It's summer, and that means it's time for Wayside Publishing's annual summer webinar series on EntreCulturas: Communicate, Explore, and Connect Across Cultures. 

Wayside Publishing Instructional Specialists Debbie Espitia and Cristin Bleess will present the webinars throughout July and August, providing an opportunity for all educators curious about how EntreCulturas works. 

By Elizabeth Zwanziger

June 11, 2018

Five weeks to AATF!

AATF in La Pointe-du-Bout, Martinique is only five weeks away! Here is the convention website. This will be my first time there, and I’m excited to celebrate Francophone language and culture in a new venue.

The French language has traveled from its birthplace in France and settled in many places around the world. We all know about Francophone Africa, Polynesia, and the Caribbean, but do you know that more and more French is being spoken in the U.S. thanks to immigration to many states across the country? Quebec is not the only place in North America where you’ll find French. In this post, I’ll be sharing a bit about the French language situation in what may seem an unexpected location: Iowa.

The Iowa flag resembles the French flag and reflects Iowa’s history as part of the French Louisiana Territory.

Iowa and French language and culture

Iowa has a significant French and French Canadian heritage. French has been the second most commonly studied world language in Iowan schools for many years. However, approximately 20 years ago, many French programs found themselves in danger and were even discontinued due to budget cuts for non-core courses considered as low hanging fruit. Many French teachers who still had positions advocated, promoted, and recruited to fill French classes. Little did we know that things were about to change.

In recent years, there has been an influx of French speakers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, and Angola immigrating to many of the larger metro areas in Iowa. They have come to start a new life, and are enriching ours. A local school has begun a French-English dual immersion program. Banks, hospitals, and grocery stores want to better serve their customers by offering French language translations for their services. Thus, people are seeking ways to study French in order to communicate with our new neighbors, and French programs are holding steady or even seeing growth.

What an exciting time to be a French teacher!

By Deborah Espitia

May 29, 2018

In the previous post, Packing a punch with pictures, we talked about bringing James Bond into our classrooms.

Alright, so not actually bringing James Bond, but starting the unit off with an activity that pulls learners into the theme and motivates them to want to learn what we want to teach.  But, how about bringing that level of motivation to every lesson every day and not just reserving it for the start of a unit?

Remember, motivation emerges from a hierarchy of motivators. 

By Deborah Espitia

May 14, 2018

Planning a unit is like developing the script of a James Bond film.

That opening scene starts off with a bang! The viewer is immediately thrust into a high-powered action thriller, be it a car racing around hairpin curves, a speedboat jumping a dock, or a hang glider weaving between mountain crevices.  It’s only after this initial thrill, after the viewer is drawn into the story, that the plot plays out and the viewer discovers the connection between that initial drama and mission elements.

Motivation emerges from a hierarchy of motivators. 

 

Third, and this is where James Bond comes in, there needs to be a focusing event that gains the attention of the learners and hooks them into wanting to know more.  It goes without saying that the focusing event should be relevant and connect to the content of the unit.  

Last, and not least, elements of fun should be included - not just for the initial focusing event - but, woven throughout the unit.

Let’s zero in on focusing events for opening a unit of study. 

A great option for these is the use of photographs, artwork, or even video clips from the target cultures.  Teachers have been using these kinds of authentic resources to introduce units, lessons, and segments of study for longer than most of us have been teaching.  Along the way, we’ve refined the technique to include strategies that move learners beyond simply identifying what they see in the images.  One such technique comes from TCI™’s social studies curriculum, History Alive!. Visual Discovery brings to life compelling visuals as learners discover key concepts. The strategy sharpens visual-literacy skills, encourages learners to construct their own knowledge through higher-level thinking, develops deductive reasoning, and taps visual, intrapersonal, and body-kinesthetic intelligences.

