Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Assignment 10 - Using Graphics to Fulfill an Instructional Need
Cristina Zimmerman
December 2, 2006
I. Goal/Purpose Statement
Following the lesson students, while using their notes and verb chart, will conjugate
regular –ar verbs in Spanish by removing the ending from the stem and affixing the new
ending to agree with the subject of the sentences, with 90% accuracy. This will allow
them to construct simple sentences and communicate basic feelings and ideas in the
target language.
II. Needs Assessment
A. Instructional Problem
Students at this level of instruction can diagram a sentence in English by
identifying a subject/subject pronoun, and verb. They also know the infinitive
form of –ar verbs (and their meanings) and can identify and produce subject
pronouns in Spanish. However, at this point, they do not know that they must
also change the ending of the verb and that within one word can be contained a
subject and verb. Through instruction, students will learn that although in English
verb conjugation is done simply by changing the subject (and sometimes adding –
s), in Spanish one must also change the ending of the verb to agree with the
subject. This can be solved through the instruction of verb endings and their
corresponding subjects.
B. Learner Profile
My audience will be my five sections of Spanish I. Their ages, experience, and
prior knowledge vary due to the fact that I have 8th grade students mixed in
students up to the 11th grade level. All students have a firm grasp of the English
language and grammatical structures, and most are college bound. Their interests
vary from athletics to drama and skate boarding to reading. The majority of
students are in the upper half academically of their grade level.
III. Instructional Strategy Outline
A. Pre-instructional activities
There are many things in Spanish to teach that can be fun and that easily motivate
learners. Unfortunately, the topic of verb conjugation—in its initial presentation
—is rather dull but very necessary. Once students have been introduced to the
procedure there are many motivating and stimulating activities that can be done.
Initially, I would present a list of verb conjugations with their subjects. Students
would then be asked to formulate the pattern that exists between the endings of
such verbs and their corresponding subjects. After students have worked on this
for several minutes, and after I have walked around to observe the students’
responses, I would then ask for feedback from the students. After collecting some
of their ideas, I would inform students that they were developing a theory for verb
conjugation. I would then tell the students that today we would be learning the
correct way to conjugate and that in order to perform this task, they must be able
to: a) define and differentiate verbs and subjects in a sentence in English; b)
identify and produce -ar verb infinitives and subjects in Spanish; and c) define the
differences between first, second and third person and singular and plural
subjects. Thereafter, I would begin the presentation of the process of conjugating
present tense –ar verbs.
B. Information presentation
Students will be shown an –ar verb in the infinitive form (example: to speak
hablar). Students will be told that all verbs in Spanish begin in the infinitive
form; some end in –ar, others in –er and –ir. Next, students will then be told that
verbs in Spanish cannot be left in the infinitive form when used with a subject.
They must go through a change called conjugation in which the ending, in this
case –ar, is removed from the stem. A new ending is then affixed to the stem.
Each ending corresponds to a certain subject, depending on who is doing the
action in the sentence. Students need to be able to visualize the change that the
verb goes through in this process and see how the verb changes depending on the
subject being used in the sentence.
The chart that will be shown to organize these new endings is organized by first,
second, and third person, singular and plural subjects. Students will also need a
graphic for this chart. They also need to see where the endings are placed in the
chart and perhaps see a visual to represent the various subjects that can be used
with a verb and its appropriate endings. Lastly, text of the changes the verbs
underwent also need to be shown and various examples of conjugated verbs
(perhaps with visual representation of their meanings for translation
reinforcement), in addition to various examples for the students to try on their
own.
C. Learner Participation
After I have completed the initial presentation I will then ask students to practice
this task on their own. First, students will use their whiteboards from their
cubbies to write down the infinitive of the verb given on the presentation. They
will then have to conjugate the verb according to the subject that is given on the
slide. Once students have all finished they will be asked to show me their
answers so that I can see at once any problems or adjustments that may need to be
made. The correct answers will be shown on the next slide. This activity will
continue for several minutes, or until about 90% of the students are answering the
problems correctly.
