How long should I plan for ¡Corre en Círculos!?
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¡Corre en Círculos! is one of my all time favorite activities. I use it at least once a chapter! If you’re unfamiliar with the activity, you may want to check out my post here for more information on how it works.
One of my most Frequently Asked Questions when it comes to ¡Corre en Círculos! is, “How long should I plan for this activity?”. The short answer is it depends on your students. Like with any lesson plan, it depends on how familiar your students are with the content and how comfortable they are with it. For this activity, it also depends on how familiar they are with ¡Corre en Círculos!. Usually by December I can just point to the walls and let ’em go, but in August? No way! Here’s a break down of what my lesson plan usually looks like one of the first times I use ¡Corre en Círculos! with my Spanish classes.
Catch the Video
First
To start off the class period, we begin with our daily routine. Small talk, calendar talk, and we chat about the weather, then we do the routine for that day. When I did bellringers, i would do a short warm up to review/practice the content in the ¡Corre en Círculos! This portion of the lesson usually takes around 10 minutes or so.
Next
Introduce ¡Corre en Círculos! to the class. I read the instructions to them, then actively model 2-3 of them. I physically walk around the room showing them, “Okay. Pick a sheet. Read the prompt on the bottom. (I read it to them, we answer it together, I pretend to write it down on my answer sheet). Now let’s find the answer. Who sees it? (we look. when someone points it out, I go there). Okay! Now I read the next prompt. (same thing, I read it to them, I answer it and record it). Now we find the next one! Okay, we’ll keep doing that alllll the way to number (whatever number is the last one on the answer sheet). When you get to the last one, follow the prompt and make sure it leads you back to where you started! If you get back to where you started too soon, you made a mistake!”
I warn them to be careful – if they make a mistake they’ll have to retrace all of their steps and possibly start over! That can be incredibly frustrating for students so I make sure to impress upon them how difficult that would be. Depending on the content I may remind them of common errors to look out for too!
The length of time for this step varies – if your students have never done this before it can take 5-8 minutes! If they’re familiar with the activity it’s just a quick reminder.
Then
Handout the student answer sheets (or have them take out a piece of paper) and have them start. I remind them to spread out and start at different sheets! The actual activity length depends on how solid they are with the content, but I usually plan for about 30-35 minutes. Some students take longer! While they’re working, especially their first time doing a ¡Corre en Círculos! I actively walk the room and ask the students what questions they have, and make sure they’re completing it correctly. I ask if they have questions about the content and make sure they understand what they’re doing with the activity.
Finally
Have a fast finisher ready! Your students will all be finishing at different times, so having an individual activity ready is perfect. For example, I often like to use a laberinto activity that reinforces the content or skill. If it’s a ¡Corre en Círculos! that has a variation, sometimes I’ll make a mini version as a puzzle for them to work on!
Looking for more?
Check out my post here on ¡Corre en Círculos! Variations! It’ll give you more ways to use these great activities!
