Inside: Fun ways to use Quizlet, Gimkit, Blooket, Kahoot!, and Quizziz that you may not have considered yet!

Like all world language teachers I love using a good online  site as an activity with my students and over the years many of them have gotten far more engaging then just simply racing to match terms -- such as Gimkit  and Blooket with their  various game modes -- which if you haven't been using you definitely should.

That being said,  if you came here wanting to know how to use these as the are intended this blog is not for you. This blog is for LEVELING up how you use them, by manipulating or  implementing new rules to get students moving or collaborating in a new way with the classic online vocab/review games! 

For each of these activities  you will need a  set on that site   and students will need personal devices. I recommend computers NOT phones. My school has a cellphone ban, so it's a nonissue for me, but I imagine these activities would be hard on small handheld devices. iPads would work better-- just turn off the auto-screen shut off before playing in settings.

Quizlet (Quizlet Relay Races alá Mis Clases Locas):

Set-Up: Start the Quizlet Live game and have students add themselves on their personal devices . Once they are added  , select create groups. Instruct groups to  to find a space to sit all their computers in one line. Instruct one student to stand facing the screens of the computers and the rest of the team to be behind NOT looking at the screens.

Students the rotate each questions so that one student is looking at ALL the screens and selects the correct answer. This is the relay part. So they answer their question and then join their team behind the computers and the next student tags in to answer the questions. I allow students to talk  to their teammates, but only the "IT" student can look at the the answers and select their answers for their question.

First  team to answer all the questions and win the Quizlet Live wins the Relay Race! You'll get students  moving AND collaborating in a new way!

Gimkit (Musical Chair Gimkit):

This activity works best with either the Classic  Mode or my favorite for this game Hidden Identities mode. Instruct students that the goal is to be at the winning computer at the end of the time you have set.   You as the teacher will be turning the volume on the Gimkit on and off.

Start the game as normal, each student at their own device, but tell them that when they hear the music they should stand up and walk around the room. I like to instruct my students to just walk in a circle around the outside of my room.   Then after a minute or so of them playing like normal-- you turn your volume up so the music is playing. Students leave their computer at their spot and walk around the room.  When the music turns back off they sit back down at the closest computer to them and continue playing. Do this every 45-60 seconds and you will get students up and moving and practicing in a new and different way.  Whoever is at the winning computer at the end of the game is the winner NOT the owner of the computer unless they happen to be the same person.

Blooket or Kahoot! (Pop-Up Digital):

This gamified version of Blooket is a digital adaptation of the Pop-Up game from Sra Chase. Instead of reading questions out loud and having students answer or translate like in the orignal version of the game (which is also so fun! and you should try!) I play a traditional version of Kahoot! or Blooket -- the game mode where a question is projected and everyone answers , multiple choice, and there is a countdown and then use this game mode to change it up. 

This has a little more setup then the other options, but I promise it's worth it. I pre-divide the class into two teams  and assign each student a  number and mark different information to help me scaffold during the game such as -- English learning students, high flyers, and lower proficiency students-- I do my best to put students of similar abilities against each other aka with the same number, but on opposite teams. This requires a little of thought or prep on your part, but I usually can quickly do it in a couple minutes. If you aren't already using Flippity Name Generator for making groups -- you should! For example if I had an imaginary class of 10 (wouldn't that be the dream...):

My key of symbols:

EL - English Learners  (-) Lower proficiency (+) higher proficiency

Team 1)
(EL) Sierra   (1)
(-) Micahel (2)
Trey (3)
(+) Sabrina (4)
Austin (5)

Team 2)
(EL) Myriah (1)
(-) Brady (2)
Kailee (3)
(+) Brayden (4)
Grayson (5)

I then start the game. Teams are sitting together. Everyone answers the question. When time is up -- I will say ONE number and the people from both teams with that number will race each other to stand up  (aka pop-up) and say the correct answer.  I use the tracker paper from Sra Chase's Blog to keep track of who I have 

I like playing this game with a Blooket or Kahoot!, because students have a chance to check their answer before actually answering in front of the whole class like the none digital version of this game, so it's great for students that are slower processors or who have anxiety and want to know they are right -- also if they were wrong now they have a better chance of being right after eliminating a wrong answer.

