Developing Literacy in the World Language Classroom, Part I

Dr. Maria NuzzoSY 2013-14

Brainstorming Activity

• Take one minute to think about literacy. How do you define literacy in your classroom?

• Share aloud with class.

What Is Literacy?

• From Latin littera/litera "letter" – literatus/litteratus "educated, learned;" literally "one who knows the letters.“

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy

Entrance Ticket for___________

Please share a strategy that you have found successful to help your students develop reading and/or writing skills in the language that you teach.

Session Goals

• Increase knowledge of reading and writing strategies• Increase use of reading and writing strategies

Enduring Understandings

• Making and communicating meaning is essential to communication in any language.• Communication skills are not developed in isolation from each other.

Essential questions

• How do language learners acquire reading and writing skills?

Focus Questions

• What strategies help language learners develop reading and writing skills?• How do language teachers select reading and writing strategies appropriate to the students’

level of proficiency in the target language?

Teachers will know…

• Reading and writing proficiency levels• Reading and writing strategies across curricula

Teachers will be skilled at (able to) …

• Identify different types of reading and writing strategies.• Select reading and writing strategies appropriate to the students’ level of proficiency

in the target language.• Demonstrate the use of reading and writing strategies.

ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, 2012

http://actflproficiencyguidelines2012.org/

Types of Text for World Language Students

• Created texts: Texts developed by non-native speakers for non-native speakers to fit students’ proficiency in the target language and curriculum needs.

• Semi-authentic texts: Texts created by native and/or non-native speaker, based on original materials, but adapted to fit students’ proficiency and curriculum needs.

• Authentic texts: Texts created by native speakers for native speakers for consumption in a native environment.

Things Teachers Should Consider When Selecting Reading Texts

• Students’ level of proficiency• Curriculum objectives• Information students should obtain from the text• What students should do with the information• Difficulties students may encounter (e.g., vocabulary, organization of text,

background knowledge)• Reading strategies appropriate to the text• Direct modeling of appropriate students’ thinking while reading the text

When selecting reading texts …

• Try selecting authentic passages• Think about adapting the task rather than the text

Reading Latin

http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/kelly.html

Literacy Toolbox

https://www.vbcps.com/depts/REA/Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fdepts%2fREA%2fDocuments%2fAdminConf2012%2fWe%20Deliver%20Sessions%2fLiteracy&FolderCTID=0x012000B4F3B1C7A156BA4791A379F446C0B452

Pre-Reading Strategies

Spiral Reading Activities. Do not isolate modalities!

Brainstorming (post-reading also)

Brainstorming what is already known about the topic of the article, story, selection (individually, pairs, groups)

Predicting

Reading 1st sentence or paragraph of a text and predicting what the text is about (orally or in writing in TL; individually, pairs, groups)

Greet and Go/Tea Party

Strips of paper with sentences from article/text. Students circulate and read their sentence to classmates. Students only listen and begin to think what the text is about.

List-Group-Label

Brainstorm known words/facts in the target language about a topic; group the words into categories and label each category

Anticipation Guide

List 3-4 statements prior to reading a text; agree or disagree with the statements; predict what the text will be about

KWL (What I Know, What I Want to Know, What I Learned) or

Three-column charts to retrieve prior knowledge about a topic, identify questions to answer while reading the text, and organize learned information (Can be used during reading also).

K3C (Know, Kinda Know, Clueless)

Probable Passage

Teacher chooses a number of words (10 to 15) from the text and determines categories under which students will organize those words (an unknown category should be created for words students have no idea about)Students categorize the words and make a prediction about the text they will read (gist statement)

Statements Before Reading After Reading

Agree/Disagree Agree/Disagree

Agree/Disagree Agree/Disagree

Know Kinda Know Clueless

During Reading StrategiesCoding Text

A method of margin making; e.g., a question mark next to a word or statement that they do not understand, an arrow for something they find interesting, an asterisk for something they believe it is important, etc. (Diigo.com can be used for coding text)

Connections: Text-to-Self, Text-to-World

Highlight an idea, concept, or fact and explain how it relates to you or the world in general

Say Something

Read but stop after every section, paragraph, or set number of pages to say something/comment. Pairs or small groups: one person reads aloud to group or partner, then says something and others respond or all students read silently and take turns saying something.

Story mapping

Graphic organizer that helps students identify and note essential elements in a narrative (e.g., setting, characters, events, theme, problem, etc.)

Save the Last Word for Me

While reading, students select 3-4 statements from the text that are interesting or meaningful to them.

Students write the statements on an index card and their reactions on the other side of the card (e.g., a personal connection, why it is important, etc.).

In groups, a student reads one of his/her statements and group members respond/comment. The author of the card has the last word by sharing his or her reaction from the back of the

card with the group or sharing a new reaction if hearing the other students has changed his or her reaction.

Re-reading

Read a short passage 3 times; rate level of comprehension after each reading on a scale of 1 to 5 (or other scale).

Reading from Different Perspective

Students read a story, article, selection, etc. Teacher selects a number of perspectives that could be connected to what the students read. Teacher divides students in groups of 3-4 and assigns a perspective to each group. Students read the story, article, etc., again looking for statements that reflect their assigned

perspective. Students write a short summary statement about the text that expresses their perspective.

Post-Reading Strategies• Scales

Articulating an opinion about something that you have read Teacher selects some statements from the text that could be debatable. Students use a scale to rate their opinion about the statements (e.g., strongly disagree,

disagree, agree, strongly agree). Students explain their choices in a group discussion.

