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Thematic Teaching
Welcome to the June electronic newsletter of
the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center!
What is thematic teaching? Helena Curtain
and Mari Haas write, "In thematic teaching, the curriculum
is organized around a thematic center that can originate in the
classroom, the school, the environment, or the target culture.
Activities that teach language concepts along with the content
are interrelated and are planned to fit within the framework of
a lesson or thematic unit. Such an integrated and holistic approach
is based on the premise that when students are engaged in meaningful
activities they acquire language, including writing, as natually
as they learned to walk and talk." (Integrating Foreign
Language and Content Instruction in Grades K-8)
What is a thematic teaching unit? A
thematic teaching unit is a set of lessons that uses a common theme
across the lessons for content, combining authentic target language
and culture within the three modes of communication (interpersonal,
interpretive, and presentational). This month we highlight the
thematic units published by the NFLRC as well as resources you
will find useful as you develop your own thematic units
Cindy Kendall, Newsletter
Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign
Language Resource Center
Next Issue: Mentoring, Leadership,
and Change
Focus on Our Alumni
This month we are
focusing on the
products developed by NFLRC institute alumni. The NFLRC published six
complete and ready-to-implement thematic units, three in French and
three
in Spanish, in 1998 that have been well received in the profession.
To date, over 2,500 units have been purchased at cost. The NFLRC
is currently
finalizing three more units in Spanish. These units are
examples of standards-based
thematic teaching that integrate language, culture, and subject content
for PreK-12 classrooms. Download a sample
section of a thematic unit and find out what other thematic units are
available!
Featured Website of the Month
As teachers
plan a thematic
unit, they often turn to the Internet to find source
material. This month
we bring you websites that offer a thematically-based digital library
of websites that you may find valuable for your planning.
Canadian educator
Jim Cornish created Theme Pages for Elementary Students
and Teachers, a site which offers many themes PreK-12 educators
will find interesting and "deep" in content, with materials
easily adaptable to the foreign language classroom. Our second site
is eThemes, which operates from a database
of content-rich, age-appropriate resources organized around specific
themes. The over 400 annotated resources included in this database were
originally designed to support Missouri educators but are now available
to everyone. Use the Resource Index to browse themes alphabetically
or by grade level. Use the Search feature to find resources by keyword. 42eXplore is
another comprehensive site, offering over 200 themes across multiple
content areas. This well-maintained site was created by Annette Lamb
and Larry Johnson.
Focus on Research
The ERIC Digests Thematic, Communicative
Language Teaching in the K-8 Classroom and Integrating
Foreign Language and Content Instruction in Grades K-8 provide
an overview of thematic units and how their construction and
use relates to second language
acquisition research. Teaching Interdisciplinary
Thematic Units in Language Arts, another ERIC Digest, reinforces the power
of teaching across the curriculum and how research supports its positive impact
on student achievement.
Focus on the State Level
Foreign language educators
in Michigan and Texas have created
and published standards-based learning scenarios and thematic units
that align with state and national standards.
Focus on National Level
In 1999 ACTFL
focused on thematic
teaching in its Spring Newsletter. Read the PDF version of
the article Designing a Standards-Based
Thematic Unit Using the Learning Scenario as an Organizing Framework. In
this article, Alfred Smith of Utah State University offers a brief overview
of the planning process and sample
activities.
Staying on Top with Technology
This month
we are focusing
on the latest report about technology in our nation's
schools. Education
Week released Technology
Counts 2003, providing a snapshot of what and how technology is
used in today's classrooms. An added focus in 2003 is the use of technology
as a medium of assessment to monitor student progress and achievement
on the classroom, state and national levels with computer-based testing.
Do you have great tip that makes your work easier? Send it to Cindy
Kendall, Editor.
Memories of Iowa
Farming is an integral
part of Iowa,
and visions of crops and herds are part of our Iowa memories.
A fond memory
of many participants is the vision of endless corn fields. By viewing
the Corn Cam you
can have a front row seat to the corn growing process!
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June,
2003 Iowa State University, Ames, IA
