Day 126 - Keys to Literacy continues in the World Language Department

This post originally appeared on the Burlington Keys to Literacy Blog

This year, the World Language Department has been excited to implement the strategies that the Keys to Literacy program offers.  Last year, BHS began working with Keys to Literacy trainers and the World Language Department discovered that the resources they have to offer complement our daily lesson plans in meaningful ways.

Spanish teachers, Ms. Duhamel, Mrs. DiCroce and Profesora De Sousa, have experimented with Top Down Webs in their Spanish III classes.  Students were presented with a vocabulary theme that focused on reflexive verbs and daily routines.  After reinforcing the vocabulary using resources, such as two column notes, students read a short story about two kids named Débora, a Puerto Rican, and Hipólito, a Bolivian.  To organize the information read in the target language, Spanish teachers modeled the use of Top Down Webs.  They created a Top Down Web exemplar that outlined the daily routine of Niko, a character from a video that acts out his actions during typical day, and, then students completed the web based off of the notes that they took while watching the video (see student Top Down Web example: la-rutina-de-niko-1).  In sum, the Top Down Web helped students organize information and compare it to their own daily routine.

In addition, Spanish teacher Mrs. DiCroce examined the literature of Débora and Hipólito using Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Students created questions based off of the reading using the various levels of the Bloom’s Taxonomy ladder, ranging from remembering information to creating new details or ideas.   Using the various stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy taught students how to enhance their level of reading comprehension through applying information to daily life, analyzing the concepts through comparisons and contrasts as well as creating alternate scenarios. (see student Bloom’s Taxonomy example: la rutina de Débora).

Also, Profesora De Sousa continues to explore the use of Two-Column Notes in her Spanish classes.  For example, her Spanish II classes have begun organizing their grammar concepts, such as the present tense of -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs using the Two-Column Notes template.  In class, her students organized and categorized the important information pertaining to each idea while using colors to compare examples.  (Check out the example: repaso-1-apuntes-de-2-columnas)

Lastly, Ms. Mirabella taught Top Down Webs and two column notes to her 7th and 8th grade Spanish classes at MSMS. 7th graders were introduced to Top Down Webs in her Spanish class with a general example (a daily routine), and after, students were told they would use webs with their unit on Spanish speaking countries. After Ms. Mirabella created a blank web with only regions listed (i.e. North America, South America, etc.), students filled in the countries that speak Spanish under each region. Students used these webs as part of their study guide for their unit quiz on this concept.

In 8th grade Spanish classes, Ms. Mirabella introduced the family members vocabulary. Students first filled out a “green light, yellow light, red light” work checklist (Word Knowledge Checklist). On this sheet, students noted how much knowledge they had about each vocabulary word about members of the family in Spanish. If they knew what a word meant in English, they wrote the definition in the green light column. If students had heard the word before or have seen it, they wrote whatever they knew about that word (i.e. noun) in the yellow light column. If students had never heard or seen the word before, they simply checked the red light column. After discussing the results of the worksheet, the vocabulary was formally introduced. Next, students completed Two-Column Notes with this vocabulary. In the left side of the notes, students wrote the word in Spanish and drew a small picture underneath. Across from that on the right side of the page, students filled in what the word meant in English, any synonyms and antonyms for the word, and then used the word in a sentence in Spanish. Overall, students were interested in trying these new strategies, and will continue to use them throughout the year in future units and chapters!

Many of the strategies presented during the Keys to Literacy workshops last spring and this fall have motivated the World Language teachers to explore the resources and collaborate with each other to recognize which tools best support our language students.  Most notably, the strategies that the students are developing in their language class will support them in all classes throughout their learning experience at BHS and beyond.

Day 31 - La música: Engaging students in Argentina’s past as they investigate “la guerra sucia” - Renee Dacey - BHS World Language Dept.

This post originally appeared on the BHS World Language Blog
This past month, BHS’s AP Spanish students have been exploring the theme of personal and public identities throughout Spanish speaking countries and comparing and contrasting them to those of the United States.  Today, students began a unit on Argentina’s guerra sucia (Dirty War) during the 1970s.  As an opening classroom assignment, students listened to the song Ellas danzan solas by Sting and Peter Gabriel.  During the first listening task, students listened to the song as they read through the lyrics in Spanish.  Next, they were asked to draw a visual of their interpretation of the song (and its lyrics).  The video below shows students listening and drawing during the class assignment.

Here are two student examples from class today.  The examples include the students’ visual interpretations along with a recording of their explanation in Spanish of what inspired them to draw the visual that they drew.

Day 125 - AP Spanish Class Visits Sprouts - Mrs. Dacey - BHS Foreign Language Chair

Last week, Mrs. Dacey’s AP Spanish class traveled to Burlington’s Sprouts preschool classroom to share their Spanish knowledge with the little ones.  The seniors taught the preschool students a Spanish lesson during an hour long session.  The lesson began with a welcome song in Spanish, followed by engaging craft making activities.  First, students made musical instruments, called rain sticks, which are believed to be from the Mexican aztec people.  Next, they learned how to say various body parts in Spanish, while playing a “pin the tail” like game with Señor Papa.  Finally, the students decorated and folded fans and watched a group of four AP students dance the well-known Spanish Flamenco dance.  Both the “big” and “little” Burlington students had a blast!

Day 47 - Ms. De Sousa & Mrs. Dacey Present “iPads and the Foreign Language Classroom” - BHS Staff

This post originally appeared on the BHS World Languages Blog

Last month, BHS Spanish teachers, Ms. De Sousa and Mrs. Dacey, presented a four-hour workshop on “iPads and the Foreign Language classroom” at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association’s annual conference.  Last year, they won “Best of MaFLA” and were invited to lead a workshop this year that focused on applications used in language classes that enhance listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.

Check out this blog post created by Kevin Murphy, an instructional technology teacher at Frontier Regional High School in  Massachusetts.  Kevin attended Ms. De Sousa and Mrs. Dacey’s “iPad and the Foreign Language Classroom” presentation at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association’s conference in October 2013.  His blog post explains the various applications that he learned at the presentation and how he implements them in his classes.

Day 22 - AP Spanish Students Create Presentations With Movenote - Renee Dacey, BHS Foreign Language Department Head

You can also follow what Mrs. Dacey's classes are up to on her wikispace

This week Mrs. Dacey's AP Spanish students used a new application called Movenote that was recommended by Ms. Scheffer, BHS's new Instructional Technology Specialist teacher.  The Movenote app allows you to add a video of yourself teaching a topic to photographs or slides.

A Screenshot of a Movenote Presentation

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, students created a presentation about influential individuals from Hispanic roots that reside/resided in the United States.  Students explained how these Hispanic people have had a positive impact on US society.  

Click on the links below to Check out these examples of the AP Spanish students' work:

Movenote-Celia Cruz

Movenote-José Hernández

Movenote-Junot Díaz