• Questioning

Answer questions about the reading, e.g., who, what, when, why, how, if…then, etc.

• Magnet Summaries Identify key words in the passage and then use the words to write a summary of the passage.

• Track Down/Most Important Word

Select 3-4 words from the passage that are deemed most important based on evidence.

Select 3-4 key sentences that are deemed most important based on evidence.

• Very Important Points Select key points related to the main idea or theme of the text

• Paraphrasing/Summarizing Read a selection and restate it in one sentence or paragraph Variation to Summarizing Strategy

Read a passage Read it a second time jotting down main ideas Partner with a classmate and write a summary paragraph

• Sequencing

Listing events in chronological order

• Somebody-Wanted-But-So

Somebody Wanted But So

Columbus to sail to the West Indies (Asia)

landed in an island of today’s Bahamas

• Proof for/Proof against

Proof for Statements Proof Against

Burger King offers the best hamburgers

Writing Strategies

Spiral Writing Activities. Do not isolate modalities!

Spelling

• Students are given the text of a song or a poem with some words deleted. • Students listen to the song or poem and then fill in the missing words.

Cloze Activities

They help build vocabulary. (Example)

World Fields

Students write associations to a given word or topic, individually or in groups. World fields work well with pre- and post- speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities.

List Making

Students create a list of words or ideas (e.g., favorite foods, sports, things to be done to prepare for a trip, etc.).

Filling out Charts or Forms

• Students fill out a visa application for the target country. • Students listen to a passage and then fill in a chart with the given information.

Winter Cloze Fill in the blanks with words from the box:

snowmen season icicles

hot chocolate slide

snowfall scarves

f rost breaking

snow angels heavy below f orms catch

blizzards fi replace blackouts

enjoy f reezes

keep boots

build slip

gloves snowball

drop covers hockey

Winter Weather: Winter is the _________________ when temperatures ________________, snow _____________ the ground, ________________ covers windows and ________________ hang f rom roof s. When the temperature is _______________ zero, water ___________________ and ice ________________ on puddles, ponds and lakes. Children have great f un _________________ the ice in puddles on their way to school. Winter Fun: Af ter a heavy __________________ , children play in the snow. They _____________ snow forts, make _______________ and ______________ , and have _________________ fights. People also ________________ skiing, skating, and sledding in the winter. Another popular winter sport is _______________ . Winter Dangers: The cold weather can also be dangerous; people ______________ on the ice and cars ______________ down hills crashing into each other. As well, heavy snowstorms called _________________ can knock down power lines and cause _________________. Some people also _________________ a cold when they stay out in the cold. Keeping Warm: Because winter is so cold, people have to find ways to ________________ warm. People wear ___________ coats, ______________ for their necks, _______________ for their hands, and ______________ on their f eet. Children drink __________________ when they come in f rom the cold. And f amilies sit around the _________________ at night and talk about what they did during the day.

© 2005 www.bogglesworldesl.com

Writing Strategies

* Sentence Builders

• Mother/to dress/children/morning• We/to eat/eggs/bacon/breakfast

* Word Splash

Words or phrases are “splashed” on a page or overhead, often at angles. Students come up with complete sentences connecting two or more of the words or phrases. (Example)

* Circumlocution

Students describe something without using the actual word. (Examples)

Freewrite

Students write on a topic for 2-5 minutes without stopping. Focus is on developing fluency and processing ideas, not accuracy. Can be used as prewriting strategy, generate ideas and vocabulary. First year students use freewrite to generate vocabulary on basic topics (e.g., self, family, etc.).

Visuals

Students write a title, description, dialogue, or story, based on a given image (e.g., cartoon, picture, comic strip)

Writing Strategies

Summaries

Students summarize something that they read, saw, or heard.

Story Telling

• Students read part of a story or watch part of a movie, and then write the ending. • Students organize a set of pictures into a sequence, then write a narrative.

Journals

Students engage in a written dialogue with themselves, instructor, or peers.

Story Starters

Students are given one or two sentences to begin a story which they continue (e.g., It was raining on Sunday, when…).

Peer-reviewed Essays

Students write drafts of an essay which is reviewed by peers at different stages of the writing process.

Reading Strategies Plan

Language and Level: Unit: Topic: Date:

Reading Passage

Learning Objectives

Reading Strategy

Implementation Steps

Evaluation+

(What went well)

(What needs improvement)

Solutions

Writing Strategies Plan

Language and Level: Unit: Topic: Date:

Learning Objectives

Writing Strategy

Implementation Steps

Evaluation+

(What went well)

(What needs improvement)

Solutions

Exit Ticket and Reflection Question to Go

• 3 things you learned today____________________________________________________________________________________

• 2 questions you still have________________________________________________________

• A reflection________________________________________________________

Reflection question to go:

How will I use reading and writing strategies to improve my students’ communication skills in the target language?

Developing Literacy in the World Language Classroom, Part II (Online – 2 PLP points)

Teachers will be able to…

• share with colleagues the implementation of reading and writing strategies/activities used in their classroom.

• Evaluate the impact on instruction and students’ learning.

Tasks required to receive PLP points:

1. Post a brief introduction of yourself (e.g., what you teach and what levels)2. Post a summary of one writing and one reading strategy/activity that you implemented in your

classroom. Give enough information for colleagues to understand what you did (process and content).

3. Give constructive feedback to at least two colleagues.

PREREQUISITE: Participants must have completed Developing Literacy in the World Language Classroom, Part I prior to taking this course.