iPads in the Spanish Classroom!

[M Coates]

Does anyone have any suggestions for apps, uses, or creative ideas for iPad use in the Spanish classroom?  I teach 7th grade Spanish and would love to begin implementing iPads into my classroom!

[Deborah Dubb]

Scribble Press app......  it's a free app where students can write stories with illustrations.  My 5th graders are writing stories in Hebrew.   Stories can be uploaded to the website for free, or a link to their story can be emailed for free.  Books of their stories can be ordered for around $10.  Not sure if this is too juvenile for 7th Graders, but it is a sure way for them to practice their writing/fluency skills. 

[Sam Gliksman]

I use multimedia and mixed media apps such as VoiceThread and Cinch. It prompts students to talk extensively and practice their language skills - plus they love creating with multimedia. I'm doing a VoiceThread webinar with SimpleK12 on Thursday this week - https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/395341474

Some ideas for VT in language classes include:

• Have students create and narrate a story using photos they took
• Create and narrate a family history
• Get a public domain movie clip, strip the audio and have students create a narrative eg. Plan 9 From Outer Space
• Create a VoiceThread story with images and words from a vocabulary list
• Display an image of a product and ask students to script an advertisement for it
• Create a virtual tour of a city or museum by narrating a series of images in a VoiceThread 
• Make sure to give students assessments as audio comments in VoiceThread so they exercise their listening skills

You can also upload images or video and invite students to comment and discuss them. Using the moderation feature you can keep all comments hidden until you approve them - so they can all enter their comments without seeing each others. 

Lots of ideas for using VoiceThread in language and other classes on this page... http://vtwebinar.posterous.com/

[Melinda Schultz]

A disclaimer I work at Doink which make an iPad app Doink Animation & Drawing, as well as we have a free website called www.doink.com, but we see a lot of creative Spanish projects done with our app and website. If nothing more here are a few ideas for you that I think are really cute: http://www.doink.com/clips/neomaddie/346461/spanish-project, http://www.doink.com/clips/BlackAndWhite/1473812/soccer-spanish-pro.... If you have any questions or want any additional information you can email me at [e-mail]

[BalancEdTech]

• Flashcards Deluxe and Quizlet - Vocabulary and phrases - Can use photos instead of English, so the kids are doing less thinking in English
• Podcasts & video podcasts - Using those by others or making your own. Great for when kids need a review, especially for a harder topic like ser/estar.
• Telenovelas - Make your own (short ones) with iMovie
• Pronunciation/fluency portfolios - audio recording & blog
• Listening comprehension (could be podcasts above or any audio you have on cd or that you record) followed by a response in Spanish. We use iTalk recorder, but many others could work.
• Student response systems for a quick check on what percentage are getting the lesson
• Animations - writing/recording their own dialogues using their vocabulary.

http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/iPod+touch+-+Spanish

[Meg]

Not that my ideas are great or anything but I can let you know how I have been using them. 

I have had my students use it a handful of times, but only two "project" type activities. In my Spanish 2 class I had my students create digital Puppet Shows using beach vocabulary. The app I used was called "Sock Puppets" They first wrote out a script then recorded them using the App. Finally, we had them switch iPads and watch the other "puppet shows". This was a cute idea, but the App restricts you to 30 seconds which isn't very long.

Recently I had my students work on a vocabulary activity. I gave each group 6 vocabulary words. They had to find the English meaning at WordReference and then find a visual representation. Finally, using the app "Captions" they had to write a definition in Spanish on top of the image. For example if the word was "Skyscraper" they wrote "El rascacielos es un edificio muy alto". After each group completed the definitions they exported the images into a separate photo album. The following day they went around to the other iPad stations and copied down the definitions on their vocabulary sheet. The idea was to have students fill out a vocabulary sheet on their own instead of me presenting it on a PowerPoint.

I've also used PollEverywhere.com with the iPads as a student response system :)

Again, I've only just started using the iPads and I'm hoping for some new ideas as well. :)

[Beatriz M. Lugo]

I just her of the xtranormal.com program in which students could use the Ipad to create cartoons and create dialogues in Spanish about what they are learning in the class.

[Beatriz M. Lugo]

Go for it. I think that even high school students like creating stories and publishing them. I did this when I taught Spanish 2 Pre AP and the students love the books that they created.

Deborah Dubb said:

Scribble Press app......  it's a free app where students can write stories with illustrations.  My 5th graders are writing stories in Hebrew.   Stories can be uploaded to the website for free, or a link to their story can be emailed for free.  Books of their stories can be ordered for around $10.  Not sure if this is too juvenile for 7th Graders, but it is a sure way for them to practice their writing/fluency skills.