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Title: Video Series: Spanish Words Kids Love
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From http://www.spanishplayground.net
Spanish Words Kids Love is a new set of videos from Spanish Playground that teach language in context. The videos are set in Mexico and are full of the color and culture of that amazing country.
The videos have:
- Full sentences supported by beautiful images.
- Native-speaker audio.
- Basic structures that kids can transfer to other situations.
- Repetition of grammar and vocabulary.
- An interactive question segment to encourage kids to produce Spanish.
- Repetition and review of Spanish words in the question segment.
- A limited number of vocabulary words to allow for retention.
- A significant cultural component in both the video images and the vocabulary.
- Printable games and activities to extend learning.
You can access these videos on the Spanish Playground website, starting with Frutas: http://www.spanishplayground.net/spanish-words-kids-love-video-las-frutas
Here is the latest video in the series: http://www.spanishplayground.net/spanish-words-kids-love-video-que-tiene
You can also access these videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SpanishPlayground?feature=watch
Source: Spanish Playground
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Content Type: 1
Title: Verb Conjugation Activity Based on ¡Uno!
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From http://talesfromaspanishteacher.blogspot.com
If you explicitly teach grammar, specifically verb conjugations, here is an idea for a game in which students practice conjugations and focus on the subject and meaning of each verb form: http://talesfromaspanishteacher.blogspot.com/2014/01/verbo.html
The activity description also includes some reflection at the end about the activity; besides using this activity in a language class, methods instructors may find it useful to have their students reflect on the pros and cons of the activity and compare their reflections with the blog author’s.
Source: Tales from a Spanish Teacher
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Content Type: 1
Title: Vocabulary Activity: La Oveja Negra
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Here is an activity for expanding vocabulary and improving descriptive skills and possibly circumlocution: students decide which of a group of four words does not belong with the others. The activity description and support materials are available at http://www.todoele.net/actividades/Actividad_maint.asp?ActividadesPage=6&Actividad_id=490
Source: TodoELE
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Content Type: 1
Title: Learn Phrasal Verbs with Phrasalstein
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From http://www.phrasalstein.org
Phrasalstein is an app from Cambridge University Press that your students can use to learn the meanings of phrasal verbs. The game has a practice mode and a quiz mode. Players can interact with the game in Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, or French.
The app is available for different platforms at http://www.phrasalstein.org
Read a review of this resource at http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/01/phrasalstein-fun-apps-for-learning.html#.Us7XJfZRaU4
Source: Cambridge University Press
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Content Type: 1
Title: The Best Sites For Learning About The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games
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From http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org
The Winter Olympic Games begin on February 7th in Sochi, Russia, and there is plenty to talk about regarding these games. Larry Ferlazzo has compiled a list of links to articles, infographics, and more information about the Olympics at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2012/08/12/the-best-sites-for-learning-about-the-sochi-2014-winter-olympic-games
Source: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
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Content Type: 1
Title: Classroom Ideas for Talking about the Cold Weather
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From http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com
The latest Learning Network feature from the New York Times is full of ideas for talking about the recent extremely cold temperatures in much of the United States. Resources include connections to science and math as well as discussion questions and resources so that the teacher, also, can gain a better understand of the polar vortex phenomenon.
Access these resources at http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/teach-the-cold-science-ideas-for-working-with-winter-weather/?_r=0
Source: New York Times
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Title: Activities and Printables for the Winter Olympics
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Here are some sources of activities and printables mostly for younger children that deal with the Winter Olympic Games:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/winter-olympics
http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/sochiolympics.cfm
http://www.education.com/worksheets/winter-olympics
Here are some more lesson and activity ideas that can be adapted to a second language class:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/02/lp250-01.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/02/lp250-04.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson250.shtml
Source: Various
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Content Type: 1
Title: Photos of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games
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Here are some collections of photos having to do with the upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. You can use them as visual prompts for student discussions of the games or as visual aids to make your descriptions of game preparations more comprehensible.
From the New York Times, learn more about Sochi and the surrounding area: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/in-olympic-sochi-a-photographic-pregame/?_r=1
Source: Various
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Content Type: 3
Title: Self-Assessment: Why and How
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by Krystal Sundstrom, Online Learning Specialist
Self-assessment offers learners the opportunity to exercise more control over their learning process, maximizing their motivation and performance. While many learners might not be familiar with a formal process of self-assessment, they often intuitively evaluate their performance and seek ways to improve.
For example, my 12-year old son often evaluates his performance in various athletic endeavors. The other day, he ran into the house from shooting baskets outside. He gleefully shouted, “Hey mom, I went from a 1 to a 2 on my right-handed lay-ups!”
“Great!” I said. “2 out of how many?” I asked, wondering which particular performance scale he based his self-assessment on. He answered “10,” then went on to explain that he was an eight or nine with his left-handed lay-ups, since he’s left-handed. Although he recognized he had a long way to go on right-handed lay-ups, he was excited and motivated by his sense of improvement. I probed further by asking him what he could do to improve his skills, and we discussed his specific goals for this season.
Whether it’s sports or language learning, we all have an innate desire to learn, to move forward, and to grow beyond our current capacities. When it comes to classroom instruction, educators can guide and support learners throughout the self-assessment process by emphasizing opportunities for reflective learning and providing rich feedback regarding their progress. Research has long pointed toward the significant benefits of formative assessment and feedback, with these practices resulting in greater learning gains than most other instructional interventions (Black & Wiliam, 1998a).
