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Martin Anders
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13 thoughts on “Martin Anders”
Wow Martin!!! Merci beaucoup!! I am only a beginner in French and it was so fun to read through these. Thank you for taking the time to share all of them!!
This will help other teachers who are just starting to try having their students write..and read…embedded readings.
with love,
Laurie
Since I seem to have a blind spot on the embedded readings, I took the four steps that Martin refers to above and took out all of the (French text) examples, as a way to get a simplified look at the fours steps that he used as he went through the process.
Laurie maybe you could comment on these four steps and we could tweak them into an Idiot’s Guide to Embedded Readings, for fast and easy access during class. I think that one of the problems that I am having with this technique is that I do not fully and clearly understand exactly how to implement it, even though there have been some very clear posts on embedded readings in the past few months from some really capable people.
So here are Martin’s steps, taken from his blog above:
First Step:
We started with these [Anne Matava story] structures I had found on your (Ben’s) blog:
– va en ville (goes to town)
– est écrasé(e) sous le pied de la statue (is crushed under the foot of the statue)
I had the students write a skeleton story of about 50 to 100 words. I chose the best results (correcting the mistakes, of course).
Second Step:
We read the different versions in class. In groups of four the students were then supposed to bring a skeleton story of their choice to double length by adding details.
Third Step:
[In this step Martin gave homework specific to each story]. Homework: Answer the following questions and complete the story with them. [This was unclear to me. Martin?]
Fourth Step:
Finally, I [Martin] wrote a story combining several students’ ideas to be read during class. [This would be, I assume, the final “biggest” embedded reading.]
There do seem to be many variations on this theme.
I am personally no longer comfortable with having the kids write in the target language and for me to edit their work for class consumption. I used to do this a lot many years ago. I began to notice the “slight cringing” whenever I would “correct” their language–even though the writer and I were the only ones who knew. I stopped doing it–so it is hard for me to do it with the Embedded Readings. In the first place, they are not writings, they are readings–or am I mistaken?
For me, once again, it is about the difference between CI and production. I am trying to consciously stop “needing” for them to produce in the target language (I am not against production–I just want to spend as much class time as possible on CI). Even though I initially cringed at having the kids write the skeleton stories (1-2 minutes) in English, when we actually did it, it worked beautifully (Thanks, Laurie).
After they turn them in to me, they wait, bated breath and all, as I read through them. When I chuckle, roll my eyes, comment on how sad/violent/sweet, etc. I find one of them, I hear the whispers: “Oh, that’s ours! I know that’s ours.” There is so much excitement and tension–really fun!
When I write them on the overhead (I speak no English), I have the ability to keep the story in bounds and notice that the kids, especially the group that wrote the story (who are bound to secrecy until the end about whose story it is), are absolutely rapt as they try to figure out what I am writing about. It gives me the ability to use “the structures” as many times as I can figure out how to. Using student writing in the target language would not really permit me to do the last one.
The overhead story is pretty simple. Because I work with younger kids (11-13), I have found that it is better to include as many skeleton stories as possible on the first round. They get their feelings hurt easily and really don’t understand exclusion in terms of “best”–because to them, theirs is the best. The only ones that don’t make the cut are those which don’t include the structures or don’t make any sense at all. Yes, this happens. At the end, we read the stories “one more time” and the group, who “wrote” them, takes credit for the story and receives their applause. They always walk out of the room heatedly debating the different merits of each story–don’t even say goodbye 🙁
The story that I write for the next day’s reading revolves around the story that I choose (I have my reasons). I add details which are often culled from the other skeleton stories–details that really grabbed their attention the first time. Oh, yes–every group examines the story with extreme care and pride hoping to find their creation somewhere. I am a sappy person. I like to make as many people as possible happy–to be writers and learners.
Things I have noticed:
• Now, THEY want to write more. They actually get excited when it is time to do assessment (not connected to these readings). Big change.
• When they do write, they write more; they write better; their writing is more interesting. Hello–we’ve been modeling more–they should get better.
• They request this activity all of the time.
