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Title: Starting an After-School Club on Cultural Exploration
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From http://www.pblinthetl.com
Guest blogger Linda Carrillo writes, “I wanted to start a middle school club. My reasoning was twofold (not including being bored!) One, we needed another option for 6th graders--who are not allowed to participate in sports,--and for the 7th and 8th graders not involved in sports (or the other two whole clubs our school offers).
“Two, I have a burning desire for our kids to know that there is more to the world than their little town (county, state, country)!
“This club is called the W.A.Y., which stands for the World Around You.”
Read her full explanation of how she started and maintains the club at http://www.pblinthetl.com/2016/07/guest-post-way-start-after-school-club.html
Source: PBL in the TL
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Title: #AuthRes August
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Teacher, blogger, and teacher trainer Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell is asking teachers to share the authentic resources they’ll be using in the coming year. You can either publish information on your own social media (Twitter, blog, etc.) or comment on her blog post and she’ll disseminate it for you. Go to http://musicuentos.com/2016/07/authres-august/ for more details.
Source: Musicuentos
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Title: Q&A on Project-Based Learning
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Last month we focused on Project-Based Learning. Here are some resources that can give you ideas and guidance:
Larry Ferlazzo has put together a Q&A collection around Project-Based Learning on Education Week. A free subscription is required to view the collection, which is available here: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2016/07/q_a_collections_project-based_learning_1.html
Source: Education Week
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Title: More Olympic Resources
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The 2016 Olympic Games start this week, August 5. The 2016 Paralympic Games will start on September 7. Following up on some resources from a few weeks ago (http://caslsintercom.uoregon.edu/content/21493), here are some more resources related to the Games:
The website for the 2016 Paralympic Games is available at https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French. Learn about the different sports and athletes.
Be inspired by this video about paralympic athletes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocLkk3aYlk
Here is a lesson plan to go with the video: http://film-english.com/2016/07/25/the-superhumans/
The above video is one of many resources curated by Larry Ferlazzo on his “Best Resources On The 2016 Rio Olympics” webpage, available at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2015/09/03/a-very-beginning-list-of-the-best-resources-on-the-2016-rio-olympics/
For a few more resources, check out this post from Free Technology for Teachers: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/07/why-are-olympic-records-always-broken.html#.V54I9o6aw68
Enjoy watching the Games!
Source: Various
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Title: Icebreakers, Syllabuses, and Classroom Decor
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It’s August already and time to start thinking about your first few weeks of classes this fall. Here are some ideas for icebreakers and getting-to-know-you activities, syllabuses, and classroom decor:
Some Spanish printables for getting to know each other: http://laclasedeele.blogspot.com/2016/07/fichas-para-conocerse-mejor-hoy-os_14.html
Ideas for decorating your classroom: http://www.lightninglanguagevlog.com/#!Frugal-fun-purposeful-classroom-decor-with-consideration-for-traveling-teachers-too/cmja3/574ddbf80cf25085214d1e38
A form for your substitute teacher to fill out when you have to be gone: https://sradentlinger.wordpress.com/2016/07/07/note-from-the-sub/
Cartoons in your syllabus? Here’s one way to do it: https://mrpeto.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/cartoon-syllabus/
A no-prep getting-to-know-you icebreaker: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2016/07/abcs-of-me-no-prep-icebreaker.html
More icebreakers and games for the beginning of the year: http://spanishmama.com/10-beginning-of-the-year-icebreakers-and-games/
Source: Various
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Title: Blog Post: What a Nicaraguan slum taught me about PBL
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From https://laclasemoderna.wordpress.com/
Middle school Spanish teacher Emily has written a timely blog post about what her recent trip to Nicaragua, where she and others surveyed residents in a slum about their health needs, taught her about project-based learning that she can apply in her classroom. Read her blog post here: https://laclasemoderna.wordpress.com/2016/07/20/what-a-nicaraguan-slum-taught-me-about-pbl/
Source: La Clase Moderna
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Title: Movement Activities and Games for Elementary Classrooms
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From http://gazette.teachers.net
These activities that get kids moving and using their different senses aren’t intended specifically for language classrooms, but many of them can be done in the target language, and they also serve as “brain breaks” between other classroom activities.
