Spanish 1B Students Learn Past Tense Verbs Through Remote ‘American Idol’-Like Competition

The Spanish 1B students will vote for their top two favorite videos, which will determine who wins “Preterite Idol.”
Students in Spanish 1B class are competing in a “Preterite Idol” competition, creating a song, film, poem or dramatic reading which will be voted on by their peers to determine the ultimate “Idol” winner.
 
The projects require the inclusion of several conjugated past-tense Spanish verbs along with words like ayer (yesterday), anteayer (day before yesterday), anoche (last night), la semanada pasada (last week) and el año pasado (last year) to help put the verbs in proper context.
 
“The objective is to internalize the preterite endings in a fun and engaging way, as it's easy to start confusing the various Spanish verb tenses,” Middle School Spanish teacher Lisa Botts said.
 
The project was in its beginning stages when St. Margaret’s started its temporary school closure on March 13. With students working remotely, the unit was forced to take a different turn--yet the show must go on.
 
The project evolved into an online video competition, with all videos uploaded to the online educational resource Flipgrid. After being assessed by Mrs. Botts for the proper use of the Spanish words, performance effort, enunciation and entertainment value, the videos were released for students to view. The Spanish 1B students will vote for their top two favorite videos in a Google Form Ballot, which will determine who wins “Preterite Idol.”
 
The project unleashed the students’ creativity, as the concepts went many different directions. For example, the submission by grade 8 students Breanna Arrojo, Ella Robinson and Kate D’Amaro was an animated film with graphics and various other educational cut-ins.
 
“It’s exciting to open the door to creative freedom for Spanish students with this project, and I am learning a lot from them,” Mrs. Botts said.
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