This is not the flyswatter game that is used in many world language classrooms. This is a system to encourage exclusive use of the target language in the classroom. I use a flyswatter because I found some big ones at the Christmas Tree Shop that were brightly colored and had fun shapes. Just about any object could be used in its place.
How it works:
The first student who speaks English in class is quietly handed the matamoscas. There is no argument or discussion about whether English was being used or should have been used. The matamoscas stays placed on this student's desk.
If another student in the class speaks English, the first student will pass the matamoscas to that student in the least disruptive manner possible.
The matamoscas will continue to pass around the room to each student who speaks English in class. The object is to be matamoscas-free at the end of the period.
At the end of class, the student who is left holding the matamoscas will pull a "consequence" out of a hat. The students submit ideas for consequences to me at the beginning of the year. These are all opportunities for the student to practice the target language. For example:
1. Explain to the class in the target language why you used English in class.
2. Draw a picture for homework and tell a story about it at the beginning of class tomorrow.
3. Give compliments in the target language to 3 classmates.
4. Write a letter to the teacher or class in the target language.
If the teacher is still in possession of the matamoscas at the end of the period, meaning that no student has spoken English, the class earns a point toward a privilege. The students submit ideas for privileges at the beginning of the year. The privileges might be:
1. After one week of speaking only the target language - everyone earns a homework pass.
2. After two weeks of speaking only the target language - everyone earns extra points on a quiz.,
3. After three weeks of speaking only the target language - the class earns a day of music and games in the target language - students must speak in the target language on this day.
4. After four weeks of speaking only the target language - the class chooses a film in the target language to be watched in class.
Of course, there are times when students might need to use English in class. I would never want to deter a student from asking a question or receiving the explanation s/he needs because the student didn't know how to ask in the target language. I give students a list of helpful expressions at the beginning of the year, including expressions for how to ask the meaning of a word or permission to use English. However, if a student asks permission to speak English and then says or asks something that s/he knew how to say in the target language, then I will hand him/her the matamoscas.
Kerryn Frazier teaches Spanish at Foxborough High School. Ms. Frazier will continue to post activities for use in the world language classroom. Many of these activities were created by Ms. Frazier and her colleagues in Foxborough, and others are adaptations of activities found at MaFLA and other professional development.
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