By Deborah Espitia

April 16, 2018

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

In Part I of our Aquiring Vocabulary series: I see it, I say it, I know it... right? , we set the scene for a movement in which fewer and fewer teachers are exposing students to meaningless drill and practice exercises to help them acquire new content. Instead, teachers are moving toward truly authentic resources and communicative tasks to teach vocabulary and language structures in context.

Hand-in-hand with contextual learning is making input comprehensible so that learners can then produce comprehensible output. Leading experts in the field of education, such as Robert J. Marzano, address the need to include such non-linguistic representations to create context and meaning in acquiring content. But, it’s what the teacher has learners do in relation to these non-linguistic representations that’s the bridge to acquiring the content.  

Through his research, Marzano (Classroom Instruction that Works, 2001) outlines five strategies that use non-linguistic representations to assist learners in acquiring content:

• Creating graphic organizers;

• Making physical models;

• Generating mental pictures;

• Drawing pictures and pictographs; and

• Engaging in kinesthetic activity.

In Part II of our series, let’s take a closer look at creating and using graphic organizers to support vocabulary acquisition. We can’t wear out the use of graphic organizers – there are so many variations.  Here are just a few that we use in our new EntreCulturas 1, 2, 3 series that you may adapt to your lesson plans on vocabulary development.

Interpretive Mode

Graphic organizers help students process what they are reading, hearing, or viewing.

​​​​​Evidence Chart 

Defiende las ideas (Novice High) – Gather evidence from two infographics to support the notion that Miami is more than just a city in Southern Florida, but also “la capital, comercial, y global de las Américas.”  Chart source: EntreCulturas 1, Unidad 6, Actividad 41, p. 348

Information Gathering 

¿Cuánto vas a gastar? (Intermediate Low) – Listen to three students talk about what clothing they will buy in a Peruvian shop with the $100 they each have.  Note that the rate of exchange is 3.29 soles per dollar. Record the price in soles and dollars; then, indicate how much money is left over. Chart source: EntreCulturas 2, Unidad 5, Actividad 13, Paso 3B, p. 265

Main idea and Supporting Detail

Beneficios de los primeros trabajos para adolescentes (Intermediate Mid) – Watch the video to discover the five main benefits of a young person’s first job and write them above the appropriate description in the newspaper article.  Then, read the benefit listed in the article, and on the organizer, add more benefits. Chart source: EntreCulturas 3, Unidad 5, Actividad 3, Paso 3, p. 233

Interpersonal Mode

Graphic organizers assist students in collecting their thoughts before having to engage in a spoken or written conversation with someone else.

Interview

Mi identidad/Tu identidad (Novice Low) – Ask and answer questions of classmates to discover who they are. Record their responses. Targeted vocabulary is listed on the organizer along with a model conversation.  Chart source: EntreCulturas 1, Unidad 1, Actividad 5, Paso 1, p. 43

Checklist

Aprovechando una oferta especial (Intermediate Low) –  Take advantage of a sale while shopping for clothes with a friend.  First, review three different scenarios that may occur and make notes of vocabulary, phrases, or questions that may be useful. Chart source: EntreCulturas 2, Unidad 5, En camino B, Paso 3, p. 281

Main idea and Supporting Detail

Beneficios de los primeros trabajos para adolescentes (Intermediate Mid) – Use the information in the organizer in which you captured the benefits of working, along with your own ideas, to engage in a chat on the class forum. Explain why having a job now will benefit you in the future.  Read classmates' responses and reply with a comment or a question. Chart source: EntreCulturas 3, Unidad 5, Actividad 3, Paso 3, p. 233

Presentational Mode

Students can use graphic organizers to plan spoken and written presentations.

Planner

Turistas en Santo Domingo (Novice Mid) – Put together an itinerary of things to see while in the Dominican Republic with your class for Carnaval, using charts and exercises in EntreCulturas 1, Unidad 5, Vive en culturas.

Circles

Iconos que nos representan (Intermediate Low) – Identify icons (i.e., places, animals, clothing, food, people) that represent the communities of which you are a part. Use the icons to create a t-shirt to sell to visitors to your area; be prepared to explain your concept to the shop owner selling the shirt. Chart source: EntreCulturas 2, Unidad 3, Actividad 5, Paso 4, p. 130

Main idea and Supporting Detail

Beneficios de los primeros trabajos para adolescentes (Intermediate Mid) – You would like to work this summer, but you have to convince your parents who want you to use the time to study. Use the information in the organizer in which you captured the benefits of working, along with your own ideas, to prepare the rationale you are going to present to them. Chart Source: EntreCulturas 3, Unidad 5, Actividad 3, Paso 3, p. 233

Tying It All Together

Did you observe that throughout the Intermediate Mid tasks, we used the same graphic organizer for the various activities in the different modes? The repeated tasks with the same vocabulary and language structures, but in new contexts, will add to language acquisition.

