Sinopsis

Any Spanish teacher will tell you that vocabulary can only take you so far.  You have to be able to conjugate verbs.  My elementary classes are learning their subject pronouns in Spanish, and soon the fourth graders will be giving verb presentations for the entire class.  This week we started learning our subject pronoun song, even though the students have been seeing all of the pronouns since third grade:

Subject Pronoun Song (To the tune of The Farmer in the Dell)

Yo means I

Tú means you

Usted is the formal word that means you, too

Él means he

And ella means she

Nosotros and nosotras both mean we

Vosotros means you all

Vosotras does, too.

They are informal words in Spain for plural you

Ustedes means you all

We use it everywhere

Ellos and ellas both mean they

Here and there

Our 5th through 8th graders are now doing a sinópsis at the beginning of every class period.  So far, they have just been for fun, but eventually we will be doing them as quizzes.  What is a sinópsis, you ask?  For the purposes of our classes, it means taking a verb and a subject and writing out the conjugations in Spanish and English of all the tenses and moods that we have learned up to this point. Often, they include expressions with other verbs that are not actual tenses, but still important ways to express ideas.  I can't take credit for the original idea, but I have modified them for our middle schoolers.  Here is an example of what our 8th graders are doing:

1. Present
(inglés – 1)
2. Near future (ir +a+inf)
(inglés – 1)
3. Preterite
(inglés – 1)
4. Progressive
(inglés – 1)
5. Affirmative Tú command
(inglés – 1)
6. Imperfect
(inglés – 1)
7. Gustar
(inglés – 2)
8. Obligation (tener que + inf)
(inglés – 1)

Having to give the English meanings for each of these verb forms makes sure that the students do more than memorize a list of endings, and that they are able to make the connections to communicate effectively.  

These activities keep material fresh in their minds, even when we are concentrating on a different verb tense. It also allows us to target tricky verbs with irregular forms or spelling changes across tenses, and helps to keep the third person forms from getting mixed up. Already, I am seeing faster recall of the verbs and greater accuracy.  

Vocabulary is important, but the structure of Spanish is what allows our students to frame their ideas and build effective communication.  I am so pleased with their progress!