[ola] Re: Progressions
- From: Ricardo Linnell <hurricanetumbao@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:09:36 -0800
Hey Everyone,
I am a bit confused now because I thought this thread was to talk about
progressions. Anyway, I will address the Text issue quickly and then we can
set up a gotomeeting to talk about the ideas and use of Progressions in
classes.
I do not use any text from textbooks. I am not saying that the text from
textbooks is bad to use, but I don't use it because I feel it is not
genuine for the most part. I prefer to use authentic texts. Also, though I
do agree that it is possible to assess student comprehension by having the
students say what they understood from an L2 text in English, I do not
think it is the best practice. I feel that level-appropriate questions that
are based on the authentic text being used, are the most interactive way to
not only assess what a student is comprehending, but also a way to get
students to interact more with the text and with each other. That is why I
recommend the book 21 Cuentos from Teachers Discovery. It has very short
texts and on the other page from the reading, it has a series of questions
(all in the L2) that students can use to interact and gauge their
comprehension of the text.
What I have found to be true about reading authentic text is that the
students pick up the grammatical structures and those structures over time,
show up in the students' writing. As it becomes regular in the writing,
then the speech patterns begin to develop more (sometimes it is the
opposite, but they both help each other out). I just feel that the L2 text
should be addressed (in whichever way we can) by an L2 assessment piece.
Just my two cents on this topic.
"Don't kid yourself. The students understand far more than you could
possibly imagine they do." - Ricardo Linnell
On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 10:40 AM, Young, Lisa <lyoung@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Interesting thanks!
>
>
>
> *From:* ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
> Behalf Of *Rebecca Rice
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 19, 2013 9:30 AM
> *To:* ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [ola] Re: Progressions
>
>
>
> Texts that work for my Spanish 2 class are short stories where there is
> some clear, identifiable vocabulary and there are obvious themes. From
> there we talk trama, do a ton of vocab repetition and tell our own stories
> with similar themes and vocabulary. We learn vocab through actions and
> drawings and "test" our understanding through games of memory or other fun
> vocab games.
>
>
>
> You can find a lot of these stories online and Blaine Ray offers some good
> stuff through the TPR stories.
>
>
>
> Becca
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 9:22 AM, Thomas Hinkle <
> thinkle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Just to clarify, by L1 texts I meant L2 texts, ie target language
> texts (maybe that shows how much I've internalized the 100% L2 goal?).
>
> I have trouble finding good texts that are accessible. I try to draw
> heavily on magazines (both physical and online). For low level students,
> I've used a lot of advertisements in the past because they are heavily
> contextualized. One thing that happens to me is that I go back to the same
> kinds of texts again and again when I'm just doing a conversational class,
> which is why I want to experiment with a more unit-based curriculum,
> because I think it will actually be easier to look for an appropriate,
> accessible text that connects to "la casa" or "la política" or "las
> amistades" or what have you than it is to find a text without a clear
> anchor to begin with.
>
>
>
> Tom
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 11:36 AM, Thomas Hinkle <
> thinkle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> To me, the issue of grammar and the issue of units are two separate issues.
>
>
>
> I think there's a *lot* to be said for focusing on competencies rather
> than grammar, as Arnold pointed out in a recent post to this group.
>
>
>
> I'm becoming more and more skeptical, however, of the OWL belief in not
> having units. For me, as a teacher, I find I can get in a rut and easily
> not introduce nearly enough material. Often my best days (and I'm currently
> *not* using units) are when I quickly grab onto something from the kids and
> use it as a base for teaching a particular vocabulary area (yesterday we
> did cleaning, for example). My current plan is to design units of
> vocabulary for next semester to make sure I am teaching a breadth of
> material and not getting bogged down with kids reviewing the same old words
> or topics. I'll let folks know how it goes, but I am suspicious that
> organizing my class into "units" will (A) give the kids a feeling of
> security and structure (B) improve the variety of topics and engagement
> that I get from kids (C) inspire me to do a better job bringing in L1 texts
> and materials for kids to practice with.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 11:02 AM, Young, Lisa <lyoung@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I am another one struggling to make sure the grammar piece is included so
> I explain to my parents that I actually teach a modified version of the OWL
> program. I had a conversation recently with my feeder school teacher who
> told me that she is happy when the kids come in to Spanish 2 with “Lots of
> vocabulary” and able to conjugate verbs in present, preterite and present
> progressive. I guiltily will take days to explain in English certain
> grammar concepts that I am trying to teach in the circle. I try not to do
> this and am convinced as my program develops with my younger kids I won’t
> have to do this anymore. One thing I have done staying in the language
> that I think helps is showing student work examples that are correct and
> then modeling on the board and in the language what is not correct.
>
>
>
> My little kids are another issue because it is difficult for me to stay in
> the language with the discipline issues that arise. K-2 will totally tune
> my out in the language and it is hard to stay in the language with them and
> keep their attention. Maybe someone out there has some good advice for
> me?
>
>
>
> *From:* ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
> Behalf Of *ANGELA STEPHENS
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 17, 2013 3:12 PM
>
>
> *To:* 'ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
> *Subject:* [ola] Re: Progressions
>
>
>
> Calysta et all,
>
> I find that I too am leaning toward the UNIT driven class though it
> stresses me out because I feel like I am not being “faithful” to the OWL
> though we do aim for 100% Spanish and I do not have desks or chairs. Most
> of my kiddos have no issues sitting on the floor when we sit and they
> absolutely love using the small whiteboards for a variety of activities.
