Among the many resources we’ve read in preparation for this assignment, I was particularly struck by thoughts raised in the Edutopia blog on backwards mapping from the common core standards.
The blog provides the linguistic root of the word “curriculum” which, in Latin, means “a course to be run.” This phrase conjures a very different set of images of learning than long stores of content to be “delivered” and “covered” in a classroom. Instead, it emphasizes that students must “run” – they must experience, they must journey – in order to reach a promised land of learning and application. For me, it summons the image of moving down a river run.
The blog goes on to say that, “the ultimate aim of a curriculum is independent transfer; i.e., for students to be able to employ their learning, autonomously and thoughtfully, to varied complex situations, inside and outside of school.” It then provides a really interesting framework of a debate within the world of soccer regarding how soccer is coached or instructed. There is a movement of focus on “game-centered training” as opposed to just drills – the idea that helping players gain the skills of making decisions and taking action within the context of the game is critical in developing truly strong, skilled players. The author says, “metaphorically speaking, then, educators need to ask, what is the “game” we expect students to be able to play with skill and flexibility?”
Thinking about this in the context of teaching Spanish, I find myself reflecting on: how effectively will my students navigate an environment entirely comprised of the language, and how will they be received within the culture of native speakers of the language? With that in mind, I find myself starting to think about the total tools that students have and utilize. If they were plopped down in an environment of entirely Spanish speakers: can they recognize and translate cognates? Can they devise by context clues what various signs around them say? Can they hear and observe a native speaker speaking, and listen not only for the vocab they know and that they can decipher, but can they also pick up on the socio-emotional cues of the person speaking? Is the person welcoming, agitated, urgent, angry, etc? What in the speaker’s face and tone indicates this? And how should the student, then, respond effectively? What if you are lost and your cell phone doesn’t work? How will you be able to get where you need to go and get the help you need? What is the training necessary for you to be able to navigate this whole setting effectively? And that’s really just basecamp… Because then I find myself thinking: how can we ensure that a student can build relationships and friendships in the target language setting? How can we ensure that they can enjoy art and films and plays and parties in the target language? And then I think, how can we get to the point of helping this student even be successful in a business or diplomatic setting in the target language, where the student is more the presenter than the recipient…? And then this starts to feel fun! And important! And like I’m going to approach this very differently than I would have if I’d been focused on lists of vocabulary… 🙂
This spring, I will be teaching Spanish language in a pre-K through 8th grade school. I will instruct classes at all of those levels, but will have the most regular, extensive class time with students in grades 5-8. As such, my focus in interpreting and applying the standards are with the audience of middle school students in mind.
I am teaching in Chicago, Illinois (USA) and have pulled my standards for teaching Spanish from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) website. The standards are not based in the common core, though I have also researched and found standards for teaching world languages that are drawn from the common core ELA standards.
In this blog, I will be utilizing the following standard in developing a unit for teaching Spanish:
“Understand oral communication in the target language: Respond appropriately to simple commands in the target language.”
I chose this standard because it provides an opportunity to start at a basic level and add complexity. It allows for differentiation based on student understanding and acquisition. All students will be able to achieve the standard, while some students will be able to understand and utilize much more supplemental vocabulary to enrich the experience and make it more appropriately challenging.
3 proficiencies:
When students complete this unit, I want them to be able to:
- Demonstrate an ability to act on directions that are given to them in the target language;
- Construct and deliver simple commands to provide to others, especially to complete a task of some kind or arrive at a destination;
- Indicate which commands are appropriate for any given audience to ensure that they (students) operate in the target language in a way that is culturally sensitive (do they know when they should utilize formal vs informal verb forms?) and also clear (are they instructing one person or a whole group to do something?).
3 assessments:
For the examples below, I’ve decided to provide entirely formative assessments because I am focusing my attention right now on how to more intentionally include formative assessments in my planning. As a teacher in the past, I’ve placed more of a focus on summative assessments and I’d like to shift this direction.
- Formative assessment 1: One example of a formative assessment I will utilize is to provide students in the class with two cards – one reading “formal” and the other reading “informal.” When individual students verbalize sample commands in Spanish, I will ask the rest of the class to indicate (by holding up a card) if the student is giving a command in the formal or the informal tense. I will then ask for multiple students to share how they arrived at the answer they did, and whether they believe the sample student’s answer was correct. Doing all of this will help students hear and take direction from each other as to the correct/incorrect answer, and will cause them to explain and justify answers, which deepens learning for all. This will also allow me as their teacher to understand how effectively they are internalizing the skills, where their misconceptions may be, and whether or not some many or all of my students are getting the material or need re-teaching/refinement.
- Formative assessment 2: I will provide students with a 3-minute exit slip to be completed before leaving class. It will contain the very straightforward task of asking students to provide the formal and informal commands for a short list of regular and irregular verbs. This will help me gain a very quick and large-sized sample of student ability to conjugate commands effectively for multiple audiences, and will help me adjust instruction if necessary.
- Formative assessment 3: I will find or create a video in Spanish which provides students with instructions on how to build or assemble something (perhaps a small model or a Lego creation). I will ask students to work in pairs to listen to the instructions they are given and to assemble the model as directed. When they’ve completed the assembly, I will ask student pairs to compare their model to a picture and determine if they were successful. If they were not, I will ask them to go back and listen for the directions they may have misinterpreted, and write those directions out on a sheet of paper.
3 learning experiences to help us reach the standard:
- Simulate a video game by having one student play the role of controller or gamer, while another student is the avatar. Have the gamer give simple directions (“Walk straight, turn right, go under…”) to navigate an in-class obstacle course similar to a game board to have them get from point A or point B.
- Going further with the example above: divide students onto two teams and have them each chose a delegate. The delegate is sent into the hallway and blindfolded while the opposite team creates an obstacle course in the classroom using desks, etc. When they delegate comes back into the room, his/her team provides directions in as a clear a manner as possible to get him/her to move from Point A to Point B in the least amount of time possible. The team with the lowest time will win something.
- Create an “emergency” situation (like a fire drill) and have students follow directions to get to safety.
- Have one student instruct another student in how to make something – a simple recipe which, when completed, can be enjoyed by the students.
Resources:
- Common Core Big Idea 4: Map Backward From Intended Results. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2018, from
- https://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-map-backwards-jay-mctighe-grant-wiggins(n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2018, from http://www.isbe.net/
trees do bend 