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World Language SLO with Timed Writing | SpanishPlans.org

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World Language SLO with Timed Writing | SpanishPlans.org

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Many states now require teachers to show evidence of student growth as part of their teacher evaluation. One such example is the Student Learning Objective (SLO). This collection of data can be laboring, but it can also be useful as a tool of communication to students and parents about their growth in the language. This past year I used Timed Writing as a data collection piece as part of my SLO for

Spanish.

The SLO would be to increase student fluency in the target language. The methods to achieve this goal might include: providing comprehensible input, MovieTalk, Storytelling, Reading Novels, Free Voluntary Reading, among others.

The process would be to have students free write for 5 minutes using a 6-picture story prompt. Using the same prompt at each writing nulls any variables. Each student is measured against his/her own score, as scores across the class may show a range since we know that students acquire the language at different rates.

"I think that the timed writings are helpful to see our progress throughout the year. It also is nice to not have it as a grade so it isn't stressful."

"I found it cool to see all the growth because every time we did it, I wrote more and more which shows how much I learned from the beginning of the school year to the end."

"I think that the timed writings are a great piece of evidence that show how we can use our vocab words from the stories we read in context as if we were telling a story"

"I think that they are good to see your growth over the year because I was shocked to see how much I learned over the year and how I was able to put my ideas into stories."

1) Find or create a storytelling image sequence. If you can, try to include actions or visuals that would provoke expressions you plan to teach during the year. For example, you might include a thought bubble if you plan on teaching the phrase "piensa en...".

2) Hand out the paper with the story sequence as well as the timed-writing sheet with blank lines.

Set a timer for 5 minutes instructing students to write as much as they can for the 5 minutes without stopping.

Some rules to remind students:
Don't stop writing.
Don't go back and erase anything.
Don't worry about spelling and grammar.
You can make up details.
Don't ask the teacher any questions during the 5 minutes.
If you don't know how to say it, don't. (Or describe it in the target language).
No English.

Don't show the time, otherwise students will keep looking up to see how much time is left rather than just writing.

4) When the 5 minutes are up, have students count the number of words they have written. Instruct them NOT to count any English words they may have written. Have them write the number of total words on the top of the paper.

Note: Afterwards, you could have students type up their writing on wordcounter.net to figure out the number of total words and the number of unique words (words that are not repeated) to see if student writing is too repetitive or not. We have not tracked Unique Words as part of this process, but it is an option.

5) In a Spreadsheet, record each students' total number of words under the date.

Keep the students' writing sheet in a folder. At the end of the year, you can pass these back so students can see their growth in writing. My students were amazed and laughed at how little they could write at the beginning of the year and were able to see how much they had grown.

Repeat this activity every month/quarter/trimester to see their growth. Use the same story images. Some students may complain that it is the same story, but you don't want to change it because you want to compare the growth in their writing using the same prompt. Some prompts may yield more/less writing.

You can either use our Excel template or our Google Sheet gradebook to keep track of student scores. With the Google Sheet, individual reports are automatically generated ( pictured below, left) and you simply can print the report for each student. If you use our Excel template to keep track of students' scores, we have an additional Score Sheet ( pictured below, right) in which you can write in students' scores and then send home to parents.

My level one students started the year at 32 words in 5 minutes and by the end of the school year had an average of 105 words.

Our next blog post will focus on our second SLO: vocabulary growth.

About SpanishPlans

Spanish Educator, with focus on acquisition Educator Enthusiast I love learning about and sharing culture.

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Many states now require teachers to show evidence of student growth as part of their teacher evaluation. One such example is the Student Learning Objective (SLO). This collection of data can be laboring, but it can also be useful as a tool of communication to students and parents about their growth in the language.

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Zoom Out to Build Motivation for Learners & You | Path 2 Proficiency

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Zoom Out to Build Motivation for Learners & You | Path 2 Proficiency

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March is staring me down, dear colleagues. That long, long month with not a single day off. My classroom routines are long-established, I know my middle school students inside and out...but the end of the year is not in sight. Not at all. This period, between winter and spring breaks, represents our last long, sustained chunk of serious learning before state testing, warm weather, field trips, and general exhaustion overtake us.

I find that I need glimmers of hope in March. Proof that we have accomplished something this year. Too often I am distracted by my students' seemingly endless absences, missing work, or speaking of English (really? still?!). I ask myself, are we getting anywhere on this path to proficiency? Sometimes I'm so deep in the weeds that I can't seem to zoom out and see the big picture. Students need a bit of a boost, too. And what better boost than seeing evidence that they are really learning and making true progress? When students are getting back assignment after assignment marked Intermediate Low, they may not realize how far they've come. Each sublevel takes time to master, and that incremental growth can be too hidden for impatient, young minds to appreciate.

I was able to provide a "zoom out" experience in my French 8 classes recently, and to thereby show students how far they've come. I was returning a recent summative presentational writing assessment. While students' performances were really strong in many respects, most students earned yet another Intermediate Low or B grade. doesn't sound very glamorous to my students, and they aren't too excited to be earning Bs, either. Meeting the standard Read this post about how my department rewrote its rubric and opted to set B as the grade for meeting the proficiency target, if you want to know more . I even had one of my more sarcastic boys joke, "Madame, you should make reward stickers for us that say, ' I met the standard! '" Insert eye roll here.

Right after I returned the assessments, however, I also handed back copies of a paragraph-length assignment that students wrote in early September (which I'd somehow had the forethought to photocopy as evidence - their own original copies are long-lost, I'm sure!). Students began to gasp and yelp as they saw what their writing looked like back in September. They were horrified. While it wasn't my intent to shock them or make them feel bad about where they'd been (after all, their Novice High proficiency back in September was hard-won and reflected an entire year of learning in French 7), it was clear that students were very, very impressed by how far they'd come. No matter where they'd begun in September, nor where they were now months later, everyone was moving in the right direction. This was a powerful and inspiring reminder to all of us, and perhaps most especially to me!

I then asked students to reflect on their progress in their journals with the prompt, " When I compare the paragraphs, I notice ...." For the one or two years that I have my students, we use exam books as journals for private, student-teacher, English-language communication: mostly a lot of student reflection, feedback, and goal-setting with brief bursts of enthusiasm ( ), encouragement ( Go for it! You can do it ) and questioning ( Why do you feel this way? How can I help you reach that goal? ) from me.

