Choice and Independence

Working in a Montessori environment, I'm always asking myself how to build in choice and opportunities for independence for the students.  I notice that a lot world language teachers are  working on this-because, of course the goal is for the students to be able to be independent and use the language with speakers of the language out in the world.  I like the idea of stations, or works, so I've been experimenting with how to use a Montessori like work plan to build in some self direction and independence.

I am not doing this every class, but when asked for feedback, the children really enjoy the format to do occasionally.   What I like about it is that it allows for them to make a choice on what they work, based on what is available at any given time, and I was free to both observe them and connect with children one on one--something that is a challenge in our  tightly packed FLES schedule. During the work periods that I did with 9-12 students (4, 5, 6th gr), I also noticed that the children relied on each other to answer questions(good ol "Three before me."), allowing them to be more independent.

Below are some samples from the 5th grade unit, "What makes a family?"

As the children entered the classroom, I greeted them at the door, as usual, but this time with their plans, and they got to work right away.   Choices included listening to an audiolingua recording and answering interpretive questions in Google Forms, doing a gallery walk of paintings by Carmen Lomas Garza while writing a post-it sized description(with a word list on the board), choosing a partner to talk with at the "chat station" in one of our reading corners*, and reading the poem "Manuela, mi abuela," and answering interpretive questions.   When some children finished sooner than others in the group, we always have free reading and the choice works(aka fast finishers) that are mostly Rockalingua activities laminated with dry erase markers for them to use--plus the Mira tu Mundo magazines from Mundo de Pepita--in sheet protectors, so children can complete the activities and erase when done.

*In my school setting, talking about family is generally a totally cool subject. But I think it's worth mentioning that not all kids feel good talking about their families. I am looking to add to this task: talk with your partner about the family in the picture--using family pictures from the Peter Menzel books and UNICEF children's books, etc....Describe what you see. What questions could you ask the family?

I noticed that this activity may take more than one 30 minute class period, which is fine. When the children came in next time, they picked up where they left off.  I'm also experimenting with using Edpuzzle as input tool, and Flipgrid for documenting their interpersonal work--I'd like to build toward having the children respond to each other's Flipgrid posts--I'll keep you posted. Progress not Perfection.

 

FVR: Hallelujah!

After seeing so many inspiring posts from teachers using FVR(free and voluntary reading) in their classrooms, my interest was piqued and I really wanted to give it a try. I mentioned recently that I'm over working when it comes to comprehensible input(CI) and I know that reading is important to language development--both reasons to speed up the FVR project in my class.

One (perceived) roadblock for me was the length of my classes--we're a FLES program with 30 minute class meetings, three times per week. I was thinking that the 30 minute meeting time was too short for FVR, and so I'd put it off. However, during summer set up, I started looking through our collection of books in Spanish--it's pretty substantial with a wide range of levels and genres, so why not use them?

What I did:

I set up this little area in my classroom, putting out books that range from three words on the page to novels like Esperanza Renace and short graphic novels for my heritage speakers. Topics include content they're learning in class--biomes, animals, etc(in #earlylang, animals and their babies are king) to story book biographies and short fiction.

I'm in the process of creating booklets of short news articles from Newsela and elementary appropriate articles from Martina Bex's El mundo en tus manos to add to the shelf, and plan to add a basket to include books on loan from Chicago Public Library, as I get to know the children's interests better.

Part of my teaching better, working less project involved creating class opening routines AND sticking to them. (Monday/Tues: Music, Wed/Thur Writing prompts and Fridays start with FVR. So this Friday, I greeted each group, 4th-6th graders, at the door speaking very quietly,  using postcards a la A.C. Quintero 's suggestion for seat assignments. There was quiet music playing inside the room and the children entered and sat down calmly and peacefully listening to the music(I wanted to set a very chill tone in what is usually a very energetic environment).

After turning off the music, I quietly explained that we would be doing FVR(referencing D.E.A.R.-Drop Everything And Read) with which they're already familiar.  Then, thanks to the suggestion of my colleague Siobhan, gave some guidance on how to approach reading in Spanish, highlighting:

• Choosing material that feels like a right fit and is interesting to them
• seeking cognates to help make meaning
• using pictures and illustrations 
• changing books if it doesn't feel quite right 

Then, children chose their books, I set the timer for five minutes and away we went.

How did it go?

Day one was a huge success.

• It was a solid block of quiet, engaged reading across the board.
• Almost all of the children asked for more time.
• I asked the students to reflect and give me some feedback on FVR--the overall theme was empowerment and BEING ABLE to read in Spanish(they can understand more than I thought).  The children also overwhelmingly enjoyed being able to choose their own reading material. 
• I felt at ease and enjoyed sitting and reading with the children--it was a nice change that allowed me to simply BE with, and observe and learn from them .

