Preaching to Acquire

WHOOPS. I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post. It's been quite the year, but I'm happy to be back sharing with you again! Today's post is dedicated to Parallel Texts! If you're interested, I will be presenting for FREE at this year's World Language Teacher Summit on this exact topic on October 10th and how to use Parallel Texts to unlock student creativity, even at the novice level. What are parallel texts? Simply put, a parallel text is a text based on a text that has already been written but that has had some of the content changed. When students write parallel texts, they are essentially swapping out details of the original text. How do I create a text to use? To create the original text, you can grab a text you find online (as long as it's comprehensible for your students). You could grab a reading from a textbook or an excerpt from a novel. My favorite is using a write and discuss text that you've previously co-created with your s...

 Ever since I began learning about the Stepping Stones Curricular Framework from Tina Hargaden in 2019, I've wanted to try using anchor charts.  To be honest with you, I liked the idea, but I just didn't know how to make it work in my classes. I felt like it would be too much paper or too much to remember to do in a lesson, so I skipped it. Were my students successful? Yes. Did they need  anchor charts? No. So I waited to try creating some until I was ready. What are anchor charts? Basically they are a chart (duh LOL) with words/phrases/sentence starters to support the learning happening in the classroom. In fact, if you google anchor charts (which I recommend you do because there are some pretty cool ones you can see), you'll see TONS for all subject areas: reading, writing, math, science, and even some about classroom procedures. Why use anchor charts in a world language classroom? After the past couple of crazy COVID years, I wanted to give my students extra scaffoldin...

 Y'ALL! I LOVE talking about assessment. Can you tell? Before I dig into the nitty gritty, I have to tell you about a FREE PD opportunity including a session by yours truly about assessment! Check out this link get your free summit playbook and to register for this year's World Language Teacher Summit . There are over 30 speakers on a variety of topics that you will love. Keep reading for simple assessment tips! Here's what you can look forward to in my presentation Creating Assessments for Student Success  when it goes LIVE on October 21st: Kaitlin shares her ideas for putting together assessments which are simple, straightforward, and give you an insight into your students’ language performance levels, while at the same time allowing your students to feel successful. She goes over some key sections of the ACTFL performance descriptors and provides examples of assessment tasks together with video demonstrations.  Register for the FREE summit now so you won't miss a pre...

>>This activity is not input focused.<< The purpose of this activity is to help kids process the language they've been acquiring in class and create their own sentences and thoughts without having to come up with the words themselves. It helps build confidence before the first writing assessment.  I am always looking for new ways to scaffold student writing. This word card sentence activity was inspired by my talented and smart friend, Nissa Quill. Check out some pictures of the students working at the end of this post! I also recorded this podcast episode to really explain the purpose of this activity and share more about how we discussed it in class. Main Idea:  Students are given cards with familiar words in the target language and work in groups to create as many sentences as possible with those words. They are given some blank cards to write their own words on as well.  We did this activity after spending about 4-5 days on calendar talk in class.  H...

3 years ago, I began using a daily lesson framework in all of my classes to provide comprehensible input. It changed my life.  As many of you know, I had polyps surgically removed from my vocal cords 2 years ago. I will have to use a microphone to teach with for the rest of my career. As someone who never participated in theater or choir, I had never learned to use my voice correctly. So when I began teaching with CI and almost felt as though I was putting on a show every class for my students, it killed my voice. This daily lesson framework helped solve that issue for me as well.   Here are 4 benefits to using this daily lesson framework: 1. Creates Routine We know that brains crave novelty, but they also thrive with routine. This framework allows teachers and students to have the same routine every day while still allowing for freedom and flexibility within that routine. 2. Gradual Release of Responsibility The daily framework has a focus of "I do, we do, you do" with t...

If you are a fan of class-created characters (OWIs) then you will LOVE this project! I've created a 4 day lesson plan with handouts for students to create their own characters. I will admit that this is not completely input focused, BUT I would argue that giving students chances to show their learning, do some art, and let their imaginations run wild are worthwhile, too! (Especially if you are crawling trying to make it to a school break like me.) This could be done in person or virtually as long as your students have the ability to insert pictures of their characters in the slideshow! Here's the general idea of the lesson plans. Make sure you check out the full lesson plans with handout links here ! *These plans are flexible enough that you could continue things like free choice reading or calendar talk each day. I have found that working with students (especially when they are writing in L2) takes longer than I always expect and I want us to get it done in class, so there may...