One student wrote, " I notice that my first paragraph is a lot more choppy and the sentences are four words long each... [the] second paragraphs are a lot more flowy and the sentences are longer and are more sophisticated ."

Another student wrote, " I sounded like a robot before...I am beginning to string my sentence together much better. My paragraphs now are longer and have more vocabulary ."

These reflections not only tell me that my students feel they're making progress, and can point to specific evidence as proof, but also that they know what progress means in this course. They are using their own definitions of proficiency to measure their success.

Once students had done the work of looking back, I wanted to make sure that their reflections would yield some productive "feedforward." There's a great "Cult of Pedagogy" podcast on this topic if you want to know more about this term. Basically, it boils down to focusing on taking future actions more than fretting about the past. Feedforward can include teachers providing suggestions for next steps in order to foster student growth. I projected a list of my most frequent suggestions from that latest writing assessment and told students that they'd likely recognize a few of these suggestions on their own work. Then, I gave each student a sticky note and asked them to write themselves a few suggestions for their next writing assignment. My plan is for students to physically place this sticky note on the top of the next assignment they do and refer to it explicitly as they work.

Students wrote excellent advice for themselves, such as: "Hey... Next paragraph, don't forget to use your tips sheet to form more complex sentences" and "Use transition words! Is there enough detail? DIVE RIGHT IT! No fragments! Avoid English." While most of their advice was a direct repeat of what I'd suggested, I'm hoping that the format will make it more likely that they remember what they need to work on, and are able to incorporate those suggestions into forthcoming tasks. In this way, my comments and their sticky notes will together serve as feedforward to promote even further growth. And that's what we all need to be thinking about at this time of year when there's still important learning ahead of us for months to come.

Rebecca Blouwolff has been a French teacher at Wellesley Middle School in Massachusetts since 1998. Her practice was...

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Zoom Out to Build Motivation for Learners & You

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March is staring me down, dear colleagues. That long, long month with not a single day off. My classroom routines are long-established, I know my middle school students inside and out...but the end of the year is not in sight. Not at all.

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Formative Assessment in a Proficiency-Based Class | Creative Language Class

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Formative Assessment in a Proficiency-Based Class | Creative Language Class

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I started with these, but they were practicing isolated skills out of context. They do not reflect real life or authentic communication. I've never had a conversation with what body part I use to do an activity or listed off as many body parts as possible.

Sure, these are easy to grade, and some students say they like them. Mine said they liked them because "they are easy." They are mainly identification, translation or conjugation (lower/mid levels on Bloom's Taxonomy) and one or two word answers (Novice Low/Mid).

More importantly, I found that they were not prepping the students for the summative assessments or real life interactions. I'm not saying to immediately throw them all out, but to think about other options.

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Formative Assessment in a Proficiency-Based Class

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I started with these, but they were practicing isolated skills out of context. They do not reflect real life or authentic communication. I've never had a conversation with what body part I use to do an activity or listed off as many body parts as possible.

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Implementing a “Gradebook à la Mode”…..Lessons Learned In The Change | Path 2 Proficiency

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Implementing a “Gradebook à la Mode”…..Lessons Learned In The Change | Path 2 Proficiency

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I took a look at my gradebook at the end of last year. My tasks were all jumbled together in one section and still sorted into the traditional 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening. I had evolved to using descriptors instead of numbers, but nothing else had changed. I couldn't easily tell you how proficient a student was in any particular skill. It certainly did not reflect my journey down the proficiency path.

So this fall my colleague Connie and I decided that if we were implementing proficiency then we also needed to fully make the jump to modes. And if we were going to use modes of communication in class our gradebook 'task categories' had to change as well. At the start of the year I put my new gradebook together with 4 separate pages: Interpersonal, Presentational, Interpretive and "Out Of Class Prep" (our take on what work at home really is). Doing this led to some revelations about my practice, some surprises and, ultimately, necessary changes.

Interpersonal - We set these tasks as anything requiring a possible negotiation of meaning between two (or more) students. Wow - if you had asked me BEFORE this I would have told you that this was the major part of my classes. That interpersonal exchanges were weighted the heaviest in my 'gradebook' and that this is what my class is built on. That my class was 'full' of evaluated interpersonal activities. And then I saw...not. While my students have a great deal of time to talk and interact, I found that I was completely lacking in feedback for these times. Absolutely none. Apparently the only Interpersonal up to this point that I have had is a summative oral. It was humbling to notice my lack of feedback. What I have learned from this is that I need to find ways for more formative feedback during interpersonal work time in class. And I also need to see if I can work in interpersonal written work (completely non-existent) as well.

Presentational - For us this meant any 'one-way' writing or speaking that required no negotiation of meaning. I learned that I have a lot of this one-way work in my classes - which I should. I learned that this is the main area where I provide feedback - and they get a lot of it. I liked that this 'mode' also made me reconsider the value in presentational speaking. Traditionally I have associated it with the 'before the class' speech (for example) but I added Flipgrid to allow them the chance to speak with me (and get feedback as well). What I learned from this is that there is more than one way to be in this mode - and I needed to find more variety in the opportunities that I offered.

Interpretive - For me this mode encompasses anything that involves listening/reading that requires them to show understanding (which may or may not follow the strict ACTFL definition). This meant interpretive is anything from reading a piece and filling in a table/answering questions about it to listening to something at home or in class and completing a task based on that. And yes, gasp, for me this can even includes traditional workbook 'listening' exercises too. And of course there are still 'summative' evaluations too... What I learned is that this is my major go-to especially in my novices and that I did more than of this than I thought. It also meant that I needed to add a 'comprehension' section to many of my created stories (many of which I just used to figure they would 'get') so that they could see that they did understand. I've also added more 'at home' opportunities to practice listening.

Out of Class - This used to be a huge component of my gradebook. The traditional 'homework' section. But when you switch to modes most of this is not needed. I learned that although they were prepping work outside of class time - even if they were, for example, coming up with 3 truths and a lie about what they did after school (for classmates to guess) it was indeed presentational writing. What I learned is that preparation is preparation in a particular mode. I had very few things in this category...which is a good thing.

