Good evening everyone!
Tonight I wanted to share one of my favorite techniques for practicing grammar: manipulatives! I love using manipulatives after introducing the topic, but before production. It gives them a “safer” way to apply the new material, and it’s really easy for me to check their understanding. I color-code my manipulatives (all first-person singular words are pink, all second-person singular words are orange, etc) so I can see at a glance who understands.
My favorite application for these manipulatives is to show the students a picture (usually via PowerPoint) and they have to hold up the best card for that image. For example, if I show them a picture of a boy, they would hold up él, es, or va, depending on the set of cards we’re practicing. After a few rounds of this, I have them close their eyes when they hold up their cards, so you can truly see who knows what they’re doing and who needs more help.
How do you use manipulatives in your language classes?
