Do you listen to the Spanish Radio @ CIS?
Fluent Spanish speakers in Middle School prepared a Spanish Radio programme for their WAELP block recently. Guided by their Spanish teacher, Amelia Sevilla Martin, each student chose a segment, wrote their drafts, recorded it and edited the recordings. Some of the segments included interviews with Spanish speaking teachers; information about cultural celebrations, traditions and food in different Spanish speaking countries, music and even a Spanish "soap opera" and commercials. Recording in the STEAM centres Multimedia studio was exciting for students as they became “real” DJs and programme hosts.
The experience was enjoyable and engaging. Students were able to practice Spanish in a fun yet meaningful way, and further their Spanish linguistic skills in the school environment. Most of the students who participated in this activity were near-native Spanish speakers.
Spanish Radio
Interview with MYP Spanish Teacher, Amelia Sevilla Martin
EdTech Coach Egmond Boon asked the MYP Spanish teacher, Amelia Sevilla Martin about this innovative WAELP.
How did you come up with the idea?
I came up with the idea of creating a radio programme in Spanish to involve all the Spanish speakers/ advanced Spanish students at CIS. I wanted to engage students in an exciting and motivating project in which they could use their language skills and create a product they are proud to share with the CIS community.
How did students take part in the making of the radio programme?
All students chose their section based on their personal and cultural interest. While some children wanted to talk about Hispanic music, food and festivities, wanted to broadcast “Breaking News” and conduct on location interviews about fashion with CIS teachers. Students asked questions to their teachers about their colour preferences when it comes to dresses - black and blue or white and gold? One of the most unusual section was reading a Spanish Soap Opera episode.
How was the recording experience?
With the guidance of EdTech coach Egmond Boon, each group recorded their voices in the recording studio that is part of the STEAM Multimedia Room, and added sounds or jingles in GarageBand for Mac. It was a fabulous learning and sharing experience for everyone involved!
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At CIS, we have adopted the SAMR model to effectively integrate technology in education. This model has 4 levels and its acronym stands for: Substitution - Technology acts as a direct tool substitute with no functional change, Augmentation - Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvements, Modification - Technology allows for significant task design, and Redefinition - Technology allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable.
A Podcast is a digital audio file, usually MP3 or AAC, made available for download on the internet. Creating a podcast is a wonderful example of a Redefinition task wherein students learn in a creative way and integrate technology effectively.