The weather has gotten so nice that I wanted to find a good way to get outside. A couple of weeks ago, while shopping at Aldi, I came across a 48 pack of sidewalk chalk for $5. It was the best $5 I ever spent.

Today I let the chalk do the talking as we read chapters from Robo en la noche in Spanish 2 and Selena in Spanish 3. Before class, I divided the chapter into 6 segments. As I read each segment aloud (students read along in their books), they had to show comprehension by drawing the scene in as much detail as possible.

It was a little cold 2nd hour, but by 5th we were trying to find shady sidewalks to graffiti! It was almost 80 today. The sun was great and the kids did a great job listening because they wanted to earn the “points” for most detail or best art. (The scores really meant nothing and sometimes I awarded points to everyone because I couldn’t decide. At the end I gave the winning duo a sucker!)

This is a lot like having kids Smashdoodle as they read… but it’s outside and uses chalk. As Carol Gaab would say “Brains crave novelty” and this was a novel way to process input! Give it a try and let me know how your classes like it!