SIX STEPS TO CREATING COMPELLING UNDERSTANDABLE MESSAGES Grant Boulanger @GrantBoulanger MCTLC 2015
WHAT HAS CHANGED? • JOY: I
enjoy teaching like never before. I laugh with my students almost
daily. • Connection: I
feel connected with my students in real, human ways. I know them in a real sense and they know I have their interests at heart.
• Simplicity: Once
I got over the learning curve, I have simplified my teaching in a way that improves my quality of life.
• Achievement: I’ve • Enrollment: I
never seen level one students perform like this before.
send 95% of my students to the high school eager to continue acquiring with unprecedented confidence and competence.
(SOME) PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE MY WORK • ALL
students can acquire a second (or third!) language
• Language
messages.
acquisition is the result of understanding meaningful
• Compelling • They • The
Input can eliminate the need for motivation.
will not invest in improving it unless they own it.
less I think about MAKING them talk, the more the WANT to!
• Communicative
ability develops only when we engage in meaningful communication.
MY PERSONAL MISSION: DESTROY THE WL "ACHIEVEMENT GAP" • ALL
students will:
• know
and respect ALL members of the learning community
• understand
how languages are acquired
• confidently
see themselves as language learners
• achieve
intermediate proficiency by end of HS
• continue
acquiring language wherever life takes them
DELIVER MORE UNDERSTANDABLE MESSAGES IN 6 STEPS 1. Set the stage. 2. Choose meaningful language chunks. 3. Ask differentiated questions. 4. Check for understanding. 5. Assess for understanding. 6. Read, chorally interpret, discuss.
CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT OPTIMIZED FOR ACQUISITION
ESTABLISH EXPECTATIONS A response (verbal or physical) is ALWAYS expected of them when you are speaking in the TL to them: ooh, aahh (when you make a statement) yes/no (when you ask a question) I don’t understand (if you’ve been unclear)
CLASSROOM RULES: 1. Listen with the intent to understand. 2. One person speaks. The others listen. 3. Suggest cute answers. 4. No English. 5. Stop the teacher when he's not clear. 6. Sit up. Square shoulders. Eyes on who's talking. 7. Do your 50%. 8. Show me when you get it, Show me when you don’t. 9. Actors: sync actions with speaker's words. 10. Nothing in hands or lap. 10.5 Make Profe happy.
DEALING WITH INFRACTIONS 1. Stop teaching. 2. Look at the student, then the class, smiling. 3. Turn to the poster, point to the rule that applies. 4. Read the rule out. 5. Explain (briefly!) what the rule means to the class in general. 6. Look back at the student, smiling.
Go Ten Minutes at a Time
10 MINUTES AT A TIME 1. Student as "Time Keeper” 2. Time Keeper keeps stopwatch 3. Infractions of English - Restart 4. 10 min in TL class earns 3 min PAT Time 5. Stretch to 12 min, 15 min, etc.
FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION Go Slow to Go Fast
1. Choose 3 or 4 TARGET words/phrases from book or reading 2. Write them on board and establish their meaning 1. Gesture? 2. Word association? 3. TPR?
1. hat Durst / is thirsty 2. läuft in die Küche / runs to the kitchen 3. will trinken / wants to drink
Focus on the Super Seven
SUPER SEVEN VERBS • Location
(to be at a place) está/estaba | ist | est |
• Existence
(to exist, "there is”) hay | es gibt | Il y a |
• Possession • Identity
(to be something or someone) es/era | ist | est |
• Preference • Motion • Volition
(to have something) tiene/tenía | hat | a |
(to like/dislike something) le gusta | mag | aims |
(to go somewhere) va/fue | geht | va | (to feel like doing something) quiere | will | veut | Credit: Terry Waltz
CHANGE THE BALL, CHANGE THE SURFACE. Photo credit: Joy of the People
ASK TONS OF QUESTIONS
• Choose
your first sentence.
