View Content #1925
| Contentid | 1925 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Ideas for using only target language in class |
| Body | In my perfect world, I would never speak a word of English during any class period from the first day of German 1 to the last day of A.P. German 4. Being the imperfect person that I am, however, I am in constant movement toward that goal. Last year I hit upon the alliterative phrase for a step in the desired direction: "Deutsch am Donnerstag" (German on Thursday). The activity of that name was that the students and I would speak nothing but German on Thursday - from bell-to-bell. (We do usually switch to English in the last 3-5 minutes to clear up misunderstandings, check for general comprehension, etc.) There were often times when we had to schedule "Deutsch am Donnerstag" on a different day - the kids cracked up when I assigned "Deutsch am Donnerstag" on Wednesday! The idea and activity were a resounding success, and I would like to share some thoughts and modifications for this year. In German 1, by the second grading period, we were able to have a successful "DamD" almost every week. Most kids loved it; there are always some, as you know, who are very insecure. I usually try to have a couple of topics if the current lesson does not lend itself to a very limited discussion. We will continue "DamD" in German 1 this year. In German 2, we were often able to discuss the regularly-scheduled lesson for "DamD". If not, but always just in case, I had another topic ready. As soon as this year's second-year students recover from the annual German 2 Shock Fright Syndrome (they know they should know something, but they are afraid they have forgotten it all!), we will be having "DDD" (Deutsch am Dienstag und Donnerstag - German on Tuesday and Thursday). In German 3, we spoke a great deal of the time in German anyway; we usually used DamD as a way to discuss a specific topic (they were a great discussion group with lots of ideas). Our goal for this year will be "3xDeutsch": German bell-to-bell at least three days a week. The goal in German 4 is to speak no English. One of my favorite activities with my students is to talk with them, letting the conversation lead where it may. This activity - DamD / DDD / 3xD - lets me and the students do that regularly and in a rather organized manner. By the way, I base most of my daily participation/oral practice grades on how active the students are during each class period. If the student is listening, he she automatically receives 2/5 daily points; speaking adds the other 3 points. Each seating chart is in a plastic protector, and I use a dry erase marker to keep track. On DamD, I use the same method of recording participation. Scott, S. Use of FL in Classroom. Foreign Language Teaching Forum listserv. FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (10 Aug. 2004). |
| Source | FLTEACH |
| Inputdate | 2004-08-13 10:09:00 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2004-08-13 10:09:00 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | Not set |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
