Another Version of "Who is This?"

Here is a fun, quick take on the "Who is This?" assessment, which can be used as a warmup, bellringer, ticket out the door, etc. It is a listening comprehension activity involving whiteboards and characters from a reading/novella. It only lasts 5-10 minutes.

Planning

1. Write 3 VERY short descriptions in target language of one character, where the 1st description is most general ,and the 3rd is most specific, i.e., by the third description, it should be obvious who the character is.
2.  Do this for three or more different characters.

Activity

1. Have students get a whiteboards and dry-erase markers. Students can also use pencil and paper for this, but it is not as fun.
2. Have students number 1-3 on their paper or whiteboard
3. Explain to students that you are going to read a series of descriptions and after each description, they should write the name of the character whom they think it is. All three descriptions are about the same character.
4. After reading the 3rd description, ask students in the target language “who is it?” and have them respond. If they are using whiteboards, ask them to hold up their whiteboards so that you can see their series of answers.
5. Continue with the next character.

Examples from the Aeneid

1. Troianus vir (Trojan man)
2. pater (father)
3. a serpentibus interfectus (killed by snakes)

Answer - Laocoon

1. deus (god)
2. rex (king)
3. mittit ventos (sends winds)

Answer - Aeolus

1. femina (woman)
2. in Italia (in Italy)
3. sacerdos Apollonis (priestess of Apollo)

Answer - the Sibyl

1. Troianus vir (Trojan man)
2. fidelis amicus (loyal friend)
3. rare loquitur (rarely speaks)

Answer - Achates

Observations

1. This is actually a very fun activity to do. Years ago, I demonstrated this in a presentation at an American Classical League Summer Institute with Latin teachers using characters from the Aeneid, and they did not want to stop playing this and wanted me to keep giving them character descriptions, even though I had run out of them.
2. The shorter the descriptions are, the better. Since it is a quick activity, to give students long descriptions makes the activity drag. Vocabulary words and short phrases work best.
3. The more characters from which to choose, the better. If your reading only has four characters, then it becomes obvious VERY quickly whom the description is describing.
4. I have found that students turn this into a competition to see if they can get the answer right based on the first, most general description.
5. I like the class to show me their whiteboards after they write down the character after the last description so that I can see their "train of thought" - it is fun for me as a teacher to see them be able to narrow down who they think that the character is based on the names which they wrote down.
6. If you are a Latin teacher who uses the Cambridge Latin Course, this is a great activity, since there are so many characters in the readings.

Who is It?

This is a great listening activity to do at the last 10 minutes of class, and it involves whiteboards - like bacon, in my opinion, everything is better with whiteboards! 

Planning

1)  Write 3 VERY short comprehensible descriptions in Latin of famous people (characters, historical figures, or real people), where the first description is most general and the third is most specific, i.e., by the third description, it should be obvious who the character is

Activity

1) Have students grab a whiteboard and dry-erase markers.

2) Have students number 1-3 on their whiteboards.

3) Explain to students that you are going to read a series of descriptions and after each description, they should write the name of the person/character whom they think it is. All three descriptions are about the same person/character.

4) Read the first description, and next to number one, have students write whom they think is the character/person.
5) Read the second description, and next to number two, have students write whom they now think is the character/person. If they think it is the same person/character as what they wrote for number one, they are still to write down that name.
6) Read the third description, and next to number three, have students write whom they now think is the character/person. If they think it is the same person/character as what they wrote for number one and two, they are still to write down that name.
7) After reading the third description, ask students “quis est?” and have them respond aloud. Ask them to hold up their whiteboards so that you can see their series of answers.
8) Start again with a new person/character.

Examples:
Beyonce
1) femina
2) cantatrix
3) uxor JayZis

Laocoon
1) Troianus vir
2) sacerdos
3) interfectus a serpentibus

Observations

1. This is a GREAT way to review characters if you are reading a story with lots of characters.
2. This is a wonderful, low affective filter, output activity, since it just requires students to write down the name of a character/person.
3. Because it is such an easy listnening activity, I have found students to be very engaged whenever I have done it.

Quick Draw

Here is another fun Comprehensible Input activity, which I tried out for the first time this week. I learned Quick Draw from Lauren Watson, a fellow CI French teacher in my district (she is the one who gave me the idea for Scrambled Eggs). Lauren, in turn, learned this activity from Dr. Sherah Carr, who had conducted some professional development at Lauren's school awhile back. This is a fun way for students to review already-acquired vocabulary.

The activity is called Quick Draw and for good reason! It is essentially Pictionary involving white boards and a great SILENT partner activity! You will need to create a powerpoint, where each slide has a category (such as nouns, adjectives, verbs, emotions, anything, etc) and four vocabulary words which relate to that category. Here are Lauren's directions:

1. Students are in pairs, and each have a dry erase board with markers.
2. Designate Partner A and Partner B.  
3. Each partner divides his/her dry erase board in quads with a marker. Number the quads 1-4
4. For Round 1, Partner A faces the screen and Partner B turns their back to the screen.  Project the PPT. I tell everyone the category for each round.  
5. Partner A looks at the list of words on the screen and draws a picture for each vocab. word.  S/he draws picture 1 in quad 1, picture 2 in quad 2...etc.
6. Partner B writes the vocabulary word which s/he thinks the picture represents in the appropriate quad.  
7. They can't talk or gesture or write words/numbers - ONLY pictures.  
8. The round ends with the first pair who successfully finishes all 4. 
9. Switch roles between partners for the next round

