Deditos

Here is a great classroom activity. It is perfect for those days when you realize that you still have 15 minutes of class left and absolutely nothing to fill them with.

Now, before you start judging me about not having adequate lesson plans, let me just remind you that our class periods are an hour and a half long. It's pretty hard to plan a cohesive class that will run that long. Some days you run out of time, some days you run out of material. This was one of the latter. Here is what you do on those kinds of days

1. Announce to the class that they need to go sit next to someone who they feel comfortable with. The more awkward you are about this announcement, the more they worry about what may be coming next. I am not opposed to a little worry now and then. It keeps them on their toes.

2. Tell them that they need to write a letter on each finger. Yes, one letter per finger. No, it does not need to spell anything. No, you cannot use pencil. You aren't allowed to write on your hands because you are a cheerleader? Then please write 10 letters on a piece of paper, rip them off, and tape them onto your fingers. No, numbers are not considered letters. (?!)

3. Now, they need to look at all 20 letters and try to come up with Spanish words that they can spell by putting their fingers together.

4. The teacher will come around with a digital camera and capture the words they have come up with. Thankfully, I had my camera with me that day!

Here is the outcome:

Lovely chipped nailpolish. This is actually a new word that a lot of them have learned this year. Algo= something. One of my goals this year (Spanish 2 honors) is to teach them circumlocution words, like place, thing, something, someone, etc. Little did these girls know that I would be so proud that they thought of this word!

Secarse= to dry oneself. When anyone would really need this word to survive in another country is beyond me. But we were learning reflexive verbs, so what can you do?Luego= later.

Noviembre= November. Believe it or not. What I don't think I believe is that these were actually the letters they had originally written on their fingers. That M looks an awful lot like it used to be a T.

Fea- ugly (feminine). Hopefully they weren't inspired by their teacher..

Cheerleader!!!! Boda= wedding.