Georgia Performance Standards for Modern Languages and Latin Training Module 2

Where we have been…

• Students who learned a language in the past were more capable of talking about the language (its grammatical features) than using it communicatively.

Where we are going!

• The GPS focuses on using language for real world purposes, resulting in students who can function in another language and another culture.

Is there a preferred methodology?

A variety of methods is preferable. Remember, we are teaching various learners with different learning styles. If a student is an auditory learner, and he is taught with a visual approach everyday, all period long, he will not be very successful.

What is the best approach to incorporating the GPS?

• A communicative approach is the best, involving listening, reading, speaking and writing. Thematic Units developed by Georgia teachers can help.

Thematic Units

Thematic units are based on the essentials of Backward Design. Each unit includes…

• an Essential Question to focus the lesson.• targeted Elements of the GPS.• summative performance-based assessments,

which require students to demonstrate proficiency in using the language.

• suggested instructional activities that engage students.

Essential question

Each Unit starts with an essential question. For example, an

essential question for a unit on Community is:

How do local surroundings affect how we live, work and

play?

Selected Elements

 What students should be able to do:

 

• Elements• MLII.IP1E Give and follow directions and instructions• MLII.IP2A Initiate, participate in, and close an oral or written

exchange• MLII.INT1B Interpret culturally authentic materials and information• MLII.INT1C Comprehend and follow oral and written instructions• MLII.P1B Give brief, organized oral presentations, using visual

and technological support as appropriate• MLII.P1C Write short, organized compositions, using visual and

technological support as appropriate

Each unit indicates what students should know to be successful

For the Community Unit:• Vocabulary for common buildings• Vocabulary for common professions• Self-descriptive adjectives relating to professions• Prepositional phrases of distance (next to, in front

of, etc.)• Verbs: to be, to go, to turn, to come (from), to

prefer, to buy, faire expressions

 

Summative Performance-Based Assessment Sample

• Elements: MLII.IP2A, MLII.P1C• City Planning

 • Student Task:• A committee of French urban planners is visiting your town. They are interested in

knowing how you would rearrange your downtown area to better serve the community. Create a simple map which includes important community areas, such as:

• the town hall the supermarket• the pharmacy the hospital• the library the bakery• the movie theater the post office• a park the high school

Write a description of your map for the committee giving the location of each building. (Teachers may choose an oral description of the map instead.)

 

Rubrics

See handout for a sample rubric for the preceding assessment.

Summative Performance-Based Assessments

• Each Thematic Unit has at least 4 summative assessments

• Teachers may choose which ones to use- some may want to use all four

• Each unit includes at least one assessment in each of the modalities: listening, reading, writing and speaking

Interdisciplinary Instructional Tasks

• Instructional tasks (activities) provide practice that lead to success on the summative assessments

• Teachers may choose which instructional tasks or activities they want to use – You don’t need to use them all!

• Some teachers may want to create their own

Sample of Interpersonal Communication Tasks

• Who am I? (Language Arts, Physical Education) Students will play charades with the professions. Students are grouped in pairs or small groups. Each group has a box or a bag with small slips of paper inside. Each slip of paper contains the name of a profession. The students will take turns drawing a slip of paper and acting out the profession. The student who guesses correctly will go next.

 

Sample of Interpretive Communication Tasks

• Getting around town (Geography, Language Arts) Your French Club is trying to help a group of new exchange students in your city. They want to be able to find a few places in town, such as the bank, movie theatre, post office, etc. Your teacher is giving them a “tour” around the city by giving them a city map that she has drawn. However, she/he has forgotten to label the places they will visit. As you listen to him/her describe their tour, label the places they will visit in the order she/he describes.

 

Sample of Presentational Communication Tasks

• Job Fair (Language Arts) You are spending a semester studying in Aix-en-Provence, and you have decided that it is such a fun and beautiful place that you would like to stay for the summer. In order to support yourself, you will need to find a job. The school where you are studying has a job placement program. For them to help you, you must present yourself to the placement committee and tell them why you would be a good employee and what kind of work you are looking for.

CHECK IT OUT!

• Look at the unit you have and read the summative assessment choices

• Choose one assessment you think will be particularly effective in showing what students have learned

• Then look through the instructional tasks and put a check by the ones that support the summative assessment you’ve chosen

Formative Assessments

• While students are working through tasks, teachers must use formative assessments along the way to determine that learning is occurring.

• Suggested formative assessments are included in the standards (handout).

Using Thematic Units in the Classroom

• Some teachers use thematic lessons and have largely abandoned their textbooks. These teachers use a wide variety of sources to support instruction, including the Internet and authentic materials.

• Other teachers regularly integrate the textbook with the thematic unit, particularly to support reading, grammar practice, visuals, cultural information, etc.

To use a Thematic Unit, follow these steps:

• Read over the unit in its entirety.

• Decide which of the Summative Performance-based Assessment Tasks you will use to assess student performance at the end of the unit.

• Based on that choice, review the Interdisciplinary Instructional Tasks, decide which ones you will use, and in what order.

 

Steps continued…

Steps continued…

• Review the list of Formative Assessment Tasks and decide which ones you will use to assess student progress during the unit. Be sure to choose tasks that will reinforce student performance on the Summative Assessment Tasks. Design your own tasks as well!

• Review your entire Unit and Identify the materials and resources you need to teach it.

• Have fun teaching a performance-based unit!

Douglas County

• Volunteered to try the Thematic Units when they were being developed

• Has worked with Levels I and II for the past two years

• Created a planning guide to help teachers organize their thoughts and identify best resources to support the units

• Established an overall plan for instruction

List of Thematic Units

Level 1 Level 2

Getting Started People and Places

 Geography A Day in the Life of…

 Family and Friends Community

 House and Home Shopping

 School Geography and Travel

 Sports and Leisure Healthy Living

 Food Media and Technology

 Shopping and Clothing

 (People and Places)

List of Thematic Units

Level 3Community

Culture-Art

 Fashion

 Future Plans

Leisure- Camping

 People

 Survival

 Travel

 

List of Thematic UnitsLevels 4 & 5

Nature/Environment Careers

Relationships Immigration

Fables,Fairy Tales,Legends

Planning a Trip Heroes & Volunteers

All About Me Sports &LeisureAdvertising,Media,Commercials

Celebrations & Holidays The Middle Ages

Thematic Units for Level I are being posted to the website at www.georgiastandards.org

As soon as Level 2 and 3 have been proofed, they will be added as well.

Rough drafts of Levels 4 and 5 have been written

The Modern Languages and Latin GPS pages are under construction but they can be accessed on the Georgia Standards main page under the word M.A.G.I.C.