Sample directions to one place to be written in target language:
Destination: Ice Cream Store
Object: ice cream cone
Go down the stairs. Pass through the door on your right. Follow straight until you get to the end of the building. Turn to your left. Behind this building are six small buildings. Continue to the second one and enter. The ice cream store is the third door on the right.
Continue for each place that this pair will visit. It would be a good idea to walk through your directions before you give them to the students to be sure they are correct. Sometimes school maps are not completely accurate. For each pair of students place the directions in a small bag, such as a quart-size Ziploc. They will need this bag to collect the proof that they arrived at each destination.
- Find pictures of places in a city on the internet. I tried to find places with the target language name on front. To do this, I went to Google, clicked on Images, and typed in heladería and up came some pictures of ice cream stores with the word “heladería” in Spanish. If you type in English, you will find places with English names. If you type in the target language, you will find authentic photos of places in target language countries. These pictures or photos will go to the teachers assisting you, and they will tape or hang them on their doors. Print them on cardstock so you can use them again next year.
- Find photos or pictures of objects that the students could retrieve from the locations you chose. Again I went to Google, clicked on Images, and typed in the names of objects I could find at each location, such as missing luggage at the airport. I chose funny pictures when available. Print multiple copies of each picture on cardstock. Print a couple more copies than you have pairs visiting a particular location in case some students end up at the wrong location and pick up someone else’s object. Give these to the teachers to pass out to the students who visit their classrooms.
- Rules
Stay together with your partner at all times. Keep your official hall pass in your bag.
Follow the directions in order and pick up only the items from the places on your paper.
--Not all pairs have the same locations, and they certainly are not in the same order.
Be back in 20 minutes. The time is now___________.
No running.
Speak in the target language only.
Say please and thank you to every teacher! (I told the teachers not to give them what they asked for unless they said, “por favor”.)
Great feedback
My students came back very excited and actually thanked me for letting them do this activity. But, most importantly they said they felt confident that they could now follow directions and get around a Spanish-speaking city. Other teachers told me how polite the students were, and some even tried to practice their Spanish with the students.
