Mini Project 3

This video activity would be used in a second year high school Spanish class during a 50 minute block. It would be included in a unit where the students are studying daily routines which include reflexive verbs, which would have been introduced during the previous class period. The main goals of this activity are for the students to be able to interpret meaning in the video, be able to recognize the reflexive verbs, and be able to determine the appropriate uses of reflexive verbs. Also, the students will be able to compare the daily routines seen on the video with their own through communication in Spanish.

Activity – Reflexive verb video
(All to be completed in the target language)
· Prior to viewing: Students will be asked the questions “What is a reflexive verb?” “When do we use reflexive verbs?” and will be asked to jot down some examples of reflexive verbs. (5 min.)
· While viewing: Students will be instructed to jot down any and all reflexive verbs that they hear in the video. Video will be shown two times. (10 min.)
· After viewing: Students will write about the daily routine of the person in the video. They will then get in to pairs and discuss how their own daily routines are similar and different from the person and the video and from each other. (15 min.)
· Students will then individually create a story line including illustrations which will depict their own daily routines. Students must use a minimum of 5 different reflexive verbs. (20 min.)

Assessment:
--Active participation in class discussion/interpersonal task: 40%
--Completion of daily routine story line: 60%
- minimum of 5 different reflexive verbs: 25%
- grammatical accuracy: 25%
- original illustrations: 10%

a Podcast about Podcasts! PS - i dont have a lisp in real life. i think the microphone was too close to my face.

Second Life...

Before exploring Second Life in class last Monday, I have to be honest, I thought the idea behind Second Life was rediculous! It seemed silly to me that people would want to create a "virtual alter ego". While I still think the idea in general is a little silly, I had so much fun exploring second life through my "avatar"! I got really in to it and found myself wanting to continue even after time was up in class. That lets me know that if I enjoyed it so much then students certainly would be interested and excited to! While I am not sure at this point if I completely agree with pedagogical benefits of using Second Life, I do see the validity of the arguments behind the idea. I can certainly agree that the affective filter would be low using second life because of the degree of anonymity that Second Life offers. Students that may be timid using the language in the classroom setting would probably be comfortable communicating in the TL in Second Life. Also, although it is not genuine "face to face" interaction, communicating on Second Life does resemble the flow of natural conversation. My question is, would using Second Life to communicate in the TL provide opportunities for oral proficiency or just for written proficiency???