Part one is available here: http://gazette.teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/leah-davies/20-movement-activities-for-the-classroom/
Part two is available here: http://gazette.teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/leah-davies/movement-activities-and-games-for-elementary-classrooms-part-2/
Source: Teachers.net Gazette
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Title: August Theme: Presentational Modes
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Last month we focused on project-based learning (PBL), and this week's issue of InterCom includes a few article related to that approach. Our theme for August is the writing presentational mode. We hope you enjoy your InterCom subscription this month.
Source: CASLS
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Title: Five Tips for Helping Language Learners Become Better Writers
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Teaching writing can be approached in a number of ways. This month we will focus on the teaching and learning of writing skills in the language classroom. To kick of the month, and get us back in the curriculum planning mode, this week's Topic of the Week offers five tips for teaching writing in the language classroom. We offer an example of these techniques as part f this week’s Activity of the Week and will explore each tip in more detail as the month progresses.
- Read, read, read! The more learners are given the opportunity to read with intention, the more it will impact their writing. This can be especially helpful to model various genres, identify audience, and target structures specific to a unit or lesson. Integrating reading as part of the writing process can have a profound impact on learners writing.
- Explore genre whenever possible. Giving learners the opportunity to write in at least 5-7 genres is fundamental to building strong writing skills. This can include a focus on more informal writing contexts as well as more formal academic contexts.
- Evaluate all dimensions of a writing project. When creating rubrics, or other metrics, to evaluate the quality of writing outcomes, one should include all target learning objectives. This includes vocabulary and grammar, but should also target rhetorical structure, formatting, quality of content, and appropriateness for the audience.
- Have learners write what people actually write. When creating a writing prompt, it can be very helpful to select a writing format that people use every day. In place of isolated assignments, a focus on real world tasks adds authenticity to the writing task and enables learners to explore a language task they do each day.
- Use a variety of writing processes. In addition to process writing with multiple drafts, a critical step in the teaching of writing, it is important to offer the opportunity to write in less structured contexts as well. This can include journal entries, a blog post, and other less formal genres.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 3
Title: Presentational Speaking: Strategies for Scaffolding
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by Stephanie Knight, CASLS Language Technology Specialist
Like all modes of communication, Presentational Speaking adds a certain richness and authenticity to the world language classroom. It is particularly beneficial to learners because it allows them to research information in the target language and then put that information in their own words, helping them to develop skills such as circumlocution and summarization. Learners are better off for it, but as anyone who has ever taken a public speaking course can explain, speaking in front of others can be intimidating, particularly in the target language.
In order to attend to the respective affective filters of learners and to help to prepare learners for Presentational Speaking, one may wish to adapt an approach based off of that advocated by Ishihara and Cohen (2010) for language analysis. First have learners observe presentational speaking, evaluate presentational speaking, and then practice presentational speaking.
The observation phase: The observation phase involves learners seeing presentational speaking tasks that are appropriate to their proficiency level and taking note of what they notice. At this point, learners may note the register of language used with a particular audience, the structure of the spoken text (how to appropriately open and close the spoken text based on context, for example), or vocabulary and grammar that are important to the text type that they are observing.
The evaluation phase: During the evaluation, learners share their observations. At this point, teachers may wish to explicitly explain nuanced language use and to engage in direct instruction regarding cohesive and rhetorical devices.
The practice phase: Finally, learners are ready to try their hand at preparing a Presentational Speaking text. If you have not done so already, model ways for learners to brainstorm and plan (see Nissler (2014) for an example of one such tool). During this discussion, learners should be reminded at this point to think of important cohesive and rhetorical devices and vocabulary. Next, allow learners to outline their work in the way that works best for them and to create working notes to use when presenting. It is necessary that these notes be bulleted and not so in-depth that the learner is able to simply read from the notes in order to give the presentation.
After learners are done outlining and creating their working notes, allow them to practice for one another and give one another specific feedback regarding strengths and weaknesses that affect over all meaning making (e.g., organization, clarity of message, use of cohesive devices, and implementation of the appropriate register). The learners should have time to reflect on their feedback and, after some additional practice, should feel ready to present.
References:
Ishihara, N. & Cohen, A. (2010). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet. London and New York: Routledge.
Nissler, P. (2014). Scaffolding a presentation: Comments from Spanish and German. Journal of Language Teaching and Research. 5 (4). 723-730.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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