Puntos de hablar :

1. Puntos de hablar: A passport to oral competence Helen Méndez Megan Peña-Ariet St. John’s College High School Cristo Rey Jesuit Washington DC Baltimore, MD

2. Goals of “Puntos de hablar”: • ACTFL Standards: • COMMUNICATIONCommunicate in Languages Other Than English • Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions • Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. • CONNECTIONSConnect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information • Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language • COMPARISONSDevelop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture • Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.

3. Setting up the “pasaporte”: • Perfect first-day-of-school activity! • Students draw a self portrait and set up the spaces for each quarter.

4. Choosing topics • NY Times, Washington Post, “charlas,” movie reactions • Tie in culture topics or grammar focus • Can the kids find the articles? • Yes, but…

5. Sample topics from our classes this year: • "American Children, Now Struggling to Adjust to Life in Mexico" • “Pigs and squatters threaten Peru's Nazca lines” • “Puerto Rican Identity: In and Out of Focus” • “Spain Recoils as Its Hungry Forage Trash Bins for a Next Meal” Movie / documentary topics from last year: • “Balseros” • “La historiaoficial” • “Which way home” • “El laberinto del fauno”

6. Help, I can’t find an article! • Look for an article on a “timeless” topic – enduring controversies work well! • Discussion on pop culture (example – texting in Spanish) • “Charlas” – students get to talk about themselves while focusing on certain grammar structures • Si yofuera el director de la escuela… (focus on conditional) • Cuando era niño/a, yosiempre… (focus on imperfect) • Este verano, yoiré… (focus on future) • En mi opinion, (tema) es…. (focus on present tense)

7. Discussion Preparation/Pre-teaching • For homework, students complete a “Discussion prep” worksheet (English): • Basic country info such as capital, location on a map, president/leader • Questions focused on the theme of the article • May include “research” type questions (ex: What is the unemployment rate in Spain?) • May include questions asking students to examine the theme in a personal way (ex: Research the austerity measures in place or proposed in Spain. Which one do you think people would object to the most. Why?) • Helpful vocab– you may provide both Spanish and English or have the students look up the words.

8. The Logistics - Sample class Español 3, 1st pd • 8:10- Class begins. Students take out completed discussion prep worksheet from previous night. • 8:10-8:25- Students read article Teacher circulates to check homework. Teacher writes pertinent grammatical structures/communicative key words on the board Teacher passes out “pasaportes” • 8:25- questions about homework and article concepts • 8:30-8:51: Students earn speaking points

9. The Logistics – An Overview of the Quarter • Limit to 3 speaking points per student per session / class period • Can adjust this rule to fit students’ needs • 4-6 speaking point sessions per quarter (9 weeks) • What happens once students start being done? • Have students that are done with speaking points write answers to questions handed out with the article

10. What counts as “a point”? • Students may discuss their reactions to the article or anything they learned while completing the homework. • Explain any opinions you state. •  El narcotráficoesmalo. •  El narcotráficoesmaloporquemuchas personas mueren. Focus on critical thinking – original sentences as opposed to translating phrases from the article or “regurgitating material”.

11. What if no one talks? • There is always a student willing to initiate conversation (trust us, this has never failed in seven years!) • Setting “speaking” as an important portion of the grade motivates shyer students • Students are not forced to speak on any given day; less pressure = better results (most of the time…) • Extroverts love the opportunity to talk, and giving the introverts time to prepare helps their confidence

12. Student Reactions: • “Speaking points work well because you are putting all of the words and grammar that you’ve learned into practice. It helps to make connections between the textbook and how you use it.” (Julia, grade 11) • “It takes us out of just writing or reading “classroom Spanish” and getting to speak about real issues.” (Emma, grade 10) • “My accent has come a long way from my gringo self.” (Stratton, grade 11) • “Being able to actually speak Spanish instead of talking about speaking Spanish…” (Aaron, grade 11)

13. Goals for Speaking Points… • Speak without writing • Stricter guidelines for a qualifying sentence – balance between “correction” and “dream-crushing”?? • Student-led discussion: students find articles? • More conversation/small group discussion • Options for technology – recording speech and evaluating it with each student • Using iPads instead of printing articles and other “green” ideas…

14. Contact infoHelen Méndez: hmendez@stjohnschs.orgMegan Pena-Ariet: mpena-ariet@cristoreybalt.org