increasing engagement, independence, and proficiency using the startalk classroom ... · theteacher...

Increasing Engagement, Independence, and Proficiency Using the STARTALK Classroom Activities

(Part A)

http://teach.nflc.umd.edu/startalk/classroom-activities

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Classroom activities help to build proficiency because they provide a meaningful context for

language practice.

Central IdeasThorough and purposeful selection of classroom activities is needed to maximize opportunities for

learners to interact in the target language.

I can locate the supplemental activities collection on the STARTALK website.

I can explain how the activities are not stand-alone and are part of a learning sequence.

I can identify appropriate activities for the ageand proficiency level of my students.

I can choose activities that align with the modes of communication.

Can-Do Statements

❑ Introduction to STARTALK Classroom Activities❑ Underlying concepts for language practice

activities.❑ Managing games and activities ❑ Sample Activities

Agenda:

Where can you find them?

Underlying Concepts

The teacher's fundamental task is to get students to engage in learning activities that are likely to

result in achieving [the intended learning] outcomes.

What the student does is actually more important that what the teacher does. (Schuell, 1986, p.429)

Patterned Controlled Independent

PracticeActivities(Chants,Songs,Stories….)

Structured conversations

Partner Work--limited choice

Language Frames

Open-endedconversations

PresentationsRole-plays

Low-risk High-risk

Continuum of Language Activities

Step 2: Adjust the activities to the “age and stage” of your learners..

Step 5: Then release your responsibility as students work together and then independently.

Step 4: Work first collaboratively with students to practice the language, content, processes.

Step 3: Model the activity for students; model with a student; guide a pair of small group of students as they model the activity before students begin to work independently.

Step 1: Choose activities that are aligned with the lesson can dos.

How to Use the Activities

ClassroomActivities

Meaningful Context:• Intrinsically Interesting?• Cognitively Engaging? • Culturally Connected?

Purpose• Connected to the

Lesson Can-Dos• Build Proficiency• Age-appropriate

Engagement & Interaction

• 100% Participation

Sample Strategies

Find Someone Who

(Interpersonal)

Find Someone Who

Concrete Poems/ Shape Poems

(Interpretive)

Concrete Poems/Shape PoemsType 1

Concrete poemsThe shape of the words matches the topic of the poem.

Also called “Shape” poetry.

Concrete Poems/Shape Poems

Type 1Words are

written over and over to

form a picture from simple to

complex.

Concrete Poems/Shape PoemsType 2

Concrete poemsThe shape of the words matches the topic of the poem.

Also called “Shape” poetry.

Type 2One word is

changed through drawing to show

its meaning.

Make Your Own Concrete Poem! • Balloon• Car• Car• Cold• Distance• Fall• Fire

• Hate• High jump• Hole• Hot• Ice• Love• Mountain

• River• School• Shadow• Shake• Steps• Theft

Corners(Interpersonal)

Corners

• Teacher posts pictures (or text) in each corner, explains what is posted there and announces what they will talk about with their discussion partners .

• Students decide which corner they will choose. (Teachers may ask students to write down their choice to avoid students who may choose a corner because their friends have chosen it.

• Students go to corners and pair up with a partner to share information about why they have chosen that corner.

Corners – How To

Corners – How To

• When the students have finished talking with their various partners, the teacher checks for completion of the activity and may extend the conversations. The teacher may ask students to find another partner and tell that partner what their other partners have said.

.

• Students repeat this task with several other students in their “corner” (number of partners decided on by the teacher).

Corners – How To• The teacher might ask questions like: Why did your first partner

choose that corner? Why did your second partner want to be in the corner they chose? Which corner did you think would be the most popular?

• Can be extended to a writing activity.

Corners -- How To• If too few students choose a particular corner and there

aren’t enough people to switch partners, those students can join a larger group in another corner but still maintain the topic of the original corner they chose.

• Think of a place you would like to go wearing one of the pairs of shoes you see posted near the corners of the room.

• Go to the picture of those shoes.• Find a partner and tell that partner where you are going to

go wearing those shoes.• Find another partner and tell that new partner where you

are going to go wearing those shoes.• Find a third partner and tell the third partner where your

first two partners were going to go wearing their shoes.

