Relevant to Differentiation: Here are my notes on
Task-Based Language Learning and Technology by Elizabeth Harsma
Why?
Focus on form (noticing) and meaning (interaction)
What is a task?
1.
Meaning focused (context)
2.
Real world (what a native speaker would do &
real world)
3.
Communicative
How are tasks
different from projects?
·
Tasks are process-oriented
·
Projects are product-oriented
Task Cycle
·
Pre-task (vocab and grammar-building) i + 1 (connect
to previous knowledge) ex. TPR, set learner up to succeed
·
During-task
focus on meaning, learners engaging with the language
·
Post-task-focus
on feedback, reflection, and follow-up (what was easy, what was difficult, why,
what do you think you need to be successful next time)
Task types
·
Information gap (one student has info the other
needs)
·
Opinion exchange (life experience exchange)
·
Reasoning gap
·
What others can you think of
What others can you think of
Approaches (Strong
vs. Weak Approaches)
·
Strong (curriculum
is entirely task-based)
·
Weak (task
supplemented curriculum)
Five Examples:
1.
Un
día en Madrid (basic)
2.
El
campamento de día
3.
El
Transporte
4.
Las
Noticias
5.
Cena
con Amigos
Un día en Madrid
·
Jigsaw
and reasoning (each student picks one thing to do in Madrid; you can
provide a specific source…) collect info about these events then they come
together as a group and share and then decide what to do; then one makes a
voice mail using Vocaroo.com. (or fotobabble or dropbox--they upload their folder in your class folder) Vamos a ir
al Prado porque…(Task—students fill in infinitive verbs and nouns)
·
Adv. Of
Vocaroo (don’t need an account; only requirement is approp. Software);
students save it and share the link with you. (Doctopus in Google can help with managing this)
El campamento de día (collaboration--1
submission for several students)
·
Task—base
it off of their experience in 4th grade (past tense) (then choose a
few from your group and create a day camp schedule; create a website with that
product info—meaning focused)
·
With a
Google acct. –tools are similar to word; go to google sites website (in the “even more” category beyond blogger; add
images (embedding can be tricky)
El transporte (you
can provide as much structure on where to find info; guide them on what to look
for—cost, environmental impact…)
·
Jigsaw and reasoning gap task
·
Task:
decide which kind of public transportation is best to use while staying
in Mexico City
·
Product:
a post describing their choice and why
·
Tech tool:
Edmodo (facebook) or Voice discussion board like Voxopop.com
Facebook
(intercambio intermedios—exchange w/
Venezuelan school); instructor required posts to keep the momentum going
Las Noticias (how
do newscasters present themselves, what language do they use)
·
Opinion exchange task
·
Task:
report on a news item, give opinions
o
Process-
§
find information on ________,
§
ask fellow students about it
§
report on it
·
Product: video of a news report
·
Tech tool:
Youtube.com, (Teachertube.com)
iMovie (or other editing program
and/or smart phone apps like Vine)
Cena con amigos
(decide which dish to bring to dinner)
·
Jigsaw and reasoning gap
·
Do research on food and eating habits (what time
of day; what ingred, what for bkfast, lunch and dinner…what do they eat for
special celebrations;
·
Give opinions
·
Compare and Contrast
·
This is what we decided to bring and why (pintrist—2 -5 pins; visual + ingred. +
typical dishes; great collection location, good for visual learners)
Tasks:
1.
News
article variation
a.
Newsmap (create
your own classroom newsmap w/ wordl)
b.
(pick news articles that they already know about
and compare w/ how it is reported in another country El Pais…); level 1 comparisons; level 2 preterit
2.
Peruvian
Cooking show (commands & comparisons)
3.
Viernes Cultural “genius hour”
4.
“Go
animate” (choose text and vocalize the text and you can hear the dialect in
“Parental interrogation” (when are you going? Who are you going with?...
Show poor pronunciation w/ voki
(swith American English for the Spanish)
5.
fotobabble
(like vocaroo but you can up-load a photo) to make a brochure or big huge lab (make a mosaic…)(create
your own travel agency and create your itinerary; choose a Spanish-speaking
country (6 days for itinerary)
6.
Re-creations
of stories and film it—iMovie, Microsoft movie maker
7.
Fashion
blog—review clothing vocab w/ adjectives + video, task (you are going to
the office, sporting event, use Pintrist
and come up w/ 2 outfits. Other groups
vote on clothing they prefer and comment why.
Winning outfit goes into a catalogue w/ description (website maker)
8.
Itinerary
day trip (action verbs and time-telling) Make a timeline (powerpoint w/
voice over narration and text); Prezzi (you can embed sound files or youtube)
