After debating whether I should or should not create an activity for Spanish students related to the Thanksgiving Holiday, I came to the conclusion that it was necessary. Although it is not celebrated in a same manner in Latin America, I believe that students of the Spanish language need to know how to describe this tradition in the language they are studying! Thus, I created one listening activity with three different levels of difficulty, with the goal in ming that after practicing and completing the activities more than once, students would recognize (and even use) some of the basic vocabulary related to Thanksgiving. Here are some ideas to make this set of activities successful:
A. Pre-listening: Write the "El día de Acción de Gracias" on the board, and have students brainstorm the vocabulary they already know related to this holiday. Expand the vocabulary list by prompting them, such as by saying the word in Spanish and have them guess what it means. Go through a round or two of pronunciation, to help them hear themselves producing the sounds the words. Then, pair them up, and have them work in pairs or small groups. One says the words in random order while the other (not looking at the list) says what it means. Intermediate students can stay in the target language by using circumlocution to describe the terms.
B. Listening: Play the audio from the Easy Thanksgiving Day Activity, and have students write down on a piece of paper as many words as they can understand. Then, have them share their list with each other using Spanish only. If you only have one computer and a projector, project activity one (the easy one) on the screen. To encourage active participation, ask all students to take out a piece of paper. They will use it to write down the answers from the fill-in-the-gaps activity. You may want to pause after each gap, to give them enough time to write. Then, have them check their answers with each other. Ask for a volunteer to type the answers on the screen for everyone to see.
Move on to the "Medium" level. The procedure is similar as above, but this time they get to work in pairs. When they are done, have them check their answers with other groups. Then, have a volunteer write the answers on the computer for everyone else to see.
Finally, it's time to get loud. Line up your students in 4 lines in front of the board. It may be a good idea to divide the board in 4 sections, since each line is a team. They can arrange themselves in any order they want. Use the "Hard" activity for this. The goal is to write the missing information from the fill-in-the gap activity on the board as fast and as accurately as possible. The first team to finish gets a point. Rotate students for every gap. The team with the most points wins!
C. Post-Listening
Now it may be a good time to have students produce the language while talking about this holiday with the the information they know now. As an extended assignment, have them do the activities at home. You can ask them to complete any of the levels accordingly, and print it (or save it and email it to you) as a proof of completion.
¡Buena suerte y feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!
Click Here to view the activities: Spanish Thanksgiving Activities
A. Pre-listening: Write the "El día de Acción de Gracias" on the board, and have students brainstorm the vocabulary they already know related to this holiday. Expand the vocabulary list by prompting them, such as by saying the word in Spanish and have them guess what it means. Go through a round or two of pronunciation, to help them hear themselves producing the sounds the words. Then, pair them up, and have them work in pairs or small groups. One says the words in random order while the other (not looking at the list) says what it means. Intermediate students can stay in the target language by using circumlocution to describe the terms.
B. Listening: Play the audio from the Easy Thanksgiving Day Activity, and have students write down on a piece of paper as many words as they can understand. Then, have them share their list with each other using Spanish only. If you only have one computer and a projector, project activity one (the easy one) on the screen. To encourage active participation, ask all students to take out a piece of paper. They will use it to write down the answers from the fill-in-the-gaps activity. You may want to pause after each gap, to give them enough time to write. Then, have them check their answers with each other. Ask for a volunteer to type the answers on the screen for everyone to see.
Move on to the "Medium" level. The procedure is similar as above, but this time they get to work in pairs. When they are done, have them check their answers with other groups. Then, have a volunteer write the answers on the computer for everyone else to see.
Finally, it's time to get loud. Line up your students in 4 lines in front of the board. It may be a good idea to divide the board in 4 sections, since each line is a team. They can arrange themselves in any order they want. Use the "Hard" activity for this. The goal is to write the missing information from the fill-in-the gap activity on the board as fast and as accurately as possible. The first team to finish gets a point. Rotate students for every gap. The team with the most points wins!
C. Post-Listening
Now it may be a good time to have students produce the language while talking about this holiday with the the information they know now. As an extended assignment, have them do the activities at home. You can ask them to complete any of the levels accordingly, and print it (or save it and email it to you) as a proof of completion.
¡Buena suerte y feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!
Click Here to view the activities: Spanish Thanksgiving Activities