Corners: Shoes Example

• Post a different type of shoe in each corner. For example: (a) dress shoes; (b) house slippers; (c) athletic shoes; and (d) beach sandals.

• Students go to the corner with the shoes they would like to wear. Once there, they tell their partners where they would go wearing those shoes and what they would do once they got there.

• Students must decide which is most popular corner and which activity mentioned by others they would like to do.

• This could also be done with four different types of clothing…

Corners: Shoes Example

• Wrap Up• What corner did you think would be the most popular?

Were you right or wrong?• What activity mentioned in one of the corners did you think

was the most creative?• ????

Corners: Shoes --Wrap UP

Cities, landmarks, continents, countries, monuments, etc. Students must tell why they have chosen that place and talk about several things that they would like to do there.

Characters in a play, artists, paintings, etc. Students must give three reasons why they chose that particular play, or artist, or painting.

Corners: Other Topics

Corners—Possible Topics

seasons,foods, months,countries, occupations, places in the city,

activities,careers habitats,characters in stories, characters in history, works of art

Pick one and plan the language task for the corners. What will students say?

For the unit you are teaching this summer

how might you use this activity?

Discuss!

Cloze Procedure(Interpretive)

• reading comprehension activity• words are deleted from a text according to a specific

formula. (Every 9 words, nouns, nouns and verbs… etc.)• students use context clues to predict the missing words. • students fill in the blanks as they read • they go back to the original text to see if they have

predicted correctly

Cloze Procedure Overview

Personal Finance Vocabulary Clozelimit, afforddefault

cash advance funds

debtpurchase

pay back interest

Credit cards are a convenient way to ___________ goods. They also come in handy when you have a shortage of ___________. If you need a little extra money for the weekend, you can take out a __________ . In spite of these benefits, credit card __________ can also cause serious problems for people. People spend more than they can _________. And because of the high ___________ on money borrowed, the credit card debt becomes harder and harder to ___________. Eventually, some people are forced to ___________ on their payments. This is why credit card companies put a _________ on the amount that people can borrow

Personal Finance Vocabulary Clozelimit, afforddefault

cash advance funds

debtpurchase

pay back interest

Credit cards are a convenient way to purchase goods. They also come in handy when you have a shortage of funds. If you need a little extra money for the weekend, you can take out a cash advance. In spite of these benefits, credit card debt can also cause serious problems for people. People spend more than they can afford. And because of the high interest on money borrowed, the credit card debt becomes harder and harder to pay back. Eventually, some people are forced to default on their payments. This is why credit card companies put a limit on the amount that people can borrow

● Select a self-contained text of a length appropriate for the grade level and proficiency level of the students being assessed.

● Leave the first and last sentences and all punctuation intact. ● Carefully select the words you will take out using a word-

count formula, such as every fifth word or other criteria. ● To assess students' knowledge of the topic, delete content

words which carry meaning, such as nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

Cloze Procedure – Step-by-Step 1.

● To assess students' use of syntactic cues, delete some conjunctions, prepositions and auxiliary words.

● When preparing the final draft of the passage, make all blanks of equal length to avoid including visual clues about the lengths of omitted words.

● Have the students read the entire passage before they begin to fill in the blanks.

● Encourage the students to fill each blank if possible. ● Suggest that students reread the completed passage.

Cloze Procedure – Step-by-Step 2



Discuss!

Museum Activity(National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C.)

(Interpersonal)

Museum Activity

Museum Activity--What is it?

.

This activity is an “art tour.” The purpose of the activity is for students to view and discuss famous works of art from the target culture (and other world cultures) and reach a group consensus on a number of provided prompts.

Which took the longest to create? Why do you think so?

Which do like the best? Why?

Which would you give as a gift to someone you care about? Why?

Which do you think is the best of the group? Why?

Which do you think costs the most? Why?

Which doesn’t seem to fit with the others? Why?

Museum Activity

Example of 2 pieces of art used in the Museum Activity. Six groups posted their preferences.

The teacher attached felt pieces to each picture and attached Velcro hook strips to the back of each icon.

Museum Activity—How To

.

The teacher posts pictures of art around the classroom and then acts as tour guide, giving information about each piece.