And finally this move required me to shift how I 'weight' things in my gradebook. For me this is especially important for my novices. It means that, for them, more value is placed on Interpretive (35% now) than Interpersonal (now 30%) and Presentational (30%). Out of class is minimal but still key so it holds at 5%. As they move up in proficiency Interpretive will give way to more emphasis on Interpersonal work (once I add more feedback!)

Moving to modes has been a great way to really take stock of how I help students learn - and where I am supporting, or not, in the process. And ultimately this will make my classes a richer and more fulfilling experience.

Colleen Lee-Hayes teaches Japanese in a public high school in Coquitlam (Vancouver) BC Canada. At age 17 she told...

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Implementing a "Gradebook à la Mode".....Lessons Learned In The Change

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I took a look at my gradebook at the end of last year. My tasks were all jumbled together in one section and still sorted into the traditional 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening. I had evolved to using descriptors instead of numbers, but nothing else had changed.

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Posted by

One common question that I was asked in my sessions was, "I thought that our goal is to provide students with comprehensible input...so why do so many of these activities contain out put?" Great question!

No CI teacher thinks that output is bad. Output is a good thing and one of the end goals for our courses, but it is not the means by which we acquire language. CI teachers focus on input because research shows that students acquire language when they listen to or read language at L+1 (one step above their current level of proficiency). The main focus of our instruction, therefore, is to find ways to provide our students with comprehensible input using strategies like PQA, MovieTalk, Embedded Reading, Storyasking, and more.

That being said, we do not eliminate output from our classes. CI classes are filled with output! As Carol Gaab so brilliantly pointed out in one of her sessions at iFLT 2014, PQA itself-perhaps the most basic and essential tool to the CI teacher-depends on output. Teachers ask questions to students (input), then students answer the questions orally (output) before the teacher takes their answer and discusses it with the class. It is a constant back-and-forth of input and output!

It is important for us to give students opportunities to practice output because, ultimately, we want them to be able to communicate in the target language. If we never give them those opportunities to build their confidence and competency, all of the language that they acquired so effortlessly in our classes will be utterly useless. The key is to limit, structure, and scaffold the output, especially in novice levels:

Karen Rowan suggests setting time limits for your output activities. Even though students may be able to spend 25 minutes on a communicative activity, it would be better to limit it to just 5 minutes in a novice class. As students move on into upper levels, they can spend more time with output because they will have built up their fluency.

Many of the output activities that I use in novice classes are extremely structured. In many of the examples from my PQA Hooks presentation at iFLT14, students are using plug-and-play phrases to share their ideas (like "I'm going on a trip, and I'm going to bring ___", in which the only original component of the sentence is a noun). This way, students have an opportunity to speak and form an original idea, but the risk for inaccurate language is minimized. Then, I....

Smother the output in input. Anytime a student shares an idea with the class (produces output), take that idea and smother it in input by asking circling questions, comprehension questions, and fishing for details.

Output generates input. It is worth it to allow even novice learners the opportunity to produce output before they are really comfortable with a structure in order to generate compelling input. Students have great ideas. Often, they are much more interesting than we are! The ideas that they express via output are often our best inspiration for input. One sentence of output could generate an entire class period of input!

Front-load the input. When you introduce a new set of structures, spend time doing PQA, Storyasking, and input-based story activities, and then assign an output-based activity. Consider basing the activity on questions that have already been discussed in class so that students know the answers to explicit recall questions and have already had an opportunity to formulate personal responses to opinion or analytical questions. (This is what I usually do for the Fan N Pick activity.)

Output activities keep the class engaging. If all they ever did was listen and read, they would not stay in our classes. Limited output allows us to use many different activities that will help maintain engagement.

I also received a lot of questions about how I manage and assess the output. As far as management goes, please read this post about the hole puncher police. With regard to assessment, it depends on the level and on the activity. I do not begin to formally assess speaking until late in Spanish 1, and even then it is a very small percentage of students' overall grade. (I use Standards Based Assessment, and my grading categories are based on skill-speaking, reading, writing, listening.) I do, however, strive to complete a minimum of three formative speaking assessments per marking period, even in my novice classes. As students advance into upper levels, I strive for an additional three summative speaking assessments-key word being strive, since it doesn't always happen. To do this, I simply make marks on rubric cards during output activities. I might not get around to every student during every output activity, but by spending a small amount of class time each day doing structured (oral) output, I am able to get to each student 3x throughout the course of the marking period. To download the rubrics that I use and an explanation of how I use them, click here (they're free). The file contains five levels of ACTFL Proficiency-Level based rubrics and one Six Traits of Writing (yes, writing) based rubric.

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One common question that I was asked in my sessions was, "I thought that our goal is to provide students with comprehensible input...so why do so many of these activities contain output?" Great question! No CI teacher thinks that output is bad.

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Name:  ___________________________________________  Period:  __________________Portfolio Conferences November 8-9, 2017Reading:Our first reading assessment was on a story we created in class.  First, Ms. Hargaden read the story out loud to us, and then we read it silently on our own and wr...

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Scaffolding interpersonal assessment for level 1 – Maris Hawkins

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Scaffolding interpersonal assessment for level 1 – Maris Hawkins

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As I always write (but add again because if you haven't seen it- you need it in your life!), my life changed when I found out about Rebecca's Interpersonal Bootcamp! I had always dreaded doing speaking assessments- they seemed stilted and forced and time consuming! I would either have to dedicate time to talking to each student individually or listening to a TON of recordings and grade them. However, after interpersonal bootcamp even my level 2 students were starting to have a conversation that they might even have in real life! And although my classes are smaller (the largest was 19 students), I was able to assess a whole class within our 50 minute class period! I could also take notes while they spoke, so I would have enough to fill out a rubric after class without having to listen to a lot of recordings.