These are just a few types of graphic organizers available and kinds of activities in which students can engage.  Please share in the comment section ideas you have or connect with myself and the rest of the Wayside team on social media! Stay tuned to this blog space for the next in our series of strategies to link vocabulary acquisition and communication.

For more of the Acquiring Vocabulary blog series:

Part I: 5 Strategies to create meaning in learning vocabulary

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

Part IV: Mental Pictures and Drawing

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.

Wayside will attend the following conferences this year. Join us in the exhibit halls to meet our friendly staff and learn more about our products and programs! 

By Deborah Espitia

January 30, 2018

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

There is an exciting movement underway. Fewer and fewer teachers are exposing students to meaningless drill and practice to help them acquire new content, such as vocabulary. We are moving away from the practice of showing an image with the word, saying the word, and having learners repeat it. We have had enough of handing out the vocabulary list, turning on the projector, and hearing that audible, collective sigh that indicates learners have also had enough. 

And, it isn’t stopping there. Teachers (and learners) are also moving beyond the series of rote, fill-in-the-blank exercises that can be done mindlessly with no connection to meaning and hence, no acquisition. They are experiencing an integration of presentation and practice in context that supports acquisition.

“Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language—natural communication—in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances, but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.(Krashen, 1981).

Integral to this new movement is the use of gestures, visuals, or objects to have our learners apply new vocabulary in authentic, communicative tasks. We know that there is immense value in using visual input to reinforce what learners listen to or read. Leading experts in the field of education, such as Robert J. Marzano, address the need to include such non-linguistic representations to create context and meaning in acquiring content. But, it’s what the teacher has learners do in relation to these non-linguistic representations that’s the bridge to acquiring the content.  

Through his research, Marzano outlines five strategies that use non-linguistic representations to assist learners in acquiring content. Let’s take a look at the five strategies applied to the learning of vocabulary in context.

1. Create graphic organizers

Have learners organize words and phrases into patterns using symbols, arrows, shapes, or illustrations in order to: identify and classify what learners hear or read; or make recommendations.

For example, have learners listen to a classmate describe what school supplies she needs to buy for four classes and create a shopping list. You could also have learners take notes while listening to various family members talk about what they need to do before leaving for school or work in the morning in order to make suggestions about what they should do first.

2. Build physical models

Have learners engage in hands-on tasks in order to indicate placement of objects or describe how to do something.

In this instance, have learners rearrange furniture in the classroom according to directions the teacher has left, or demonstrate a recipe for a favorite family dish. 

3. Generate mental pictures

Have learners visualize words and phrases while incorporating the senses in order to make comparisons or set a scene.

For this strategy, ask learners to visualize a map of the western hemisphere, its continents, its countries, and the bodies of water that surround it; then, compare your mental map with a map from Latin America. Or have learners visualize how they feel when they have a particular ailment, such as a headache, a cold, or a broken bone; then they can explain their symptoms to the nurse over the phone.

4. Draw pictures and pictographs

Have learners create illustrations of content in order to: describe people, places, or things; or outline a sequence of events.

For this, you could have learners listen to a Costa Rican learner talk about his school uniform and draw the outfit he describes. For outlining a sequence of events, have learners draw pictures of a series of activities they took part in on a camping trip and place each activity on a separate sheet of paper. They can exchange papers with a classmate; as one classmate narrates when she did each activity, the other student can arrange the drawings in the appropriate order. Then, switch roles.

5. Engage in kinesthetic activity

Have learners connect physical movement to mental images in order to show relationships between and among people and things and predict next steps.

For example, have your kids read a description of a Colombian family tree; but, first, assign each learner a family member to portray. As they hear the description, learners organize themselves to create a physical model that shows the relationships among the various family members.

Another example for predicting next steps would be to distribute each learner one step of the instructions for what to do prior to boarding an international flight. Have classmates take turns reading aloud their step, acting it out, and lining up in order of when each step occurs.

These examples are just a few of the applications of these five strategies. Please share ideas you have in the comment section. Stay tuned for the next in our series of strategies to link vocabulary acquisition and communication.

For more of the Acquiring Vocabulary blog series:

Part II: 9 Strategies for Using Graphic Organizers

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

Part IV: Mental Pictures and Drawing

References:

• Krashen, S. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press Inc.
• Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Wayside will attend the following conferences this year. Join us in the exhibit halls to meet our friendly staff and learn more about our products and programs! 

Wayside Publishing, known for its line of quality textbooks for the AP^® level student of language, has just released its first Latin title, Scandite Muros, created to provide students and teachers with a new way to learn and teach sight-reading on the AP^® Latin Exam and beyond.