Students will...
- Use holiday vocabulary (provided below) and regular rules of grammar to increase fluency through dramatic expression and oral interpretation.
- Learn to relate experiences and observations in the target language.
- Narrate and post a 140-character Twitter story or Facebook update by sequencing provided phrases and their own original content.
21st Century Skill:
Use social media (Facebook or twitter) to communicate and share experiences and feelings in target language
Grouping:
Teams (Small Groups) and Individuals
Modalities:
Bodily-Kinesthetic, Verbal-Linguistic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, and Evaluation\
Materials
- Holiday Charades List.
- Paper and pencils.
- Timer.
- Class Twitter or Facebook Account.
Preparation
- Download and print your Holiday Charades List.
- Cut out and double-fold each sentence individually.
- Place the strips into a basket.
- As an aid for younger students, write out key vocabulary words from the charades list on the board or Word Wall.
Activity
- Explain to your students the basic rules of charades. This eHow article offers a great summary of the game along with a few “Tricks of the Trade.”
- Depending on size, divide the class into groups of 3-5.
- Set the timer for 2-3 minutes and allow the first group to pick a strip of paper and briefly prepare how to act it out.
- As soon as the timer goes off, let the first group perform while the rest of class tries to guess the phrase.
- Remind the students to call out their guesses in the target language and to start by trying to identify the important vocabulary words.
- If the class doesn’t guess the right vocabulary words, hand the same strip of paper to the next group and restart the timer.
- If the class does guess the vocabulary words but not the entire phrase or sentence, then after the timer sounds give them a few minutes to discuss as groups how to put the words together into a complete sentence.
- Once a complete sentence has been identified, write it out on the board.
- Repeat this process until ten or more sentences are on the board.
Tech Tools
- Instruct each student to choose two to four of their favorite sentences, the things they’re most looking forward to about the holiday season, and to write out on their own a 140-character Twitter story or Facebook post about them.
- Encourage your students to write their Twitter story or Facebook post so that it flows and isn’t just a list.
For example: During the winter break I want to...
Put on gloves and a coat, go sledding, and then drink hot chocolate.
Wrap presents for my family, decorate the tree, and then open presents.
Eat cookies, visit my grandparents, and count down to midnight. - Once their Tweets or updates are ready, have your students post them either to their personal account or to your class account.