This session presents practical and readily adaptable instructional strategies to keep young learners interested and motivated. A thematic approach, incorporating stories, music and most importantly, play, captures students’ interest and whets the appetite for a range of language learning tasks, including repetition, listening comprehension and role play. The activities are repetitive and scaffolded and require no writing, making it suitable for young children, and students who learn differently. After modelling various themes and after discussing the instructional strategies, each participant develops a thematic language session individually. A speed date activity follows to sample the sessions and provide constructive feedback to each other.
Music is an invaluable tool in the World Language classroom. Music helps us develop cultural awareness in the target language while lowering the Affective Filter. But the songs we choose are often too complex, with advanced vocabulary and colloquialisms that novice and intermediate learners can't yet grasp. Learn how to effectively use music in your World Language class to provide repeated exposure to target structures, and sustain comprehensible interaction in the L2, all while developing cultural awareness. This session is hands-on, so teachers can take the tools and resources to easily integrate the activities and units right back into their classrooms. No prior experience or background is necessary but come prepared to sing and dance to fully embrace the music!
Many students choose to study a language, because they want to use it for their enjoyment and advancement in their communities. In this session we explore using Communities standard to engage students, present them with real world opportunities to use their newly acquired language in their schools and communities. During the height of the pandemic, many people disengaged from the community. We re-examine how local communities can be a language learning resource and how learners can use their language skills in their communities.
Interacting in a language class can be intimidating for the best of us. However, engaging in oral interactions is paramount to becoming proficient in a language, to believing in one's own abilities and engaging in the learning process.
Do you struggle with ideas for how to empower your students to use the language beyond the walls of your classroom? Come and learn from the 2022 NECTFL Teachers of the Year state finalists! From empowering your students to teach younger students in your school community, to showcasing student work around town, Teachers of the Year from the northeast region share some of the strategies they implement to practice the Communities standard and advocate for their language programs in their broader communities. Examples are in Spanish, French, Latin, and Chinese across all age groups.
How can we plan common learning experiences for students who learn at different rates? How can we develop proficiency, when they need different things? We provide strategies for meeting students where they’re at by leveraging thematic units to appropriately challenge each student through a common learning experience. This includes how to provide students with opportunities to self-differentiate during instruction, assessments, and learning activities, so that they are all talking about the same thing, but each working on their own proficiency growth. Let's meet them where they're at!
Have you ever explored how your past, present, and future show up in the classroom? Do you wonder how you can uncover and examine the roots of your identidad in order to grow your competencia sociocultural alongside the students you serve? Through a Two-Way Immersion Lens, we will guide you to reflect on your past, present, and future, and how to apply these guided reflections in your Pre-K to 12th grade classrooms. A few of the tasks we will investigate together will be: memoirs, challenging games, how-tos, inspiring videos, and a map of dreams. Join us as we incorporate critical consciousness and social justice into our planning, collegial conversations, advocacy, and instructional practices.