This year, I started with level one, and I was unsure of how to get my level one students to where they could do an interpersonal bootcamp. They cannot ask questions yet according to proficiency scales. It would also be difficult for them to add on thoughts to another student or even ask a follow-up questions. I was worried that small group tasks would involve them repeating other answers that they heard since they also are unable to form unique sentences. I was happy to have Wendy help me set it up initially. In my first trimester, I would ask my students questions one on one. It didn't take too long because I would only ask about four questions per student. They also could only elaborate so much. I was also able to have a few options, so I wasn't asking the same questions to all students. As the trimester progressed, I also added some follow-up questions. I rated them individually on their response to each question. My rubric went like this:

0- did not respond

1- responded, but responded inaccurately

2- responded correctly with one word

3- responded correctly using multiple words/a complete sentence

4- responded correctly and added more details by either asking me the same question (¿y tú?) or by elaborating on their responses. (Also as I added on follow-up questions, I would give them a 4 if they could also answer 1-2 follow-up questions correctly.)

In the next step after one-on-one interviews, I provided a list of questions for students to ask each other in small groups. They have enough questions available that they can answer different questions and not repeat others' responses. I did this for their trimester exam speaking section. They can add questions if they are able, but for the most part, they will ask the questions that are provided. At this point, I moved to this rubric:

Understanding:

1. I have trouble interpreting the majority of the questions, and my responses are difficult for my teacher and peers to understand.

2. I interpret half of the questions, and my responses can be difficult for my teachers and peers to understand.

3. Typically my responses are easy to understand by my teacher and peers, and I demonstrate comprehension of the question. However, a few of my responses do not match the question or cannot be understood by my teacher or peers.

4. All of my responses are easy to understand by my teacher and peers, and I demonstrate comprehension of all of the questions.

Vocabulary:

1. I use an extremely limited amount of vocabulary in my responses.

2. I am using repetitive vocabulary throughout my responses.

3. I am starting to expand on my use of vocabulary with only occasional repetition.

4. I am able to incorporate much of the vocabulary that we have learned from this year so far into a variety of responses.

Participate:

1. I only respond in brief responses when students directly ask me.

2. I am starting to respond in complete thoughts, but I do not ask any questions.

3. I give adequate responses and take initiative to respond, but my questions have been asked by other students.

4. I give strong responses to other classmates, and I ask new questions that have not been asked before.

Level of Discourse:

1. I give one to two word answers to all responses.

2. I give one or two word answers half of the time, but I answer in complete thoughts the other half of the conversation.

3. I mostly answer in complete sentences throughout the conversation.

4. I always answer in complete sentences during the conversation.

In the third trimester, I will have students add their own questions with only 1-2 guiding questions from me. This will allow students to be prepared to run an interpersonal bootcamp independently by level 2. Ideally, I would only grade my students on these topics in level 1, but I also have to be realistic for the rest of my department. They highlight grammar a bit more than I do, so I will add a language control feature in the third trimester. In my ideal world, I would add it in at the beginning of level 2 or level 3! How do you scaffold interpersonal communication for level 1? I am always excited to hear others' ideas on this!

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Scaffolding interpersonal assessment for level 1

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As I always write (but add again because if you haven't seen it- you need it in your life!), my life changed when I found out about Rebecca's Interpersonal Bootcamp! I had always dreaded doing speaking assessments- they seemed stilted and forced and time consuming! I would either have to dedicate time to talking to...

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Interpersonal Boot Camp: Using the TALK Rubric﻿ - Ma revolution française

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Interpersonal Boot Camp: Using the TALK Rubric﻿ - Ma revolution française

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Maybe replace the A=accuracy? to focus on communication rather than on "forms"

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​Buried on page 65 of one of my very favorite teaching books, The Keys to Planning for Learning, there is a real gem: TALK rubrics. The teacher uses the following criteria to assess students on interpersonal speaking tasks:

Target language use
Accuracy on specific structures
Listening and responding appropriately to peers
Kindness in being an equal and inclusive conversation partner

I find that groups of 6-8 students can each speak at least 5 times in a 10-minute session, enough to give me a snapshot of their current proficiency. This means that I can assess my my entire class (18-24 students) in one 45-minute period. And...there are no recordings to bring home! For me, that means that my students will actually get feedback from me in a day or two...instead of never : ).

I announce the conversation topic in advance, and I often assign homework or in-class tasks the day before (such as a mind map or graphic organizer table) that allows students to organize their thoughts on the topic. I allow students to reference this during the activity, since it increases their vocabulary and target culture fact base but does not take away from the spontaneous nature of the conversation. This lowers student anxiety considerably, even though I seldom see students referring to the documents during the activity.

To prepare for the activity, I use the following:

* Class expectations posted on projector screen
​* Oaktag sheets printed with the conversation topic
* Box of glass jewels - each student takes 5 and puts 1 in the box each time s/he speaks for accountability
* Online timer nearby so I can stick to the 10 minute time limit
* Table with 5 columns for students' names and the 4 parts of the rubric (T, A, L, K). I mark +, -, or √ in the appropriate column as they speak. Here's what the sheet looks like at the end:

In order to make it feasible for me to sit with one group of students at a time, I cross the TALK rubric with stations à la Creative Language Class. I divide my class into three groups. One group sits with me and does the interpersonal speaking task; another completes an interpretive activity individually or in pairs; and still another completes a "fluency count" or free write on the current thematic unit. All activities concern the thematic unit, so it functions a bit like a mini-IPA. ​

Here is a topic that my students discussed at the end of French 8 last year, as part of our unit on La Nourriture et la faim (food and hunger). You can see the rubric at the end.

So, that's my most successful attempt at interpersonal speaking thus far. We do this every few weeks throughout the year, and I see a lot of growth on all fronts - extended discourse as they aim beyond single words for sentences, more attention to peers as they work to focus on the topic and questions at hand, more target language expressions to foster conversation.

​I created this document with strategies for interpersonal speaking to provide some tangible tips for students. We use it at the start of the year to introduce the task, and then it's a reference for students who need more support or practice going forward. Check it out!

And you: how do you approach interpersonal speaking tasks? What's your most successful and least painful method for assessment?

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Interpersonal Boot Camp: Using the TALK Rubric﻿

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​Buried on page 65 of one of my very favorite teaching books, The Keys to Planning for Learning, there is a real gem: TALK rubrics.

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Making Learning Visible - Madame's Musings

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Making Learning Visible - Madame's Musings

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Thursday evening on #langchat we had a great discussion about what had worked well for us in 2017. When I shared that I had begun having my students graph their progress toward proficiency, several people expressed interest. So I thought I'd type up a quick post about what we've been doing and what I've learned from the process.