Quizziz (Quizziz Connect Four):

I first saw a rendition of this  game from Jen Schooley Ries (TPT Cosas Divertidas) when she was playing it with Quizlet. However, I do not have premium access to Quizlet, so I couldn't do it with my students.  Something about they could only take the test version of the Quizlet so many times before it asked them to get the Premium account.

What you do need is a quiz version of a set that students can take over-and-over again . Great for lots of repetition or review . I found using a shorter quiz on Quizziz and giving them the homework link worked for this game in my classes. Put students in groups of 3-4 and have ONE student open the homework version of the quiz (linked somewhere they can access) on their computer -- this is extra work , but I like to have a few quizzes that are targeting different skills over the subject we are reviewing, so they can rotate or choose what they want to practice first.

Assign each group a symbol:

Group 1 - ⭐
Group 2- 🩷
Group 3-🔺
⚫, 😊 , ❌, ✅  Etc.  

Draw a large connect four board on your white board -- literally whatever fits on your board. I think I usually do like 5X9.

The groups all hit start on their quiz at the same time. When a group finishes a quiz they show you the finished page-- I tell them they need an 80% or better. If they have that 80% or better they then can either draw their symbol in any box on the board OR erase the symbol of any other group. They then return to their group and start the next quizz or repeat the same one. Play to a set amount of time (group with  the most symbols on the board wins) or until a group get' s   a Connect Four. 


No matter which of these new takes on classic digital games you try I hope it brings some joy to your classroom! Happy teaching and let me know what you think!

Inside:   Introducing the tv show Tierra Incógnita  and watching Episode 1 ideas!

This blog is about 3 years in the making if I am being honest, but it's about one of my all time favorite things.-- teaching with authentic tv shows. I first saw this in action during my time student teaching with Allison (Mis Clases Locas)  when she was using  the classic, El Internado in her Spanish 2-4 classes.

Since then I've used lots of different shows in my Spanish classes including, but not limited to, other favorites such as Go! Vive a tu manera (Materials I use with this show HERE and HERE), Latin Street Foods (Awesome free materials HERE), etc.  I was teaching Spanish 2 and 3 and using Go! Vive a tu manera in Spanish 2 -- I would have loved to  keep using it in Spanish 3, but the semester length classes  meant that I had students in Spanish 3 that never took Spanish 2 with me, so they didn't have the previous knowledge with the show and would have needed to rewatch the episodes while others had already seen episodes in Spanish 2 -- which they didn't  want to rewatch. So  I was in a predicament... I want to watch a show, but WHAT show. 

Disclaimer: I have always paid for my own streaming sites to be able to use these shows in class and I find it very worth it in my opinion. I know that isn't the reality for every classroom or every teacher.

Luckily,  Allison discovered and shared about Tierra Incógnita and using her super easy to implement with ANY episode templates   (also her resources would make GREAT sub plans if you need them), I was able to whip something together super quick that year to use with my students. I (really WE)  fell in LOVE with the show. It's a little spooky with a good mystery storyline and suspense, but totally appropriate for high schoolers. It's not quite as high school musical, cringy as Go! can be in my opinion though students loved that about that show, too. 

Tierra Incógnita is a Disney+, TV 14 show that is located in a fictional town, Cabo Qwert, in Argentina.  The show follows a teen boy, Eric Dalaras, and his family as they try to discover what happened 8 years ago when his parents mysteriously disappeared from the amusement park their family owed.  There are secrets, suspense, mysteries to solve, and plenty of adventure. Think modern Scooby Doo.

