This is what I’ve been saying to students and colleagues lately: the last Hoorah. I’m tired. The students are tired. Teachers and students everywhere are tired. Yet, the work is not finished. There are reviews to conduct, exams to administer and assess, reports to write, end-of-year festivities and meetings to attend…it all becomes just too much.Still, I somehow muster up the energy, as do most of my students.
Energy levels for both the students and me were especially low on Friday; the pending long weekend was a significant factor, along with the aforementioned. So, yesterday’s classes combined final exam review with games. We did a whole-class version of tic-tac-toe to review direct and indirect object pronouns. Additionally, we played Lotería to review vocabulary from several chapters ago. Last, we did a variation of the classic children’s game, “Musical Chairs”, to practice questions. The students were not only fully engaged, but they were also (re)learning.
The best part? The students were doing the work, a.k.a. The heavy lifting.
I would LOVE to hear more about the “Musical Chairs” game.
@Miss Teacha An idea I got from some materials I purchased. Anyway, I wrote questions in Spanish on index cards that students in Spanish 2 should know and be able to answer. The cards are placed face-down on the chairs. The game proceeds as usual. When the music stops, students scramble to find a chair, and read and respond to the question on their seats. The answering of the questions doesn’t take students out of the game, but is a more engaging way of practicing them. I also play music from the Spanish-speaking world: something upbeat, like merengue or salsa, to name two. I hope this hels.
Love this idea. I will try to implement something similarly in History! Thanks for sharing!