RLRA Principle #3 : Facilitate Practice
Let me introduce to you RLRA Principle #3: Facilitate Practice. Much like learning a musical instrument or a sport, language is a skill, and practice is absolutely necessary for improvement. My priority for any class period with any age group is to allow students to practice the language with one another and with me as much as possible.
RLRA Principle #2 : Give them the tools
As Denise and I have reflected on our teaching and resource creation, we have distilled our approach to language teaching into four guiding principles. We hope you were able to read about RLRA Principle #1, and please stay tuned for two more important principles in upcoming blog posts.
RLRA Principle #2 is…Give them the tools.
RLRA Principle #1 : Keep things in the Target Language
In my personal life, I have been influenced by Kendra Adachi’s The Lazy Genius Way. I’ve read her books and listen regularly to her podcast. I love reflecting on the sixteen principles that she lays out, and I apply them to my every day living.
Winter ❄️ Freebies ❄️ in French and Spanish
Happy December, colleagues! We are happy to offer a little something special for your students! This lesson, available in French and Spanish, provides a fun partner conversation that will get your students speaking right away about their plans for winter vacation. It also includes written and oral activities.
Engaging Vocabulary Games for Early Elementary World Language Classrooms
Denise and I have been using the Early Elementary Partner Conversations MEGA-Bundle as the foundation of our kindergarten and first grade curriculum for a few years now. We love how this curriculum has boosted our students’ confidence, their comprehension, and their willingness to practice interpersonal communication with their partner. Another benefit has been increased vocabulary acquisition…
Name Cards for the World Language Classroom
A number of years ago, we came up with our favorite teacher hack - creating photo name cards for each group of students. This is a teaching tool I feel I cannot live without. It’s a bit of work on the front end, but it pays off!
What to do on the first day of French or Spanish class: get them talking!
The first day of classes can be very nerve-wracking, and often we teachers end up doing a lot of the talking to get things going. I recently hosted a “French boot camp” for new middle school students, and this lesson was a great way to get things started.
Elementary Readers in French and Spanish
We are excited to announce that we have completed our set of Elementary Readers in French and Spanish! They are now available both here on our website and on TPT. These original stories are designed as an end-of-the-unit activity for each unit in Level 1, revisiting the language the students have been practicing in a “novel” way! Students feel so accomplished when they can read and understand a book in the target language, and they feel even more accomplished when they can write and share their own stories!
Springtime 🌸 Freebies 🌸 in French and Spanish
Happy Spring, everyone! To celebrate the coming of flowers and birds and bike rides, we are happy to offer you a little treat for your students!
Task Cards in French and Spanish
We are excited to offer another free resource to support teachers who are using our program. As students move through an RLRA unit, we are seeking to give them enough practice time that they own the language we are targeting.
Free resources to get your students talking!
Denise and I talk a lot about wanting the students to “own” the language we are teaching. To me, this means being able to respond spontaneously to the questions we practice in class, and even better, being able to come up with the question to ask someone else!
A rewards system that works!
The system is simple. We print off many pages of the tickets at the beginning of each marking period and cut them out. Whenever a student answers a question correctly, performs a dialogue in front of the class, or shows particular enthusiasm for learning a new language, we give them a ticket. It is also a great reward for winning a game, practicing a conversation especially well, or singing a song with enthusiasm.