Researchers have identified several key components that constitute an effective formative assessment approach. Learner involvement in the assessment process is essential. Learners can set learning goals and think through the effort and actions it will take to achieve those goals. Along the way, they can evaluate their performance, reflect on their success and identify areas for improvement. Another important aspect of effective formative assessment is that assessment data informs both instruction and support, and provides information about which areas to emphasize. For example, a teacher may notice general trends, such as students indicating that they feel more comfortable with reading tasks than speaking tasks. Based on that data, teachers may decide to implement more interactive speaking activities in the classroom to provide more practice opportunities.
The final component of effective formative assessment involves feedback, and high quality feedback can have a huge impact on student performance (Sadler, 1989). In order to reap the benefits of this process, learners should first understand the expected learning goals and standards. Teachers can emphasize concrete learning objectives during instruction, such as LinguaFolio Can Do Statements, to provide clear descriptions of expected language proficiency. Teachers can also share models or exemplars of language proficiency, to further demonstrate expected outcomes.
The learners then evaluate themselves to determine how their current level of performance compares to their goals. Frequent self-assessment allows students to identify where they need to focus their attention and make adjustments. The final piece of effective feedback involves implementing strategies to close the gap between learners’ current performance and their goals. Teachers can support this process by discussing various learning strategies, and by providing clear and timely suggestions on how learners can improve their performance. By implementing formative assessment approaches, teachers can support language learners in becoming more autonomous and achieving higher levels of language proficiency.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in education, 5(1), 7-74.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Granada Learning.
Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional science, 18(2), 119-144.
Source: CASLS
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Content Type: 3
Title: Want to raise language proficiency, motivation and self-regulation among your language learners? Try LinguaFolio!
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By Aleidine J. Moeller, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Recently, ACTFL/NCSSFL released the LinguaFolio “Can do” statements that serve as progress indicators for language learners to allow them to realize language and culture progress in all modes of communication (interpersonal, interpretive, presentational). LinguaFolio is designed to promote self-regulation through self-assessment and the development of learning strategies to improve learning. This formative assessment tool has been tested at the classroom level to determine its impact of this intervention on language achievement and proficiency.
Moeller, Theiler and Wu (2012) conducted a five-year, quasi-experimental study with twenty-three school districts and determined that the ability of language learners to set goals is linked to higher motivation, language achievement, and growth in proficiency. The same high school students (n=1544) and teachers (n=21) were followed for five years, and proficiency samples in reading, writing and speaking were archived and reviewed each year. The study revealed a significant relationship between growth in goal setting ability and growth in proficiency (HLM, p<.001). Students who were taught and participated in short- and long-term goal setting via “Can do” statements achieved higher levels of language proficiency as measured by the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) (Moeller & Theiler, 2012).
Ziegler and Moeller (2012) reported higher intrinsic motivation and task value (p<.05) when teachers integrated LinguaFolio regularly and frequently. Goal writing (LinguaFolio) also related to more accurate self-assessment of language ability for students (p<.001). This study with postsecondary French and Spanish language students revealed that goal writing benefits not only beginning language learners but advanced students as well and that LinguaFolio should be implemented throughout the duration of the language learning experience.
Ziegler (2013) conducted a quasi-experimental study (control and experimental group) with the European Language Folio or ELP (the equivalent of LinguaFolio in Europe) with twenty-eight classrooms in six schools in Germany (n=575) and revealed that those students using the European Language Portfolio displayed:
– higher task-value (p<.001)
– higher self reported usage of learning strategies consistent with Self Regulated Learning (p<.001)
– higher student evaluation of the ELP (p<.001)
This study also revealed that students using the ELP once per semester actually had a negative evaluation of the ELP while students using it four times per semester experienced a dramatic positive jump. Those students who used the ELP seven times experienced an even greater positive view of the ELP than those using it four times (p<.001), documenting that the more the ELP is used, the better.
Dema Clarke (2013) conducted an ex-post facto study to determine whether students who experienced LinguaFolio as an intervention in the foreign language classroom achieved higher academic outcomes as measured by cumulative GPA and ACT scores in math, science, reading, and English in comparison to students who were not exposed to LinguaFolio. Her findings revealed:
– LinguaFolio students performed better on the ACT exam in all 4 sections (math, science, reading, and English)
– LinguaFolio students had higher cumulative GPA
She further found that an increase in the number of years of using LinguaFolio resulted in a higher cumulative GPA and better student performance on all four sections of the ACT exam combined and separately.
Dema Clarke concluded that including LinguaFolio goal setting significantly affected academic performance as measured by ACT and grade point average and promoted the development of self-regulation skills.
References
Clarke Dema, O. (2013). LinguaFolio goal setting intervention and academic achievement: increasing student capacity for self-regulated learning. Unpubished doctoral dissertation. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Lincoln, NE.
Moeller, A J., & Theiler, J. (2012). Writing in the Spanish language classroom: A mixed methods study. In Aligning Frameworks of Reference in Language Testing. Erwin Tschirner, Ed. Tübingen, Germany: Stauffenburg Verlag. 171-197.
Moeller, A. J., Theiler, J. & Wu, C. (2012) Goal setting and student achievement: a longitudinal study. Modern Language Journal, 96 (2). 153-169.
Ziegler, N. & Moeller, A. J. (2012). Increasing self-regulated learning through the LinguaFolio. Foreign Language Annals, 43 (3). 330-348
Ziegler, N. (2014). Fostering Self-Regulated Learning Through the European Language Portfolio: An Intervention Mixed Methods Study. Submitted for review.
Source: Aleidine J. Moeller, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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