The teacher distributes a set of six icons, to each group of students who must then observe certain works of art and choose the work which best answers the question the icons symbolize.

The teacher separates students into small groups of 3 to 4 students or has students work in pairs.

Museum Activity—How To?

.

The students walk around to examine the works of art. There are no wrong answers, but all answers must have reasons to support them. At the end of a predetermined time each group reports to the other groups on their question, their choice of art work and their reasons. It is possible to have a group leader who is the “decider” if the group cannot come to consensus.

2. Students could also be asked to make decisions on their own first, each determining their own personal point of view in response to each prompt, and then join their groups and present/defend their point of view to reach a group consensus. This would ensure that each member of the group has had time to formulate an opinion and has something to contribute.

Museum Activity-- Tips1. To make the activity shorter each group can be given a limited number of icons or only one icon.

3. The teacher may wish to assign roles to group members, i.e. discussion facilitator (who asks questions, keeps group on task, etc.), recorder (takes notes), presenter (presents final consensus to class), 'decider' (makes a decision for the group in the event of lack of consensus), etc.

Museum Activity- Tips

Closed and Open Sorts

(Interpretive)

Closed and Open Sorts

Sorting vocabulary into various categories gives students practice working with the words and helps students

remember the meaning.

Why Use Sorts?CLOSED Sort Teacher provides students with the categories into which they will sort the vocabulary, sentences, paragraphs, pictures, etc.

OPEN Sort Students suggest categories for sorting the vocabulary, sentences, paragraphs, pictures, etc.

PotatoesCornBeansBeetsApricots

TomatoesCarrotsCherriesLettuceParsnips

OnionsPeasBroccoliGrapesOranges


Closed SortWork with your partner or group: Classify these fruits and vegetables according to those that grow above the ground and those that grow below the ground.

Above Below CornBeansApricotsTomatoesCherriesLettucePeasBroccoliGrapesOranges

PotatoesBeetsCarrotsParsnipsOnions

PotatoesCornBeansBeetsApricots

TomatoesCarrotsCherriesLettuceParsnips



Open SortWork with your partner or group: List at least 5 different ways that you can classify these fruits and vegetables.

Foods I like, dont likeHot and coldProcessed, unprocessedSalty, sweetFood groupsTime of day eaten

Color

Open Sort Examples



Discuss!

Language Ladders(Presentational)

Language Laddersare words or phrases that are linked together because of a common function or meaning

Language Ladders: What are They?

They usually represent a series of different ways in which to express a similar idea or a similar need, often in different registers, degrees of politeness, or social context

Language Ladders

They are usually sequenced or clustered to show their relationship and to assist the student in remembering their meaning.

Language ladders are posted on the wall in the classroom with accompanying visual cues.

What a good idea!I like what you said!Wonderful! etc.What do you think?I agree/I don't agreeIt's your turnWe have ... minutes left

Language Ladder: Cooperative Learning Expressions

In the target

language!!

I don’t like it when you___.Please stop.I feel___when you ___.Please don’t ____ anymore.I think you have my___. Could you give it back please?

Language Ladder: Conflict Resolution

In the target

language!!

Language Ladder: Thank you

Thanks!Thank you!Thank you so much!Thank you very much!It’s so nice of you to _____ .I appreciate your _____ .

In the target

language!!

What is a language ladder you can use in your own classroom?

Discuss!

Reading Action Chain(Interpretive)

Reading Action Chain– What is It?

This activity provides silent reading practice in a communicative setting. The actions are a surprise to the other students and so the activity has an element of suspense. It can also be fun depending on the kinds of actions the students perform!

Each student receives a card describing an action they are to perform and the action they will observe that triggers their response.

The object of the game is to proceed through the entire series without making mistakes and without leaving anyone out.

The teacher writes a list of the actions in the correct order so that if the chain is broken, the teacher will know what went wrong and can cue the next action. If the chain breaks, the entire sequence starts over from the beginning, and the suspense grows.

Reading Action Chain– How ToStudents must not show their card to anyone else, they listen and watch very carefully, and they should wait to start their action until at least 2 seconds after the preceding action has been completed.

Reading Action Chain– How To

This activity is easy to create, although it appears complicated; and it can be tailored to the personalities and special characteristics of each individual class and classroom

Write a series of commands and place them in an interesting sequence, including a beginning, an end, and surprises.

