“Some of us just weren’t born to go with the flow… We are unique and special.”
9th Grade Spanish 1 writers, readers, and speakers last week learned about verbs with an irregular “yo” form of -zco or -go. In addition to writing grammatical rules and taking turns applying them to the first-person singular form of common verbs like conocer, conducir, hacer, poner, tener, and many more, students also acted out statements in Spanish practicing the new conjugations (“Look at me! Yo salgo de la clase!” And, laughing, “No, I do not conduzco!”).
They also re-wrote a short story, either independently or with a partner, about a fun guy named Juan as if all the statements true of him were true of themselves. They laughed at the ambiguous age of this party-throwing, obedient, friendly stranger and were repeatedly asked to try their jokes again in Spanish, with much success. Students also played a favorite speeded practice game online for a short bout of competitive play with the same verbs.
With over 80% of their instruction and teacher support in the target language, and many chances for repeated practice across many modes (acted-out, notated, spoken, heard, recognized, translated, re-written with alterations), students’ joy, earnest effort, and risk-taking was evident throughout. These Spanish 1 students are developing their comfort and skill with an emphasis first on using and enjoying language, and then on accurate conjugation and grammar.