• Funniest observation: After drawing out the extended embedded reading story one night for homework, one of the students requested that the class be more careful with choosing characters. Zebras are just too hard to draw. 🙂
Ben, the homework I assigned during step three was a spontaneous idea to bring forth some more cute ideas on just one single story. I don’t think it is of any relevance. So I wouldn’t count it as a step of its own. The third step I used was rather: “I continued at home to add details to two of the stories. I also added more complicated structures like gerunds, appositions, futur tense etc to challenge the more advanced students. We read them during class.”
Jody, I think you are right that we should be careful as to where we demand production. Having the students write a skeleton story in the target language simply was the first idea I wanted to try with embedded or extended readings. And my 8th graders were really eager to write it in French. Disadvantage: It took them more time (about 15 minutes). With my younger classes, I would prefer the way you describe.
Finally, a big thank you to all of you for the bunch of good ideas you share here on your own blogs, ideas that are so helpful for me as a TPRS beginner. Martin.
Michele how did you do those skeleton stories to start? I’m too lazy to go find your initial blog on this topic. And second question are you still doing that?
I started because I had three phrases one day and no creativity. I wrote the phrases on the board, identified pairs of kids, gave each pair a small strip of paper, and told them to write a story using all three structures.
I start picking up those stories at two minutes and finish at three by starting to tell one of the stories. That makes kids hand in their stories faster, because they have figured out that the longer I have to think about a story, the more likely I am to pick that one first. And they do want to be picked. Like Jody’s kids, they watch for my reaction. They want notice. I try to say one phrase or comment for every scrap of paper so they all feel loved. If I’m going to bust out laughing as I read, I let it happen.
Then we start telling, and go in any number of directions after that. Is that what you wanted to know? Yes, I’m still doing that (except that we’re doing projects right now–only two meeting days this week in the middle of testing, and I have jury duty next week, so I needed something a sub could oversee and that could follow up all the texts we’ve been reading–next time I’m going to call a conference and ask for better ideas–kids are doing news presentations, talk shows, the dreaded power points, travelogues, puppet shows, interviews with living and dead Russians)…
…these student-generated stories start everything I do now. With one class, I hand out the text we’ll read, ask them to skim it and make suggestions about difficult phrases and structures, then I collect the texts, and we start with student stories until we’ve covered the stuff they thought they needed. The ironic part is that then they say things like, “We didn’t really have to prepare for this–it’s an easy text” despite the fact that just days before, they groaned over it. Maybe I’ll start asking kids to bring me the texts, and I won’t ever have to prepare for class again. They already gave me songs enough to last into next year.
I am going to save Jody’s notes above because there are so many good ideas and comments. I love the zebra complaint. This experiment I have fallen into is about the best thing I’ve found for instant buy-in. It works with my adults too.
Gotta share two things with you. First, one of my fourth-year kids went off to the local (very good Russian program) university for her placement test. The instructor wrote her back complimenting her on her writing ability. (Yet I have to admit that my free-writes have been far too rare this year.) Second, I now have two kids who have been accepted for the State Department’s NSLI-Y Russian intensive (all-expenses paid) program. One’s there now on the six-month program, and the other found out today that she’s going for the summer.
I may have written that all but 7 of 44 kids entered got medals at our local Russian competition (scores based on a rubric). Excuse what feels like bragging. I have not improved as a teacher lately. What has improved is my methodology, and the kids’ resulting ability to absorb more than I ever could teach them before. I don’t quite know how they learn some of what they learn. It’s positively thrilling some days to talk to them and have them throw back questions at me or get into arguments or rewrite stories. And they’re happy, and they think that Russian is easy! What’s more, I’m finding that teaching Russian can be easy, if I just relax and try not to stress over the details.
so after the 3 minutes you have L2 texts using the three structures you gave them, then you read them over and start a story with the best one, and then you make a reading from the story as we all do for the next day?
but this was unclear, pls. comment:
“……with one class, I hand out the text we’ll read, ask them to skim it and make suggestions about difficult phrases and structures, then I collect the texts, and we start with student stories until we’ve covered the stuff they thought they needed…”.
A (not so quick) example Ben:
I gave my first period class (freshmen) the target structures and 2-3 minutes to outline a story. They arranged themselves into groups and one student chose to write his own. I peeked over their shoulders as they worked so I had some idea of how it was going. I also decided which story to start with for this class.
They passed up the story outlines, I thanked them for their creativity, told them that I would be using as many of their ideas as I could in different ways in the next week, and began to “ask” the story I had chosen.
