Genius Hour next year is going to look very different than Genius Hour this year for a few reasons. During my first year teaching, I identified a few things that I need to address and fine tune a bit more before I'm ready to take on Genius Hour in the same way again: Spanish proficiency and Structure. I felt that I was lacking in these areas last year, and Genius Hour was when it showed the most. However, while re-structuring my curriculum and teaching this summer, Genius Hour emerged in a whole new way that I didn't expect.
Reading is a fundamental element of developing language proficiency. In my quest to pack as much comprehensible Spanish input into my class as possible, I set aside a daily free-choice reading period for students. However, I needed a way to hold students accountable for their reading and to check that they're getting out of it what they should be. I added a reading journal, where students identified what they read and included a brief summary as well as a list of words they came across that they didn't know (note to self - I just had the idea of adding in a "rating" for each entry, indicating how students feel about reading that day). Then, while deciding the format of my final, I decided to use that daily reading as the source for a book report and presentation, which allowed me to assess speaking, something that can be tricky in a Comprehensible Input-based classroom. My main objective was simply to translate their reading into a somewhat painless writing and speaking assessment, but I decided to include a "product" of their choice that could represent their book as well as help remind them of what they wanted to talk about during their 1-2 minute presentation to the class.
In my push for more comprehensible input and Spanish instruction, I was a bit sad that I was eliminating Genius Hour, but felt this was needed and that I would be much more successful with my instruction and meeting my responsibilities with my new curriculum plan. Then it occurred to me... Isn't this reading project just another form of Genius Hour? I'm requiring that they read... but they're welcome to read anything they want to, create a project that represents their learning, and presenting it. All the elements are there, PLUS it's all in Spanish! I feel like I've found my silver bullet and am quite pleased with myself. Because of some of the attitudes toward "Genius Hour" from last year, I won't be calling it that this year (at least not in front of my students). However, the fundamental elements are all there and I am so excited to capitalized on this experience again!
I ran into the same attitude thing--"Pasión' goes over much better, I found! I agree that your reading project is similar to Genius Hour in the incorporation of student choice, but I'm inclined to think the topic selection might need to be a little more inquiry-based, student-driven and open-ended to qualify.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue that the selection of reading material is very open-ended and inquiry based if students are provided enough choice, and students are free to express what they learned however they feel through their product - I know some kids that will make a poster, others that will make a video/skit, and others that will most likely create a piece of art. Then, for their presentation, they will simply be describing what they read to the class, why they chose it, what they liked about it, etc., in Spanish. I guess the best way to think about it would be if you had a "free reading" time in English class where students could read about whatever they wanted to and then report back to the class about what they read. They could read about their favorite hobby for all I care, but the point is to get them reading ANYTHING - the trick is that it needs to be at an appropriate level, which is why I'm going to provide a list of suggestions for them as well as the class library.
DeleteThanks for your post on reading! I have a tactical question. How much time do you set aside each week? I began choice reading last year with my classes... 15 minutes twice a week. Recommendations?
ReplyDeleteI set aside 10 minutes each day Monday through Thursday for reading in all levels - my students are in Intro to Spanish (6th grade) to Spanish III (10th grade), and all the classes from Spanish I and up are mixed levels. I set a timer for 8 minutes during which they have to be actively making an effort to read. When the timer goes off, they have 2 minutes to wrap up their reading and complete that day's Reading Journal with 3 sentences about what they read (they should be listing new words and what they mean as they go). This way it's consistent, but not overwhelming. My Monday-Thursday schedules this year are pretty routine and Fridays are reserved for Quizzes and "Algo Más", where I mix up the schedule with things like extra topics that don't fit into my regular schedule. These are things like the Countries and Capitals, extra vocabulary songs, review games, "bonus" songs (traditional or popular songs that aren't a part of my curriculum), etc. Thus, they get Friday off of their reading, but we still get approximately 32-40 minutes of reading each week. Students still have to do their reading journal even if they're absent.
DeleteThanks so much for your detailed response! It helps visualize how you make reading work. I plan to incorporate more reading this year, but my challenge will be to provide enough resources -- not enough readers and we are not a 1:1 classroom! I would also like to require students to read current events at least 1x per week. I may ask families to give a donation to help build a library, and also allow students who have their own device to use it.
DeleteAlso, would you be willing to share the reading journal you use? Any particular specifics? My plan is for a short summary in English of what they understood and documentation of new vocabulary words of interest. Also number of words read.
Thanks a million for your ongoing sharing!
My reading resources are going to be a combination of things that I've purchased out of my own money (I have at least one copy of every book offered by TPRS - for starters, you can get a discounted teacher package with one of each of the novels for all levels at http://tprstorytelling.com/products-page/?wpsccategory=spanish+featured-novels), famous works that can easily be found on the Internet (plus I have a number of anthologies), and you just reminded me to do the same with current events! Finally, I'm going to encourage my students at open house to purchase their own books to read (with a list of "suggested books" - the selling point is that they have the power to choose whatever they want, but they're most likely to be successful and therefore enjoy the ones on the list). I'm also going to ask that they consider donating the books to the class once they're done reading them (what else are they going to do with them?)
DeleteI do have a few suggestions when it comes to authentic resources - the time I'm giving likely won't be enough and they're not written in a way for any but the most advanced students to understand them. The novels I'm using all have dictionaries in the back for the most part, so I don't have to question whether a student is texting of using a dictionary (I have them download the WordReference.com app). Thus, I'm using authentic resources as my whole-class reading instruction and activities (roughly 30 minutes) once per week (Thursdays). Additional time and support also gives me more opportunity to check that they're getting what I want them to out of it, including the cultural themes. I'm doing a 5-step process for my authentic resources. First I give them a brief background/context in English, second they do 4-5 pre-reading questions based on the context and what I'd like them to keep in mind while reading, third I give them a brief summary (1 paragraph or less) of what the text is about in English, fourth they get an embedded reading (basically a simplified version of the text), and fifth they complete comprehension and critical thinking questions. I also am going to let them work in pairs or groups often while they do this. Authentic resources can be scary - my job is to make sure they're accomplishable.
I wrote a post about the novels here: http://profabarostprs.blogspot.com/2014/07/spanish-reading-materials.html
I'll write more details about the journals in the near future :)