I began by passing out this document when I returned the students' first IPA of the year. Although I am clearly evaluating classroom performance in my assessments, it is important to me that my students see their progress in terms of language proficiency, so I use the proficiency rubrics from the Ohio Department of Education for presentational writing and interpersonal speaking . As the directions on the graph document indicate, I had the students place a dot in the appropriate square for each IPA and then draw a line connecting their dots. I had them use the same graph, but two different colored lines for presentational writing and interpersonal speaking. Here are a few of the graphs from my French 2 classes:

There are a few reasons why I consider the simple task of graphing proficiency/performance progress to be one of my successes in 2017. For one, I LOVED the conversations that I heard among my students as they completed their graphs each time. It is so much more meaningful to hear "I moved up to Intermediate Low 1" than "I got a B." These graphs are also a great visual for my students. As we transition toward teaching for proficiency (and away from discrete point assessments) some students question "what" they're learning. These graphs help students to see their progress in a concrete way.

These graphs also inform my instructional and assessment practices. Because nearly every student performed lower on the 3rd IPA, I had to take a long, hard look at this assessment (from ). My conclusion is that the prompts that I used for the writing and speaking tasks did not encourage the students to stretch in a way that would demonstrate their highest proficiency/performance. Few students ask the variety of questions that would enable them to demonstrate Intermediate interpersonal communication and most did not include the compound sentences, creativity and cultural competence described in the Intermediate descriptors for the presentational mode. I clearly need to either change these prompts and provide additional direction and targeted practice the next time I teach this unit. I also wonder whether some of the results may indicate a lack of evaluator reliability on my part. As with most rubrics, there is a bit of subjectivity and I hope to increase my consistency as I continue to use these rubrics.

Image Credit: http://www.publicdomainfiles.com/show_file.php?id=13489790414892

This entry was posted in Assessment, Musings on by .

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Making Learning Visible - Madame's Musings

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Thursday evening on #langchat we had a great discussion about what had worked well for us in 2017. When I shared that I had begun having my students graph their progress toward proficiency, several people expressed interest. So I thought I'd type up a quick post about what we've been doing and what I've learned ...

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Esta entrada es una recopilación de estrategias para comprobar si los estudiantes nos van siguiendo, están comprendiendo la clase y el aprendizaje se desarrolla correctamente.
Todas estas estrategias están pensadas como actividades cortas y rápidas, son simples comprobaciones.
Identificar a alumnos que necesitan más tiempo, esfuerzo y apoyo es fundamental para que en tu clase todos se sientan respetados e iguales.
La mayoría de ellas las he encontrado en Internet, si quieres ver la versión en inglés pincha en la fuente debajo de la tabla.

1. Evita preguntas de sí/no

No hagas preguntas como la del título de esta entrada ¿han comprendido?

Tenemos que hacer preguntas de respuesta abierta, que necesiten usar el conocimiento de la clase para responderlas.

Durante los últimos cinco minutos de clase pide a tus estudiantes que reflexionen sobre la clase y que escriban lo que han aprendido en su diario y encuentren una conexión personal.

Al final de clase, muy cortos, cuatro o cinco preguntas rápidas.

Al final de clase resumen lo aprendido y/o conceptos importantes.

Escrito u oral, individual o colectivo.

También se puede hacer de la clase anterior como rutina diaria.

5. Con los dedos de la mano

un dedo representa comprensión cero y cinco dedos comprensión absoluta. Así, puedes comprobar si tus estudiantes te siguen de forma rápida y con una clase con muchos alumnos.

6. Respuestas simultáneas

Puedes utilizar pizarras pequeñas, Ipads, notas... todos responden al mismo tiempo a una pregunta levantando el soporte, así puedes comprobar visualmente de una vez si te siguen.

Utilizando el espacio y el movimiento. A cada esquina se asigna un valor. Por ejemplo, "sí", "no", "no sé", "necesito ayuda". La profe hace una pregunta y cada alumno se coloca en la esquina correspondiente.

8. piensa-comprueba- comparte

1. Piensa en un concepto
2. Cuéntaselo a un compañero
3. Compártelo con la clase

Los alumnos leen en alto con el profesor. Ayudar a desarrollar la fluidez y la naturalidad en la entonación.

Fácil y rápido. Una sola pregunta. Te será fácil comprobar rápidamente si tus alumnos han asimilado el concepto.

Al final de clase el alumno responde a:
3 cosas que has aprendido
2 cosas sobre las que quieres saber más
1 pregunta que todavía tienes.

T ípica reflexión individual. El alumno escribe sobre lo que ha aprendido, que ha sido difícil, que estrategias le han resultado útiles, relación con otros temas/materias...

En un pequeño trozo de papel (puede ser reciclado), prueba/cuestionario rápido de 5 minutos.

Se puede obtener mucha información para reestructurar la lección y/o modificar lo que estamos haciendo en clase.

Comparte estos errores comunes con tus alumnos antes de verlos en clase. Les ayudará a estar preparados.

Comprueba que todos te siguen al menos tres veces cada clase.

Usa diferentes formas de comprobar si tus alumnos están aprendiendo. No repitas las mismas estrategias todo el tiempo.

20. Utiliza lo aprendido

Toda la información que podemos recopilar tiene que ser usada.
¿Tenemos que empezar de nuevo? ¿Necesito cinco minutos con cinco estudiantes que necesitan más ayuda que el resto?

Cada alumno tiene 140 caracteres para expresar qué está pasando en su clase en un instante concreto. Se asigna una hora a cada alumno.
Todos los "tuits" se pegan en un póster y al final de clase se repasa con ayuda de los tuits de los alumnos.

Tired of checking for new posts ?

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Esta entrada es una recopilación de estrategias para comprobar si los estudiantes nos van siguiendo, están comprendiendo la clase y el aprendizaje se desarrolla correctamente. Todas estas estrategias están pensadas como actividades cortas y rápidas, son simples comprobaciones. Identificar a alumnos que necesitan más tiempo, esfuerzo y apoyo es fundamental para que en tu clase todos se sientan respetados e iguales.