To begin, choose 2 or 3 images to introduce the key concept(s) of the unit.  Make sure they include a combination of the following:

• connect to the curriculum and student outcomes;
• illustrate key concepts;
• graphically show human emotion, suspense, or interaction;
• are interesting or unusual;
• have the potential for learners to “step into the scene;”
• are culturally relevant.

Ask learners carefully sequenced questions that lead to discovery of the key concepts.  Questions move through three levels, from basic identification to higher-order processing.

Level 1 - Gathering evidence (identifying the details)

• What do you see in this image?
• What are some details?
• How would you describe the scene and the people?
• What do you hear (or smell) in the scene?

Level 2 - Interpreting evidence (providing evidence to support answers)

• Where might the scene be taking place?
• What is happening in the scene?
• What are people saying in the scene?
• What might this person be thinking?
• What might have happened prior to this scene?
• What might happen next?

Level 3 - Making hypothesis from evidence (formulating ideas)

• What is happening?
• What does this say about the concept or culture?
• How do we know?

• taking the roles of characters in the image.
• inserting themselves into the scene and acting accordingly.
• creating captions for events depicted.
• crafting summaries of events.
• conducting news reports on the scene.
• interviewing key characters.

Let’s look at examples from Wayside Publishing’s Spanish series, EntreCulturas 1, 2, 3. 

EntreCulturas 1, Unidad 5 - La vida es un carnaval (p. 252)

Productos de la República Dominicana y del estado de Nueva York

Observa las imágenes. ¿Puedes identificar las que representan la República Dominicana? ¿Y los Estados Unidos? ¿Puedes identificar algunas conexiones entre los dos lugares?

Each unit of EntreCulturas 1 begins with a collage such as this one.  Learners note items depicted in the photos (Level 1) and then, make comparisons and connections between the two places on which the unit focuses (Level 2).  From here, have learners make predictions about the kinds of things they may be studying in the unit (Level 3).  Refer them to the unit’s goals and essential questions for additional clues.  Then, have learners identify items in which they are interested and would to know about.

EntreCulturas 3, Unidad 2 - #CiudadaníaDigital (p. 58)

¿Cómo se defina la ciudadanía digital?

En esta unidad, vas a explorar el concepto de la ciudadanía digital, algo que afecta a todo el mundo. Para empezar, examina las siguientes imágenes. ¿Puedes adivinar la definición de la ciudadanía digital?

Want to know more? 

Check out the resources in the reference section and let us know in the comments section how you are using images to start off your units!

Resources (used as references in this post):

• Mar, A., Davis, R., Sloan, M. & Watson-López, G. (2017). EntreCulturas 1. Freeport, ME: Wayside Publishing.
• Espitia, D., García, P., Cornell, J., & Vásquez Gil, I. (2017). EntreCulturas 3. Freeport, ME: Wayside Publishing.
• For more information on Visual Discovery, visit TCI™ - https://www.teachtci.com/

By Deborah Espitia

May 7, 2018

I see it, I say it, I know it... but, maybe not

In Part I of our series, Acquiring vocabulary: 5 strategies to create meaning in learning vocabulary, we noted that a movement is on the rise in which teachers are shifting from meaningless drill and practice exercises to help students acquire new content, such as vocabulary. Instead, teachers are moving towards authentic resources and communicative tasks to teach vocabulary and language structures in context.

In Part II, Acquiring vocabulary: 9 strategies for creating graphic organizers , we reviewed a few of my favorite types of graphic organizers that support vocabulary acquisition.  

In Part III, Acquiring vocabulary: 10 ways to get students moving with physical models and kinesthetic activity , we reviewed types of physical models and kinesthetic activities along with ideas for applications that support vocabulary acquisition. 

In Part IV, we'll maximize the adage, "a picture paints a thousand words".

1. Generating mental pictures

Guided imagery taps into students’ prior knowledge as well as the affective domain. It empowers students since they decide what images represent the vocabulary in question.  An example of this that I’ve used with my students at the Novice level is around foods at the market. Have students close their eyes and imagine they are going to the market with a family member.  The first section they see is the produce section with fruits and vegetables. Ask them questions, such as the following, based on the target vocabulary or previously-learned words and expressions:

  What fruits do you see?  

