Grammar thoughts

I do believe it is good to share all the sides of the coin with your students. Our certainties but also our doubts our mistakes our struggles. I heard once that the most important quality of a teacher is "to be".
In this serial I want to talk about reflections I bring up to my class. Sometimes they seem too deep, others too realistic and the impact this activities have in my students are varied too but I really think it is worth it to take some minutes from my class to help them think about the language itself, some other folks call that "metacognition" as well.
The power of this idea is the connection we try to make between the student and the language and the change of our public image as teachers. The point is the honesty, the transparency, the unexpected. None of my students expected to be reflecting in a foreign language class this is the change of paradigm we need in our classes. We have to give our classes the value they deserve. We are working with culture, which is the core of our beliefs.

Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little 

falls into lazy habits of thinking.

Albert Einstein 

Lunaprofe 3/04/2015  No comment

IB Profile in Spanish: Reflective

Hi there!
Another poster to use in your class. The image is a very famous one about Bobby Fischer who perfectly reflects this attribute.
In sources and links are a really interesting document if you are looking for activities to teach/learn the IB Profile for your IB course. And, remember, if you have new activities not listed in the document share with the community.
Have you made a poster about the IB Profile in your class and want to share it out? Contact us ;)

If you are looking for activities in Spanish to work along with IB posters check this post.


Do you want to know more?

Sources and links:

• IB Profile posts in antonioluna.org
• IBLP collaborative document
• IB Profile in Spanish

Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little 

falls into lazy habits of thinking.

Albert Einstein

Lunaprofe 12/12/2014  No comment

"Pirates" tongue twisters: "RRRR"

Tongue twisters are really useful when learning a second language. They help you out with your pronunciation, you have fun while practicing them...
Tongue twisters are linguistic tools to improve on our pronunciation but at the same time are cultural snapshots from the target language as well. 
They are a tool for improving our sounds in the language we are studying and develop fluency. They work really well because the stress bar is set really low when practicing a tongue twister. 
In our minds they are link to our childhood when we were practicing tongue twisters in our Primary/Elementary School, at home with our parents or challenging our friends to see who could say it faster and correct.
Just because all these you should consider including tongue twisters in your language class.

A potential activity you can do with this visual resource is to have your students recording one of these three tongue twisters focused on "r" sound. Sometimes doing this a student realize how much progress he/she is making and is a good push for his/her motivation and/or can identify better what he/she needs to work on.

Some more possible activities you can do in class are:

• Start reading aloud a simple tongue twister slow. For instance: cuchara, cucharita, cucaracha.
• You can add words with similar sound to make it more difficult to say it.
• You can propose to your class to look for words that has a similar sound and make a class tongue twister.
• Practice tongue twisters speeding them up little by little. Try this one about tongue twisters:

El trabalenguas del trabalenguas

Si al pronunciar te trabas con las palabras,

practica con trabalenguas,

porque trabalenguando, trabalenguando,

te irás destrabalenguando.

Want to know more about tongue twisters? Check this post!

• Tongue Twisters: a funny resource to learn a language 

You can never be overdressed or overeducated

Oscar Wilde

Lunaprofe 12/08/2014  No comment

Expressions in Spanish: Empezar la casa por el tejado

I want this post to be simple, because simplicity is a hard goal to pursue ;)
You will find: 

1. Resources to learn/review/teach this expression in Spanish
2. A visual resource to provide your students with
3. A beautiful "pop" song in Spanish on this topic to practice pronunciation and see the expression in context.
4. An informative article about economical crisis using this expression in context too.

The context this expression normally can be found is when you realize you haven't done something well form the beginning or when you want to give this type of advice to somebody you see he/she is doing something all the way around he/she should be doing it.

If you want more expressions in Spanish click here

Want to know more?

• Spanish song from "Fito y Fitipaldis" to practice "empezar la casa por el tejado" [Youtube]
• Podcast in Spanish about "empezar la casa por el tejado" [Spanishpodcast]
• "La casa por el tejado" artículo periodístico sobre la crisis económica [Huffington Post]

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

Victor Hugo

Lunaprofe 11/22/2014  No comment

Criterios de evaluación para el trabajo escrito. Español BI NM.

En estos tiempos la Organización del Bachillerato Internacional está viviendo un momento muy intenso, un tiempo de cambio en el que hay muchas actualizaciones y a los profesores que trabajamos con estos programas nos cuesta estar al día con todas las modificaciones que se introducen. Por eso, me he propuesto hacer esta entrada para recoger las últimas actualizaciones y explicar como funcionan y expresar mi opinión. Esta entrada va dirigida a los sufridos profesores de español del BI y a los alumnos [no menos sufridos :P]

¿Cómo van a ser evaluados los trabajos escritos de nuestros alumnos? [Guía de lengua B, 2015]

La puntuación máxima del trabajo escrito es de 24 puntos y supone el 20% de la nota final del alumno.
El trabajo escrito tiene que estar conectado/relacionado con los temas troncales [Problemas globales, relaciones sociales y medios de comunicación], tiene que tener una extensión de entre 300 y 400 palabras más una fundamentación de 150 a 200 palabras. 
¡Ojo! ¡Cuidado con el número de palabras, porque se tendrá en cuenta negativamente si escribe más y también menos de lo requerido. Además si escribe más palabras de lo estipulado sólo se tendrán en cuenta para la evaluación el número de palabras máximo permitido.