Here are some highlights of the feedback:

 Going forward:

• For older students, allow/encourage the children to use their notebooks to add to their personal vocabulary lists(a few made the request).
• Build in some time for the children to share what they were reading with their classmates(maybe this will lead to a commercial for their book, in Spanish)--after observing them in action, I could see there's a strong desire.

In the end, I think this is a high impact, low prep activity that's allowing me to teach better and work less. 

A Few Positive Things...

I'm starting with a confession: I've had  a hard time focusing on the ins and outs of teaching this last month. Rather, it's been just putting one foot in front of the other.  This post is an attempt to refocus, and acknowledge and reflect on some of the work I've done this fall.

1) High frequency verbs:

I've posted high frequency verbs on my classroom walls, and in the few weeks they've been up, I've already seen the benefits.  My 5th-6th graders are using them for putting their thoughts together in class discussions and on writing prompts. I've given the clear message that using them is not cheating--rather being resourceful.  In middle school, this scaffolding will be removed as the students integrate them into their working vocabulary.  One observation I've made is that it allows the students more freedom of expression and encourages self selection in how to put their thoughts together--it's  helping to keep our class in the TL, too.  The children also make suggestions on what other words need to go up there and they're used across grades and units.

2) Looking at culture:  I used the video "Families of the World(Mexico)" with my 5th graders, who are in the midst of our unit, "What Makes A Family?"  I told the class that they would be working to make a Venn Diagram about the two children featured, so they took a few notes during the video.  They worked with a partner to make their own Venn, then as a class, we collectively created the one below.  You can see lots of high frequency verbs to create sentences. I integrated my large scale classroom map of Mexico, so geography came into play, too.

3) Organization:

Teaching many levels is the perennial challenge in elementary.  I've been wrestling with how to give feedback and have the children reflect on their own learning with so many of them, moving quickly in and out of the Spanish room.  Here are some things I'm trying--with success so far:

• Evidence Collection/Self Assessment

In their notebooks, the children have the unit can do statements for on-going reflection on their learning--note the three categories--yes, with help, not yet. I ask the children to write in pencil as this is a working document and that these are not to be based on a gut reaction, rather on evidence they've collected on their notebooks.  This work could be a written task done in their notebooks, or....

 

on an assessment, TALK score with feedback from me, stored in their "evidence collection envelope," glued into the back of their notebook(below).

The notebooks are for classroom use only, and are organized like this:

 

• A paper girl in a digital world.  

I store all of my units, lesson plans and rubrics in Google Drive, however, I'm an old school lesson plan book kind of gal, and have five levels to keep track of.  This year, I've created two binders--one for middle school and one for upper elementary. My colleague who has taken over K-3, has a similar system. 

The binders are organized by grade level and include the unit plan, lesson plans and progress monitoring--one page of TALK scores and one with the can-do statements for me to check off based on assessments.

This has allowed me to save and organize materials in Google Drive, so I can easily find and edit them for future use, but I can hand write notes and have a hard copy to take with me to classes, and be prepared when technology fails.

How Mexican Indepedence Day Saved My CI Day

I'm so lucky to teach in the culturally rich city of Chicago. On Mexican Independence Day we have no less than three parades--and cars proudly bearing el tricolor can be seen all over the city. 

But, every year on September 16th, I'm haunted by a secret I've been harboring--one that is a source of real embarrassment.  I'm a Spanish teacher who doesn't observe Mexican Independence in class.  I've struggled with how to stay in the target language and successfully relay the significance of the day, during the first two days of Spanish class for the year.  I know, I know--there are great videos of dancers and charros and El Grito...but it has always fallen into the too hard basket for me. Until now.

On September 15, I decided to confront myself and the roadblocks I felt were holding me back. One of my goals this year is to focus more on CI--especially within the first 15 minutes of class--so I knew whatever I presented needed to fit these requirements.  To start, I suspected that the 4th-6th graders would want to complete their Todo Sobre Mi activity we started with earlier in the week, so I wanted  some kind of reading that would help lay the groundwork for the children as they finished that work.  Here's what I did:

1)I headed over to Teachers Pay Teachers. There are literally 100s of options for simple, well illustrated readers for children about Mexican Independence. I chose one I thought would be best for those levels, had clear language well supported by images,  and made copies. 

2)I found a video of President Peña Nieto reciting El Grito, got the words to it and wrote it on the board.

