[ola] Re: Sentence Frames
- From: Ruth Whalen Crockett <rwhalen@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2013 02:42:03 +0000
Hi all,
I'm really curious about these sentence frames. How do they support creating
with the language? I'm afraid that they might encourage skipping much needed
steps in language learning/development. Extending discourse is about adding
descriptions, explanations and comparisons. If we apply sentences frames are we
doing this work for our students? Are we forcing false language? I don't want
to be a drag here. Might asking provocative questions and holding the space for
students to fully respond to these questions be at the center of encouraging
students to describe, explain and compare. Pushing them to explain why and how
will facilitate creating with the language without doing the work for them.
I worked with language frames for a number of years. It was the drill exercises
of the Rassias Method. It was fun. Students sounded great. Kids could say all
kinds of things. Unfortunately they often times had no idea what they were
saying and could not apply the language constructions to varying contexts.
Thanks for getting me thinking on this. One activity I think we could
definitely support this work and is something we could do on the listserveis
coming up with all kinds of questions that we might ask to spark extended
discourse. We could level the questions to Novice, Intermediate and Advanced
levels. The key in many of these questions is to encourage kids to explain
why, how, because, and, then, etc.
Examples:
Theme: Nelson Mandela
Novice: Describe Nelson Mandela
Intermediate: Why is Nelson Mandela an important person in South Africa and the
world?
Advanced: Why was it important that Barack Obama speak at Nelson Mandela's
funeral?
Theme: New Year's
Novice: What do you do on New Year's eve?
Intermediate: Do you make resolutions on January 1st? Why or why not? Have you
ever kept one?
Advanced: What is one thing your hope to accomplish in 2014? What patterns will
you need to change in your life to meet this goal? What help do you need from
others?
I may need some help in identifying levels. Just a start.
Thanks,
Ruthie
From: ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Cathy Bird
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2013 7:40 PM
To: ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ola] Re: Sentence Frames
I love this idea, especially combined with an earlier post about what each
level can say/use, as far as text type. I am struggling to build on
description, explanation, and comparison in my level two (in their first year
of OWL, however) and am feeling like they want to talk more about the past. Are
they ready? I feel like we need LOTS more work on telling... and on
asking...the hallmark of good listeners.
Using a frame like this could be great to get their foot in the door, maybe
with a frame for Monday's that says "this past weekend I
loved/hated/started/finished INFINITIVE" or I didn't or ... crickets ... feels
like forcing, but if it comes naturally, as our discussion about near future
did today, I want to have something half-ready to build on their momentum.
Just had an idea for an activity: each student says 'In ten seconds, I am going
to X'. Everyone counts down and then does that thing. Bravo. In the next round,
a few students should be 'tapped' by the teacher to do the opposite or to NOT
do what they say they are GONNA do. Countdown again. See who can find the one
who doesn't do the near-future action they said they would. Kind of the
stepchild of two other games: 'two truths and a lie' and 'heads up seven up'.
Cathy Bird
Middle School French
Colorado Academy
303-986-1501, x.2622
From: ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Troy Longstroth
Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2013 9:12 PM
To: ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ola] Sentence Frames
Hi all,
I really liked Nanosh's post last week about the benefits of not wearing pants.
:)
It got me thinking about creating a list of sentence frames for each level of
my classes. My thought was that it would be great to have at least one
specific sentence frame per week per language level for the entire school year.
Ideally the same basic frame could be used in each level, but with more
complexity in the more advanced courses. For example, first year kids might
learn, "In my opinion ___ is better than ___." Second year kids might learn,
"In my opinion ___ is better than ___ because ___." And third year kids might
learn, "In my opinion ___ is better than ___ for the following reasons: First,
second, third, finally, etc."
I feel like I might be able to generate a list of frames for Spanish 1, but I
get pretty befuddled thinking about coming up with 30 frames or more for each
of the levels. Therefore, I am asking for all of you to help. Please add your
favorite sentence frames and ideas to the google doc at the following link. I
think this could be a great resource for everyone. I've elected to use English
so that people from all language classes can benefit.
https://docs.google.com/a/rpacademy.org/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au54I8espCbPdExaNHF0LTBKS2RYTnNQNVZ3akk0bUE#gid=0
If a document like this already exists somewhere and I am being redundant,
please let me know. My goal is simply to have a resource like this. Once I
have some frames, I think I can run with lots of different ideas for each one.
Thanks,
Troy
Troy Longstroth
Spanish and Outdoor Recreation Teacher
Redmond Proficiency Academy
www.rpacademy.org<http://www.rpacademy.org>
cell: 541-977-3143
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