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Rubric: Speaking assessment rubrics for World Language classes | TpT

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Rubric: Speaking assessment rubrics for World Language classes | TpT

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These speaking rubric cards are designed to record data from three speaking assessments for a single student. They can be used either as a formative assessment rubric or a summative assessment rubric. The file contains instructions for using the cards, and it contains two kinds of rubrics that can be used for five different levels of language classes.

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Rubric: Speaking assessment rubrics for World Language classes

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These speaking rubric cards are designed to record data from three speaking assessments for a single student. They can be used either as a formative assessment rubric or a summative assessment rubric. The file contains instructions for using the cards, and it contains two kinds of rubrics that can b...

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One common question that I was asked in my sessions was, "I thought that our goal is to provide students with comprehensible input...so why do so many of these activities contain out put?" Great question!

No CI teacher thinks that output is bad. Output is a good thing and one of the end goals for our courses, but it is not the means by which we acquire language. CI teachers focus on input because research shows that students acquire language when they listen to or read language at L+1 (one step above their current level of proficiency). The main focus of our instruction, therefore, is to find ways to provide our students with comprehensible input using strategies like PQA, MovieTalk, Embedded Reading, Storyasking, and more.

That being said, we do not eliminate output from our classes. CI classes are filled with output! As Carol Gaab so brilliantly pointed out in one of her sessions at iFLT 2014, PQA itself-perhaps the most basic and essential tool to the CI teacher-depends on output. Teachers ask questions to students (input), then students answer the questions orally (output) before the teacher takes their answer and discusses it with the class. It is a constant back-and-forth of input and output!

It is important for us to give students opportunities to practice output because, ultimately, we want them to be able to communicate in the target language. If we never give them those opportunities to build their confidence and competency, all of the language that they acquired so effortlessly in our classes will be utterly useless. The key is to limit, structure, and scaffold the output, especially in novice levels:

Karen Rowan suggests setting time limits for your output activities. Even though students may be able to spend 25 minutes on a communicative activity, it would be better to limit it to just 5 minutes in a novice class. As students move on into upper levels, they can spend more time with output because they will have built up their fluency.

Many of the output activities that I use in novice classes are extremely structured. In many of the examples from my PQA Hooks presentation at iFLT14, students are using plug-and-play phrases to share their ideas (like "I'm going on a trip, and I'm going to bring ___", in which the only original component of the sentence is a noun). This way, students have an opportunity to speak and form an original idea, but the risk for inaccurate language is minimized. Then, I....

Smother the output in input. Anytime a student shares an idea with the class (produces output), take that idea and smother it in input by asking circling questions, comprehension questions, and fishing for details.

Output generates input. It is worth it to allow even novice learners the opportunity to produce output before they are really comfortable with a structure in order to generate compelling input. Students have great ideas. Often, they are much more interesting than we are! The ideas that they express via output are often our best inspiration for input. One sentence of output could generate an entire class period of input!

Front-load the input. When you introduce a new set of structures, spend time doing PQA, Storyasking, and input-based story activities, and then assign an output-based activity. Consider basing the activity on questions that have already been discussed in class so that students know the answers to explicit recall questions and have already had an opportunity to formulate personal responses to opinion or analytical questions. (This is what I usually do for the Fan N Pick activity.)

Output activities keep the class engaging. If all they ever did was listen and read, they would not stay in our classes. Limited output allows us to use many different activities that will help maintain engagement.

I also received a lot of questions about how I manage and assess the output. As far as management goes, please read this post about the hole puncher police. With regard to assessment, it depends on the level and on the activity. I do not begin to formally assess speaking until late in Spanish 1, and even then it is a very small percentage of students' overall grade. (I use Standards Based Assessment, and my grading categories are based on skill-speaking, reading, writing, listening.) I do, however, strive to complete a minimum of three formative speaking assessments per marking period, even in my novice classes. As students advance into upper levels, I strive for an additional three summative speaking assessments-key word being strive, since it doesn't always happen. To do this, I simply make marks on rubric cards during output activities. I might not get around to every student during every output activity, but by spending a small amount of class time each day doing structured (oral) output, I am able to get to each student 3x throughout the course of the marking period. To download the rubrics that I use and an explanation of how I use them, click here (they're free). The file contains five levels of ACTFL Proficiency-Level based rubrics and one Six Traits of Writing (yes, writing) based rubric.

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One common question that I was asked in my sessions was, "I thought that our goal is to provide students with comprehensible input...so why do so many of these activities contain output?" Great question! No CI teacher thinks that output is bad.

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Rubrics for Assessments | Nobody Expects the Spanish Acquisition!

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Rubrics for Assessments | Nobody Expects the Spanish Acquisition!

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I presented at COFLT today on these rubrics. Retell Rubric Habits of Strong Writers Rubric Habits of Strong Readers Rubric Interpersonal Communication Rubric Story Rubric

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Tina Hargaden - COFLT - Assess What Matters in a CI Classroom - Comprehension!- 10/14/2017 - YouTube

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Tina Hargaden - COFLT - Assess What Matters in a CI Classroom - Comprehension!- 10/14/2017 - YouTube

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Tina Hargaden - COFLT - Assess What Matters in a CI Classroom - Comprehension!- 10/14/2017

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The ELP is a document in which those who are learning or have learned one or more languages can record and reflect on their language learning and intercultural experiences.

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I have been looking for a way to monitor my students' participation and progress in class but have never found anything that hasn't completely overwhelmed me (even when I was just trying to focus on 4th & 5th grade - who get letter grades in Specials classes.) Last spring at SCOLT, I met Nadine Jacobsen-McLean, former elementary school Spanish teacher and current president of NNELL - National Network of Early Language Learners. She explained how she gave grades to ALL 600+ kindergarteners-5th graders every 9 weeks by using ¡Sí, se puede! bubbles. The beauty of the system is that it can be tailored a hundred different ways depending on your needs.

I have a binder with class lists with 10 bubbles by each kid's name. When I hear them using Spanish relating to our I can statements or I call on them in class I tell them Si se puede and they go up to the front of the room and color in a bubble by their name. I LOVE it for several reasons.
1. THEY are the ones doing the record keeping for me. I don't have to stop, find their name, or write anything.

