A large focus of our class is that students will be able to effectively communicate orally in Spanish, so much of our instructional methodology is geared toward getting students to practice speaking Spanish.
One way we increase student’s ability to speak Spanish is by our Daily Oral Practice routine. We start during the fourth week of the trimester by reviewing basic questions and answers in Spanish. This routine is a 5-10 minute activity guided by Powerpoint. We give students a handout of all the slides of questions we will ask, as well as directions. This allows us to be clear with expectations and allows students to anticipate what questions will be asked and the order they will be asked. While the Powerpoint changes slightly day to day, the routine does not. As we continue the Daily Oral Practice routine throughout the trimester, we continue to modify the Powerpoint by eliminating the answers so students produce the answer themselves and add new vocabulary we’ve learned. Eventually we eliminate the Powerpoint, because the ultimate goal of Daily Oral Practice is that students can ask and answer questions in Spanish without notes, without seeing the question, and in real life scenarios.
There are many details to Daily Oral Practice that help make it a fun, successful activity. We are strategic in which student we ask which question. For students who may experience anxiety or potential issues, we tell them which question they will be asked that day to give them time to prepare to positively participate. For students who have had Spanish before we tend to ask more challenging questions in Spanish, or we have them explain in English nuance grammar differences that a beginner might not notice. Every day before class I write the name of the student next to the question I will ask them, that makes sure that I ask all students one question. I use the same sheet all week to make sure I ask all students a variety of questions, (I use a different color pen for each day of the week). This is meant to be a fun, energizing way to review material. Classes compete against each other to see who can complete the Daily Oral Practice the fastest each week and can win prizes. Daily Oral Practice incorporates many techniques from TLAC including technique 1 No Opt Out, technique 3 Stretch It, technique 22 Cold Call, technique 36 100 Percent, technique 39 Do It Again, technique 43 Positive Framing, and technique 46 The J Factor.
One of the reasons Daily Oral Practice is successful is because students see how it will connect to their final assessment of having a bilingual conversation with a native Spanish speaker. Everyday they are working on asking and answering questions in Spanish, and moving towards memorizing all the vocabulary we’ve introduced. We are intentional is how we scaffold the activity and engage each student to positively participate, which helps them prepare to speak Spanish outside the classroom environment.
Included in this component are two Powerpoints of the Daily Oral Practice. One is an example from the early weeks when we introduce the activity. Included on this copy are the names of students that I call on to answer each question. The other Daily Oral Practice Presentation is for the last couple of weeks, which includes asking questions formally, all vocabulary we’ve learned, encourages students to not use notes, and many of the questions are not projected but just asked and answered orally, to improve the ability to recognize the question without seeing it in print.