El fin del curso

Yes, it's finally summer! Time to enjoy the weather and take a break from lesson planning and grading. Pero primero, I wanted to share my 7th grade, end of year, final presentation.

7th grade is the first time my students have Spanish, and we work on many building blocks - alphabet, numbers, regular verbs, descriptions, etc. They are limited in their ability to express themselves, but I try to bring it all together in a presentation where they can express a lot of ideas. I call it, Mi Amigo Nuevo. In small groups, a person is traced on a long piece of paper and each group then creates a new friend - their outfit, personality, family, interests, etc. Groups are always imaginative and have fun with the project. After designing is complete (we label body parts to review our last mini unit), groups prepare the information for their presentation and rehearse. Students have a chance to reach a 4 (exceeding expectations) when they are audience members. They must really listen to other groups' presentation and ask quality questions about their new friend. I find the project pulls kids through to the end of the year and brings together all of the language they've learned. It also makes for some great classroom decorations!

Disfruta del verano. ¡Os lo merecéis!