2. They love getting up in front of everyone and coloring in their bubble. Kids who used to never raise their hands are now straining to be called on. And the few who aren't are getting used to be called on anyway because...
3. No one falls through the crack because I can quickly scan the sheet to see who hasn't talked in awhile and I make to sure to call on them.

Right now I'm just using it for participation and they can use any color they want but you can have them use specific colors for different things (Si se puede con verde for meets expectations, con azul for exceeding expectations, and con amarillo for not quite there but trying.) Or you could use colors to distinguish I cans (con amarillo for I can introduce myself, con verde for I can talk about my feelings, etc.)
I've told the students that they will get a small treat when they reach their 10 bubbles, which will be a Hershey kiss so that I don't break the bank. I have started the year with just 3rd-5th to see how it would go but it's been so easy for both me and the students that I am going to add the rest of the grades very soon (although I'm hoping the littler ones won't need the treat as a bribe and the bubbles will be enough of a reward.)

How do you keep track of your students' participation and progress? Share in the comments below or on Twitter with the hashtag #earlylang!
UPDATE! I've moved to tracking students performance levels in class. Yellow means Novice Low. Green is Novice Mid. And blue is Novice High. I tell students they should have a few yellow, lots of green, and a few blues since Novice Mid is our target. I've had students tell me they wanted to get blue and ask how they can get there. Other students are encouraged that even though they are making mistakes or need help they can still get a yellow bubble for trying.

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I have been looking for a way to monitor my students' participation and progress in class but have never found anything that hasn't completely overwhelmed me (even when I was just trying to focus on 4th & 5th grade - who get letter grades in Specials classes.)

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Todally Comprehensible Latin: "Who is This" Assessment

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Todally Comprehensible Latin: "Who is This" Assessment

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This is a quick assessment idea which I learned from my colleague Bob Patrick. Recently, our Latin 2 students were finishing up a story, so Bob implemented this listening assessment involving characters from the story with his class, which in turn, I used with my students. If your class is reading a story with at least three characters who do a number of different things, then this is a great way to assess students. Latin Example - this was based on a story from a Movie Talk (

1. In the target language, create a number of sentences that describe different characters in the story. I have found that 8-10 sentences is a good number.

2. Each sentence should start out with "this character" (in Latin, haec persona) - I used actual sentences from the story since those sentences were with what students were most familiar.

1. Write the character choices on the board.

2. On a sheet of paper, have students number 1-8 (or however many sentences you have created.

3. Explain to students that for each of the sentences which you will read aloud, their job is to determine which character this sentence describes and to write down that character.

4. Read each sentence 2-3 times very slowly, as students write down the character about whom the sentence describes.

5. At the end, read each sentence again so that students can check their responses.

Broken: Rock, Paper, Scissors)
a) forfex b) puella chartacea c) saxum

Question #1 - haec persona credit puellam chartaceam esse pulchram.

Question #7 - haec persona occidit forficem.

Observations

1. This was indeed a very quick assessment - it took less than 10 minutes.

2. This is a great activity to assess listening comprehension in a very low-key way.

3. I was surprised at how well my students did on this. You need to understand that when I was learning Latin in high school and in my college and graduate courses in Latin, I NEVER heard it spoken. Because I am implementing Comprehensible Input in my Latin classes with lots of repetitions in active Latin, for my students to hear Latin does not seem that big of a deal for them.

4. Afterwards I asked students what they thought of it. A common response - "It was really easy, since we have gone over the story so many times..."

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This is a quick assessment idea which I learned from my colleague Bob Patrick. Recently, our Latin 2 students were finishing up a story, so Bob implemented this listening assessment involving characters from the story with his class, which in turn, I used with my students.

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CALPER e-Portfolios | Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research

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CALPER e-Portfolios | Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research

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Welcome to CALPER's e-Portfolio site!

CALPER e-Portfolios is a resource site that is intended to help language instructors explore what portfolio assessment in language courses is about and how one can get started with using portfolio assessment in classrooms and programs.

Through this resource site, we intent to reach language educators who want to find out more about how to set up portfolios with their students and we invite you to browse the pages and join the community of teachers who use ePortfolios in language learning contexts.

Authors:
Gabriela Appel, The Pennsylvania State University
Mary Toulouse, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, 2017 Winner of the ACTFL/Cengage Learning Faculty Development Programs Award for Excellence in Foreign Language Instruction Using Technology with IALLT (Postsecondary)
The contents of this website were developed under grant #P229A100012 from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

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CALPER e-Portfolios | Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research

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Welcome to CALPER's e-Portfolio site! CALPER e-Portfolios is a resource site that is intended to help language instructors explore what portfolio assessment in language courses is about and how one can get started with using portfolio assessment in classrooms and programs. Through this resource site, we intent to reach language educators who want to find out more about how to set up portfolios with their students and we invite you to browse the pages and join the community of teachers who use ePortfolios in language learning contexts.

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F7.WMS rubric:Brookline style.pptx - Google Drive

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F7.WMS rubric:Brookline style.pptx - Google Drive

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Mundo de Pepita: Tips for Assessment in Elementary Foreign Language Classes PART 1

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Mundo de Pepita: Tips for Assessment in Elementary Foreign Language Classes PART 1

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I RECEIVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW I DO ASSESSMENT IN MY ELEMENTARY SPANISH CLASSES, and I see it mentioned regularly in professional forums online. With the sheer number of students most of us carry, and the limited time we have with them, assessment becomes a significant challenge, especially if we want it to be valid and reliable. On top of that, we want it to be MANAGEABLE! To that end, I thought it might be helpful to gather together some tips and resources that I have found helpful; because it is such a big topic, I decided to break this into three posts-in this post I focus on TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS that I have found effective and accessible. Part 2 focuses on ways to TRACK DATA on large numbers of students ( click here to read!), and Part 3 will tackle WRITING RUBRICS and DETERMINING GRADES. (Post 3 coming soon!)

