Latin America in the K-12 Classroom Workshops
Latin America in the K-12 Classroom Workshop is truly a workshop. In the morning, you will receive training in the teaching of pronunciation and in cultural content knowledge. In the afternoon, you will apply these new skills and knowledge to the design or redesign of teaching materials in your classroom.
Date/Location
When:
January 23, 2020
9:00 - 4:00 PM
Where:
160 Enarson Classroom Building
2009 Millikin Road
Workshop Format
Goals of the Workshop:
- Expose teachers to new, in-depth cultural content.
- Equip teachers with new pedagogical strategies to teach pronunciation.
- Grant teachers the opportunity to apply and integrate their new content and pedagogical knowledge to the (re)design of a unit or lesson plan.
Main Morning Activities:
Pronunciation Workshop
There are three essential “ingredients” in order to learn to pronounce Spanish (or any new language):
- Perception: You have to notice the differences between your native language(s) and Spanish
- Confidence: You have to be willing to practice this new physical skill (even though it may feel and sound weird)
- Motivation: You have to keep practicing in order to develop this skill
In the pronunciation workshop, we will explore a variety of techniques to develop students’ perception, confidence, and motivation when pronouncing Spanish. These will include mapping movements of the vocal tract to larger bodily movements, using the language of street vendors as a context to perform the language, and others.
In-depth Culture Lesson
When it comes to teaching culture, we often don’t know what we don’t know. In the Latin America in the K-12 Classroom Workshop, we leave this to the experts. A researcher affiliated with the Center for Latin American studies will present on a topic in their area of expertise.
Main Afternoon Activity:
Lesson Plan Session
One of the most effective ways to learn and retain new knowledge is to apply it. In the Lesson Plan Session you will work (individual or in collaboration with other attendees) to design or redesign and lesson plan or unit plan based on the morning activities.
Some important features of the Lesson Plan Session include:
- A cultural expert will be present and available to clarify your questions as you design your lesson plan.
- We will provide you with a list of pre-selected Authentic Resources (categorized by Novice or Intermediate proficiency level) that you can integrate into your lesson.
- We will be carrying out a peer-review process where you can get feedback on your lesson plan from other teachers.
- Participants who finish their lesson plan or unit design in the workshop and allow us to feature it in our Curriculum Repository will receive a stipend of $100. If you don’t finish, you can send us your lesson later.