The Unit Vocabulary List: Focusing on the Essential

I'm deep into planning the 2017-18 year and sat down to excitedly write a new unit on Global Citizenship for my 8th graders--something I've wanted to do the last couple of years. But, when I looked at the language functions/vocabulary section on the unit plan, I was a little stumped. It looked so sparse.

I went back and looked over all of the authentic resources and language tasks for the unit to again mine them for the essential vocabulary/chunks.  Essential vocabulary/chunks.  Essential.

I  worried that my unit was so light on the student vocabulary list, but again came back to that word: essential.  Really, what the students need for the new unit, and most of the other units I use, are those high frequency words and language of their choosing.  The students know what they need and want to say, and that's not the same for each of them.  And it works. Over the last two years, I've heard students using language in class I know I didn't have on any list, and phrases for which we never had a lesson. It was language they heard in several contexts and was needed and interesting for negotiating meaning.

Even knowing this,  I'm still sometimes filled with doubt when I don't have that long vocabulary and infinitive verb list I was so used to using in the past, and that I received as a student myself. I guess old habits and instincts take time to go away--but here we go. I'm starting the year trusting what works and trusting the students in their own learning.

Conference Going/Conference Burnout

Last weekend, I had the fortune to attend the Central States Conference here in Chicago--a great opportunity to network with teachers from the region, present and get in some needed learning.  I left the event feeling  energized and so positive about the work happening in our community.

That has not always been my professional learning experience though. Let's talk openly here about CONFERENCE BURNOUT.

I used to go to conferences wide eyed with eagerness and wanting to take in as much as possible--especially if the presenters were well-known. My preparation consisted of going over the conference guide, circling every possible session I could hit--highlighting topics that seems familiar and interesting.  Once there, I would go from session to session, collecting a pile of handouts, taking some notes, then moving on to the next.  Heading home I was awash in disconnected ideas of things I would/could do in my program.  However, once returning to my classroom, without any time to reflect or digest, and having too many topics to try and put into practice, those handouts and ideas made their way to my storage closet...and then the recycling bin.  It was too much to take in, and too unfocused for me to integrate into my practices.  In the end, I'm not sure how helpful those conference experiences were.

I left Central States feeling so good because I went in with a plan for my participation that was focused....and limited.  I knew going in that I was going to be presenting with colleagues, so I carved out plenty of time to prep and meet with them.  Then, I looked at my goals for this year.  I set out this fall to focus on getting better at comprehensible input,  becoming familiar with a variety of techniques to be able to provide lots of different kinds of input for my students.  One strategy I knew I needed more information on is using video content in a comprehensible, culturally relevant way.  With this goal in mind, I looked through the conference guide and found two sessions that fit the bill--one on an introduction Movie Talk  and another on making authentic film/video comprehensible in elementary(shout out to Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell!).

That's right, two sessions. I added to that a networking session with NNELL, that used an unconference format, allowing us in elementary language to meet in small groups to connect around topics we wanted to talk/learn about.   

When I came back to school, I met immediately with a colleague to continue processing and sharing--and she added some other great ways we could use the techniques from the sessions, and we're putting a plan in place to do it.  This was the first time I had used such focus going in, and let go of any guilt about limiting the number of sessions I attended.  In the end, this was one of the most meaningful  conference experiences I've had...and no handouts in the cabinet or recycling bin.

Update: Global Citizenship...in the TL

Last year, I shared about how we engaged the children in our school--ages 6-14 in Trick or Treat for UNICEF during Spanish classes. One of my goals this year centers around more comprehensible input and deeper cultural connections, and Trick or Treat for UNICEF again presented a great opportunity for both.

While UNICEF does offer some materials in Spanish, they do not offer them for the Trick or Treat campaign, so we made our own and used UNICEF resources from around the world to engage the children with the UN Declarations on the Rights of the Child and fundamental human needs.

Since I'm focusing more on comprehensible input-- old thinking about there being topics that couldn't be broached or explored because they are too complex is being challenged.  I'm more and more reminded of  Helena Curtain's words: complex thought, simple language.   

