Writing Enhances Student Achievement
This is an assignment that would benefit most a high school level 3 French class. However, it can be altered to fit other levels and other languages. At the end of the first semester, for the final of their second year in French, students are to write a children’s story. Students have to create a story that is appropriate for 1st or 2nd graders of at least 350 words. Students are asked to be creative when choosing the characters, story line, plot, etc. Students have to also mainly use the two past tenses that they have been primarily practicing for the past semester: the simple past and the imperfect tense (passé composé and imparfait). Students are to also illustrate their book and finally they are to read it/present it to the class.
Issues this Best Practice Addresses:
The best practice addressed in this assignment is Practice leading to student achievement. At the end of the assignment students have a product/achievement (the book) that they can share with family, friends and classmates. Students are always extremely proud of their achievement, their success and aptitude. For best achievement, students have to carefully follow the different steps presented in the detailed rubric.
Major Challenges to Implementation:
Major challenges to implementation are most often challenges related to the correct use of the target language. For some students, being creative and creating an original and attractive story is a big challenge. For other students, time management is a big challenge. On presentation day, students are to read and present their respective book to the class. The confidence to read out loud in front of an audience is often a challenge as well.
Benefits Derived from Implementing this Best Practice:
The benefits derived from implementing this practice are: -Using grammar and vocabulary meaningfully and in context: Students learn that the different aspects of a language (vocabulary, spelling, grammar, conjugation,…) are interlinked and not separate. -Being creative quite often leads to motivation: This project fosters the conception and creation of a product (the book). For this purpose, students enjoy taking risks (using correct full sentences). -Time management: This project teaches students the importance of time management. From day one, the teacher insists on starting the project early, in order to have time for review, peer corrections, teacher’s input and finally for the creative side such as making drawings/pictures and putting together the book. -Collaboration: Quite often students rely on each other’s for help with correcting mistakes and finding the correct word, as well as for illustrating the book. -A product to share: Students are very proud of their achievement. They have a beautiful product, a “proof”, that they have worked on really hard and that they can share with classmates, family and friends, even if their audience does not know French. When presenting their books to the class, students want to show off every page. They are very proud and rightfully so. -Speaking in front of an audience: This is one of their first attempts at “presentational communication” where the student is presenting in foreign language to an attentive audience. This activity boosts self-esteem and confidence.
Evidence Illustrating Success:
Evidence illustrating success: Some students do not perform well on tests, but on this project, quite often these particular students go beyond my expectations and amaze everyone with their achievements. In addition, many students have given positive feedback during and after the completion of the project commenting on their increased interest in the language and their generated enthusiasm and pride at their accomplishments.
Additional Materials:
Submitted by: Olga Mounayar, Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities