Learning Activity

Holiday Narrative and Comparison - Phase 1

Subject Area

World Languages

Grade(s)

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Overview

Students will write a narrative essay in past tense in the target language about a holiday that they celebrated.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

World Languages (2017) Grade(s): 07-12 - World Languages

WL17.WL.L2.3

Present information on familiar topics with a variety of words, phrases, and simple sentences in the past time frame.

Unpacked Content

UP:WL17.WL.L2.3

Knowledge

Students know:
  • how to describe their needs for school or work.
  • how to express thoughts on topics of interest or current events.
  • how to retell or present a short skit, poem, or song.
  • how to describe common activities.

Skills

Novice High Level
Students are able to:
  • recall vocabulary from themes taught.
  • correctly pronounce vowels and key phonetic sounds when presenting orally.
  • correctly write sentences using correct punctuation and diacrytical markings.
  • correctly type special characters, accent marks, or other markings necessary to the target language.
  • differentiate between questions and statements.
  • gather basic information from graphs, charts and pictures.
  • rely on background knowledge to aid in comprehension of difficult or new words.
  • recognize characters and punctuation marks that are unique to the target language.
  • sing songs in the target language.
Intermediate Low Level
Students are able to:
  • create command forms of verbs to give directions.
  • identify patterns in past tense verb formations.
  • form simple sentences using common idomatic expressions and/or vocabulary focusing on proper word order.
  • recite short songs, skits, or readings from memory.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • effective communication requires knowing how when and why to say what to whom.
  • the purpose of language study is to communicate so one can understand others and be understood.
  • other understandings will depend on the theme being taught.
World Languages (2017) Grade(s): 07-12 - World Languages

WL17.WL.L2.8

Compare characteristics of the target language and the native language.

Unpacked Content

UP:WL17.WL.L2.8

Knowledge

Students know:
  • how to recognize similarities among root words in order to aid comprehension in the target language.
  • which pronouns and verb forms to use in formal and informal situations.
  • how to politely ask for assistance or information.
  • how to greet and thank someone formally and informally.
  • that word order varies across langauges and may differ from their native language.
  • that some expressions (ex.
    • idomatic expressions) may not translate literally from language to language.

Skills

Novice High Level
Students are able to:
  • use the alphabet or writing system to express ideas.
  • use diacritical markings to clarify meaning when writing.
  • identify appropriate situations in which to use formal and informal structures.
  • memorize common idomatic expressions.
  • match words from the target language to similarly structured words in the native language.
Intermediate Low Level
Students are able to:
  • identify which situations would require formal or informal forms of language.
  • use correct word order when writing and speaking about dates and descriptions.
  • recognize and use very common idomatic expressions.
  • match words from the target language to similarly structured words in the native language.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • languages can show formality and informality in ways different from their native language.
  • cognates and false cognates exist between languages.
  • not every word or phrase has an equivalent translation in another language.
  • word order often differs between languages.
  • by learning another language one can better understand how the native language works.
  • other understandings will depend on theme taught.

Phase

Before/Engage
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

*Students can write a narrative in the past tense about a personal experience celebrating a holiday and the people and activities involved.

*Students can identify characteristics of the target language needed for writing a narrative story.  

Activity Details

Phase 1: Holiday Narrative

*The students will choose a holiday that they celebrate, that is also celebrated in the target culture. (It is helpful if different students cover a variety of holidays within a class to avoid repetition.) They will first write a narrative essay in the target language in the past tense about a time that they celebrated the holiday, mentioning where they were, who was there, what activities they participated in, how they felt about the experience, and why it matters to them.

*Students will trade essays in a group of 3 and will complete peer editing for two classmates. They will check for all necessary information and basic grammar structures needed for correct usage of past tense using a graphic organizer or checklist the teacher provides.

*Students will turn in a final draft of their narrative essay as a presentational writing assessment.

Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

Assess whether students are able to write their narrative in the past tense including all of the required information. Use a rubric that checks for the inclusion of all required information and determines whether the student is writing at the Novice High, Intermediate Low, or Intermediate Mid level. The rubric should examine the complexity of sentence structure, the variety of vocabulary, and grammatical accuracy as it corresponds to comprehensibility.

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

Teachers should:

*view all 3 phases of this lesson. Phase 2, Phase 3

*compile a list of holidays celebrated here and in the target culture for students to choose from.

*compile a list of suggested websites for students to use to research their holidays.

*create and print or post instructions for the narrative essay and a peer editing graphic organizer or checklist for students to fill out.

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

buderlj
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