Thanks to my PLP network, I've received some great resources lately for project-based learning. Unfortunately, I still haven't found what I'm looking for - good research and/or guidelines for using PBL in the world/foreign language classroom.
Here's my problem - in the language classroom, we're focused on 2nd language acquisition. It's like building blocks. Yes, there are skills the students have to learn/practice. But there are certain amounts of content (vocabulary, syntax) without which they can't "build." So I can't figure out how to do PBL effectively without sacrificing what I think is important. And I would love some help!
I was inspired yesterday when I discovered that a post I made on a discussion forum (on this topic) was tweeted out - not by me. I assume it was tweeted by the discussion moderator. So I figure the wider I cast the net, the better the catch. So if anybody out there knows where I can look, will you let me know? I know they're doing great things in 2nd language acquisition in Scotland and Australia. Anybody over there using PBL effectively in a language classroom? I'd love to learn from you.
Thanks in advance!
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He likes it! Hey, Mikey!
So you're trying to develop student-centered lesson plans. You're trying to get your inner "sage" off the "stage....
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So you're trying to develop student-centered lesson plans. You're trying to get your inner "sage" off the "stage.... -
Classroom Management in a BYOD
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Multimedia Lesson Ideas for Teachers Multimedia lesson ideas from corderg
http://actfl21stcenturyskillsmap.wikispaces.com/TLE+Article
ReplyDeleteThis might be interesting to you
Thanks, Maria!
ReplyDeleteMy experiences teaching French 3 might be of interest. I had some students who were weak by traditional measures, so I decided on some intensive language work as well as to try to gear the course toward their interests. For the former, since I'm not a native speaker, I had students listen to a news summary every day on TV5. Or, actually, I made a video clip of excerpts from the video news summary (the clips got longer as the year went on). At first, listening was mostly just to attune their ears. Soon, they, I was supplying needed vocabulary for them. A bit later, I supplied the words in French but had them look them up. Eventually, I provided no outside assistance.
ReplyDeleteAs for a "real-world project," have students pick an issue of interest to them and learn what the French think about it--from French sources. That seems fairly real-world to me ;-).
For reading, I let my students pick topics in which they were interested, and we read French documents on them. For interest, one was interested in the European Union, so we studied its constitution in French. Again, that seems pretty real-world to me.
Anyway, maybe you already do all that. I'm surprised more people don't, actually...