World Languages Through Digital Collaboration

Content Area Standards

(see here for full Common Core Standard Course of Study; note in particular 8th grade standards)

• IL.CLL.1.1 Carry out unrehearsed conversations on familiar topics with some details. 
• IL.CLL.1.2 Use questions to exchange information in familiar situations
• IL.CLL.2.1 Summarize main ideas and a few details in short conversations and some forms of media. 
• IL.CLL.2.2 Summarize main ideas and a few details in texts that contain familiar vocabulary.

ISTE Standards

(See here for full teacher-oriented standards)

• 3b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools.
• 4d. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools. 

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Read, interpret, and then explain the basic information presented in a commercial Facebook page presented in the target language. 
• Identify challenging vocabulary in a commercial text presented in the target language.
• Develop strategies for reviewing difficult vocabulary using digital tools. 
• Using the target language, summarize information from a commercial Facebook page.

Technologies Employed

Facebook

Description: Facebook is an international social networking site. In this lesson, students will use Facebook to identify a company, band, or other commercial identity from the target culture. They will then find that group's page, in the target language, and interpret the information on that page.

Rationale: From a pedagogical standpoint, this website has two advantages. First, it has relevance in the sense that many students already engage with Facebook for personal purposes and understand its uses and importance; communicating in a foreign language over this platform has the potential to seem "authentic." Second, Facebook is a legitimate commercial platform many companies use to legitimately sell their products. Because of this, entities using Facebook are liable to use language in a way that is authentically commercial and not necessarily manufactured for pedagogical purposes.

Quizlet

Description: Quizlet is a digital flashcards program students can use to create, share, and download review materials. In this lesson, students will identify difficult vocabulary on their Facebook page of choice. They will put the word on the front of the flashcard, and they will put the word in the context of a sentence on the back. In this way, they will review vocabulary by learning to associate the word with its real-world use.

Rationale: Quizlet provides students with an efficient digital alternative to traditional note cards that also provide an option for easy sharing and collaboration.

Skype

Description: Skype is an applications that supports instant messaging, voice chat, and video chat. Students will use this service to collaborate with other students in the target culture who will have completed an assignment similar to this one.

Rationale: Telecommunications technology allows for students to engage with native speakers in a somewhat authentic setting. This allows students to practice their conversational fluency, which is essential to mastering the language.

Materials and Skills Needed

• A computer with a working internet connection for each student. This may require the use of a computer lab.
• Collaborators from the target culture who also have a working computer with Skype and high-speed internet.
• Projector Technology

Description of the Lesson

Day 1

• Begin by priming students with questions about how they use social media (Finish @ 3 minutes).
• Use the projector technology to explore an example Facebook page from the target culture. During this time, demonstrate that students do not need to have an account or be logged in to explore Facebook. Model basic navigational skills online. (@6 minutes).
• Explain that students will now identify similar pages on their own and that they will attempt to translate those pages. While they proceed through this stage, they should take note of any sentences that include difficult vocabulary (@9 minutes).
• Provide students with around 5-10 minutes to identify an appropriate Facebook page. Observe students and provide support where needed (@20 minutes).
• Repeat instructions for interpreting the pages students find. Then, give students around 15 minutes to finish translating their page, providing support where needed (@35 minutes)
• Once students have finished translating, briefly demonstrate how to access and use Quizlet. Instruct students to create a set of flashcards reviewing the difficult vocabulary they had previously identified. Encourage them to put the word in a sentence on the back rather than an English translation. Allow students to use the remaining time to review this vocabulary (@50 minutes)

Day 2

• Explain to students that their world language collaborators have completed a project similar to them but using an English Facebook page as their material. Explain that at the end of the period, students will be paired with partners and will discuss the page they observed, using the target language (@2 minutes).
• Provide students with time to write out notes for their conversation using the Quizlet notes from before. Have students also prepare questions for their partners about the collaborator's Facebook page (@ 20 minutes).
• Facilitate collaborative Skype calls in which students present their summaries and listen to their collaborator's summary in English. Once these presentations are past, encourage students to continue having conversations about what they have learned (@50 minutes).

Exploring Literature Through a Book Trailer

Content Area Standards

(see  here for full Common Core Standard Course of Study; note in particular 8th grade standards)

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts
• Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors
• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

ISTE Standards:

(See here for full teacher-oriented standards)

• 1c. Promote student reflection through collaborative tools.
• 2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools.
• 4c. Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interaction.