BEFORE WE MAKE A FORAY INTO TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS, let's be sure we have done our backward planning. Before you start a theme/unit, identify key vocabulary and skills that you want your students to acquire by the end of the timeframe. This step is crucial; if you don't know what your expectations are, how will you know if your students have met them? And, how will you even know what to teach? Eeekkk! Whether it be students demonstrating comprehension of a key set of vocabulary (listening comp), or being able to answer a set of questions on a familiar topic, or writing a short description of their pet using adjectives and full sentences, be sure you have this laid out ahead of time. This will then help you determine what TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS will work best to glean the data you need.

OK, SO TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS...what kinds work well for elementary level? Here's a bulleted list of ones that I have found effective (and are generally those that are used at many levels! :) ).. I also think they highlight the WHAT I ASSESS also:

*EXIT/ENTRANCE SLIPS: I like these for quick formative assessments- they serve to practice reading comprehension of simple questions that recycle old vocabulary. I use these mostly for my 4th grade classes, with questions such as '¿Cómo estás? (How are you?), ¿Te gusta el guacamole? (Do you like guacamole?), ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? (What's your favorite color?) and so on. Sometimes the questions are directly related to the theme we are in, such as ¿Cómo eres tú? (What are you like?) when we are learning 'I am ___' phrases or ¿Qué escribe Arturo con el lápiz mágico? (What does Arturo write with the magic pencil?).

*LISTENING COMPREHENSION TASKS: At the elementary level, these typically run the gamut of very simple instructions to hone in on a key vocabulary set (Point to the ___, put the dinosaur on the ____, etc), or 'Draw your favorite food and label it', etc. This also includes asking questions orally and having students answer verbally or in writing (A TIP with oral questioning- you can do this two ways- a) an open ended question that has many answers to it or b) questions which have a predetermined answer such as those tied to a story you are reading or are fact based such as 'What color is an elephant?' In the second scenario, you can develop a set of questions that all assess the same skill of comprehending a question based on a familiar topic, and rotate the questions so you don't have students just copying what the last person said. You can also rotate the questions over the course of a few classes so students end up answering multiple questions.)

*SPEAKING SKILLS- I find these the most challenging to assess individually due to time constraints, so I try to get as much bang for my buck when doing them. For example, with my 1st & 2nd graders, I will frequently do polls, tables, and graphs which elicit personal information from my students such as 'What's your favorite color?', Which fruit(s) do you like?, Do you like strawberry ice cream? Which flavor ice cream do you like the most?, How many brothers/sisters/cats/dogs do you have? etc. I keep charts (see my post on tracking data) over a certain number of classes so I can tell whether they are able to answer a series of questions. With the ice cream questions, for example, I might ask that question (changing the flavor) three, four, or five times (with the answer choices being: yes, I like it; yes, I like it alot; no, no I don't like it, etc). By the fifth time, I have a good sense of whether each kiddo can answer the question appropriately or whether they still a prompt.

Another speaking assessment I do is to track the answers kiddos give during our greeting activities. Since we do a greeting every day, I can get a fair amount of data over time to be able to gauge whether they can answer the question 'How are you?', and for my older kiddos, if they can engage in a mini conversation with someone else. If you would like to see/use my tracking data sheet for Spanish class, you can download it free here.

*WRITING- Yes, writing! I am firm believer in giving students opportunities to write in the target language, even if it is as simple as labeling a picture by using a word bank. Writing is another mode of practice, and I see my students building on spelling and reading skills by doing writing activities. I do not expect my students to have perfect spelling (or even be able to spell out words, I just don't have the dedicated time to get to that point- two 30 minute classes a week), but I do expect them to use our resources to copy words, and piece together sentences based on word banks. At the end of some themes, I have students bring together what they have learned in a writing/ sharing 'mini project'. For example, at the end of our Pet Theme in 3rd grade, students write a simple description of their pet using full sentences. As they write, I circulate around the room, monitoring their progress and giving prompts as necessary. I can easily grade kids since I am amongst them, paying attention to who needs help and who doesn't.

*CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE- I also assess cultural knowledge at different points throughout my grade levels, most specifically facts about countries, people, and/or celebrations. For example, in 2nd grade my kiddos learn about Days of the Dead, and then illustrate/label 4 Datos sobre el Día de los Muertos (4 Facts/Aspects). If they can identify FOUR aspects of the holiday (such as marigolds, sugar skulls, candles, monarch butterflies, etc) they meet the expectation. Simple but effective :) Another simple assessment I do is for my 4th graders, at the end of our salsa theme, to illustrate the ingredients and label them. In First Grade my students identify 4 Datos Sobre Venezuela (Four Facts about Venezuela), again illustrating and labeling things they have learned. Another great way to assess at this age level is to do a Venn Diagram, such as the one my First Graders do comparing Mexican hot chocolate and hot chocolate in the US. All of these are culminating activities that we do in the course of the theme, rather than as separate stand alone assessments, which is to say, they are activities to do in and of themselves, I just happen to assess them, also :)

THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST, but I hope it has sparked some ideas for your classroom! Be on the lookout for my next posts coming soon-follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you hear about them first!

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Tips for Assessment in Elementary Foreign Language Classes PART 1

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I RECEIVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW I DO ASSESSMENT IN MY ELEMENTARY SPANISH CLASSES, and I see it mentioned regularly in professional forums online. With the sheer number of students most of us carry, and the limited time we have with them, assessment becomes a significant challenge, especially if we want it to be valid and reliable.

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European Language Portfolio (ELP) - Homepage

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European Language Portfolio (ELP) - Homepage

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Follow this link if you wish to know more about the concept and history of the ELP, download components, or create an ELP of your own, but also to consult the full list of accredited or registered ELP models.
In this part of the website you will find:

documents on the ELP's origin, guiding principles and history

reports on the ELP project at European level

reports on international seminars held under the aegis of the Council of Europe

lists of ELPs accredited (2000-2010) and registered (2011-2014) by the Council of Europe

a guide to compiling an ELP model

templates and other resources that can be used when compiling an ELP

some key publications on designing and using an ELP

In view of the large number and wide range of validated and registered models now available, the Council of Europe stopped registering ELPs at the end of 2014.

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European Language Portfolio (ELP) - Homepage - European Language Portfolio (ELP) - www.coe.int

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Homepage of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) website

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Centered on learner proficiency Driven by the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, LFO provides an effective framework for measuring language progress in five key areas of proficiency.