Here is something from a colleague and blog member that all of us who are using the Circling with Balls activity need to wrap our minds around and talk about:
Ben:
It seems as if the Circling with Cards is losing it’s steam and I haven’t gotten to all of the students yet. I can tell that some students are starting to get tired and bored. What I’ve basically been doing is asking yes/no, either/or, and what/who questions. I have added “better than” and I compare them to me and celebrities and then I ask “why?”, example:
-Ryan plays football (circle)
-Ryan plays football better than Tom Brady
-Why? Because Ryan is a beast.
So the answer, ALWAYS, to why somebody is better than somebody is because they’re a beast. But I think it’s starting to lose it’s steam due to it being the same thing every….single….day…. How can I spice it up and get EVERYONE’S interest again?
My response:
Now, my first reaction to this is that when this happens it means that we have to greatly curtail the cards, maybe do just one kid per day and that’s it. Five minutes or so. The problem is that the kids are not yet ready for stories, and it is risky even to extend the PQA, so what to do?
Not that extending the PQA is impossible. It would be a great thing to compare what kids do and build that information into a little scene, the beginnings of a story. This requires a little trust, a faith that even if there are big pauses that make everybody uncomfortable we can still stay in the moment and wait them out for a cute answer. We could throw in a little Point and Pause and it would work. IF we went slowly enough, which for me is always a big “if”.
Other options? I will just suggest a few here and ask others to suggest some too. We need a whole list of options here because all of us will at some point this next few weeks experience this problem. I personally get right to stories and do a few cards now and then until the class is done, which can take months if not all year. In that case I use the cards to fill those awkward ten minute periods that happens sometimes in class (pep rallies, etc.). So here is what I can think of right now:
1. do a One Word Image – see this site resources page, click on workshop handouts.
2. write out a bunch of sentences about what each kid does, fitting them together into something like a six sentence story, with minimal new words. Then ask the kids to draw what they see projected in a six panel frame.
3. play the Word Chunk game, also described on the resources page here on this site.
4. this next one is crazy because it is output and we should not do output too early, but sometimes, especially in middle school, kids love to write. You may want to have them write a sentence from the Circling with Balls activity in dictation form, which is also described on the resources/workshop handouts page of this site. I know, I know, we keep talking about input here but honestly if you need to get the kids involved – and they love their pencils – do a dictée.
5. whenever you write a new word or structure on the board, if you wish and if you remember, you can simply ask, “How is that spelled?” The kids call out the letters of the word, and you write each one down amidst some excellent learning as the kids associate the right sound with the letters they see you writing.
6.the Three Ring Circus is easy and fun, and it is an effective tool for establishing meaning at any point of any class. It is especially effective at the beginning of the year. It is not challenging for the students, and it gives some of them a chance to move their bodies and dispel tension that they might feel in the first days back.
To start, simply write three verbs in the imperative on the board in both the target language and in English. For example:
1. Raise your arm!
2. Jump!
3. Touch your nose!
After a minute or so of signing, ask (in English) that Student A stand up and go to a corner of the room (one of the three rings of the circus) and perform the actions you command.
The student at this point may balk, or at least give you a goofy look, and this is the signal for the fun to begin! Just encourage the child to continue the action as you command.
Get a lot of repetitions before going on to the second and third students, and then just go around to each “ring” encouraging the kids. Keep all three rings going until you ask for a stop. By doing this, you are conveying to the students the idea that class will be fun and that you are in charge of the class.
It is a good idea to avoid any verbs that may be dangerous or may lead to a fall, like “turn” or “spin” or “run”. Remember, as well, to choose only students who can do this without making a spectacle of themselves. If you make it clear that you are the one in charge during the first days of class it will set the tone for the year, and Three Ring Circus certainly puts you in the role of the “ringmaster”.
Once things are clear, it is time to alter your commands. Do this in a very energetic way, as one would play Simon Says. The students must change their actions as you alter the commands, never going ‘out of bounds’ with new verbs, only the ones you have already taught.
Make sure that if you use a new word (left, right, slowly, quickly, raise, lower, leg, hand, etc.) that you write it down on the board with its English translation so that it is clear to all the students.
This activity usually dies down naturally after five minutes or so, but it is an excellent option to Circling with Balls. When the circus is over, you can always ask circled questions of the students about the activities in the three rings, as described above in the section on circling. Three Ring Circus is truly an “oldie but a goodie” in TPRS!
One key to what you choose to do as bail out moves to Circling with Balls is not just SLOW but also encouraging cute answers, especially cute answers to the question “Where?” (does Ryan play football, etc.). For some reason that where question can really get things moving. But you have to let the kids know that this is a game and that you are not funny so you need them to suggest cute and funny things to make class interesting. Some classes respond, some don’t. And learn how to say, “Applause, class!” whenever a kid comes up with a cute answer that you use. Asking for applause from the class for cute answers really works.
Of the above options to Circling with Balls, perhaps the most effective right now at this time of year will be the Three Ring Circus, the Word Chunk Team Activity, the addition of the question “Where?” into the actual Circling with Balls activity, and the One Word Images.
Again, though, my choice is stories. A good script trumps everything, in my view.