Today I tried the Speaking/Listening Activity with my students. I cut down the speaking time to one minute, but students still had a hard time coming up with topics to speak about. It was funny for them to realize that they love to talk during class time but couldn't bring themselves to speak for a minute in front of the class. As much as I'm looking forward to the summer, I already know that I'm going to miss my kiddies.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
What's the greeting from CNMI??
Well, it's "Hafa Adai," for those of us who might not have had our coffee today--or Tuesday (me). Taking a page from our activity, I asked my students to share different phrases from their language. The classes were so into the "weird" and challenging sounds in each other's languages! It was nice to tap on the "experts" in the class and highlight the value of their existing knowledge. I was only shooting for a few phrases, but the classes kept wanting to find out more. I miss doing this, and I hope that in the years to come I can make this a regular thing--maybe a weekly phrase from all the languages represented in the class?
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Buenas yan hafa adai! Kumusta? With regard to the Speaking/Listening/activity, I have the same problem. There's another activity similar to this one. You divide the kids into 2 groups and form 2 cocentric cirlcles so that each student is facing a partner. Using a CD player, play some music and while the music is playing, have the students move in opposite directions (outside circle to clockwise, inside circle counterclockwise). Stop the music after a few bars. Instruct the students to stop when the music stops. Each student has one minute to talk about the topic then the other student talks for a minute. (you give them the subject to talk about such as "what is really important to you as a student?"; "what is the most pressing issue for you in world today," "what are your plans after graduation from high school," etc.) Then after a couple of minutes, play the music again and repeat the process at least four times. You will find that the kids become really engaged in this activity so that they don't want to stop. Great way to get ELL and English speakers conversing with minimal risk. Let me know if you try it.
ReplyDeleteCJ,
ReplyDeleteI believe that the greeting in CNMI is the same. Exactly what Faye said above, "Buenas yan hafa adai"!