  What colors are they?  

  What shape are they?  

  What do they smell like?  

  What do they taste like?  

  Photo of Mercado de Villa de Leyva, Colombia (photo by Debbie Espitia)

Then, have students open their eyes.  Display pictures of fruit labeled in the target language and ask students to jot down in one circle of a Venn diagram (there are those graphic organizers again) the fruits they “saw” in the market and what color they were, what shape – in Spanish, of course.  Next, have students share with a partner, record the partner’s fruit in the other circle of the diagram, and add in the overlapping space the items they have in common. Debrief by asking a series of yes/no, choice, and wh-questions (this supports pronunciation practice as well as vocabulary building).  Have pairs of students share with others by pointing to and naming the items they have in common. Have a couple of students model this for the whole class, then have students share simultaneously in small groups. Repeat the process with vegetables.

Extend the activity by having students close their eyes again and note where items are located.  Then, have them open their eyes to describe the scene to their partner, who has to draw it. Provide a list of prepositions of location (i.e., on the right, underneath) to use as a reference. Make a cultural connection by displaying a photo of a market from a country that speaks the target language and having students make comparisons between it and the one they imagined.  

2. Drawing pictures and pictographs

Creating pictures that are meaningful makes learning personal. Allow students to refer to labeled images or definitions of the new vocabulary as they engage in these activities.  As they use the vocabulary more and acquisition builds, they will not need to refer to these kinds of supports. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Un desfile (A parade):  Give students a copy of a Venn diagram and show them a video clip of a parade for a holiday celebration in one of the countries that speaks the target language, such as el carnaval en al República Dominicana. As students watch the video, have them draw pictures of the items they see in the parade in one of the circles on the diagram.  For example, they might draw masks, costumes, musical instruments, dances, etc. Then, have students draw items they would see in a parade in their community.  In the overlapping area of the diagram, have students write the words for the items the two parades have in common. (Novice Mid)

Llena mi plato (Fill my plate):  Give students a paper plate and have them draw foods that represent a typical meal from the target culture (this can be assigned for homework). Next, have students sit back to back with a partner and take turns describing what abuela served last night for dinner and where it was located on the plate.  As one student describes the plate of food, the other draws it on the flip side of his or her own paper plate.  When finished, students can compare what they had on their plates and how accurate they were at drawing the other’s plate of food. (Intermediate Low)

Dibuja la lectura (Draw the reading):  Have students read a text or a segment of a text and draw one or more scenarios that summarize that text.  Then, have students retell what they have read by using the drawings as a guide. A variation of this is to have students exchange their drawings and write summaries or captions for their classmate’s drawing. This works best when students have read different texts. (Intermediate Mid)

Tying it all together

Don’t hesitate to share in the comments section ways that you use mental imagery and drawings in your classes. Want even more ideas?  Take a look at the appendix of additional instructional strategies in the Teacher’s Edition of EntreCulturas 1, 2, 3.  

And those drill and practice exercises?  You’ll want to shred them; you won’t be needing them anymore.

For more of the Acquiring Vocabulary blog series:

Part I: 5 Strategies to Create Meaning in Vocabulary 

Part II: 9 Strategies for Using Graphic Organizers

Part III: 10 ways to get students moving with physical models and kinesthetic activity

References:

• Espitia, D., García, P., Cornell, J., & Vásquez Gil, I. (2017). EntreCulturas 3. Freeport, ME: Wayside Publishing.

• Mar, A., Davis, R., Sloan, M. & Watson-López, G. (2017). EntreCulturas 1. Freeport, ME: Wayside Publishing.

• Marzano, R., Pickering, D. & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

• Schwenkler C., Cory, M., Carrión, P.  (2017) EntreCulturas 2. Freeport, ME: Wayside Publishing.