THE EFFECTIVE WORLD LANGUAGE

CLASSROOM

CREC – New Teacher Academy

Presented by Carolina Gieczewski

August 25, 2010

WHERE TO START? ORGANIZE YOUR CLASS

WHY?

Decide what you will teach

= curriculum/U

BD

Decide how you will teach =

lesson plan and activities

Decide how you will grade = grading system

Decide what environment you need to

teach = classroom

management

1. WHAT TO TEACH: UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

1A. IDENTIFY GOALS

District curriculum

No curriculum? Enduring understanding > big picture, beyond language Essential questions > specific to the context of the unit Knowledge > content specific (grammar, vocabulary,

culture) Skill > application of knowledge Why?

1B. DETERMINE ASSESSMENTS

Following goals, create an assessment. Opportunity to show off No surprises Varied Examples

How to write a quiz / test

How to write Performance Tasks and Projects

Rubrics Rubistar Languages and Children

G – goal – task, goal problem, challenge, obstacles to overcome

R – role – what position do you want the student to take? (Role playing)

A – audience – appropriate target audience – who will benefit from this presentation?

S – situation – what conditions does the student need to be aware of?

P – product/performance and purpose – what will the student create?

S – standards and criteria for success – who will judge the work? What is the rubric?  

1C. PLAN LEARNING ACTIVITIES

2. HOW TO TEACH: LESSON PLAN AND ACTIVITIES

Following unit goals and assessments, distribute goals by days.

Plan activities that will lead students to reach the daily goals.

Example:

Unit: “Tango, a cultural phenomena” (as an enrichment unit following a performing

arts unit.)

Enduring Understandings: Recognize Tango as a representation of Argentine

culture and history.

Essential Questions: how did immigration affect the culture of Argentina?

Knowledge: past tenses and relevant vocabulary.

Skills: Use present and past (preterito and imperfecto) to work in this unit; Use

appropriate vocabulary to discuss tango.

Assessment: magazine article describing what Tango is for Argentines and for the

student; role-play Tango World Cup press conference (roles: tango singer, tango

dancer, judge, journalist).

EXAMPLE – PLANNING A UNITDay GOAL ACTIVITY ASSESMENT

1-4

Use present and past (preterito and imperfecto) to work in this unit.

Review uses of imperfecto y preterito.1. Compare uses.2. practice uses in context.

Daily Use of Spanish (100 points/day , -10

each time the student uses English) Write a paragraph summarizing what

you learned (exit)

1-4Use appropriate vocabulary to discuss tango.

Intro new vocab. 1. Simultaneously with the tango intro2. Activity focusing on vocabulary

1 Identify and describe tango’s main elements. Intro tango

1. Check prior knowledge: what is it, origin, social environment, elements, Gardel. (graphic organizer with tango in the center and circles for information )

2. Watch Buenos Aires video. Show La Boca, San Telmo…

3. Watch tango video (steps, wardrobe, setting)

4. Watch Tango.ppt (what is it, origin, social environment, elements, etc.)

5. Describe wardrobre.6. Complete a paragraph on tango with the

correct form of the present or prast. Attention to preterito and imperfecto. Review answers orally, justifying them.

Complete graphic organizer on the board.

During videos and ppt, comprehension questions.

Give and justify answers to tango paragraph.

1Explore the historical context of the birth of tango

EXAMPLE – PLANNING A DAY

Following unit planner, write your daily lesson plan.

Include

Basic info (class, day, time allotted, unit, topic)

Standards > objectives (includes grammar, vocab, culture, connections)

Outline: Activities + estimated time (includes assessments)

Schema

Transitions

Closure

Materials/preparation needed

Notes (announcements, reminders, reflection)

Ex.1: CG Ex.2: ARC Ex. 3: simple Ex. 4: chart

ACTIVITIES Why?

Sources:

Create your own… and share!

Be mindful of goal, engagement and efficacy.

Consider skill area for a balanced course.

Borrow from colleagues

Textbook

Internet

Books

Appendix

Fluff: all activities are not created equal

Activity packet Conjuguemos.com www.conjuguemos.com Quia.com www.quia.com Colby http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/ Dr Lemon http://www.drlemon.com/index.html . I Teach Spanish

http://www.iteachspanish2.com/Spanish_for_Teachers/Bienvenidos.html

FROM THE TEACHING COMMUNITY WITH LOVE

ACTIVITY PACKET

3. HOW TO GRADE: GRADING SYSTEM

Reflective of your goals, classroom management,

personality

Total points or Categories

Weight: reflective of your goals

Example CONTRACT FOR LEARNING + LETTER

4. ENVIRONMENT: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Choose a system or create your own Wong Canter

System must conduce to goals Target language use Skill focus

Set up priorities > turn them into rules

Create procedures

Present to students and parents in a contract

Ex. Reglamento

Ex. Danger of failing

SO MUCH MORE…

APPENDIX

Classroom management / general teaching: Assertive Discipline by Lee Canter The First Days of School by Harry Wong The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules For Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child by Ron Clark Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov NPR article, “Good Teaching Is About Hard Work, Not A Halo” www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124532654

Content: Languages and Children--Making the Match: New Languages for Young Learners, Grades K-8, by Helena Curtain and Carol

Ann Dahlberg. Strategies and activities to use in the k-8 classroom. A collection of performance tasks and rubrics: Foreign Languages, by Deborah Blaz. Exactly what the title states. Very useful. Create your own rubrics of use someone else’s at Rubistar: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition, by Stephen D. Krashen,

www.sdkrashen.com/Principles_and_Practice/index.html Foreign Language Education the Easy Way by Stephen D. Krashen. This monograph outlines how a foreign language teaching

program can help students acquire conversational language, and then move, in as painless a way as possible, to "academic" language, the use of language in areas such as school, business, politics and science. It attempts to overcome a problem all foreign language programs have: how to help students progress to advanced levels in the absence of native speakers.

Spanish http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/ presents grammar in contextual units, excellent activities, technology based, geared

for intermediate to advanced. http://www.drlemon.com/index.html . Dr Lemon is a college teacher with a great website. Her Grammar notes are divided

into Grammar Basics, Verbs, and Vocabulary, spanning most of what you will need. Practice and self grading included! http://www.iteachspanish2.com/Spanish_for_Teachers/Bienvenidos.html: a topical list of ideas and activities., geared for

beginner level.