Velcro Grammar

During our school unit, my seventh graders learn how to use indefinite articles (un/una/unos/unas) for the first time.  This tends to be tricky for many students, as it's the first time they have to think about whether a noun is masculine/feminine in addition to singular/plural.  To help them work out their understanding of this essential concept, I created a hands-on Velcro activity for them to do in pairs.

Each pair gets a "school supply shopping list" with the articles removed from the listed items.  (This is also the first time they see the words for school subjects, so they get to guess which section of the list is for which class, based on cognates and the items listed in that section.)  Most importantly, they get a bag of brightly colored indefinite articles with Poster Velcro (perfect because it's way thinner than normal Velcro) stuck to the back.  The partners work together to choose the right indefinite article for each word and stick on to complete the "shopping list".  While they are working, I hear so many great conversations between partners who are negotiating their understanding, and the Velcro makes it easy to switch out the words once they work their way to the right answer.

a class set after students have completed the activity

We used to just practice with a worksheet on the first day we learned this, and I've found that their understanding of this concept solidifies way faster when we do it this way!  (I've actually cut out several worksheets that we used to do with this concept in favor of this and a few more interactive activities, and students have performed better on quizzes and in recalling the concept during our next unit.)  Not to mention that the students are waaaaay more engaged.  Even (or especially!) my "wild" class this trimester was completely on task and immersed in this activity.

(And yes, it took forever to make the activity sets... but it was totally worth it to see the powerful learning that took place!)