Tuesday, November 29, 2011

French and Spanish Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's Vocabulary and Activities!


Looking for some fun activities to do before winter break? Teach your students some vocabulary and expressions in French or Spanish for the winter holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's)! The French version has 95 holiday vocabulary words, and 13 greeting card expressions. The Spanish version has 80 vocabulary words and 15 expressions.  Have your students create greeting cards in the target language in order to practice the vocabulary and expressions! They can do it on paper, or use the instruction sheet with screen shots to make virtual greeting cards online. The documents also includes a holiday word search and a double puzzle with answer keys, and a blank holiday bingo board. The Spanish version also contains a crossword. Finally, there are 65 holiday writing prompts for you to use with your students at all levels!  I have added a lot more vocabulary and activities to these documents since last year's version.

   

Monday, November 28, 2011

10 FREE Downloads; Cyber Monday Sale, up to 28% OFF‏

Have you looked at this week's 10 FREE Downloads on TPT yet? There are some great holiday themed FREEBIES, and six of the downloads this week can be used at the secondary level. I passed along the links to the two Geometry activities to that PLC at my school, and "Winter Creative Writing Activities" link to our English Department head. I included my two favorite activities of the week below. I liked that some of Tracee's activities had a Twitter theme which always increases student interest, and that Krystal's activity incorporated the real-world application of animation to Geometry.


Winter Creative Writing Activities
by Tracee Orman
Grades 3 - 10
         
Using Translations, Reflections and Rotations to Create an Animation
by Krystal Mills
Grades 6 - 9



 
   

Cyber Monday Sale!


Don't forget to stop by TEACHERS pay TEACHERS today to clear out your wishlists with the HUGE CYBER MONDAY SALE! 
Liz's Lessons is having a Sale for 20% off ALL products, and then enter the PROMO CODE: CMS28 FOR an addition 10% off, or 30% OFF TOTAL! Sales like this don't come along very often! Today would be a great day to get some bundled products such as: 

Technology Template Bundle!
 

18 Formative Assessment Templates!

Spanish Holiday Bundle!

French Holiday Bundle!

French & Spanish Winter Holiday Writing Prompt FREEBIES!

Tis' the season for giving and freebies, so I created some great winter holiday activities for you and your language students! Have your students practice their French, or Spanish writing skills with some holiday themed writing prompts! This document contains 65 different writing prompts centered around Christmas, Hanukkah, and the New Year. There are prompts for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. It also contains a sheet for your students to write their responses on. If you are looking for some holiday vocabulary for your students to use in the prompts, or more winter holiday activities you may be interested in my "Spanish Winter Holiday Vocabulary and Activities" or "French Winter Holiday Vocabulary and Activities" products as well. 


Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday through Cyber Monday Sale!


Don't break the bank today because TeachersPayTeachers is having a big CYBER MONDAY SALE. Liz's Lessons is offering 20% OFF today through Monday, and then the TEACHERS pay TEACHERS PROMO CODE for an additional 10% OFF will be CMS28, this Monday November 28 only. Stock up for the rest of the school year!

Monday, November 21, 2011

NEW Bookemon Instruction Sheet & Rubric! Make your own books online!

I just posted a brand new product for teaching with technology! It's an activity for using the site http://www.bookemon.com/.  With bookemon you can easily create free books online that you can share with students, friends, and parents.




Ideas for using bookemon in the classroom:
  • Create a class book of student projects.
  • Have students write their own stories.
  • Have students write a book in the target language in a World Language classroom.
  • Students can use bookemon to make ePortfolios of their work throughout the school year. 
  • Create a book of student poetry.
  •  Have students write a biography about themselves in a language arts class, or foreign language class. 
  • Students can make a family history book in a World Language class to practice family vocabulary. 
  • Students can create a “How To” book in a World Language class to practice the imperative tense. 
  • Have students create a travel book about a city or country in a World Language, or Social Studies class.
YouTube bookemon Tutorials:



Advantages of bookemon: 
  • Creating a book is free! There is no cost to join, and no obligation to purchase.
  • You can add many types of multimedia into your book-documents, PDFs, photos, images, links, etc. 
  • It incorporates technology into your lessons. 
  • Books are easy to share. You can share with friends on a website or blog, via social networks, or through email.
  • You also have the option of publishing, and purchasing your book.

