Images
Chamorro Sentence Scramble
Subjects
Chamorro
Grade-level
Elementary, 1-5
Time required
15 min.
Materials required
- Note cards or paper
- Marker
- Notepaper
- Pencil
Related background reading
None
Related documents
None
Related links
Guampedia: Hale’ta: Chamorro Cultural Glossary
Lesson Plan
Description
In this lesson, students will use note cards with Chamorro words to create creative sentence.
Objectives/Skills
- Students will practice the Chamorro language by creating sentences out of a collection of words.
- Students will feel comfortable experimenting with the language and strengthen their knowledge by attempting to create new sentences.
Questions or Assessment
- Were students able to create sentences out of the cards? Did they find the task frustrating? Easy?
- Did students appear comfortable experimenting with creating sentences?
- Did students appear to become more comfortable with the task over time?
Procedure
Teacher prep
1. Create a series of note cards, each with an individual word. Words should be familiar to the students.
a. In choosing the words, first write complete sentences (of 3 or 4 words) that are similar in structure. [e.g.: I am very tall. She is not happy.] This will help ensure that students will be able to create sentences out of the scrambled word cards.
b. Feel free to include funny or difficult words.
2. Group 5-10 of these sentences into piles. Each group of 2-4 students will have a shuffled pile to work with. Feel free to test through the piles before class, in order to ensure that a minimum of 5-10 new sentences can be created.
Unscrambling Sentences (12 min.)
1. Seat students into groups of 2-4.
2. Provide each group with a stack of cards (as prepared in accordance with steps outlined in the teacher prep section).
3. Have students work through the scrambled cards to create a single sentence.
4. Have each group briefly share their sentence with the class.
5. After explaining to students the process, have them spend the rest of the allotted time deriving as many different sentences as possible with their stack of words.
a. Have each group record their new sentences on a piece of paper.
6. Be sure to walk around the class during the activity and monitor the abilities of each group. Encourage quiet students to contribute, and provide some guidance should a group become stuck.
Sharing (3 min.)
1. Have each group share a couple of their favorite or most creative sentences.
Recap (5 min.)
1. Recap what we’ve done and learned in the lesson:
“We’ve just practiced experimenting with the Chamorro language by creating sentences out of scrambled cards. This process became easier over time, and we became comfortable with making mistakes when learning a language. Exercises like this will help us as we continue to improve our Chamorro fluency.”
2. Ask students for their favorite parts of the lesson.
Extension
Utilize the language resources available on Guampedia, including the soon-to-come Online Chamorro Dictionary, to decorate the room with letters and words. By having such exposure to Chamorro words and letters in a passive manner, students will feel more comfortable with the language.
Additionally, the activity can be extended into a longer, class-length lesson. Provide each individual student with a small stack of cards (enough to make 1-2 sentences). Allow students to walk around and trade cards; each student will need to individually record their results. The instructor may also write on the board a list of aims for the sentences (i.e. “Create a sentence that describes an animal”, “Create a sentence that describes yourself”).