Over the next 2 years  , because I taught on 95min blocks, I had to make additional materials and activities to go along with the episodes to fill that time and in the process I  made games, review slides, introductory activities, etc . and it quickly become one  of my students favorite parts of our curriculum. I have been using this show exclusively with Spanish 3 students, but it can be adapted to use in 2 or upper levels as well. I haven't really used shows with Novice Low-Mid students and find I prefer to start a show after I've read a novel with students, so they have some of the language skills I think are necessary for them to actually enjoy watching the show. I've been dying to  share more about what I've been doing with this show with all of you , so here is:

PART 1 - Before Watching and Episode 1!  

**Download my FREE materials HERE  , so you can follow along as I describe my plans!**

Depending on how long your classes are you totally don't have to do everything I do, since I at one point taught 95min blocks I have a little "arsenal" of stuff made now and you can totally pick and choose what works for you and your classes. I'm also presently teaching Spanish 3 and Advanced 3, so I am  making Novice and Intermediate versions of most of my activities.

I'm going to walk you thought my present reality  and plans of introducing this show this week to my Spanish 3 students. My schedule is a little different then it was in the past. I  see all 170 of my students on Mondays. We have a late start for PD and then have an 8 period day (35min classes). The plan is to watch the show on Mondays , instead of how I traditionally did it every Friday in the past. Then I see my odd class periods in an 85 min block (Tuesday and Thursday) and my even class periods  opposite that (Wednesday and Friday). For that reason, myself and my amazing colleague  have put together the following plan and materials and I'm so happy to share them all with you!

Monday (35min class):

Introduce characters using Bunches of Hunches  (alá Señor Wooly). I hang pictures of the characters all around my room and then give students a sheet of paper with descriptions on them. (Novice have full descriptions and Intermediate have sentence starters to help them make their own predictive descriptions) Their job is to write the letter of the character that they best feels goes with each description.  I then project pictures and ask students to  share the predictions they choose. This way we are getting to see the characters before we watch, they are being exposed to language  for them to make predictions, and they got LOTS of repetition and input from me.

Day 1 (Tuesday/Wednesday) (85 min class):

I will introduce each character and some background of the show using Personalized Questions and Answers and some guided notes and slides to help students connect to characters and associate them with their names , as well as introduce them to some vocabulary we would be seeing in the first episode.

We will then watch Episode 1 and they will complete the appropriate level of a event ordering viewing  activity  -- I find that viewing activities keep students engaged with the input of the show. Additionally, I should note that I do not use English subtitles , but Spanish ones and find that  most students comprehend the show quite well, because of the supports of the pre-teaching activities. With any time left in class after watching Episode 1 they can work on the viewing activity.

Day 2 (Thursday/Friday) (85min class):

Students turn in their viewing activity -- sometimes if there is time I go over it with them as a class, but not always. I do a "Clip Chat" using stills/screen shots from the episode and circling to review what happened in Episode One -- this way if anyone was gone they get to "watch " the episode as well and can participate in the class. We then play either a Quizlet Relay Race or Gimkit Musical Chair Round to review vocabulary used in  Episode 1/the show. Then finally we will play the Marker Game with statements about Episode 1 to review what happened.

If you want to check out any of these activities or materials mentioned for teaching this engaging and fun show in Spanish class they are all 100% editable and FREE on my TPT.

And if you have anything you'd like to share  please email me at [email protected] and I'll add them to this blog! 

-Sierra 

Inside:  How to play this  engaging, comprehension based, role playing game in your world language classes.

Elimination. Werewolf.   Mafia. (Although many tend to stay away from this name and rightfully so),  Etc... This game is known by MANY names and is a pretty common  deception based, role playing game that has been adapted not only by various board game/card game companies over the years, but by language teachers all over the world. Martina Bex blogged about it HERE and has some great scripts that can be used all year round. I found that I tend to like playing more like Sra. Chase describes on her blog HERE as it's more accessible for lower-level students. ( She also has version for French, German, and more on her blog)

No matter the level of students-- this game can be easily adapted, played with 0 tech if you'd like or need, is incredibly communicative and comprehensible, as well as SOOO engaging. When I say this is the #1 asked for activity by students after I introduce them to it-- I mean it! Your students will be talking about it for months to come.