So, I slowed things down a bit, and gave time to providing lots of comprehensible input--through drawings, photos, acting and videos.  I used movie talk with the Trick or Treat for UNICEF videos, so that we would use TL rather than listen to the English voice over.  By narrating, asking yes/no questions and then either/or questions, the videos were useful for providing both the content and comprehensible input.   I also used this video to help my 4th-8th graders understand the rights of the child, with lots of checking for comprehension, either/or questions:

 As extensions in their homerooms, the children set classroom goals and tracked them as a class.  We were also fortunate because a fellow from UNICEF was able to come and talk during an assembly, which continued to build excitement and interest outside of our Spanish classes.

I've pinned some resources for exploring these themes in Spanish classes here on my Pinterest Board. 

 The children tracked their collections in their homerooms and as a community we celebrated raising $5000! Next year, I look forward to spending more time unpacking the Rights of the Child and defining need/want.

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!

When It's Time To Move On

At the beginning-- shiny and new, full of possibility, I was thrilled. At first, I felt like I had found the one, was on the right path. I was so sure, grounded, in control. But as time wore on, we started arguing.  Where I wanted depth, I only found the superficial. I didn’t believe in explicit, out of context grammar anymore, and where I sought excitement, there was only bland culture and no real life experiences. I got bored. And finally, I faced it. We were over. It was time to break up.

I was on my own again, well, just me and the kids. At first I felt lost, and relied on what I knew from my own childhood, but that wasn’t working either. At last, I sought support. A great  group brought me comfort and guidance--headed up by the likes of Laura Terrill, Donna Clementi, Helena Curtain and the online community for folks like me, #langchat. And then I started just listening to the kids and it made the journey feel alive again.

The fun and excitement are back--no arguing, no regrets. Only growth and forward movement.  For me, and the kids.

Life Outside the Bubble

I believe in language proficiency--real life use of the language.  My professional community believes in language proficiency.

I'm realizing we're still a minority in the WL teaching corps.

This post is a way for me to try to work through the feelings I have about sending my awesome Spanish speakers into traditional grammar-driven high school programs in our city.  I recently administered the STAMP assessment for the first time, to my 8th graders.  It's the best money I've ever spent on my program--the data I'm getting holds a mirror up to my program and is making me look hard at what I do, and celebrate the successes: I have Intermediates and Novice High!  Most of my students are graduating 8th grade on the fence of NH-IL--quite a few falling solidly into Intermediate.  I've been walking on clouds the last few days. So have my students.   The assessment has confirmed our stated goal of NH/IL as the range of proficiency for our graduates.

But, as the students are taking their high school Spanish placement tests, I'm getting a dose of cold water to the face. So are the kids.

Almost all of them are being asked to take written discrete grammar tests--many disappointingly landing into Spanish I.  In trying to advocate for one of my IL/IM students, I sent the STAMP results to the new school, only to get the response that my student "is not proficient in preterite."   My alumni kids who go into such programs always come back wishing they hadn't wasted the year in Spanish I--getting bored and resentful.  The ones who attend more proficiency driven programs thrive--and often enter into Level 2 or 3.

Here's where I feel guilty--I feel like I've failed them and I am pulled to go ahead and do some grammar focused teaching to help them transition into life outside the bubble, where they will likely be in the position to fill in the blank to show what they know about preterite, progressive...you name it. At the same time, I know that what I'm doing in my program is working to develop real language proficiency, and I don't want to give up doing that to satisfy the needs of programs that don't.

It's a lot to consider, and I'm leaning toward just helping the kids bridge the gap, and talking to them explicitly about what they may encounter(will encounter) as they transition to high school: Split the difference and focus on proficiency while sneaking in some help on how to play the school game.  As much as I hate that idea.

This isn't about judging individual teachers for what they do--I've written before about using textbooks-- but there is a huge disconnect between using language for real life and memorizing certain grammar points because the textbook dictates it. In the end, the students are not well served by this gap. 

A much trusted colleague recently suggested that I educate and empower parents to advocate for proficiency based programs at their new high schools.  I'm thinking to use my parent blog to do just that--and that will be time well spent, but I live in a city of 3 million with a huge, slow to change public school system. Our students fan out all over to different schools, of which our little school is not a part.  I know it will be a Quixotic task.

This is the hardest part about having made the switch.  Not the work. Not shifting mindset. Not convincing my school.  It's helping my students with life outside the bubble. It's helping them to feel accomplished about what they can do, even though they will be judged for what they can't as they move out of our school.   I'm not sure there's much I can do to help this year's graduates, but I've got  decisions to make about next year.

Is this a challenge where you teach?  How are you bridging the gap?