My variation: Instead of having the round end with the first pair who successfully finishes all 4, I gave 75-seconds for each round. This way, there was still a feeling of having to draw quickly but it gave the slow processors a chance. At the end of each round, I had teams simply tally their score, and they kept a running tally throughout the game,

Observations

1. Students LOVED this activity and asked for more rounds (even though we had played 5 rounds!). 
2. The silent aspect of guessing the words makes it a lot more manageable and enjoyable for students. I have played regular Pictionary with students before, and it always gets really loud.
3. Giving students a set amount of time helped lower the affective filter, because it was not a competition to finish first.
4. I was surprised at how easily most students were able to write down the vocabulary words, based only upon a picture. This is more proof to me that when limiting vocabulary and targeting high frequency words, acquisition occurs more quickly and naturally.
5. So many different modalities are addressed in this activity!
6. The categories help students focus on which words will be used. I threw in an "anything" category (meaning it could be "any" vocabulary word) at the end, and although it made it more difficult, students still enjoyed it.

I will definitely add this activity to my arsenal (which means I will do it every 5-6 weeks in order to preserve the novelty). Thanks, Lauren, for yet another great activity!

Guess the Word/Hot Seat

This is another fun vocabulary activity involving whiteboards - I learned this at my first Rusticatio in 2010:

1. Divide the class into 3 teams
2. Pick one student from each team to sit in front of the classroom with their backs to the classroom board - the three students are facing their teams. I usually ask for volunteers so that no one feels like he/she is "on the spot" without his/her permission.  The rest of the class has whiteboards.
3. On the classroom board, write a known vocabulary word
4. The class will then draw a pictorial representation of that word on their whiteboards but not show the 3 students. If a student does not know the meaning of the word, he/she can look at a neighbor's whiteboard. Students may not use letters, numbers or any symbol found on a computer keyboard.
5. On cue, have all of the students show the 3 students their pictures
6. The 3 students guess the Latin vocabulary word. First one who guesses the correct word gets a point for his/her team.
7. Variations: instead of pictures, have students write one-word synonyms or antonyms in Latin. Depending on ability, have students write definitions of the vocabulary word in Latin sentences.

Observations

1. This is a very low-stress, highly engaging and competitive activity. 
2. Because students are drawing their own interpretation of the vocabulary, it helps to personalize the acquisition process
3. In order for the students to guess the word, the picture needs to be comprehensible. Sometimes, the simpler the picture is drawn, the better.
4. Because the 3 students are looking at a variety of pictures to guess the word, they are receiving multiple comprehensible messages.
5. Pick vocabulary words which can be easily understood from a picture. Sometimes, "concept" words, e,g, dignitas, are difficult to draw.

Four Word Vocabulary Picture

I've always said that students love any activity involving whiteboards and dry-erase markers. Here is a fun vocabulary activity:

1. Write four known random vocabulary words on the board.
2. Students have one minute to draw a picture on their whiteboards which incorporates/depicts all of the words (not four separate pictures, but one)
3. Tell students if they do not know a word, then they should focus on what words they do know.
4. When the minute is up, students show their whiteboards to each other, pointing out each word in Latin.
5. Ask students to show their whiteboards to you, while you walk around and check them.
6. Pick 2-3 boards to show the class, and using a document camera, project student pictures onto the screen
7. Describe these pictures in Latin to the class, using the vocabulary words
8. You can also circle questions about words in the picture
9. Added variation - if you have time, draw a picture yourself beforehand involving the four words and show your version to students.
10. If you are able, try now to Ask a Story from one of the pictures projected. Ask the student who did the drawing for details. He/she will usually be able to come up with a great story since it is his/her picture.

Obervations

1. Drawing a visual depiction of the vocabulary word gives students another way to acquire vocabulary.
2. Since students are drawing the vocabulary words themselves, it personalizes the acquisition process
3. Even though everyone is drawing a picture using the same four words, I am always surprised by how many different interpretations there are. Students are too and enjoy seeing each other's pictures. 
4. I will usually do 2-3 rounds of this activity in a period, lasting a total of 15 minutes (if I do not do an Ask a Story from one of the pictures)

Freeze Frame

This is a great listening comprehension activity which I learned a few years ago at an ACL Summer Institute. It will require whiteboards - in my experience, I have found that students love any activity involving white boards. It is very similar to a dictatio but instead of students writing down the sentences, they will draw it.

1. You, the teacher, draw a picture beforehand (using known vocabulary words and language structures) and then write a description of the picture in Latin. The more random the picture, the better!
2. Explain to students that you are going to read a description to them, and their task is to draw a picture of what you read to them
3. Inform students that you will read the description four times.
4. Read the description slowly first without them drawing anything. Get them to formulate a picture in their own minds first.
5. Then read the description three times slowly. By the third reading, students will almost be done with their picture, but inform students that during the fourth reading, they should confirm that their drawing is correct.
6. After the fourth reading, ask students to show their picture to two other classmates and to describe the picture in Latin
7. Ask students to hold up their drawing for you. Walk around the class, commenting on students’ drawings
8. Using an overhead projector, project your picture for students to see. If the picture has been digitally scanned, project the picture onto a screen using a computer projector.
9. Ask comprehension questions in Latin about the picture 
10. If you have a document camera, then take a few students' whiteboards and project their picture onto the screen. This is actually very fun, as students get to see each other's work.

An example of a Freeze Frame picture and description:

est nox, et luna est in caelo. multi nubes sunt in caelo. tempestas quoque est in caelo. cantantes umbrae quoque sunt in caelo. interea, tres puellae sunt in silva. prima puella pecuniam in manibus tenet. avis in capite primae puellae stat. secunda puella a tertia puella trahitur.