Sobrevivientes South Allegheny

What exactly is “Survivor”?

“Survivor” is an incentive based game in which students receive classroom perks for speaking in Spanish.

Survivor involves Simulated Immersion, which means we’ll speak Spanish as if we were living in a Spanish-speaking country!

We will use a “pesos” reward system…

Students accumulate these pesos for participating in class and winning tribal games and trade them for higher denominations as the game progresses.

How are pesos used? -50 pesos per week must be deposited in the Survivor Bank for your participation grade. Students who are absent must still deposit 50 pesos per week in their Survivor Bank. Just participate a bit more one day! Students who are absent for an extended time may be allowed extra time to get their Survivor Banks up to the necessary balance for the participation grade.

How are pesos used? - With any extra pesos you can shop in the “Survivor” store, in which you can purchase classroom perks, from hall passes and pencils to free quiz sections and even a free letter grade improvement!

Here is our Survivor store… Sobrevivientes Store “¿Puedo ir al baño?” (bathroom) – 10 pesos “¿Puedo ir por agua?” (drink) – 10 pesos A pencil – 10 pesos “¿Cómo se dice…?” (How do you say…?) – 20 pesos “¿Puedo hablar en inglés?” – 50 pesos Bonus points – 100 pesos = +1 Use notes on test – 150 pesos Use flash cards on test– 200 pesos Get rid of warning – 300 pesos Get rid of a check – 400 pesos Free homework – 450 pesos Free section on test – 500 pesos Get back in the game – 500 pesos Real money – 1000 pesos = $1 Free test – 2,500 pesos Free Friday – 5,000 pesos Free Final Exam – 7,500 pesos One grade higher for the quarter – 7,500 pesos Party for class – 25,000 pesos

-English is not permitted. The rules… -English is not permitted. Only on certain “teacher allowed” occasions can students speak English. Students may purchase the opportunity to speak English with “pesos,” but must pay before using English.

The rules… -When a student does speak English he or she is given a warning for one week (5 school days). During that time the student is not permitted to use the “Survivor” store. The warning will be “wiped clean” after one week.

The rules… -When a student speaks English while he or she is warned they are officially eliminated from the “Survivor” game. -When a student is eliminated from the game they are no longer permitted to use the “Survivor” store. -While eliminated, students may continue to earn pesos for classroom participation, but may be excluded from Survivor games.

The rules… -If a student becomes “warned” or “officially eliminated” they can purchase the right to rejoin the game.

The rules… -If a student continually speaks English after being eliminated; they receive “checks”. These checks also cost “pesos” to remove, so speaking English will prevent students from being able to purchase any perks from the Survivor store.

The rules… -Any student that is not eliminated is therefore eligible to “buy” any of the perks within the “Survivor” store at any given time. -The store is still under construction, so if there is a perk that is not on the store list right now, please let the teacher know and it will be considered for the list. 15

How can I earn more pesos? Students can get: -10 pesos for just participating -20 pesos for just being correct -30 pesos for using an advanced grammar function in the response. 16

Recent Survey Results: over 1000 Western PA students surveyed over a five year span. 1. Was your overall experience in playing “Survivor” in your language class positive, neutral or negative? 95.6% positive 4% neutral .4% negative 2. What percentage of your class was conducted in L2 (Second language-Spanish/French)? 81% of students responded “99% or more” 18% of students responded “between 95% and 98%” 1% of students responded below 95% 3. Comment on the rigor of the class and the amount of material you think you learned. (open ended question) 67% of students said in similar terms “I learned a lot more than other classes” 4. What did your teacher do to help you understand the material? (open ended question) 41% of students said “illustrated/ acted out” 47% of students said “explained in multiple ways using the target language” 29% of students said “used a context and examples” 0% of students said “reverted to English” 5. How did “Survivor” affect your learning? (open ended question) 63% of students said in similar terms “it made me want to learn the target language more” 33% of students said in similar terms “it forced me to think in L2”