> The small whiteboards are available through Carlex and Teacher’s Discovery
> for fairly reasonable pricing. We also use them as hard writing surfaces,
> so they are multi-purpose.
>
>
>
> The grammar stuff is not an issue for me at this point because I am the
> only Spanish teacher in my building, but I do worry about how the kids will
> transition to the next level. From what I am seeing, my 6th graders are
> adapting to the speaking and accepting the “lack of grammar instruction”
> much better/easier than the 8th graders who spent time in the traditional
> classroom style setting. For example, my 6th graders are always trying
> to tell me stories about what happens in their lives in Spanish, even with
> their limited Spanish vocabulary. They draw, act out, point, and mimic
> just like we really do in authentic situations. One such story was told by
> a young lady who was trying to tell me that her mom, her sister, and
> grandparents had gone to the pier to watch the boats for someone’s birthday
> and her mom turned quickly and dropped her Bluetooth in the water. She
> knew azul and pointed to a tooth in her mouth, I was quite confused but
> when she pointed to her ear, I finally understood that she meant Bluetooth
> for her phone, and the story became funny to all of us. We then were able
> to add vocabulary for cell phone and technology and money, stuff we would
> never traditionally cover in an exploratory level class. This story
> stemmed from the student next to her mimicking that he likes to go fishing.
> Just the fact that kids are using the language, without the fear of making
> mistakes or looking foolish/uncool, is so awesome to me. This is what we
> all work so hard to accomplish. This makes changing the “rule for teaching”
> so worth every sleepless night!
>
>
>
> Thank you all for sharing in this journey!
>
> Angie
>
>
>
> *From:* ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]
> *On Behalf Of *Calysta Phillips
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 17, 2013 1:07 PM
> *To:* ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [ola] Re: Progressions
>
>
>
> Yes! I know I am NOT ALONE in doing a traditional UNIT driven class in the
> CIRCLE. How do I know my circle is Unit driven? In Spanish and French 2 we
> are wrapping up a "Doctor/reflexive verb/body parts" unit. In Spanish and
> French 1, we are wrapping up "Classroom/Emotions/Prepositions of
> Location/estar/ir" Unit (Avancemos 1, Unidad 2 anyone?)...While I left room
> for a lot of "extra" stuff to come up, we were hanging ornaments on the
> very tips of my predetermined branches...
>
>
>
> The good news???? I FINALLY GOT RID OF MY DESKS!!!! :) I did it, Darcy!
>
>
>
> The bad news???? Still not letting it go, letting the Question Hook
> Sequence happen... feeling "obliged" to my department that they arrive at
> levels 3 and up with a knowledge of the grammar....
>
>
>
> Who else is teaching traditional "UNITS" in the circle... bringing the
> agenda to the table? I have several things stopping me:
>
> Fear
>
> Department Alignment
>
> Lack of knowledge/comfort with ACTFL levels and progressions to really be
> able to monitor my students that way.
>
>
>
> Would love to know who else is in my boat. Thanks! Calysta
>
>
>
> On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 4:21 PM, Call Daniel <dcall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Very helpful, Ricardo. I still feel that I could use a lot of practice
> and mentoring with this, but every little bit helps.
>
>
>
> Dan
>
>
>
> *From:* ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
> Behalf Of *Ricardo Linnell
> *Sent:* Saturday, December 14, 2013 11:46 AM
> *To:* ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [ola] Progressions
>
>
>
> Hey Everybody,
>
>
>
> I wanted to take a moment to talk about progressions. I am sure that quite
> a few of you understand how to use them in your classes, but there are
> probably as many or more teachers who are unsure of exactly what it is,
> much less have the confidence to unleash it in your classes. I felt like
> that for a long time, until I was able to visualize it and draw it. A
> progression as a visual, looks a lot like this (see photo). You have the
> central topic, either dictated by vocabulary from that day, the previous
> day or such. For many of you who have been through one of Darcy's
> workshops, you probably remember the types of questions that we used in one
> part of the workshop. Creating relevant questions around the topic is a
> great way to generate interest and motivation to speak. IE: we are wrapping
> up a Canned Food Drive at my school and so we counted our cans and it was
> just an instant, built-in topic for the class. I asked them to discuss in
> groups the reasons for giving food during the holiday season. I gave them a
> couple of minutes to speak and then asked 2 or 3 of them to tell the class
> their reasoning. We got time, money, resources, things...etc out of the
> students as far as vocabulary were concerned. I asked the students to
> discuss the different types of resources that they felt they could offer to
> those in need. Again, more discussion. Finally, the last question was if
> they had a friend, family or if they themselves ever had a need to rely on
> the Oregon Food Bank or another organization for food and resources. If so,
> to explain what that experience was like. This all happened within the
> course of no more than 15 minutes. It can go longer or shorter, depending
> on the amount of questions, activities or depth to which the class goes. I
> hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and vacation. I hope this helps.
>
>
>
> Ricardo
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Thomas Hinkle
>
> English & Spanish Department Coordinator
>
> Innovation Academy Charter School
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Thomas Hinkle
>
> English & Spanish Department Coordinator
>
> Innovation Academy Charter School
>
>
>
>
>
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