It's Monday evening of the first week of school. Kids come back Wednesday-- though many were on campus this morning for orientation. I've been thinking and noodling and reading and reflecting all summer, and it is time to put on paper what I will do this week with my students.
I have one section of 7th grade Spanish 1A, and 2 sections of 8th grade Spanish 1B (technically they are Spanish 1C, because they started the sequence in 6th grade). I've decided that both classes need an orientation to make this 90-100% work, but the 8th grade classes will move through it more quickly, since they already have learned a great deal of the vocabulary that we will be using. I used backwards design in creating the unit: What do I want them to be able to say and do by the end of the unit? I want them to respond appropriately to basic commands (stand, sit, open, close, point, etc.), greet me and other students, know my expectations, make some simple requests (Can I go to the bathroom, etc.), and know how to ask for clarification (How do you say...?, etc.).
How do you plan such a unit? I webbed all of the things I want them to be able to do around the central theme: ¿Qué hago en la clase de español? Spokes on the web are themes like greeting the teacher, learning each others' names, the commands and questions that I mentioned above. From the spokes I generated a list of activities, and now I am plugging the activities into a calendar. Instead of the traditional plan book, I have a 5 subject theme book. One section for the webs, and one for each section of Spanish I am teaching.
My goal is lots of comprehensible input, lots of repetition, and acquisition over learning. I'm very excited, and a little bit nervous.
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