Here is a question about encouraging students to use rejoinders in the classroom by a colleague that has begun using them this year. It is a good one, because we all lose steam every so often and because he seems to sense that using rejoinders is important for building confidence and classroom camaraderie. Rejoinders can form the foundation of the classroom banter that gets going once kids know they are free to speak up in class and have the tools to do so.
Q: I’ve lost some steam with rejoinders, so a key question. Do you encourage their use on a daily basis or only when you’re telling stories?
A: I encourage students to use rejoinders all of the time. It gives the kids (particularly those in lower level classes) a release to express themselves since I do generally not allow English. As a model for the students, I use rejoinders frequently and I limit myself to the lists on the walls to keep it comprehensible. That is key right there–if we begin using incomprehensible language, we begin to give them permission not to pay attention to us.
I think that the consistent modeling and comprehension checks are the key to getting them to speak up confidently and use rejoinders appropriately.
One of our classroom jobs is “Rejoinder Counter.” That student counts the rejoinders he/she hears throughout each day in class and reports at the end of the period. The class gets PAT points for meeting or exceeding the goal for their level. If the counter forgets to report or reports inaccurately, the class does not get the points, so the job of Rejoinder Counter is obviously a responsible and powerful position in my classroom. That student keeps the job unless they get “fired” for not paying attention or reporting the tally incorrectly.
In Spanish I classes the rejoinder goal for each period is 30. When they meet that goal, they get two PAT points. It took some consistent encouragement, modeling and explaining, but by the second month of school almost every class is exceeding this goal every day, often by double.
In an earlier document, you said that you used 20 rejoinders as the PAT mark for Spanish I, and 30 for Spanish II. Before I start keeping track, could you clarify that? Thanks for this info–it really helps a lot!
I stated out with 20 rejoinders per class, but switched to 30 because it was becoming too easy for them. A couple of Spanish I classes have been getting up to 60 rejoinders in one class period!
Okay, do you also use 30 for Spanish II?
I am not teaching Spanish 2 this semester, but I think it would depend on the class. If we keep it a moving target, the goal can be adjusted to meet them where they are and push them just a little. Maybe you could start with 20 or 30 and go from there. Let the students know what your motivations and goals are with the rejoinders and they will likely respond positively.
My Spanish 3’s were up to a goal of 60 rejoinders per class period, but it became redundant because they ALWAYS were getting them (sometimes double!) and all the counter had time to do was write rejoinder tally marks, so now I we don’t even count and I just ask if it seems like we got enough rejoinders–which is actually the goal, I suppose–natural, spontaneous language use