Yesterday, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to conduct a webinar on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Education and the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, in an effort to promote the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy. As a proud Rutgers alumna, I was so excited to represent the university that gave me the best education possible. Likewise, nearly 40 students of mine last year earned their Seals of Biliteracy; therefore, I wanted to offer some advice to my fellow world language educators as they "pave the way" for their students to earn their Seals.
In this webinar, I was able to dive into my Honors Spanish IV unit focused on artistic exploration. As a lover of art myself, this is one of my favorite units to teach. I started off the presentation by sharing about my general unit planning process. I then delved into sample interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational tasks that I assign throughout the unit. Likewise, I shared project ideas and assessment practices along with a sample integrated performance assessment. I have a variety of resources embedded throughout the presentation as well that can apply to all languages.
It is more important than ever before to broaden our students' cultural knowledge and global awareness. I encourage you to evaluate your unit plans to see whether or not there is a cultural focus. Strive to have your students make cultural connections as they immerse themselves in the target language. In addition to equipping them with the language skills they need to communicate, expose them to new traditions, customs, landscapes, and ways of life through the study of culture.
Feel free to view my official presentation slides below. As always, if you have a question, leave a comment or send me a direct message on Twitter @ElenaSpathis.
¡Buen fin de semana!
Elena
PS - the photos below are of my students' work, in which they "recreated" their favorite paintings we had studied during the unit. They additionally provided recordings of themselves speaking, in which they narrated the recreation process, along with an explanation as to why they selected this specific painting.
In this webinar, I was able to dive into my Honors Spanish IV unit focused on artistic exploration. As a lover of art myself, this is one of my favorite units to teach. I started off the presentation by sharing about my general unit planning process. I then delved into sample interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational tasks that I assign throughout the unit. Likewise, I shared project ideas and assessment practices along with a sample integrated performance assessment. I have a variety of resources embedded throughout the presentation as well that can apply to all languages.
It is more important than ever before to broaden our students' cultural knowledge and global awareness. I encourage you to evaluate your unit plans to see whether or not there is a cultural focus. Strive to have your students make cultural connections as they immerse themselves in the target language. In addition to equipping them with the language skills they need to communicate, expose them to new traditions, customs, landscapes, and ways of life through the study of culture.
Feel free to view my official presentation slides below. As always, if you have a question, leave a comment or send me a direct message on Twitter @ElenaSpathis.
¡Buen fin de semana!
Elena
PS - the photos below are of my students' work, in which they "recreated" their favorite paintings we had studied during the unit. They additionally provided recordings of themselves speaking, in which they narrated the recreation process, along with an explanation as to why they selected this specific painting.
paving_the_way_for_the_seal_of_biliteracy_by_elena_spathis.pdf |