Greg Stout is going to be working all day today to plan a demo, part of an interview process, for tomorrow (Thursday), so we need to act fast on this. Michele also has a demo tomorrow – her request was posted a few days ago here. Those who are willing and have time to respond to these two specific requests for our advice for tomorrow please do so:
Hi Ben,
I hope this finds you well over there in Colorado. I’m back in the states now, about to start a maternity leave replacement next week until the end of the year at a high school in Edison, NJ (I’ll be asking for help for that this weekend on the blog once I have more info). But my most pressing concern is a demo I have this Thursday as the next step in a middle school French job for next year. I was wondering if the following info could be a post as soon as possible. If so, that would be a great help -this will be my first time doing a demo and I have never taught middle school French, so I need all the tips I can get. Everything in blue below is the info I have from the WL supervisor, then my comments continue in black. Thank you!
Our classes are 49 minutes long and there are 23 students in this period class who have been taking French since 6th grade.
I provide the information below in order to help you prepare your demo lesson. Some of the essential questions in our 8th grade French curriculum during this 4th quarter are as follows:
How do we express our emotional state?
How are we defined by our traditions and culture?
How does the language help us understand the culture?
Can I state what household chores my family members and I do/did?
Can I read, understand and discuss a passage containing pertinent vocabulary?
Can I speak and write about past activities?
Can I understand, discuss, & retell a story that includes the new vocabulary in the story?
Can I identify significant quotes from the reading and explain their significance to the story?
Can I create and perform an original dialogue using words we have learned/practiced?
The grammar point introduced is the passé composé so as to allow for discussion about present activities and completed actions; please assume students do not have prior knowledge of this conjugation. The vocabulary and readings pertain to the theme of “Daily Life” to expand the students’ skills in communication about what they do/did at home, in school, etc. A cultural comparison of French vs. US school systems and daily activities of middle- and high-school aged children is intertwined in this unit as well. Previous units have covered themes such as: “All about me,” “Let’s eat!” and “Let’s shop!”
This is a lot of info, and I know they are not expecting me to address all of the above in a 49 minute class. But, I’m trying to think of what would be the best thing to do with a group of 8th graders that I’ve never met…something that will showcase solid classroom management, and something the kids can be really successful at in only 49 minutes with 98% TL. I’d love to do a short story, but would 49 minutes be enough time to develop something worthwhile? Especially with having to norm them into how stories work. I’m thinking I might do CWB mixed with a dictée (to show writing and reading), but I’m not sure if that would be a good thing for a demo.
Also, the supervisor from the above email also mentioned that there is a SmartBoard in the room if I want to bring a zip drive to plug in. I’m thinking they might like to see this used, but I’m not sure how I would use a SmartBoard effectively in a CI-friendly way except maybe to use it in a very basic way during a short dictée. I’m meeting the WL supervisor tomorrow (the day before my demo) to play with the SmartBoard since I’ve never used one. I’ll also be hanging up jumbo question word posters then too, so I’ll have them for pointing during my demo.
Finally, they also want to see a lesson plan including lesson objective(s), assessments (a quick quiz obviously, and maybe a dictée too), and any related curricular standards. The “curricular standards” they want in my lesson plan are for New Jersey’s Novice Mid level, which I’m assuming is similar to ACTFL’s Novice Mid. I won’t list all of the points for New Jersey’s Novice Mid, but the summary for that level is:
“All students will be able to use a world language in addition to English to engage in meaningful conversation, to understand and interpret spoken and written language, and to present information, concepts, and ideas, while also gaining an understanding of the perspectives of other cultures. Through language study, they will make connections with other content areas, compare the language and culture studied with their own, and participate in home and global communities.”
I’m going to be working all day tomorrow to plan this demo, so I’ll check often if anyone wants to chime in. Thank so much in advance for any comments/tips. I would be completely lost without the wisdom, know-how, and support of you all.
Greg