This is a typical first day of school lesson plan for me. The goals for the day would be: -Students connect with the teacher on a personal level -Set the tone of students being up out of their seat and moving, and speaking Spanish -An upbeat, energetic tone to start the year. -Reviewing classroom expectations
1. Levántense, Sientense Without using any English, I start with some basic TPR to get the students up and out of their seat and moving. Here is the vocabulary we would typically learn: levántense, sientense, levanten la mano, bajen la mano, levanten dos manos, toquen la cabeza, toquen el pupitre, no toquen el pupitre, toquen la boca, toquen la nariz Other Possible Vocab could be: toquen el lápiz, levanten el lápiz, toquen la carpeta, levanten la carpeta, toquen la pluma, levanten la pluma, etc. Here is a video example below of the type of energy and pace I would use: (Please forgive the mistakes! This was just a quick on the spot video! It was harder to demonstrate this without actual students in the room! )
2. Show a powerpoint of personal pictures of your family, and two truths and a lie. Here is an example of a powerpoint that I would typically use. This is a recording I made for one of my online classes. When doing this powerpoint with my actual students I tell a lot of stories, answer a lot of questions and spend at least 15 minutes or so going through it. The goal is to have the students connect with you and start feeling comfortable with you.
3. Review Classroom Expectations. Personally, I have just two expectations in my classroom, and have them posted in several areas. I go through these two expectations with my class, and try to even give some fun, but clear examples of what not meeting this expectations look like. -Treat others the way you want to be treated. -I make sure students understand that it is not okay to laugh or make fun of anyone for making a mistake. Failure is part of success. -I explain that treating a teacher the way they want to be treated is part of this. Sometimes, I ask if anyone has a story to share from the past weekend or summer. When they begin, I turn away from them and start talking to other students as a fun/funny example of how it looks when students talk when the teacher is talking. - Participate and always have a good attitude. -We take some time to set-up what is expected during class activities, and acknowledge that they may feel uncomfortable getting out of their seat, singing, speaking Spanish out loud, etc., but they are still expected to do it because it is crucial to their success.
4. Review syllabus/class details. I spend just a couple of minutes going over some basic policies and procedures.
5. Play "Yo Tengo" Brief Description: Students place their chairs or desks in a circle. Have one student start in the middle and say something they have or have done. All students who also have the same thing, or have done the same thing move to a new chair. The person stuck in the middle without a chair has to say the next statement. Game Set-up/Rules 1. Set-up chairs in a circle and have the students sit down No chairs/not enough room? You can have the students stand in a circle and have them mark their spot with their folders. 2. Choose one student to stand in the middle of the circle, and remove their chair from the circle. 3. Have that student say "Me llamo_________ y yo tengo_____________", With Spanish 1 students, I actually allow them to say whatever they'd like in English after "Yo tengo".... even if it is something like "yo tengo been to California". Obviously linguistically that doesn't work, and it is Spanglish, but the main goals here are: -team building -learning students names -students learn two new vocab phrases: Me llamo, and yo tengo If students are advanced, this could be modified to be any statement made in the preterite of something they've done 4. If it is true about the students sitting in the circle, they need to find a new chair to sit in, as well as the person who was in the middle. The person left without a chair reads the next statement.
6. Puedo Ir Al Baño If time left, I Show Sr. Wooly's Puedo Ir Al Baño video