From Bryce:
I am attaching a couple of documents that may be helpful to us as World Language teachers this school year.
#1: Standards Poster
One is a mini classroom poster of the Colorado Model Content Standards for World Languages to hang up in our classrooms. It would be unprofessional (not to mention embarrassing) if we were to be asked which specific standard we were working on and we did not know. As Dr. Grim from CSU pointed out in our in-service last spring these standards, which were adopted in December of 2009, leave us no leeway to teach language based on grammar. Meaning must be central. I plan on having it up in my classroom for constant reference. Here is ours in Colorado:
COLORADO STANDARDS FOR WORLD LANGUAGES
Standard 1:Â Communication in Languages Other Than English
Standard 2:Â Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures
Standard 3:Â Connections with Other Disciplines and Information Acquisition
Standard 4:Â Comparisons to Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture
#2: Story and Explanation
The second is related in that it shows HOW these standards (specifically, Standards 1 and 4) might be implemented in a classroom. It is an analysis of a story that I told in a Spanish 3 class at the beginning of the year last year. Although the example is from a mid-level class the principles and techniques apply to any level. In this document I attempt to describe how to keep the input comprehensible and in the target language (so that we are sure that they understand us as we speak the language) and interesting (so that the students will pay attention long enough to acquire the language).
INTRODUCING THE PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE WITH A STORY
Story, commentary and illustrations by Bryce Hedstrom
FOCUS STRUCTURE: quiere que vaya (present subjunctive with desire or preference)
Secondary Focus: gustar, parecer and other verbs like it
To get students to speak and understand at higher levels we have to use higher level grammar and language in comprehensible and engaging ways. To get them to be able to use and understand a structure like the subjunctive we need to explore it a lot and use it in class. Structures like the subjunctive are a double whammy: the subjunctive mood is being lost in English, and it does not occur often enough in Spanish for students to pick it up in class. Some studies indicate that extensive pleasure reading can give students enough input to acquire the subjunctive, but in typical classroom conversations there are not enough instances of it for students to get the feel of how it works. We need to purposefully focus on it in order to get the students enough repetitions so that it begins to make sense at a visceral level to them.
This story and explanation is a simulated way of experiencing compelling comprehensible input-based teaching with a goal of improving classroom teaching. It is a way to observe an extended lesson in a detailed, analytical way with crucial time to reflect built in. This time to process is something that is often missing in workshops and demonstrations of the method.
This is a story from a Spanish III class that focuses on the present subjunctive, specifically the phrase quiere que vaya. The starting idea is from an old idea by Blaine Ray: There are two girls that each want a boy to do something different. This sets up a wacky sitcom-style siutuation that the students will quickly recognize and run with once we get it started for them.
Bryce
[ed. note: I wish you could see the drawing that accompanies the story above. Bryce is really a gifted artist, and has actually illustrated most of his books!]