Get outside! Chalk drawings!
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Get outside! Chalk drawings!

Close to the end of the year, I like to find new things to do to keep things interesting and fresh for the kids, and for myself. We are all so burnt out, if I can find new activities or games to keep their interest and engagement high and keep me from pulling every hair…
May 14, 2017Posted inUncategorized
Best Valentine’s Day EVER!
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Best Valentine’s Day EVER!

I am so annoyed that I couldn't have TRIED this with students BEFORE today, so that I could have shared it for y'all to use TODAY! Darn it! Well, save this post for next Valentine's Day because OH MY GOSH this lesson was DY-NO-MITE and you can TOTALLY use it for multiple levels (I am…
February 14, 2017Posted inUncategorized
OWL in my CI classroom
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OWL in my CI classroom

OWL stands for Organic World Languages. Last spring, Darcy Rogers, who is the founder of OWL came to my school to do a workshop with our WL teachers. Up until that point, I had felt very alone in my department as far as how language should be acquired and taught. She was an outside voice…
January 18, 2017Posted inUncategorized
Brain Breaks Part 5: Brain Bursts!
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Brain Breaks Part 5: Brain Bursts!

Fluency Matters recently gave me the opportunity to do a webinar about Brain Breaks. I had so much fun! I always tell people who feel overwhelmed with the thought of Brain Breaks that they shouldn't be daunting and they can be as quick and short as you want them to be. (Teachers of EVERY content area…
January 5, 2017Posted inUncategorized
Brain Breaks Part 4: Hand jives
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Brain Breaks Part 4: Hand jives

Sara Broussard came to hang out in my class a couple of months ago and she introduced my sixth graders to an AWESOME new brain break that was a HUGE hit. She read about it on the Musicuentos blog. Click here to link to that blog. Basically, it is a version of the "collaborative hand-jive" (for…
November 8, 2016Posted inUncategorized
No Place for Politics
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No Place for Politics

Here we are.... the eve of the 2016 election.... One of the most highly anticipated elections in history! One with more heat, debate, disagreements, hatred, and controversy than most would like to discuss. Others however, LOVE the adrenaline of the "fight". I have a very strict NO POLITICS rule in my classroom. I have had…
November 8, 2016Posted inUncategorized
Dichos ROCK! Teaching idioms in a CI classroom.
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Dichos ROCK! Teaching idioms in a CI classroom.

Click here for a Google Slide Show which I will update as I add dichos throughout the year. This year I decided I would start including "dichos" in Spanish class. Dichos are idioms. They are often SO funny and SO different from English. The students find them hysterical, and they learn SO much new vocabulary…
September 24, 2016Posted inUncategorized