Retrieval practice is often referred to as one of the simplest yet most effective strategies in the classroom that we are sometimes using but, potentially, not as often as we should. We know that in a language classroom that when words/phrases/concepts aren't fresh in your memory or you aren't using them frequently, then there is the possibility of forgetting/losing that information. This is where retrieval practices comes in to help us bridge the gap between what was remembered at one time and what is remembered now. There's no such thing as a bad time to engage in retrieval practice. After a school break, Monday morning, prior to an assessment, prior to a lesson or spontaneously in the middle of a lesson. Retrieval practice can fit into any lesson plan and the best part is that it takes very little time to create or implement and the benefits are long lasting. Here are 3 specific strategies I've used in my classes over the past year or so to help them with retrieving information from the previous class, the previous weeks, the previous unit or even prior years. Brain Dumps This strategy is a great way to take inventory of what's in students' heads. Some teachers refer to it as brain dumps but I prefer a more poetic name- "Vómito de palabras" or "Vómito de cultura" which means word vomit or culture vomit. As gross as the name sounds, this visual is a great way to remind students of the expectations/directions each time we do it. Here's how it works- I show students a slide like the one below and tell them they have 3 minutes to complete the task. The task could say "write down all of the words that describe parts of the house, furniture or appliances that we studied". It could say "write down as many past tense actions as you can in 3 minutes". It could also say "what is everything you remember about teenage life that we studied in class from resources we read/heard". In those 3 minutes, students simply make a list and dump (vomit) all of those words/concepts on their paper. Around the 1 minute mark I tell kids to keep going and use that brain power to remember any other words they can. After time is up, students compare lists with their partner. If their partner has a word that they had forgotten about, students should write it on their own list. Then, we create a class list with input from as many kids as possible to make a comprehensive list of what we remember. This activity works for a few reasons. First, we are getting the chance to see/hear what words/concepts they were able to retain from previous classes. Second, we are asking kids to compare lists with a partner and have those "a-ha" moments when their partner says a word that they forgot about. It's not uncommon to hear kids say "I knew that" or "how did I forget that one!". As Powerful Teaching tells us, the act of forgetting is actually beneficial for long term retention. Third, this is helping kids study without them really knowing it in the moment. They are recalling vocabulary, verbs or cultural content which brings it back to their memory and enables them to use those words in their future performances. Two Things: Again, this idea is as simple as the name itself. At the beginning of a lesson, ask students what are 2 things they learned last class. Or at the end of a class, ask students what are 2 new words they learned today or 2 questions they still have about the content. For my grammar people, do you see the grammar in context embedded in this activity? This is an actual way to use the past tense with any level in a meaningful context. This activity serves as formative data for me as the teacher because I now can see what my kids remembered, what were the sticking points, and what points were not retained or not comprehensible and that need more input going forward. Also, if you are studying cultural information, you can address any cultural inappropriateness that comes up, misunderstandings or generalizations or stereotypes and how to avoid those. Retrieval Grid This is one of my favorite techniques for retrieval practice but, I have to admit, it takes more time to prepare than the other options. Start by looking at this example in English and then look at the step by step to creating it. Here is my step by step to creating this outstanding activity: 1. Create a Google Doc and make a table with as many boxes as you'd like. I have done as few as 5 and as many as 20. 2. Create a key/legend with 5 separate boxes at the bottom of the chart. Label each box as 1 point, 2 points, 3 points, 4 points, 5 points. 3. Think of the most recent content (vocabulary, grammar, cultural knowledge) you have been working on in class. Whatever that is, write it out in the 1 point box. For example, if you are working with food vocabulary you would write "food vocabulary" under that box. 4. Choose another area of content that is somewhat recent from class but maybe from a week or two ago. Write that in the 2 point box. Continue this with the 3 point box with content from longer ago. 5. Think of content from earlier in the year and write that in the 4 point box. 6. Think of content from last year and write that in the 5 point box. If this is their first year of the language, then do information from September) 7. Randomly assign point values to the boxes you created in the large table above the key. Put them in a random order. 8. Write a question in each box that corresponds with your legend. For example, in your 1 point box you might ask them to list 5 words related to the current vocabulary you are studying. In your 3 point box you might ask them for 5 verbs you learned in the yo form from earlier in the year. In the 5 point box you might ask them for 5 ways of saying hello to someone. In the example above, the red questions are vocabulary from the health unit we were doing right before April vacation. This was easier for them to recall. The orange questions was cultural information we studied as well that was a step up in terms of difficulty. The green questions involved the grammar we had been studying (present perfect) and asks them to demonstrate usage of that grammar point. The blue questions were involving vocabulary, grammar and content we had studied in prior years of Spanish 3. This was more difficult in terms of recall for them. And then the purple questions were vocabulary words from last year that I wanted them to recall. The point values are only meant to add an element of "school fun" to the activity and don't amount to anything grade wise. When students complete this activity, there's a healthy level of frustration that you can see as they work through it. They know that at one point they were able to answer all of these questions and are wondering why they are struggling at this moment. Again, remember that the process of forgetting is beneficial to the brain in the future. All of these ideas and more come from the book Powerful Teaching which was such an inspiration to me as I thought about helping kids retrieve vocabulary, grammar and cultural knowledge from throughout the years of studying the language.
Let me know if you try one of these ideas in your classes!
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