So how do I plan a lesson for my Kindergarten – 2nd grade class?

Here is my first post about Building Blocks of my lessons- TPR.

BUILDING BLOCKS 

Methods that I continually use throughout a lesson.

Personalized Questions and Answers (PQA)

PQA is a great way to get in repetitions of your vocabulary especially in 1st and 2nd person. It’s BIGGEST benefit for me is the class environment it creates. You get to know your students. Students get to know you. They see that you care about them, and it makes the content more personal and compelling.

There are LOTS of ways to do PQA. Some teachers are so good at it that they get all their content from these conversations. I am not really that teacher. I am confessing that PQA is not my strength. So this is how I personalize in my K-2 lessons in a way that works for me. All these ideas are from other teachers, but I don’t really remember who. (If you know, then message me and I will give them credit.)

Here is how I do PQA in my classroom with K-2.

1. DRAWING- I have students draw their answers on a half sheet of paper then I collect them. As we go through the unit, I discuss 2-3 papers at a time each lesson.As we get closer to the end I stop telling them who the paper belongs to and they have to guess who I am describing. **TIP- if your students’ drawings are too hard to interpret you can make it a game to guess or as they draw, walk around and write at the bottom of their drawing what it is they are drawing.
   • For example, in the “El Rey no tiene un boca” I have a half sheet that has “PUEDO” (I can) on one side and “NO PUEDO” on the other side. Students draw something they can do and something they can’t do.

1. 4 CORNERS- I place signs for designated places in my room for 2-4 different possible answers to a question. I have a series of questions that students answer by going to that part of the room that matches their answer. OR I ask each student individually (dramatically of course). Then the student goes to that part of the room or adds their name to a chart. To keep it novel you can have the class start to guess what each student will choose. I usually do this when I have already asked half the class. I like to stop and count the number of people in each group or ask students more questions if their response is unexpected.
   • For example, Series of questions- What do you like on your pizza? Students go to the “Yo quiero” (I want) or the “No quiero” for each ingredient.
   • One question- What is your favorite sport? Football, Soccer, Baseball or Basketball
2. POP-UP PQA– (A lot like “pop-up grammar”) It is short and quick. Maybe I’m in the middle of an activity like a story or MovieTalk. I’ll ask a question that relates to what we are discussing.  I stay with the question until the class checks out. That may be 4-5 questions with one student or it may be 1-2 questions with multiple students. Then I move on. I might check in with students as we continue to compare their answers to what is going on in the activity.
   • Let’s say a character in a story goes to the beach. I stop and ask if a student likes the beach. Did you go to the beach this summer? Where? Did you go with your family? Did you swim in the ocean? Do you like the mountains or the beach? Later on I might say something like “The character goes to Daytona Beach, not Panama City Beach like Caitlin did this summer” or maybe the PQA can make an appearance. “The character goes to Daytona Beach and sees Justin because that is Justin’s favorite beach.”

**NOTE- I do not have all the answers but I can tell you what I know so far, and I also want to share some of the people that helped me on this road.

GREAT RESOURCES for PQA (If you have other good resources then let me know and I will add them to the list)

Ben Slavic– one example of PQA “Circling with Balls”

Bryce Hedstrom– PQA activity  “La Persona Especial”