What is it?

In the version I play (which you can get HERE). The class is transformed into a town that is being plagued by  a mummy (or mummies). It's important to note that my resource has a general "Halloween" vibe. I found using this theme made the game more comprehensible for my students, but you can play it at any point in the school year, so I will be using my terms for roles moving forward instead of traditional roles like angel, doctor,  villain etc. I also don't like any  death or violence in my game, so most of the time I have the mummies scare the townspeople into comas that they all wake up from if they mummies are captured and I have the mummies get arrested. 

Each student is given a role via cards from a deck of cards. Depending on the number of students you have in class you can increase how many students are playing as each role. Really the only prep comes from prepping your cards so you have the appropriate combination and number for each of your classes. Which I can usually do in a few minutes while students do the quick word search warm-up which is included in my  resource. 

In a class of  25 for example I would prepare my cards as following:

3 Aces (Mummies) - their job is to attack and elimante all the other people in the game
1 Queen (Witch) - save the townspeople, so they can arrest all the mummies
1 King (Detective) - identify the mummies to help the townspeople arrest them
20 # cards (Townspeople) - arrest all the mummies before they are all put in commas

(Really their are 5 major roles cards. So let's do some math -- # of students in your class -5 major role cards = how many number cards to add to your pile)
​

Now pass those cards out to students with the importance of keeping identities secret stressed.

Here's how to play:

1) After cards have been passed out I always  review roles and who does what and when. You as the teacher will narrate the entire thing. In my resource I have included a typed out and simplified script to read on slides that include pictures of card and their corresponding jobs to help keep you in the target language while  explaing the game, but also for the sake of time never feel bad if you want to explain the HOW part to students in English. They'll get plenty of good input during the game.

The script in my resource is along the lines of:

"Everyone in the town goes to sleep (students close eyes.) " BONUS TIP: I like to play instrumental "spooky" music in the background and walk around as  I talk to cover up the sound of students moving etc. during the game.  "The mummy (mummies) wake(s) up. The mummies attack ONE person." They mummy points at the person they want to attack. You as the narrator need to remember who , so I recommend writing it down. "The mummy goes to sleep" "Now the witch wakes up and gives a potion of protection to one person. The witch goes to sleep" The witch points at one person to save.   I would also note who that is. If that person is the same person that the mummy chose they are safe from the attach. "Now the detective wakes up." They point at one person. You nod your head yes if they ARE a mummy and NO if they are not. "Now the detective goes to sleep." "Now the town wakes up" And all students open their eyes.

Now that morning has  come it is your job as the narrator to explain who the victim was if there was one and what happened. In my resource I have included 25 simple scripts for victims as well as one for if the witch correctly gives the potion , but you can really do whatever is comprehensible for your students.

On my resources slides I have provided some simple phrases for students to use if they would like to participate and be a part of the conversation, but as the narrator and teacher it is my NUMBER ONE job to supply as much comprehensible input via the scripts and repetition of the story, so I mostly just tell them what happened and then instruct them to vote by pointing at who their vote is on the count of 3. Who ever get's the most votes is "arrested" and exits the circle and cannot talk.

I instruct students that are eliminated that they are in comas and also CANNOT talk. But they can silently observe. Because I am deskelss I like to have students rearrange chairs into a circle and then as they eliminated I have them move their chair from the circle, so it's easier to tell who is in or not.

Who wins? How does the game end?

**The mummies win if they outnumber all other cards aka "townspeople and the major roles helping townspeople".

**Townspeople win if they arrest ALL mummies.

I do not announce if the witch or detective are eliminated I continue narrating their jobs so students don't get disheartened and they get maximum input repetitions.

Don't want to do a "Halloween" themed version? Check out Martina's themeless ones HERE OR this Christmas one from Sra. Chase.

You have other "themed versions" you'd like to share? Email me at sierra.depping and I'll add them to this blog!