In 3rd period and 5th period (same level), I “asked” two other stories. This gave me three stories available to choose from to write up.
I chose the 3rd period story from that day to write as a medium-length (35ish) sentences. I typed it and we read it as a class in periods 1 and 5 the following day….adding details, circling, comparing students in the class to characters of the story.
That night I typed up the 5th period story (again…medium length…35 sentences) and used it in all 3 classes the next day. I asked them to choose from the following :
a. Translate this “new” story (5th period did not get this choice)
b. Write 15 additional sentences to this story. (they can add sentences at any point…including a new ending if they so choose)
c. Create a mini-book of the story. (20 sentences/10 illustrations
I wrote (by now I had had several days to work on it) a series of embedded readings combining the information from the remaining stories from first period(there were 2). I tried to incorporate ideas/words/phrases from the other stories if/when I could. It was 3 different levels worth of reading.
All three classes read the embedded reading over the course of the next two days. Sometimes we translated, some parts we discussed, and we acted out one scene.
That gave me about a weeks worth of “lessons” from one set of phrases! Every student in 1st period had some part of their original idea used somewhere. The students in periods 3 and 5 had their stories shared with all three classes as well.
There was actually one story left over. That was the story belonging to the one student who worked alone. He is a quiet kid. I used his story as the quiz. I did not identify who had written it. He did not tell anyone that he had written it until all three classes had taken the quiz…and then only a few friends that he was comfortable with. He, of course, got a 100. But that is usually his average anyway.
with love,
Laurie
Oh Laurie,
I want to be in your class! These directions from you and Jody are gold. I hope they’ll be on your blog, where I can find them again.
Ben, to explain a little better, I got even more lazy. We had an article about the bombing in Moscow. I passed it out and asked kids to skim it and identify which words would stall them if they had to read it. They told me (two days’ worth of words, four days’ worth of story-telling/reading each). They wrote story outlines, which we then told. Then we looked at copies of last year’s IB exams. I did the same thing with the answer booklet, where certain words in the directions traditionally cause problems. The kids picked the troublesome words. They wrote the stories, then they told the stories with me, then we read the article and the answer booklet (in two separate cycles).
Laurie their stories were written in L2 and how did you treat spelling issues?
Michele you got that from Susie, right? That is the essence of what we do – identify expressions they don’t know, and get multi reps on them (stories) until they have acquired them (as opposed to perfuntorily working with them), then read some text based on the original story, (embed it if we want as per Laurie above), then do it – the new structures/story/reading process – again. I assume that there were six troublesome words in the example above (two days’ worth of words).
The only new twist was that instead of identifying the words myself, and then handing them out to kids to come up with the stories, I gave the texts to the kids. It involves them at an even earlier stage in the process.
I can’t do that with all my classes, because not all of the kids know enough. Usually it’s still my job to come up with the list.
Yup..they write in L2. I retype and correct before handing them out. (these stories are input and I want the input to be correct…the kids know that I will be adjusting the stories for maximum input power!! ) I am very grateful to my 7th grade typing teacher for all of the skills that she taught me….
Now…this works with my kids…maybe because they are high school kids, maybe …who knows? I ask permission first, and I try to keep it low-key, with an “we’re all in this together” approach and state, up-front, that bits and pieces will be utilized. Then, even if I am tempted to use one student’s work often, I resist the urge….this is about the group working together.
If like Jody’s kids, my students were offended…I would go another route. We each need to make these decisions based on our students.
I think what has been most successful is that for many of the “student-generated” stories, the students get an opportunity to act it out, adapt it, change it, illustrate it and to make it their own in some way.
What is brilliant about Michele’s approach above is that it teaches and encourages students to problem-solve and to become INDEPENDENT learners…..that elusive goal that we all strive for. By allowing them to identify the unknown and play with the newly-recognized, we give them a great deal of power at a time when all academic power has been stripped away from them.
Laurie I have been reviewing what you have recently put here about embedded readings, as well as that long blog from Martin. EAch time I read, I am even more impressed by the potential that this embedded reading idea carries. It seems to have a thousand sides to it.
Laurie you get to write the book called “Using Embedded Readings In The TPRS Classroom”. I’m serious. Thank you for the detailed explanations, you and Martin and Jody, they are really helping me.