3) I looked for any words that the children would need help understanding--I focused on héroes.  In order to help them make meaning of the word, I made a list of some "héroes americanos," like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson(planting the idea of independence), Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr, César Chavez, Rosa Parks (giving a range of heroes). I also pulled out a small print I have of Padre Hidalgo and put it next to his name in El Grito.

On the day of class(30 minutes)--here's how it went:

1) Children came in to mariachi music playing, and they found their Todo Sobre Mi work on the tables. I used TL to show that they needed to finish up the work and move on to reading the book on the table.

2) When children finished their work and read the booklets, I started a brief presentation about the day, referring to the calendar, the Mexican flag on the wall and my world map, telling briefly the story--that Mexico was a colony of Spain and fought for independence. I also referred to my calendar card for julio and compared it to the 4th in the USA, doing comprehension checks all along the way. (It was exciting--they were with me!)

3) I told the story of El Grito and acted out being the president...as they would see in the video, (highlighting los héroes, Padre Hidalgo)--they were all in. We practiced El Grito--and each class enthusiastically shouted Viva! after each phrase.

4) Finally we watched President Peña Nieto and the children enthusiastically chimed in. The lesson finished up with a 20 second TV commercial for El Grito Chicago--an annual celebration on Sept. 15 held in Pilsen--highlighting the strong Mexican American presence in our city.

During the lesson I heard lots of "Oh I get it!" Saw many thumbs up with "Entiendo!" It was just the start to the year we needed.

Looking back on it, I thought "Why was that so hard?" "Why didn't I do that before?"  But instead of lingering on those questions, I'm choosing to celebrate growth--it was hard for me and I figured it out.   That's what I want to remember the next time I encounter something that's challenging in my teaching.

¡Qué viva México!

Getting Through The Hard Days

If you read my recent post, So You Use a Textbook...Stop Judging Yourself, you know that I feel strongly that we have to be forgiving of ourselves. We all have rough days in which survival is the goal.   There are those days where there just is not enough coffee, and looking at the day's classes feels insurmountable. In my school, there are no subs for Spanish. So, no teacher =no Spanish class.  On the rough days, I hike up my big girl panties and face the day.

But am I always my best, well-planned, game-face-on self?  NO WAY.

 This time of year, I find myself having more of those days than during the rest of the year, with special events, field trips, you name it interruptions to the schedule.

When I made the switch to teaching for proficiency,  I tossed out my old textbooks and worksheets.(Nuts! I miss them on days like these.) Since I've recently switched over to thematic units, I'm also low on 'stock activities' I can pull from when the going gets tough.  Facing the last couple of months of school, and a bumpy re-entry from spring break,  here are a couple of things I did in class that took little set up or creative energy on my part.(Plus it put more responsibility on the the children!)

5th grade survival class:

• We're talking about biomes and conservation.  I put up cards that were used in previous lessons that list animals in each biome(picture/TL label) and show a picture of the biome, with its name.   The children made bingo cards with the name of a biome or animal in each square.   To play, I described the biomes and animals, and the children had to identify them to mark the bingo card. (If they were more familiar with the biomes, I would have had them say something about the biome or animal when they read off their cards.) Even though I was feeling off, we still maintained 90+% TL and worked some vocabulary in context of descriptions with photos. In the past, I would have simply shown the picture and had children identify the vocabulary word--now they're having to listen and glean meaning from the description.

 

6th grade survival class:

• 6th graders are exploring the essential question "Where does the world live?" Children came in and started class with a silent writing time, describing this photo: 

Afterward, they shared their descriptions with a partner. After reading to a friend, they returned to writing. I asked them to answer the question "Quién vive en esta casa?"(Who lives in this house?). The children then wrote some very funny descriptions of the people who live in this house and what they do.  What I did: posted a photo and asked two questions. What the children did: All the work. Something else I could have done is to have the children write three questions they could ask the people who live in this house.   I have also used, in a similar way,  the photographs from The Material World by Peter Menzel, which provides a rich cultural context.

One change I made this year that facilitates activities like these, is explicitly teaching transaction and transition phrases, like--Please pass me....(pencils, markers), I don't understand, Can you help me?  How do you say...?, Can I go to the bathroom, water fountain...? What do you think? What are we doing? My turn? Your turn?

Now, I notice that during something like bingo card preparation, or making a poster about something, the children speak in the TL and the process of setting up the activities becomes an opportunity for them to interact with each other.
 
Going forward, I'd like to empower the children to take charge of some of these activities, too, especially since they've gotten a sense of working toward proficiency and know it's about TL and communicating in it.  I'd also like to build a cache of meaningful activities so that on rough days, I can grab and go, and feel good about my survival tactics.

Are there days coming up when Banagrams in Spanish are coming out?  Definitely. It's about survival in these last 35 days.(Am I counting?)