A continuación presentamos una serie de preguntas que nos ayudarán a centrar el trabajo de nuestros alumnos para alcanzar la máxima puntuación en cada criterio:

Criterio A: Fundamentación y tarea [10 puntos]
Preguntas:

• ¿En qué medida el alumno utiliza la fundamentación y la tarea para completar el trabajo escrito?
• ¿En qué medida la tarea se presenta con claridad en la fundamentación?
• ¿En qué medida la tarea aborda satisfactoriamente el tema, y el o los objetivos que se indican en la fundamentación?
• ¿En qué medida es apropiada la elección del tipo de texto para la tarea?

Otra forma de enfocar esta parte y de ayudar a nuestros alumnos [y a nosotros mismos] a entender mejor la tarea es prestar atención a los siguientes puntos:

• ¿Qué?
• ¿Cómo?
• ¿Por qué?
• ¿Organización?
• ¿Cumplimiento de los objetivos?
• ¿uso de las convenciones/formato específico?

Criterio B: Organización y desarrollo [6 puntos]

Preguntas:

• ¿En qué medida las ideas están organizadas y desarrolladas?

Criterio C: Lengua [8 puntos]

Preguntas:

• ¿En qué medida utiliza el alumno la lengua de forma apropiada y eficaz en relación con la tarea?

¿Quieres saber más?

• Explicación en la página web de IBO
• Ejemplo de un trabajo escrito de un alumno
• Evaluación del trabajo escrito [IBO]
• Trabajo escrito: la fundamentación [Antonio Luna]

Nunca consideres el estudio como una obligación, sino como una oportunidad para penetrar en el bello y maravilloso mundo del saber.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Lunaprofe 10/25/2014  No comment

Specific vocabulary: Internet

Hello all again!
Today I want to share a couple of images containing specific basic vocabulary to use on a daily basis: Internet. 
I know it sounds too easy but I have found out that sometimes this is that obvious that it doesn't get covered in any Spanish class. 
When can this specific vocabulary comes in handy?
The first time I realized the importance of it we were going through a web quest for my Spanish class. One of the requirements for my students were to cite their sources and they all turn to me when they reached that point of the task. 

Yes, our students usually have to cite their sources for their projects/essays... and nowadays almost every single source is on line, so that is what they use it. Therefore if we want our students to be ready for that we need to teach them this essential vocabulary.
I hope these two visuals come in handy to use them for your classes and also feel free to take the brief quiz below to check if you already mastered this specific vocabulary.

Check your answers here ;)

“Five years from now on the Web for free you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world. 

It will be better than any single university.”

– Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft (2010)

Want to expand your knowledge?

• Vocabulary list in English and Spanish
• Computer and Internet words
• A comprehensive list with audio

Lunaprofe 10/21/2014  No comment

Expressions in Spanish: Ser más lento que una tortuga

To learn expressions in the target language is essential because native speakers do use them all the time. 
Expressions are used in formal and informal speech. 
A language learner that is using expressions transmits certain information about him/her that is implied. Students communicating effectively with expressions show a deeper understanding of the language and also of the target culture.
This expression is just a comparison. A turtle is slow, doesn't go fast.
Sometimes expressions make sense in your native language others don't. It could be similar to phrasal verbs in English (just to some extent). So sometimes you will have to use just your memory to internalize them (you can use multiple techniques to do it, like acronyms, connect the expression to an image...)
What can we use expressions for?
For showing our proficiency in a language. Once you have mastered a certain number of expressions and include them in your interactions you are ready to go beyond the language borders.

Did you like the article? Share it! It's free ;)

“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race."

Kofi Annan (UN Secretary-General, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize Winner)

Lunaprofe 8/25/2014  No comment

Visual orthography: la coma

This visual can be used for teaching just the ortography or we can also show our students a couple of things about the multicultural world we are living in.
My students always love how different is the perspective of using the comma with numbers in Spanish and Engish. 

After reviewing this graphic, challenge yourself doing this on-line activity [Google form] where you have to rewrite some paragraphs using commas:

Learn when to write a "coma" 

Remember: Smiling has a lot of benefits.

  A study of the European Journal of Social Psychology found that smiling actually makes you more attractive to those you smile at, you are more personable, easy going and empathetic when you smile.

Source for online-activity: 

• Orlando Cáceres Ramírez [Perfil en About.com]
• www.about.com

Lunaprofe 6/09/2014  No comment

Visual orthography: Sino/Si no

Another poster 

• for a quick review 
• to post it in your class blog
• to make a poster and display it in your class
• to have a new idea with it
• ...

A possible activity:
I make my students to write a journal for my Spanish class. I like simple ideas: one class, one entry. For each entry I make them use a specific cohesive device / connector.
I use this poster to do a quick review during that class and then I project it on the board while they write their entry [I give them 5 minutes to write their daily entry at the end of each class].

Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.

Marie Curie

Lunaprofe 5/19/2014  No comment

Visual orthography: Punctuation [dos puntos]

I use these visual stimuli in my classes all the time, every day. 
It doesn't have to be something you really spend a lot of time on it. 
It works great to 

• warm up your class before you get into longer/more complicated things 
• use it like quick daily reminders
• use it as flashcards to review if you print them out and make a booklet with them
• use as posters to decorate and inspire your class
• .....

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

Albert Einstein

Lunaprofe 5/14/2014  No comment