As language teachers we all know how high the bar is set with the 90% target language guideline, so now how to we reach the goal? For the next five days I will post an idea per day to encourage TL communication even in the novice classroom.
Day one, let’s look at authentic resources. In level one I wouldn’t dream of bringing a copy of a Spanish language newspaper and asking them to read it but I can still use authentic materials that meet their needs!
Consider these three ways to make authentic resources accessible to your novice, intermediate, or advanced students:
1. Bring in a commercial. The level of your student should be the deciding factor in the type of commercial you use. For example, novices can easily discuss this commercial ( http://youtu.be/erhsuXTyDww ) using familiar vocabulary- plus it has good culture for the Spanish teachers! While intermediate or advanced students would be able to decode a lot of the language (Spanish here, sorry) in a commercial like this one ( http://youtu.be/9KhGbMViGkQ ).
Suggestion for commercial use: watch te commercial together two or three times and then use accessible language to discuss what students have seen.
My lessons:
La Llorona commercial- we watched the commercial after studying walks, cries, and has. In this early novice level class, I re-told the events of the commercial and asked students to do the same for a writing assessment with a rubric focused on their ability to communicate the message.
Coca Cola para todos commercial: after listening to the commercial once, intermediate students tried to list “who is coca cola for?” They watched two additional times and then we created a class list. By the end they had caught nearly all of the references in the commercial and had enjoyed the way coca cola uses different bottles to represent different people.
2. Bring in a meme! Pinterest has thousands of great pictures with just a few words in the TL but a deep message! Use memes that go well with what you’re doing in class each week! Discuss each meme in the TL. Make inferences about the meme. In a higher level class, ask students to develop a story about what happened before or after the meme!
3. Infographics are very visual! Whatever you’re studying, there is sure to be an Infographic that would provide you the opportunity to get that common core reading of charts and graphs in your lesson! Many Infographics are heavy on visual and light on language so they are perfect even at novice levels! Again, Pinterest is my go-to source for Infographics!
