Blog Post 2
If I wanted to teach a middle school student some beginning Spanish words, such as colors or days of the week, I would first say the word in Spanish myself, I’ll use the word “viernes” (which means “Friday” in English), then use some type of program on the computer that also said the word, so that there would be more than one auditory source. Next I could show them a video that describes this day of the week, such as a video of a high school football game. Then I would ask them what they think the word means, given that I have already told them before even saying the word that it is a day of the week. Once a few students guess, I would tell them what the word actually means, and give them a mnemonic device to help them remember that Viernes is Friday. I would use a mnemonic device such as Victory for Viernes, if this would relate to many students of the class who play sports, since this relates to the video of a Friday night high school football game and both words start with a V. By using these methods a student’s brain would encode that Viernes means Friday through the connection of the video and the mnemonic device.
Hi! I am a French Education major and I enjoyed reading about how you would teach some older kids some Spanish words. I think mnemonic devices are great! I use them all the time when I am studying French (and even other subjects). I wonder if a mnemonic device would help out younger grades with learning the language? Or do you think they may just have to memorize the information, or associate the picture with the word? I would almost guess that trying to add a mnemonic device into a lesson plan for younger kids would confuse them even more. Would you agree? Anyhow, nice idea with the mnemonic devices! You could even have the kids come up with their own devices for remembering the words!
ReplyDeleteYes I agree that mnemonic devices would confused younger kids. For younger kids, I would probably show them a picture of the item and then say the word as the primary method to teach them a word.
ReplyDelete