Happy Tuesday!
If you haven't started incorporating novel study into your Spanish instruction, I highly encourage it! It is amazing to see what your students are able to produce while reading and completing supplemental activities.
I have gotten some questions about how I integrate novel study into my classroom. This year, I have been teaching my Spanish novels a little bit differently, and it has gone much smoother! I created a game board that I adapted from Secondary Sara! I created the game board with google drawings and it was very easy to do!
So, how does it work? I first put students into data based groups. This allows me to spend more time with my groups that need a little more reinforcement, and extend for my groups of high flyers! This year, I started by the students reading an excerpt from the novel we would be reading accompanied with a few comprehension questions in Spanish. Based off of their ability to answer the comprehension questions, I put them into small groups.
Now, once in their groups, students are able to use their game board to guide them through the novel. Some groups choose to read and work through the novel together, while some groups choose to work independently at their own pace but still have group members around them to help if they have questions. I made four rows on my game boards, but you can easily change that to make it work for the novel you are reading.
Each row of the game board begins with students reading a selection of chapters. Once they read those chapters, they have to choose one of the cultural topics I've listed that were addressed in those chapters. They then use my list of creative options to create a project over their cultural topic. Once they have completed their cultural topic project, it is time for their quiz. I give quizzes in a variety of forms. Some are written, verbal, or even have the students draw a picture with Spanish subtitles. Once they turned in their quiz, they are able to go on to the next row of the game board!
All groups end their novel study by creating a book trailer for their novel! I do let my students use their phones for these. Most students use iMovie and they turn out great!
Trust me, this was not an easy transition, and it took A LOT of planning, but it was so so worth it! The students loved all of the freedom and choice they were given while reading their novels.
