A collection of classroom activity ideas and how-to's from the DiLL community.
Classroom activity ideas for use with DiLL. Includes the ACTFL Communication Standards and Language Skills each activity focuses on.
| Name | Description | Standards | Skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio Jigsaw Puzzle | Students are each given a piece of a story (a few lines or a paragraph) and then go around the class reading their pieces to one another. Have students transcribe the pieces of the story and put them in the correct order. | Interpersonal, Interpretive | Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing |
| Conversation Practice | Pair or group students in DiLL and have them practice conversing with one another. Record conversations for review. | Interpersonal | Listening, Speaking |
| Create a Creature | Students write and then record simple phrases describing a unique creature. Recordings are compiled and students are challenged to draw on paper what they hear in the descriptions. | Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing |
| Describe the Picture | Have students describe a picture in the target language. | Presentational | Speaking |
| Group Presentational Storytelling | Start a story prompt -- “once upon a time there was a…” -- and go around the room asking students to tell the next part of the story. Record each student’s contribution and then playback the entire story once it’s finished. | Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking |
| Guess Your Partner | Pair or group students in conversation, but hide the names of their conversation partners. | Interpersonal | Listening, Speaking |
| Imagine a Situation | Give a "situation" to the class. Students have to imagine what they would say in the situation, then have them speak it. | Presentational | Listening, Speaking, Culture |
| Karaoke | Stream music out to students and have them sing along. | Interpretive | Speaking, Reading, Culture |
| Live Speaking Assessment | Ask the class questions and record students’ responses. Student screens are locked and the instructor has control of the record button. | Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking |
| Peer Feedback & Assessment | Conduct a quick synchronized speaking assessment. Afterwards, have students listen and grade each other’s recordings. | Interpersonal, Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking |
| Picture Charades | Send a picture to one student and and have him/her describe it to the rest of the class to guess what the picture might be. | Interpersonal, Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking |
| Picture Memory Game | Send students a picture. After a set period of time, hide the picture and ask students to describe everything they saw. Responses can be oral recordings or written down on a handout. | Presentational | Speaking |
| Practice an AP Exam | Practice the Simulated Conversation and Free Response portions of an AP Language Exam using past years’ exams available for downloaded on CollegeBoard’s website. | Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking |
| Speed Dating | Have students go around the class initiating short conversations with different classmates. | Interpersonal | Listening, Speaking |
| Transcribe the Audio | Upload an audio file for students to listen to and transcribe. Use Turtle Mode and Repeat to listen to the clip as often as needed. | Interpretive | Listening, Writing |
| Watch & Discuss Video With a Partner | Students view a YouTube video, discuss, and record predetermined questions with a partner. | Interpersonal, Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking, Culture |
| Write, Record, & Share a Story | "Students write a fantastical story and then record it in DiLL. Afterwards, pair students up and have them listen to each other’s recordings, transcribing them down into the target language. " | Interpretive, Presentational | Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing |
DiLL how-to tutorials.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Create a "Take-Home" Exam | Create a time-locked task that students can self-assign (without direct teacher involvement) to listen and make recordings with. |
| Assign Homework in DiLL | Use the Pre-Assign feature to allow student to self-assign tasks. Useful for schools with 1-to-1 MacBook and BYOM programs, or schools with drop-in access to their fixed language lab (e.g., Universities, etc.) |
| Configure DiLL for Off-Campus Conversation Practice | "Create a permanent DiLL classroom group with Self-Grouping enabled that students can join anytime to practice speaking with other classmates. " |
| Create a Series of Self-Guided Tasks | Pre-assign tasks in DiLL to allow students to load them on their own (without direct teacher involvement). Provide accompanying instructions to students via email, a handout, Google Docs, or an LMS system. |
| Enable Off-Campus Access for 1:1 MacBook Programs | Allow remote voice conferencing in DiLL (participants can join remotely from anywhere over the internet). |
| Record an Audio Lesson for Use in DiLL | Create your own audio recording and upload it to the DiLL Catalog to use in class. |
| Use Google Drive & Docs with DiLL | Sharing Google Docs and files uploaded to your Google Drive with DiLL. How-tos and example ideas. |