The first time I ever traveled outside of NYS I can remember thinking, "Wow, there is a whole world out there for me to discover." Unfortunately this is rubbed in my face everyday as I teacher right next to the Buffalo Airport and I can literally watch planes take off outside of my window. So, at times, I wish I was on those planes on my way to explore another part of this big ol' world.
Since I do not have the money or time to do so right now, and neither do my students. I should you things such as ePals to being the world to them. ePals is used in many classrooms across the world to practice languages, understand customs, and communicate with other classrooms.
If you have a classroom that is studying Spanish in the United States, it is very easy to connect with another classroom in another Spanish speaking country that might be learning English. Students can practice their language skills with other students all across the world. Students are able to learn languages through experience.
Immediately as I explored this site, I thought about using it in my classroom. There is a section on this site called "A Taste of Culture". Students participate in creating a cookbook in the target language and eventually bring one of the dishes in. I thought about using this during a food unit. Students could each pick a different recipe and different country. They could research a fairly easy recipe and write it out in English and in Spanish. At the end of the week, students could make the dish, bring it to class, and share it with their peers. They could tell them what is in the dish by making a list of the items in Spanish and leaving it next to the dish.
Another obvious idea is to connect with a teacher and their class that is using the target language. My students love to learn the "slang" of Spanish speaking countries. I think it would be fun to share some of this slang with another classroom across the world. Eventually we might be able to exchange addresses and send them some fun things from the U.S. I know I would love a Spanish spekaing teacher to send me things in the target language. Even if it was a newspaper, my students would love that kind of stuff.
Any suggestions?
Hasta luego,
How about exchanging videos of a typical school day or a video or photo-story of your town? How about exchanging photo-stories or comic strips. All this could be done by exchanging links. : )
ReplyDeleteAlissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree. When I was learning Spanish in high school my teacher went to great lengths to find teachers and classes in Spanish speaking countries for us to interact with via the web and looking back it was certainly helpful.