Listening Centers: Foreign Language Classroom

Literacy is just as important in the Specials rotation as it is in the classroom.  In my building, Spanish is part of the "music, art, p.e." rotation.  We embrace that we are an integral part of school and students' literacy success.

One way to support literacy is to create listening centers in the Target Language (TL). This takes some initial set-up, however once the books are recorded they may be used as often as desired. My library collection consists of many picture books because I teach in an elementary school.

The Internet has many books pre-recorded. A quick search can save you a lot of time on having to record the book yourself. If I can't find the book online, I record the book on my Mac computer using GarageBand. (There are many programs on Macs and PC's that can be used; iMovie, Photo Booth, Audacity.) At each page-turn, I added a "ding" for those emergent readers to help guide the students as they follow along. Once I have finished recording/editing, I need to save the recording so my students may access the file on various devices.  I have a folder in my iTunes account and "sync" the books to iPods that I purchased for my classroom.

YouTube has a very nice video of ¿Eres mi Mamá? por P.D. Eastman. I recorded the sound from this video onto GarageBand and exported into an mp3 file. It took a total of 10 minutes to record the book, download into iTunes, and upload onto my student iPods.

Flip Video - Basic Greetings

Technology doesn't scare me. Kids don't (typically) scare me. Technology + kids together???? Bring it on. Yes, many times I question my sanity at the end of the day when I pair the students up with any technological device, however when we view the final product, all of those frustrations, headaches, and glitches are thrown out the window. Student work on digital devices are phenomenal.

One of the first...and easiest... project is using the Flip Video Cameras to record student conversations.  I applied and was awarded a grant to purchase 2 Flip Cameras. Through the Digital Wish organization, I was able to match an additional 2 cameras. Having 4 cameras in my class definitely helped eliminate group wait time.

I want my students producing language on the first day of class and creating simple sentences/conversations within a week. My 7th grade students were in small groups and created a short dialogue with our new set of vocabulary (reading and writing). They recorded their conversations (speaking) and within 15 minutes we were able to view their final production (listening).  The students were allowed to use props from within our classroom to add to their theatrics, while others preferred the quick question and answer.

Students' ears are already trained within the week to catch their mistakes while listening to their oral presentations.  This informal feedback is imperative to error and self-correction.

Foreign Language??? Yuck.

I have encountered many people who contort their faces into interesting expressions when I share that I am a Spanish teacher. "I hated Spanish." "I don't remember anything from high school Spanish (French, German, etc)." "All we ever did in class was memorize conjugations and complete worksheets."

Yuck, you're right. Memorizing conjugations and completing worksheets day after day would be boring. I have set out to change that "yucky" foreign language perception. Successful foreign language learning should be authentic and engaging. It needs to incorporate all aspects of language learning: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students should also understand why learning a foreign language is important and how it effects (and affects) them.

I share this glogster with my students on the first day of class.  It is important for them to understand why foreign language learning is important.