Reading Action Chain– How ToOnce you have the entire sequence of commands, At the top of each strip of paper or card, the previous command must be there so that the student knows when to do the action.

Reading Action Chain

Commands for Each Student

In the target

language!!


You can make the activity more complicated and longer if you make two cards for each student in the class.

Print the commands so that there is one for each student.

Mix the cards, and distribute them for the activity.

This activity is very flexible and can be adapted to any thematic unit.

Reading Action ChainFor example, the first card will say “When the teacher says begin, go the front and write _____ on the board.”

The second card might say (depending on the action that was chosen.) “ After someone goes to the front and writes ____ on the board, go up the teacher and ______.”


If students have good writing skills, they can create their own reading action chains alone or in groups.

Reading Action Chain Answer Sheet for the

Teacher


In the workshop the activity was in English but in your classroom it will be in the

target language!!

Cultural Fantasy/ Virtual Trip

(Low Tech)

Cultural Fantasy/Virtual Trips(Low Tech)

Cultural Fantasy/Virtual Trips(Low Tech)

It is possible to create more extended experiences with culture in the classroom, even for students who have very limited language background.

Like simulations, fantasy experiences can place students in a setting that replicates important elements of the target culture. The fantasy experiences described below are highly structured and teacher controlled, designed to be used for early stages of language instruction, when it is often considered to be very difficult to deal with culture in the target language. Variations and adaptations of this technique can be used at every level of language instruction.

Wir Gehen ins Telecafe Restaurant

We’re speakingEnglish!

WirsprechenDeutsch!

Berlin

der Fernseher

Der

FernsehturmDer Turm Der TurmDer Turm

Berlin

BerlinTelecafe

Restaurant

Telecafe Restaurant

Der Aufzug

Prelude• With music in the background, the teacher talks about being very tired and directs the

students to stretch, to yawn, to lay their heads on their arms, to close their eyes, and to sleep (perhaps even to snore).

• The teacher counts off the hours of the night, reminding the students to sleep, perhaps to snore (or not to snore).

• You can sing Brahms lullaby softly while they begin to sleep. (Optional) (It would be great to have the music, but that would require too much switching of music.)

• At seven o'clock the teacher directs the students to wake up, and the teacher tells them that they are now in Berlin. When they wake up there is a picture of the Berlin TV Tower on the screen.

Elevator Fantasy Trip – How To

Riding the Elevator Fantasy Trip Riding the Elevator to the Restaurant at the Top of the Berlin TV Tower

(This fantasy can be repeated in any language and related to any cultural landmark.)




Background: A walk in Berlin •pointing out TV tower in the distance•pushing call button for elevator•waiting for elevator•Getting on the elevator•Pushing button inside elevator•Riding along with the motion of the elevator•knocking on the elevator door when the door gets stuck

leaving the elevator and going to the restaurant




Props• Picture of Berlin TV Tower• Elevator call button• Buttons inside elevator• Masking-tape outline of elevator in corner of room• lift masking tape to simulate opening of elevator doorSounds• background music (if possible)

We’re speakingEnglish!

Wir sprechenDeutsch!

Ich habe hunger. Ich will essen. Ich will trinken. Wir essen.

Wir trinken.

Student language on the way to the elevator

Student language In the restaurant.

Other Cultural Fantasies/

Virtual Trips

Looking Out The Airplane/Train Window

Cultural FantasyAirplane Trip to ….

Discuss!Your Cultural

Fantasy?Where would you

take your students?

Increasing Engagement, Independence, and Proficiency Using the STARTALK Classroom Activities

(Part A)



Tell your partner:What is your take-away

from this session?

Classroom activities help to build proficiency because they provide a meaningful context for

language practice.

Central IdeasThorough and purposeful selection of classroom activities is needed to maximize opportunities for

learners to interact in the target language.

I can locate the supplemental activities collection on the STARTALK website.

I can explain how the activities are not stand-alone and are part of a learning sequence.

I can identify appropriate activities for the ageand proficiency level of my students.

I can choose activities that align with the modes of communication.

Can-Do StatementsYes!

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

The End

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