Once students, have finished this guided practice activity, they will be given a set
of dice and a partner, and will work through the activity on one of the slides
presented. This activity will involve the students with conjugating six different
verbs with the six different verb forms. Using the dice will determine which verb
and which subject they must conjugate. They will write down these on a sheet of
paper that I will look over once they finish the initial 20 verb conjugations they
practice.
D. Testing
A pre-test will be given the previous class period to ensure that students are able
to distinguish between verbs and subjects. They will also be tested on whether
they can identify whether the subject in the sentence is first, second, or third
person, and whether the subject is singular or plural. Lastly, they must be able to
produce examples of subjects and subject pronouns in Spanish. If students do
poorly on this test, then they must be re-taught these skills before moving onto
verb conjugations, otherwise they will perform poorly on the new task. Two
school days after the new lesson has been presented, students will then be given a
post-test that will ask them to translate simple sentences from English to Spanish
(examples: I speak, Maria sings, We dance, etc.). The test will be given on paper
and will be administered the first fifteen minutes of class.
E. Follow-through activities
For those students who performed poorly, I would present the information again,
this time using manipulatives as my visuals. In the past, I have found that
students who do poorly on verb conjugation do so because they have difficulty
understanding the fact that the ending of the verb is in essence, also the subject of
the sentence. In order to drive home this point, I would have students write down
several verbs on a piece of paper and then have them cut apart the stem from the –
ar ending. I would then have them write down the six new endings on several
sheets of paper (the same size of paper as the verb stems) and have them glue the
endings on a piece of paper with the verb stems. They then draw a visual
representation of the sentence they created. This assists those hands-on and visual
learners in one activity of seeing how they need a different ending to agree with
the subject of the sentence. I also would develop a web activity in which students
do a drill and practice verb conjugation activity that provides immediate feedback
as to why their answer is correct or incorrect. They would continue this drill and
practice until they achieve 90% accuracy.
Once all students have reached near mastery, they then are given a photograph of
an event of various subjects performing various tasks. In Spanish, they must be
able to describe orally or written what each person is doing in the picture. This
forces them to create complete sentences in Spanish, thus using the verb
conjugation in context.
V. Identification of Graphic Needs
The chart identifying my graphic needs is located on the following page.
Graphic
Brief
Description
of Graphic
Pre-
instructional
activities
Information
presentation
Learner
participationTesting
Follow
through
activities
Actual GraphicRole of Graphic in
Instruction
1 Verb chart With
modification
Singular Subjects Plural Subjects
I (Yo)
-o
We (nosotros/as)
-amos
You (tu)
-as
You all (Vosotros/as)
-ais
He, She, It (El, ella)
-a
They, You all (Ellos, Uds.) -an
Organization-to help
students organize new
verb endings
2 scissors No
modification
Visualize—to help
students visualize the
process of conjugation
3 glue No
modification
Visualize—to help
students visualize the
process of conjugation
4 Subject 1 (I)With
modification
With
modification
Clarification—to help
students associate 1st
person, singular
5Subject 2
(You)
With
modification
With
modification
Clarification—to help
students associate 2nd
person, singular
6Subject 3
(He/She/It)
With
modification
With
modification
Clarification—to help
students associate 3rd
person, singular
7Subject 4
(We)
With
modification
With
modification
Clarification—to help
students associate 1st
person, plural
8Subject 5
(You all)
With
modification
With
modification
Clarification—to help
students associate 2nd
person, plural
9Subject 6
(They)
With
modification
With
modification
Clarification—to help
students associate 3rd
person, plural
10
Conjugated
verb,
Example 1
Create
Instruction—to
demonstrate to students
how a conjugated verb
looks
11
Conjugated
verb,
Example 2
Create
Instruction—to
demonstrate to students
how a conjugated verb
looks
12Verb Chart
2
With
modification
Instruction—to
demonstrate to students
how a conjugated verb
chart looks
13Action verb
image
No
modification
No
modification
Clarification and
Identification—to allow
students to visualize the
verb being used
14Action verb
image
No
modification
No
modification
Clarification and
Identification—to allow
students to visualize the
verb being used
15 Thumbs Up No
modification
To indicate that students
have performed well