• Ask
a question with a “Ja” answer.
• Ask
an either/or question.
• Ask
a question with a “Nein” answer.
• Validate • Ask
by restating the original statement.
an open-ended question.
1. hat Durst / is thirsty 2. läuft in die Küche / runs to the kitchen 3. will trinken / wants to drink
VARIATIONS • Ask
for responses from groups of students
• Left • If
side / right side
you play an instrument
• Long • If
hair / short hair
this is new to you, script your questions.
• Become
proficient at all types of questions. Then vary.
NOW YOU TRY 1. hat Durst / is thirsty 2. läuft in die Küche / runs to the kitchen 3. will trinken / wants to drink
• Choose
your first sentence.
• Ask
a question with a “Ja” answer.
• Ask
an either/or question.
• Ask
a question with a “Nein” answer.
• Validate • Ask
by restating the original statement.
an open-ended question.
Personalize Your Questions
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING (more than you think you need to).
CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING
• Eyes
closed, hands up. 10 fingers = 100%
• Periodically • Teach
stop class: “What did I just say?”
to their eyes to gauge their comprehension
Contrastive Grammar
IF IT WASN’T COMPREHENDED, IT WASN’T COMPREHENSIBLE.
MEASURE WHAT MATTERS Comprehension precedes production. ALWAYS. (So, assess comprehension.)
QUICK QUIZZES • Students • On
number 1 - 10
board write, “Stimmt” and “Falsch”
• Students
write entire word for each answer
• Tell
students: Listen closely because I will only repeat the question twice and I will not repeat once the quiz is finished.
• Any
talking = automatic zero.
Quiz Writer
CHORALLY INTERPRET TEXT
READING PROFOUNDLY IMPACTS LANGUAGE GROWTH
“New words are learned with remarkable facility, especially in stories, when you are reading something that makes sense to you.” Reading FAQ, Frank Smith
CHORAL TRANSLATIONS • Put
text or reading on board
• Point
to each word
• Students
read in English together - keep pace with teacher
• Once
chorally translated, students are prepared to discuss the text in greater depth.
• Discuss
text by asking personal question in TL using same structures.
Ein Mann hat durst. Der Mann sagt, “Ich habe durst!” Der Mann will Bier trinken. Der Mann läuft in die Küche. Der Mann trinkt 3 Biere und sagt, “Ich habe kein Durst mehr.
Es gibt einen Hund. Der Hund hat durst. Er hat viel Durst! Der Hund sagt, “Ich habe so viel Durst! Ich will trinken!” Der Hund läuft in die Küche. Er trinkt Milch. Er trinkt Wasser. Er trinkt auch Kaffee und RedBull. Er trinkt zu viel! Der Hund läuft auf die Toilette! Jetzt, hat der Hund kein Durst und will nicht trinken.
IS YOUR DAY FILLED WITH: • JOY
and LAUGHTER
• Genuine
CONNECTIONS with students
• SIMPLIFIED
teaching life
• HIGHER
achievement
• HIGHER
enrollment
FIND YOURSELF IN TCI * Become more acquainted with Dr. Stephen Krashen's work and SLA theory * Find opportunities to experience and observe comprehension-based instruction firsthand * Join a support group
ONLINE RESOURCES •
Ben Slavic's Online PLC: www.benslavic.com/
•
www.brycehedstrom.com
•
http://martinabex.com/
•
www.heartsforteaching.com/
•
www.tprstorytelling.com/
•
http://senoritabarragan.com/
•
http://mjtprs.wordpress.com/
•
http://kplacido.com/
•
creativelanguageclass.wordpress.com/
•
http://embeddedreading.com/
•
http://susangrosstprs.com/
•
somewheretoshare.com/
•
optimizingimmersion.com/
•
tprsquestionsandanswers.wordpress.c om/
•
palmyraspanish1.blogspot.com/
Grant Boulanger Twitter: @grantboulanger www.grantboulanger.com
