Sunday, January 22, 2017

Switching Up My Spanish 2 Review Packet

Hi guys! Long time, no talk! A lot has happened in the Baxter world over the past few months. Let's me show you through a little picture...



My precious Ben entered the world on December 8th and let's just say...my time has been limited. I love it when people say "You'll be home on maternity & babies just sleep, eat, & poop so therefore...you'll have lots of free time." NOT when you decide to keep your 3 year old home with you & the baby at the same time. AND when you have a baby that wants to be Held.All.The.Time! 

Anyways, back to what you're interested in...so I'll be going back to work here in a couple weeks & we'll start our last & final trimester! Wooh, summer is around the corner! I need this more than ever! 

Anyways, again, (shew, have you noticed I haven't had any ADULT talk in a while) Focus Brittany!!! With a new trimester is the usual review packet over the past Spanish class. I give a review packet for EVERY new Spanish class because we are on weird trimesters and our students may or may not get consecutive Spanish classes...meaning they may go 3 or more months without a Spanish class. They forget....everything! Unfortunately, we do have to spend a decent amount of time reviewing previous concepts because well, you can't teach stem changer conjugation if the students haven't mastered conjugated in general. 

So, I always give a review packet...and it's a hefty hefty one. When the students see if they go through mixed emotions. Excited they are reviewing & not jumping straight in, scared when they see how big it is, but relieved when I tell them they will receive a few days to go over it. 

This trimester instead of just handing out the packet & letting them work on it over the next few days...I am going to do something a bit different. Higher engagement, higher enthusiasm, and raising higher confidence levels in the language. 

Normally I would tell my kiddos when doing the packet if you don't know a section, just skip it, do what you know, and then we will go over the answers. Yeah, I had kids bringing me their packets saying "This is all I know." (and the two who sections they worked on). Yes, we all have those kiddos. 

Okay, so the new way: I love stations. Love, love love them! I actually have my room set up in 6 tables of 6 people. I don't always have 36 kids...usually around 28 but this works for me. So, my room is ready. Also, I think getting to get up & move around does wonders. 

So I decided to take this packet & divide it up into 6 sections but provide "Helpful Documents & Resources" that basically gives "hints" to helping figure out the content. Now, the kids won't be like "this is it" 

But, I don't just want to THROW the resources out on the table & say okay in 20 minutes we'll switch so here is my plan: 

1. You arrive at your station & you ONLY work on the sections assigned to the table. You will receive 10 to 15 minutes (can change once I see how they are doing) to figure out as much as you can. 
2. After this time period, you can grab the "Helping Resources" & add any missed information. You will receive an additional time limit to this activity. 
3. Then, if you haven't figured it out by then, you will take the highlighter & highlight the sections you don't know. 
4. Move onto the next station, do THOSE assigned sections & repeat. 
5. At the very end, I am going to provide a "Get What You Need" period. This is ONLY going to last 10 minutes because I don't want this to become social time. So it's highly monitored & time limited. 

Lastly, I will give a grade for completion of the packet. This whole station activity will last over the course of a few days. I don't expect to get this done in one class period. 

Here's why I wanted to add this activity: 
1. Higher accountability - no dilly dallying around 
2. Prevent Boredom - working on an 18 page packet will bring this on
3. Higher Engagement - the switching, working with resources, and group shakes it up 
4. Higher Levels of Confidence - if the students can just see a little hint, it may help them figure it out without leaving everything blank & not caring 
5. It's just more fun - for me...hopefully for them too :) 

So there you have it. My "New Way" of doing the Spanish 2 Packet. 

I want to clarify that I have TWO Spanish 2 review packets...one for coming INTO Spanish 2 & one for mid-year/2nd semester/after Christmas. This one I made the "Helper Resources" is for the mid-year/2nd semester/after Christmas. 

Overall, if you have a huge packet or large load of work, simply take a marker & try dividing it up. This is a great universal accommodation for all students. 

If you would like to purchase my Spanish 2 (2nd semester) Review Packet, here is the link below. It comes with the packet AND a ppt that has all the answers divided up in sections: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2nd-Semester-Spanish-2-Review-Packet-PPT-2970264

If you would like to purchase the "Helpful Resources" the link is below: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Helpful-Student-Resources-for-End-of-Spanish-2-Review-Packet-2974686

If you are interested in the "Entering Spanish 2" review packet, here is the link below (it does not include the ppt within the product): 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Total-Review-for-Spanish-2-2024060

If you are interested in the "Entering Spanish 2 PPT" for the review packet, here is the link below: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Total-Review-for-Spanish-2-PowerPoint-2024103


If you all have any questions about any of the products/documents, feel free to email me at brittanybaxter777@gmail.com 

Thanks & God Bless! 
Britt B. 

3 comments:

  1. Hello fellow Spanish teacher (I teach 8th grade, levels III, IV, and next year I'll be adding AP to my plate)-

    I am always excited when there is an update waiting for me in my inbox when I come in the morning!

    I have a potential extension to share for the highlighted, "I'm not sure" sections of the review packet. I use Micro-Symposiums (my own blog link is pasted below) to have students teach each other. I'd have students look at their highlighted sections, decide which one is the HARDEST and then have them research how to teach that section to their peers.

    Just a thought! Thanks for the valuable resource that is your blog!

    https://gritandrigor.com/2016/11/11/micro-symposium/

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  2. Congrats on Ben, Brittany!
    I love stations, too - boredom does NOT seem to enter into the equation those days. :)

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  3. I have a maybe too personal question: are you a pumping mother/teacher? as in, do you pump at work? I'm a pumping mother/teacher and would like some advice on maybe taking some stress off. It just seems to not be working out if you're a teacher.

    ReplyDelete