Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Conjugation Race

Got a little time to spare? My kids this week have been kicking butt in class! They have read, wrote, taken so many notes, created sentences, and so much more. I thought it was time to have a little fun and to honestly get them off their feet. 

Conjugation is STILL something my kids struggle with yes in Spanish 2! After trimester classes, switching teachers within Spanish 1, and long summers...sometimes it is just one of those things that slip the mind. 

We have been practicing a lot in class here lately and I copied this game from my KTIP teacher and made slight adjustments to pep it up. 



Okay here's the game steps: 
1. Count how many people are in your class. You'll be dividing by two so that is how many people will be on each team. 

2. Ask for 2 team captains. I have them come up and stand by me. I have learned it's really embarrassing when the kids are calling their friends up one by one to be on their team. Usually the unpopular kid, shy kid, or not as intelligent kid gets left out so I made some adjustments. 



3. Instead of letting them pick, you say things like "Okay, Timmy (one of the leaders) what is your favorite class?" Timmy answers "Math" I say "Who also likes Math?" Hands go up. I simply pick just a random person who raised their hand, the closest, or someone who I think Timmy wouldn't USUALLY work with. Bam, you're on Timmy's team. Then I ask for Maddie "Okay, Maddie...what is your favorite subject?" She says "Spanish" (what a doll). Then hands go up in the air of everyone who also likes Spanish. Once again, I just simply pick a person (make it simple). 

4. Continue to ask questions like this (Birthday Month, Favorite Sport, Color, Food, Hobby, Class, etc) Eventually the teams are divided. 

5. Now give the kids 30 seconds to pick up their stuff (I usually do this more towards the end of class) and to move to the side of their captain. 

6. Now # the kids 1 to whatever. Do the same with the other side. 

7. Then show the kids how each team will get a small white board and a marker. 

8. Call random #'s up (5) and tell them they are to get in a straight line. Those 5 people are going to represent Yo, Tu, El/Ella, Nosotros, Ellos/Ustedes (sorry can't get accents to work). So essentially you'll have 10 people up in front of the class (5 from each team). I let them get in ANY order they want. I tell them to put their strongest for the Yo and Ellos/Ustedes. 



9. I write down a verb on the board (this week we are focusing on stem changers) and GO, CONJUGATE!

10. ONE PERSON CAN ONLY WRITE ONE CONJUGATION. So the person representing the YO can only write for YO, 2nd person can only write for Tu, and so on. When done, they run and place it in my hand. If there are errors, the other team can steal. If they're wrong, it can go back to the other team until someone has it right. 

Shew, we played it today and it was SOOOO much fun! The kids got into it and had a blast. I didn't realize how competitive my Spanish 2 kids were!

Anyways, try it out! I think it will be a blast!

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