10 FREE Downloads; Giving thanks for this amazing job called teaching‏


 I really enjoyed this week's newsletter because it made me stop and reflect on what I really love about teaching, and why I am thankful that I have the opportunity to work in the field of education. It really is a rewarding experience to help young people to learn, and to reach their goals. I love being able to share my passion for learning French and Spanish with them. It is awesome to see students that I taught Level I in middle school now taking AP Language courses in high school, or studying abroad in college. The feeling you get from teaching is not one that everyone is lucky enough to experience. Make sure you read the newsletter to find out why other TPT teacher love teaching!

This week's newsletter had five free products for the secondary level. As usual, a lot of them looked really interesting, but my favorite of the week was "Daily Wordplay" by Arik Durfee. I liked that it makes students think critically, but that it is fun at the same time!



Daily Wordplay!
by Arik Durfee
Grades 7 - 12

Thursday, November 17, 2011

November Instructional Resource Update


Hello Teachers!
I have listed below some of my favorite instructional resources that I have come across in the last month. You can find more website links that I bookmarked in November at http://www.diigo.com/user/Ebucrek. I hope that you will find something below that you can try out in your classroom soon!

Documents:

Websites:
www.scoop.it  
Have your students make their own magazines with Scoopit! Students can choose relevant content from the Web, edit it, and share. The site is similar to www.paper.li, but is a magazine instead of a newspaper.

80+Google Forms for the Classroom
Scroll down to see some examples of Google Forms that other teaches have created, and check out the slideshow presentation called "71 Interesting Ways to use Google+ in the classroom & Tips".

Teaching Channel
"At Teaching Channel we believe what makes teachers inspiring is how they became experts -- the hours and years they've dedicated to improving their craft to benefit their students. Our mission is to capture their technique on video so that all teachers -- new or seasoned -- have a place to find inspiration." Search topics such as behavior, differentiation, common core, etc.

Articles:
Alternatives to Traditional Homework
Scroll down to the bottom to see a chart with useful ideas and tips.

Other Teaching Ideas:
Paper Plate Venn Diagrams from Mrs. Moore's Busy Bees



Schema, New Information, Misconceptions Anchor Chart
                                                                     from The Good Life

Videos:

Monday, November 14, 2011

10 FREE Downloads; Keeping your advanced kids engaged‏

Have you seen this week's 10 FREE downloads yet?  You will find some great differentiation tips from TPT teachers, as well as some excellent FREEBIES! This week there were six downloads for the secondary level. They were all really good, but  my favorite was the Thanksgiving Activity by Tracee Orman. I liked that it could be used in both Social Studies and Language Art classes, and that it is linked to Common Core Writing Standards. It can also be used as a formative assessment. I believe that the writing prompt will peak students' interest. I will be passing along the link to this activity and some of the other great freebies to the teachers at my school this week!

Thanksgiving Creative Writing Activity
by Tracee Orman
Grades 4 - 12


Sunday, November 13, 2011

French and Spanish Thanksgiving Themed Vocabulary & Activities!

Looking for something fun to do in your French, or Spanish class the week of Thanksgiving? Try teaching your students some Thanksgiving themed vocabulary! These products includes 47 Thanksgiving themed vocabulary words, a word search, a double puzzle, a Thanksgiving writing activity in the target language, a blank Thanksgiving Bingo card, and directions for making virtual Thanksgiving greeting cards in the target language. 


Wednesday, November 9, 2011

NEW LiveBinders Instruction Sheet and Rubric!

I was doing an online search recently for some teachers at my school for a student instruction sheet for Livebinders and a Rubric, and I was not able to find one. So I made one myself :) LiveBinders is a 3-ring Binder for the web.


 Ideas for using Livebinders:
1.    Have students create an ePorfolio of their work from the year in your class.
2.    Have students use a Livebinder to present a research project.
3.    Create a Livebinder as a resource for your students, and post it on your web page.
4.    Use Livebinders to organize your electronic resources for the units and courses you teach.
5.    Have students create a Livebinder on a country, or make a Travelogue in a World Language classroom.
6.    Put a set of digital student projects in a Livebinder and share so that students can see their classmates’ projects.
7.    Students can create a binder on a book, or author in a Language Arts class.
8.    Create a binder of parent resources, and post it on your website.

