Ice Cream Makes Everything Better: Strategies & Solutions for When Motivation Melts
Session Description: Does it seem that your students’ motivation is melting, but your brain is frozen—so stuck in survival mode that you can’t think of any new ideas to keep students engaged? Do your lessons ever feel like plain vanilla ice cream served in a stale cone—full of essential grammar and vocabulary, but lacking in cultural flavor? Have you ever wished you could mix all 5 Cs into your lesson plans, but can’t quite figure out how? Research suggests that ice cream makes everything better! In this interactive session, we'll travel around the globe to discover the historical, cultural, and psychological significance of ice cream through authentic texts in many languages. We’ll also explore the art and science of ice cream with simulations and experiments designed to engage beginning language learners. Come sample a variety of language activities guaranteed to appeal to a wide range of student tastes!
PURPOSE: The purpose of this session is to demonstrate how language teachers can integrate the 5Cs from the World-Readiness standards in motivating ways that move learners towards increasingly authentic opportunities for language use. CONTENT: Although the World-Readiness Standards have been available for more than a decade, many teachers still find it difficult to implement them (especially in beginning levels). In this interactive session, participants will learn how to progressively shift learners’ proficiency to higher levels using a multisensory, standards-based, thematic approach to lesson planning. The session will highlight the role of authenticity in language learning and will model the power of interdisciplinarity, interactivity, and multiplicity in capturing attention and encouraging student engagement. METHODS & MATERIALS: Using authentic resources, participants will participate in interactive paired activities, mixers, science experiments, and simulations that help them explore and discuss: · Essential ingredients of learning, motivation, and memory · Scientific findings on the effects of ice cream on the brain and body · The global history of ice cream · The economic impacts of ice cream · The role of ice cream in important historical events in the U.S. · Recent scientific discoveries about ice cream · Examples of global art and entertainment that involve ice cream TARGET LANGUAGE USE: During these activities, participants will use their target languages to:· · Share information · Express preferences · Make cultural observations · Make cultural comparisons · Narrate simple stories · Describe ideas · Justify and defend opinions · The session will conclude with a link to a website containing materials in a variety of languages that were shared during the session. CAN DOS: I can create learning experiences that are more... 1) ...MEANINGFUL with an interdisciplinary, standards-based, thematic approach. 2) ...MOTIVATING with interactive activities that integrate language, content, and culture. 3) ...MEMORABLE with multiple perspectives, multiple representations, multisensory methods and materials, and multiple modalities. |