Teaching Strategies
Vocabulary
Just reading an ELA standard with the words “Distinguish shades of meaning” is like a neon sign flashing “natural connection to visual art!” I plan to use shades of color to connect the shades of meaning/emotions of ekphrastic poetry by using paint chips to illustrate the semantic gradients of their descriptors.
Semiotics is a study of how meaning is created and how that meaning is communicated. We are able to communicate using color, as each one has its own meaning which can vary from one culture to another. Colors can be used to signify value, order, or emotions. For the purpose of this curriculum unit, I am incorporating the semiotics of color to teach vocabulary in such a way as to not cause confusion and to ensure that my students and I all understand and are following the same system. For the purpose of this teaching strategy, I selected the following universal color meanings from the “Colours in Cultures” color wheel on the Information is Beautiful website; red will be used to express anger or passion, yellow to express happiness, blue to express melancholy or sadness, green to express envy or jealousy, orange to express geniality, pink to express health/life, black to express evil, and white to express goodness/purity.
Using semantic gradients, students examine the subtle differences between related words by arranging them in a continuum. The goals of using this strategy are to help students develop their vocabulary, extend their knowledge of words, and encourage them to think about the relationships among similar words. Understanding these relationships will help students become effective communicators in the target language. The teacher will select a descriptor in the target language related to the ekphrastic work being studied, students will write it on the top shade of the paint strip with shades of the color universally associated with it. On the next shade of the strip, students will write a synonym in the target language for that word, likely another commonly used descriptor. Then students will use the remaining shades of color to create a list of semantically similar words arranging them in an order that illustrates an understanding of each word’s meaning. I will encourage students to arrange the words in order of intensity, from least to most to reflect the intensity of the color shades. Upon completion, students will discuss the rationale for placing their chosen descriptors in the specific order. I will encourage conversations about the subtle differences among the words.
Close Reading
The Delaware Department of Education - World Languages current focus is connecting proficiency and the Common Core State Standards for ELA with a focus on Reading and Writing. Close reading is a technique used to teach students to carefully study a piece of writing by reading it several times, each time looking for a different bit of information. The process can begin with a pre-reading question, or a “hook” with the teacher asking the class a question or providing some background information. Then the teacher will have the students identify the text feature of the reading. The first reading is done aloud by the teacher as students follow along circling any words they do not know and annotating any sentence(s) or paragraph(s) they do not understand with a question mark. After the first reading, using a graphic organizer for learning and reflection, students will write a Learning/About statement, a statement telling about what they just read, a brief summary. The students complete the second reading independently. As the students read, they underline details in the text that support their Learning/About statements. Next, the students, using the same graphic organizer from the first read, write a reflection. The reflection can be questions they still have about the text, predictions, or a personal connection that they have to that particular part of the story. With a shoulder partner, each student discusses the details they selected from the text and how they support their Learning/About statement. Reflections are also shared. The teacher then conducts a whole class discussion regarding the details of the text in order to check for understanding. In addition, the teacher addresses student questions about the reading. This discussion is followed up with a series of text dependent questions. Students work through these questions in pairs. The teacher continues the close reading process with a whole class discussion of the questions and the text in order to check for accuracy.17
CAFE – Check for Understanding
CAFE consists of learning strategies to check for students’ Comprehension (I understand what I read), Accuracy (I can read the words), Fluency (I can read accurately, with expression, and understand what I read), and Expanded Vocabulary (I know, find, and use interesting words). The teaching strategies are used to assess the students’ understanding of a concept, determine if the students can transfer the lesson objectives to a new situation, emphasize the key points of the lesson, or extend the lesson’s content. The strategy used is usually brief and is typically used as a formative assessment, helping the instructor to determine a course of action for the learning activities that will be implemented in the near future.18
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