Advantages of Livebinders:
•    They are free!
•    They are a great tool for teachers AND students.
•    You can add many types of multimedia into them-documents, PDFs, videos, photos, images, links, websites, etc.
•    They incorporate technology into your lessons.
•    They can easily be updated, or changed since they are digital.
•    Great for organization!
•    They are easy to share.

Why use web-based activities?
•    More engaging/interactive
•    Increased interest/motivation
•    Technology can facilitate the transfer from teacher-centered to learner-centered environments
•    Enhance the authenticity of the learning process
•    Help develop 21st Century Learning Skills
•    Inspire creativity
  


I also updated my Technology Template Bundle (Wordle, Glogster, Stripgenerator Xtranormal, Voki, Blabberize, Bombay TV, Wordle, Wallwisher, Livebinders, ) and added the LiveBinders template to it so it now contains student instruction sheets with screen shots and rubrics for 10 different popular websites in education!


Sunday, November 6, 2011

10 FREE Downloads; Thanksgiving items; Teaching beyond the test‏

Have you checked out this week's 10 FREE DOWNLOADS on TPT yet? You will find some great tips from teachers on test prep and high stakes tests, as well as some fun Thanksgiving activities! I was also excited to see that seven out of the ten downloads this week can be used at the middle school, or high school level. There will be a lot of great FREEBIES for me to share with the teachers at my school this week. I really liked all of the secondary education downloads this week, but I will have to say that my favorite was "Phases of the Moon Rap Video". So cute and catchy! I still have it stuck in my head   

Phases of The Moon Rap Video
by Songs of Higher Learning
Grades 4 - 9

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Bombay TV "Subtitle Your Movies" Activities and Student Examples

 

Looking for a really fun writing activity that incorporates technology?  This online assignment allows students to create a film from old foreign video clips, and type in their own subtitles to go along with it! The activity contains directions with screenshots, a checklist, and a rubric to make it super easy to use. There are a few different Grapheine websites to choose from: Bombay TVBombay TV2, and Futebol TV. Your students that are into sports will love the soccer clip option. This assignment was one of my students' all-time favorites!




Student Work Examples from Stripgenerator Assignment

I wrote a blog back in September about my Stripgenerator activities in English, French, and Spanish. I mentioned it to a French teacher on Twitter the other day, and the teacher asked if I had any student examples. I realized that I did and that I should have posted them in my previous blog. So here they are now!

French I Assignment: Normally with lower levels I give students a lot of flexibility in what they write. Sometimes I let them make a comic about whatever they want as long as they are practicing writing in French. One assignment I have done before in French I with stripgenerator is to have them practice greetings and introductions.


French II and French III student examples: In these two assignments students had to practice using object pronouns and also commands with object pronouns. In French II, I have also had students make comics where they practiced the past tense.





Wednesday, November 2, 2011

French and Spanish Music


If you ask your students what they are interested in, I would bet that many of them would mention the type of music that they like to listen to, or their favorite artist. Why not incorporate music into your World Language classroom? There are a couple of great sites out there that will help you to easily implement this.

Zachary Jones has an amazing website for Spanish teachers, and one of the categories is the "Clozeline 2011: Spanish Music Cloze Activities". On the site you have access to the music as well as free activities that go along with each song. The songs are already labeled by grammar topic or vocabulary theme so you can easily match them up with the units that you teach! Then if you want to show your students the music video, you can go do that on www.youtube.com. Each activity is also linked to National Standards.

If you teach French then you should check out AATFrench's youtube channel for a collection of French music videos. Maybe you can look at Zachary Jones worksheets in order to get some ideas for creating your own French Cloze activities.

In addition, you can have your students create their own music videos in the target language! When I taught French Conversation and Composition, I had my students do a project where they had to research a French artist or group. One component of the project was to create their own version of the music video. I was about to post an example video from one of the student groups, but it looks like their youtube account is no longer open. I'll try to find another one to post soon, along with the project!
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