Guiding Questions: Understanding Language Videos
Date: 12/06/2013
Author: Jenn Meyers
On January 21, we will debrief the Understanding Language video series. The group has agreed that everyone will watch either videos 1, 2, 3 OR videos 1-6. The choice is up to you. Below, you will find a guiding question for each video. Each question is simply a starting point for your thinking. Feel free to expand upon other areas in the videos. The questions are also available in this PDF.
Video 1 | Persuasion Across Time and Space: Unit Overview
This unit is five weeks long and very intricate. What types of planning, support, and professional learning, might teachers need to implement a unit such as this?
Video 2 | Preparing Learners: Activating Prior Knowledge
When engaging with complex texts, what other ways might teachers activate prior knowledge and connect “unfamiliar” concepts to students and their own lives?
Video 3 | Interacting with Complex Texts: Scaffolding Reading
What are the characteristics of a high-quality, effective focus question? What might a teacher need to consider when developing one?
Video 4 | Extending Understanding: Vocabulary Development
At 4:21 in the video, Aída Walqui makes this statement about vocabulary: “Rather than beginning with the bits and pieces, which will never amount to a solid whole, we begin with the big ideas first with the big understandings about language—and then we end with bits and pieces.”
What are your thoughts on this statement? What might this look like and sound like in a classroom?
Video 5 | Preparing Learners: Ethos, Pathos & Logos for Persuasion
The students in this video worked together in groups to categorize advertisements into ethos, pathos, and logos. How do the grouping strategies and the task itself help create productive group work?
Video 6 | Interacting with Complex Texts: Jigsaw Project
At 9:55 in the video, Ms. Langlois says, “This unit has changed my opinion about teaching ELLs and teaching language. It’s really reinforced the idea that if you’re going to teach kids language, they need to use language.”
How would you respond to a colleague who needed more clarity on this statement?
