Teaching in Heterogeneous Classrooms

Week 6October 13, 2011

Developing Language

Proficiency

Thoughts on Steele’s lecture last week?

Stereotype threat in the language classroom?

Administrative things!

Did you assign competence?

• Update! “Manipulation” is OKAY in certain respects…

• Asking students to read something in a more familiar language first so they “understand” it

• Asking someone to volunteer first

Quick “Give one, get one”

Write down one of the strategies that you really were intrigued by in the reading or in lecture that can help with language development and language use in the World Language classroom.

Write down one question you may have about language use, development, or language demands in the World Language Classroom

“Give one, get one” Share Out

Language Demands Graphic Organizer:Observing our students…

• Think about the relationship between your students’ TARGET LANGUAGE proficiency (Spanish or Chinese) and then their access to the learning task(s), participation in whole class and small groups, and demonstration of academic competence.

• What are some ways that students respond to challenging language demands?

• What do you notice when students seem to struggle with language demands when speaking or writing?

Vocabulary strategy (adopted from Kate Kinsella for academic langauge)

Titanic SurvivorsAll of us are on a ship that is sinking.

There is only one “life boat” that can fit four people. You have to convince the rest of the group that your life is very valuable and that you should be one of the people who deserves to be saved by the life boat.

You must act like and base your argument around the type of “person” you are.

Titanic Survivors

In the end of this activity, you will decide between everyone which have been the four most convincing arguments and who has had the most vehement reasoning. Those people will be the SURVIVORS!

What are the language demands required in this activity?

Expressing yourself in conversationListening well and understanding what

you hearExpressing yourself through writingAbility to convince someone of somethingAbility to argue (or partake in

argumentation)Ability to justifyAbility to “negate” or refuse certain

arguments

Possible vocabulary support?I believe that I should be saved because…It is critical that I be chosen

because…My life is extremely valuable because…It would be tragic if I were to sink

because then…It is imperative that I am on the life boat

because…It is more important for me to be

saved than for _______ to be saved because…

Hurry up! The ship is sinking!

WHO WILL BE SAVED?!?!I believe that…

_______ is right about…

I agree with ________ because…

On the other hand…

To play the Devil’s advocate…

It seems to me that…

I disagree with ______ because…

On the contrary….

In my opinion…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5xu35bAxA

What types of strategies, tools, and support were employed in this exercise to promote language use in the classroom?

(Spoken, Heard, Written, Read, etc.)

How could you use any of these strategies/tools in your classroom?

To consider for your task…What are the language demands in your

groupworthy task?

What will you expect the students to be able to do in the language?

How will you feel about them using their native language, if different than the target language?

Spanish ~ Chinese

TARGET language development assessed in your Final Project:

Describe the language demands of the task and specific strategies planned for and used to facilitate access to the task for the non-native speakers (even if you are teaching a “native-speakers” class)

The Final Project!

Homework assignments

Due October 20th: Bring Student work samples of ANYTHING (and rubrics, if possible) to analyze grading and evaluations.

Due October 27th: Final Task Card and Lesson Plan (Including how you will teach about the roles, multiple ability orientation, participation structures, etc.)

(Mandarin Task Cards: Please give me one copy in English and one in the Target language if you are giving it to your students in the Target Language. Thanks!)

October 27th and November 3rd: Microteaching – implementing our task in section!

Pick four specific students in your class—ones that you may combine together for a groupworthy task implemented in your classroom.

What do you know about them specifically? Comment on any general knowledge/observations you have, as well as their language use in the classroom setting, their “status”, their multiple abilities, their “competencies” and smarts, how they work with partners and/or groups, etc.