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After attending @martinabex 's workshop on Comprehensible Input, I reflected on my teaching and how I have made input comprehensible to my students. One of my favorites is the traveling and airport unit. At the end of the unit students will be able to "make" their way through an airport by checking in, showing identification, they will make it through security and get on the plane. All the while, they are coming in contact with others who have to do variations of the same thing--all in the target language. The only way to make this more real is to get them to a real airport. Here are the brief logistics of this authentic unit and assessment.
Day one
Watch an input video of me going through the airport with a dialogue. Click to watch.
Fill out a passport application in TL and receive a passport.
Day two
Book a flight with hotel on a website in the target language
Day 3-5
Work with vocabulary and target structures to acquire proficiency
Day 6
Prep for improvisation. Each student receives a note card with a role and a task to accomplish. In order to accomplish this task, the students will have to interact. Some example cards are: the pilot who is late for the flight, a passenger who is flying for the first time and asks to take pictures with everyone, a passenger who has contraband fruit in their bag, the customs agent with a dog who catches a person with contraband fruit and so on. The roles are secret and the tasks are kept secret. The prep time is for students to make costumes and gather props that will help people decipher his or her role.
Day 7
Go Time! My room is set up to resemble an airport and the students must accomplish their task using their level of the target language. They are expected to handle unexpected situations and interact with each other.
Assessing
I have a check list for each student and I make sure I circulate throughout the room. Additionally, I have a student assistant film on the opposite side of the room that I am working to make sure we cover everyone. If I need more evaluation time, I like to throw unexpected situations at them or I personally interact with the students to whom I haven't listen. Most of the time, students will find ways to sustain the conversations so that I hear them. I haven't missed one yet!
This is one activity that my new students ask about at the beginning of the year. While it has evolved and gotten better, I have kept it in my curriculum for 4 years. Why? It works. Plain and simple. On my end of the year survey, students note that this was one of the units that they feel the mastered the fastest. Why? Because it is comprehensible and real. What do you do that keeps it comprehensible and real?
Day one
Watch an input video of me going through the airport with a dialogue. Click to watch.
Fill out a passport application in TL and receive a passport.
Day two
Book a flight with hotel on a website in the target language
Day 3-5
Work with vocabulary and target structures to acquire proficiency
Day 6
Prep for improvisation. Each student receives a note card with a role and a task to accomplish. In order to accomplish this task, the students will have to interact. Some example cards are: the pilot who is late for the flight, a passenger who is flying for the first time and asks to take pictures with everyone, a passenger who has contraband fruit in their bag, the customs agent with a dog who catches a person with contraband fruit and so on. The roles are secret and the tasks are kept secret. The prep time is for students to make costumes and gather props that will help people decipher his or her role.
Day 7
Go Time! My room is set up to resemble an airport and the students must accomplish their task using their level of the target language. They are expected to handle unexpected situations and interact with each other.
Assessing
I have a check list for each student and I make sure I circulate throughout the room. Additionally, I have a student assistant film on the opposite side of the room that I am working to make sure we cover everyone. If I need more evaluation time, I like to throw unexpected situations at them or I personally interact with the students to whom I haven't listen. Most of the time, students will find ways to sustain the conversations so that I hear them. I haven't missed one yet!
This is one activity that my new students ask about at the beginning of the year. While it has evolved and gotten better, I have kept it in my curriculum for 4 years. Why? It works. Plain and simple. On my end of the year survey, students note that this was one of the units that they feel the mastered the fastest. Why? Because it is comprehensible and real. What do you do that keeps it comprehensible and real?
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