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The Digital Polyglot

A publication of the Inland Empire World Language Association

since 1985

May, 2017

Editor - Bethany Thompson
Asst. Editor - Trini Rios

In this issue:

  • CLTA/CWLP Summer Seminar at UC Santa Barbara
  • IEFLA/CASLA Honors Reception
  • CLTA Conference Ontario 2018
  • Activities, Activities, Activities
  • Tried and True
  • Jobs Openings in the Inland Empire
  • Languages in the News
  • IEFLA is on Twitter!
  • Tech Corner
  • YouTube Clip of the Month - The Story of the Umlaut
  • Spanish Corner
  • French Corner
  • German Corner
  • Job Openings

CLTA/CWLP Summer Seminar at
UC Santa Barbara


Summer Seminar 2017 in Santa Barbara is just around the corner, July 14-19!  For more information visit the Summer Seminar Webpage.

UCSB

Summer Seminar Offerings - Choose One

A: Designing French Instructional Units that Engage and Transform Learners’ Performance
B: Common Core-Aligned Reading and Writing Strategies that Build Multilingual Literacies
C: Leading through Practice: High-Leverage Practices that Advance Student Learning and Professional Growth
D: Multimedia Tools that Enhance Core Practices, Advance Learning and Global Competence
E: STARTALK Leadership Development for Teachers of Critical Languages and Cultures
F: Strengthening Core Practices in the Spanish World Language and Heritage Learners Classroom
G: Using Core Practices to Build Global Competence in Japanese
H: What Can They Do? Performance Assessment that Support Globally Competent World Language Students

For more information and registration visit the Summer Seminar Webpage.

 

honors

IEFLA/CASLA Honors Reception 2017

On May 2, 2017, IEFLA held its 18 annual honors reception at the Santos Manuel Student Union at California State University, San Bernardino. Co-Sponsored by IEFLA, the Department of World Languages and Literature, and the Center for the Advancement of Second Language Acquisition, the event honored 200 students. After a musical presentation offered on the Oud, a classical middle eastern instrument similar to a guitar, we skyped with a young Mandarin speaker, in Sydney, Australia,(10 am Australia time) and a Cal State San Bernardino student studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan.(3:00 am Jordan time). Afterwards each student was presented with a certificate and had the opportunity to take pictures with teachers and professors.

Looking to give back to IEFLA? CLTA Conference 2018 in Ontario

In March of 2017 IEFLA will be hosting the CLTA state conference in Ontario, and we are looking for some Inland Empire teachers who want to show of their IE pride!  We need help with hospitality (show off your favorite IE restaurants and entertainment), technology (audio/visual support), advertising and more!  If you’d like to help make the Ontario conference one to remember, contact Lewie Johnson at lewiejohnson@gmail.com.

activities

Activities, Activities, Activities

Looking to incorporate Peer Editing in your classes?  Path 2 Proficiency offers some suggestions for peer editing stations.

Smart Seating for Foreign Language Classes- Looking to switch up your seating chart?  Here are some ideas to change things around from Throw Away Your Textbook!

Are you struggling to get students to use the target language in the classroom?  Here are some practical tips from the Language Teacher Toolkit in the constant battle of TL use in the classroom.

Roll a Write – an alternative to free write/bingo write from Pomegranate beginnings.

Follow IEFLA on Pinterest @iefla  Twitter: @iefla_tweets

Check out CLTA on Twitter @cltatweets

Tried and True

In 2017 we’re going to showcase one tried and true activity each month.  You know, that one activity that always works.  That one activity you know will get student’s talking.  Some you may know, some you may have used and forgotten about and some may be completely new to you!

25,000 Pyramid- This is a simple, low prep activity that gets students talking and laughing and using the TL to practice circumlocution.  All you’ll need is some vocabulary cards or a projector.  This activity can be done with partners or groups.  The premise is simple:  one partner sees a word or expression and tries to make their partner say that word or expression by either doing a gesture or describing that word.  You can use vocabulary cards or for a paperless version by putting up 3-4 words at a time on the projector.  The students stand facing each other with one person facing the projector (the person describing) and one person with his/her back to the projector (the person guessing.)  The whole class can participate at the same time.  To set students up for success have them practice frequently with definition sentence starts: this is when, this is where, this is who, this is a synonym for, etc.

Job Openings in the Inland Empire

Spanish and ASL Opening in Apple Valley Unified.  See http://www.edjoin.org to apply.

French/Spanish temporary position at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands.  See http://www.edjoin.org/ to apply.

Need a teacher? Need a job? Go to http://www.la-stars.net/jobs/

Languages in the News

“Being fluent in 2 languages might literally change how you perceive time”

“Map of Lexical Differences Between Europe’s Languages”

twitter

IEFLA’s now on Twitter!  Follow us @iefla_tweets!!

Tech Corner

Google Earth: Google Earth got a big update recently and it now works on Chromebooks!  Send your students on a virtual field trip to cities around the world.  Paris, Barcelona, El Castillo, Machu Picchu are just a few clicks away.  Click on the search button and type in where you want to go.  You’ll fly there and Google will give you some popular sites you can visit.  Drag the little character on right on the city start street view and to be able to take a walking tour.  Click here for a quick video tour.

YouTube Clip of the Month

The Story of the Umlaut

spanish

Spanish Corner

Looking for some great Spanish videos to use in the classroom?  Here is a list from Maris Hawkins on a variety of subjects.

15 Facebook Pages for Spanish #authres from PBL in the TL.

Two great resources for authentic reading materials in Spanish.
 From
Looking to earn some college credit while learning about language acquisition?  University of Colorado Boulder is offering classes.

Vocabulary rich commercials for Spanish class from Teaching for Conceptual Learning


french

French Corner       

What French Cultural Activities are happening this month in Los Angeles?

Apply for a grant to fund a French Film festival on campus- deadline is May 26.

Resources for Planning a Food Unit for Intermediate Low students from Madame Shepard

Qu’est-ce qu’on mange aux cantines scolaires mondiales? – Another thoughtful unit and vlog from Catherine Oussel

Les Parties du Corps – a contextual unit for body parts

german

German Corner

German tongue twisters: Here is a large collection of German tongue twisters for you and your students to try to recite: https://www.heilpaedagogik-info.de/zungenbrecher/287-zungenbrecher-deutsch-sprueche.html

Job Openings

Looking for a job? Go to http://www.la-stars.net/jobs/

Follow IEFLA on Pinterest @iefla  Twitter: @iefla_tweets

Check out CLTA on Twitter @cltatweets

The Polyglot is a publication of the Inland Empire Foreign Language Association. For questions or comments, contact Bethany Thompson, editor, bethany_thompson@avusd.org or Trini Rios, trios327@gmail.com. Would you like to help with the Polyglot? Contact Bethany Thompson, editor, at bethany_thompson@avusd.org.