Below is a suggested sequence of class activities for a reading class – I had mentioned it here a month or so ago, or maybe I presented it to the Maine group – I can’t remember. If there is anything I am missing in this reading or song sequence that would add to a good flow of reading and listening input, please let me know. Should I add anything in the sequence to address, perhaps for upper level classes, output? Here is what I have now:
READING
1. They read the text (length will vary depending on the text and level of the class, but maybe ten minutes of reading would be the right amount for each class to get the class going).
2. We chorally translate paragraph by paragraph. I make my right hand like a conductor to keep them together, going especially slowly and insisting that they all read loudly together.
3. At the end of each paragraph, we discuss that paragraph in the target language, mixing the discussion up with some PQA, or some theatre. (note: the discussion is best done paragraph by paragraph, although one can also discuss the entire reading after it has been fully translated. Jason Fritze does the former, going to and from each paragraph with translation and then discussion. I think that is the best way to do it, because it keeps target structures from each paragraph fresh in the students’ minds for better discussion and spin off PQA).
4. I read the entire passage to them in a sacred way.
5. Then (if time and if you need a grade), I do a dictee on part of the text and/or give a prewritten yes no quiz on the contents of the chapter.
SONGS
I have also found that the sequence above is also a good way to treat a song. I think that there has been a lack of good pedagogical discussion over the years about how to present songs to students. If one applies the reading sequence described above to a song it makes the song quite transparent for the kids, which is the point. So here is what I normally do with songs, for those interested:
1. They read the song (I only use twexted versions of songs).
2. We all chorally translate the song as described above.
…(an option here is to teach a little grammar if anything needs it in the song)…
3. Play the song. This step is done only with songs, not readings, obviously. We play the song now because the kids don’t want to do a lot of PQA about a song they haven’t heard. They tend to tune out the PQA and just wait to get to the song. We thus play the song now and then again when it is easier for them to do PQA, after the PQA (step 4).
3. They read and discuss the song with PQA.
4. Play the song again. I have a good sound system in my classroom but I won’t use YouTube or an LCD. I think that the current interest in technology is at odds with the human side of real language sharing/co-creation/social/non-robotic elements of life. Moreover, since human beings process in such largely visual ways, I don’t see where showing to my students the image of a music video helps them – I think it just takes their auditory minds away from the real work of language learning, that of auditory decoding and working hard with the auditory input that the song is. As they walk out of my classroom I tell them that they can go home and work with the song on YouTube if they want.
Basically, this reading and song sequencing of a class can be described in a simplified version as:
1. They read silently (ten minutes).
2. We translate (five to ten minutes).
3. If a song, play it first now (about three minutes).
4. We read and discuss and PQA the reading or song in the target language (as long as possible).
5. They listen to me read the text again in a sacred way or they listen to the song (five minutes).
It’s a straightforward process that works for me.