Objectives:

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

• Explain what the terms "tone" and "mood" mean in relation to film and literature.
• Analyze a text for techniques such as word choice, foreshadowing, and description in terms of how they evoke tone and mood.
• Analyze a film sequence for techniques such as lighting, camera angle, color, and movement in terms of how they evoke tone and mood.
• Evaluate a film sequence or text for its consistency in terms of tone.
• Analyze a film sequence or text in terms of the likely intended effect on an audience the student can reflectively describe.
• Create a film sequence that is consistent in terms of tone and targeted at an audience the student can reflectively describe.

Technologies Employed

Google Docs

(© 2015 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Google and the Google Logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc.)

Description: Google Docs is a cloud-based word processor with tools that allow multiple authors to view and edit a single document. 

Rationale: Google Docs creates a collaborative space where students can compose and share writing. In this unit, I will use this technology to give students a group-work "work space" where they can plan their book trailer together. This will allow students to collaborate over a digital medium, promoting opportunities to learn ISTE standard 1c.

Blogger

(© 2015 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Blogger and the Blogger Logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc.)

Description: Blogger is an online publication platform that allows authors to publish a digital text and that allows readers to comment on the content.

Rationale: Blogger gives students the opportunity to publish their writing in a semi-formal manner while simultaneously providing other students the opportunity to read and comment on that work. In my unit, I will use Blogger to give students the chance to publish both their written analysis and two drafts of their video work. I will also allow students to use comments in order to contribute to each other's work.

Windows Movie Maker and YouTube

Description: Movie Maker is a free video-editing program from Microsoft. Although it is not currently available for Windows 10, I expect that a version will be released within the next year. If not, a comparable editor will have to be used. YouTube is an online video-hosting service and database students can use to upload, host, and share/embed video.

Rationale: Movie Maker provides students with elementary experience in editing software that will transfer to any future video editing they may have to do for personal or professional reasons. In this way, experience with this program will expand students' knowledge of film making as a process and their ability to use film-making tools. In addition, working with film as a medium to describe a text-based medium such as a novel will force students to reflect on how film and text are similar and different, as well as how authors use different techniques to achieve similar effects. Finally, publishing a book trailer will allow students to publish something they can then share in the wider world, since book trailers are a popular practice for people interested in books outside the classroom.

Materials and skills the teacher/classroom will need to complete this lesson:

• Laptops equipped with Windows Moviemaker or some comparable video editing software.
• Some method of capturing film, such as a camcorder, smart pad/smart phone, or a webcam.
• Some means of projecting text while the teacher annotates.
• Basic expertise with film editing software and video production.
• Access to a reliable and secure network.

Description of Lesson

• Begin with a mini-lesson about tone and mood. This should begin with a class-reading of a mood-rich text, such as Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven," followed by discussion and annotation for specific words, techniques, and so on that realize the mood. 
• After this discussion, the teacher should then present a movie trailer or short film sequence that also demonstrates a rich atmosphere. Students should then be prompted to write on their own reflections of how books and movies are similar and different in regards to tone and mood.
• Students should then be divided into groups of 2-3 students, who will select a short novel to read together. 
• The teacher should at this point explain the concept of a book trailer, using examples from the internet to demonstrate the concept.
• As students read their novels, they should keep a blog on the mood the author evokes and the tone the author takes in regards to their subject. They should also provide thoughts on how elements of this story might be adapted to a book-trailer. Students in the same group should read each other's blogs and leave a requisite number of comments. The teacher should use these as formative assessment and also in order to make sure that all members of each group are fully participating.
• At some point between when students begin reading their novels and when they are preparing to start work on their book trailers, the teacher should offer a mini-lesson on book to film adaptations and some of the challenges they face. 
• Once students have finished their novels, the teacher should carve out a few days of instruction dedicated to teaching students to use video editing software in a way specifically directed at developing a book trailer.
• The teacher should also demonstrate to students how to use Google Docs to collaborate in their planning. S/he should also explain that s/he will be able to see who writes what into the Doc, and that students will receive credit according to their level of participation.
• Finally, each group will create and share a rough draft of their movie trailers. Students will then be required to provide meaningful feedback to other group's. This, along with teacher feedback, will prepare students to produce their final product.