and I only expect them to answer yes or no: Is this person sad? And I will restate their answer in a complete sentence, yes, this person is sad. Is this person happy? No, this person is not happy. This person is sad. Then I will ask an either/or question: Is this person sad or hungry? Correct! This person is sad. Then I move on to question words: Who is sad? Who is not sad? This is called ‘circling.’ It may take most of a class period to complete 4 or 5 slides. But, so what? The slower I go, the more they acquire.
(In this scenario, the targeted structure is: is sad.)
I use the same questioning technique in level 2, but the students begin to answer in complete sentences once they have done a few rounds.
Additional Resources
I will be updating this lesson as I go. If I come up with any share-worthy activities, I’ll be sure to add them here.
Suggestions? Edits?
Drop them in the comments below! Or email me at: senorajotajota@gmail.com
JJ, you are such a hard-working, kindly supportive, creative and sharing teacher…thank you! I was going to use this video with a group and luckily ran out of time yesterday, because I wouldn't have done it very well. Having these materials. . . awesome!! Thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind words! They are especially meaningful right now. Thank YOU!
JJ, this is AMAZING!!! Thank you soooo much for generously sharing ALL of these wonderful resources!! MIL gracias, amiga. =)
You are very welcome, my friend. I hope they help you out!
Hi, may I just say that I don't think you should use candela for candle. I would recommend the term vela instead. 🙂
thanks for sharing!