Jessica Bisbee Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program Learning Activity Plan: Class 2/Unit 1

I. Content: Today we will discuss what a cognate is and how we can use them to decode this new language (Spanish) that we are using every day. We will review the definition of a cognate which is a word that looks the same (and sounds the same) and has the same meaning in two different languages. We saw examples of cognates for necessary skills to do well in Spanish our first day of class after reviewing our syllabus. Today we will use cognates to translate an Eric Carle children’s book from Spanish to English. We will also learn about false cognates (falsos amigos) that we should keep an eye out for while reading.

II. Learning Goal(s): Students will know the definition of a cognate and a false cognate. They will be able to pick out cognates in our picture book and share their findings confidently to the class when we read the book together.

III. Rationale: A large goal for our unit is to develop a sense of confidence with the students. I had met many of them either at the end of their last school year or during their August Academy at Clark. Therefore, I knew that some students already felt as if they would not do well learning Spanish and I wanted to reverse that thinking as soon as possible. I want students to understand that although this language may be new to them, they already have some tools that will enable them to work with it.

IV. Assessment: We will be able to read the entire Eric Carle book as a class. Each page will be read in Spanish, either by me or by a student. Then, each group will share what their page means in Spanish using both cognates and the pictures.

V. Personalization and equity: I will begin by strategically grouping students so that there are various skill levels present in each group. I’ll stress that students that already know Spanish need to help their classmates by not giving the answers during my instructions. Students will also be able to use pictures that go along with the text so that they may also access the meaning of the page visually.

VI. Activity description and agenda Thursday August 29th, 2013:

Room: Desks will be in a horseshoe or double horseshoe. This will allow all students to be included and facing the board for later presentations.

1. Starter Question: (Have paper placed on each desk before students enter) Have students sit, put their names and the date on their papers (give instructions in Spanish) and begin responding to Starter. 5 min.

a. Students should write silently for the entire time.

Revised 5/15/13 Jessica Bisbee Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program Learning Activity Plan: Class 2/Unit 1 b. Prompt: Yesterday we started to talk about cognates. In your own words, what is a cognate? What has talking about cognates shown you about decoding a language? Do you think cognates always work? Why or why not?

c. Have signed contract out on desk (previous night’s homework) and I will go around and collect it as students write.

2. Group Presentations of cognate words 25 min

a. Groups have a few minutes to plan who will say what during their presentation and what they plan to say. (5 min.)

b. Reminds on presentation etiquette.

a.i. Face the audience.

a.ii. Everyone participates.

a.iii. Audience is attentive and supportive.

a.iv. Clap after each presentation.

c. Groups will get up in the front of the class with their note card. Each student should say something during the presentation. Each group should say their word, what they think it means, how they came to that decision, and why it is a good quality when it comes to learning a language. (3 min per group/approx. 20 min.)

d. I will stand off to the side and collect note cards at the end of each presentation. I will put the cards up later as a display.

e. What to do if a group gets a word wrong? I could question the class. Does everyone agree with this definition? Would anyone add anything or say it differently?

3. Summary of Cognates 5 min.

a. Create a class definition of cognates: Can anyone sum up for me what a cognate is in their own words? How can they help us?

Revised 5/15/13 Jessica Bisbee Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program Learning Activity Plan: Class 2/Unit 1 b. What do you think a false cognate is now that we know what a cognate is? (If no one puts forth an answer, break into pairs and come up with a definition) give some examples of false cognates.

a.v. Embarazada – pregnant

a.vi. Lectura – reading

a.vii. Molesta – bother

a.viii. Actual – current

a.ix. Carpeta – file folder

c. Take away- Cognates, like we have said, can help us decode a new language. We already know some tools that can help us. Keep cognates in mind if you come across something you don’t recognize.

4. Using cognates in reading: Using a children’s book, students will use cognates and pictures to “translate” the story line. 25 min.

a. Use the same groups as the cognates presentation?

b. Have and pass out photocopies of different pages of a children’s book written in Spanish, with pictures

c. Each group uses the pictures and any cognates to come up with a rough translation of their section.

d. Put the sections in order by asking each group to share out what they think their page says. Ideally we will do the whole book. This way if some groups finish sooner than others they can do another page or two.

e. As a backup, I can have another book ready as well, maybe a little more difficult.

5. Homework: Reminder: Purchase a single subject notebook for Monday.

6. Put Desks Back and Dismiss

a. The biggest challenge I foresee in this lesson is the variety of Spanish experience that is present in this classroom. Since UPCS does not have tracking the students are not

Revised 5/15/13 Jessica Bisbee Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program Learning Activity Plan: Class 2/Unit 1 grouped by their abilities. Therefore, I have students that will be very familiar with the language and will already understand the text. There will be others that feel overwhelmed. I want to stress with Spanish speakers that they are resources for their classmates, but as a resource they cannot simply give the answers, but help their classmates to find the answer on their own. I want everyone to be engaged so I have chosen a longer book, and just in case it goes by too quickly, I will have a more difficult picture book on hand such as Dr. Seuss.

VII. Linguistic comparisons (Standard 5)

VIII. Reflection

a. The lesson was successful in the fact that each group prepared multiple pages to share with the class. We were able to share our pages without incident and reviewed what occurred in the book after we had finished reading it. Students collaborated which was evident from the questions they asked one another. The lesson was not successful in regards to the time it took for presentations on the cognates for qualities that make a successful language learner. It took far less time than I had accounted for, although groups did very thorough job with their work. b. Next time, I would perhaps do a page altogether using the Elmo to discuss different tactics to go about examining each page both as a learner who has never seen Spanish and as a student who has a lot of experience with the language. I also would perhaps have grouped students differently later in the class to perhaps work with the Dr. Seuss text as well to provide a greater challenge. c. This LAP made me very aware of timing and how difficult it is to predict the necessary amount of time for each activity. Some things that I expect to take a long time go by very quickly whereas activities I expect to be quick take a long time. I suspect that with time I will understand the individual needs that are present in my classroom and therefore be better able to plan my lessons. In the meanwhile I know that I need to keep extensions on hand and always have the next step ready so that I am prepared to change my plans when the need arises.

Revised 5/15/13