Tag: visual interpretation

Kuwait, Professional Development

Visual interpretation in the language B classroom

Lissa Layman

Yesterday I attended the MS/HS language B department meeting. We have both MYP & DP Language B offered in Arabic and French. One of their criterion is Visual Interpretation. The teachers wanted to learn about a few ways they could create posters (etc) for summative tasks for their students. After doing a little research, I decided to highlight 4 tools: PS Touch, Glogster, ThingLink and Tumblr. Below is the follow-up email I sent out this morning. I would love to hear about how you and your students create visual interpretation tasks & summatives in your MYP or DP language B classes! 

My reflection: First – why not use authentic realia for visual interpretation tasks? The power of language B is that it is alive and real in the world. Second – as a language B teacher and technology integration lover, my mind goes to what can my students create. The tools I presented can simply be used by staff to create tasks for the students but the real power comes when the tasks can be transformative.

  • Students create their own media (or find Creative Commons licensed media).
  • Pictures are edited using Photoshop (Instagram?) and videos could be uploaded to YouTube.
  • This media is then be used to create Glogs and/or ThingLinks.
  • The next step (towards redefinition) would be to compile the media into a Tumblr blog where students could document the journey of their visual, reflect on their visual and others’ and get input from the teacher, classmates and people around the world.

Good morning!

Thanks for letting me stop by your department meeting yesterday. I hope the tech tools you saw gave you a few ideas for visual interpretation in your classrooms. When I chose them I thought that they could be used by teachers or students to create visuals. These tools range from augmentation (PS Touch) to the possibility for redefinition (Tumbr). If you’ve found other tools, please don’t hesitate to share! Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂

Creative Commons Search – a great place to start to find media (photos, videos, audio, etc) that you are allowed to use (not copyrighted).

PS Touch (school iPad app)

  • No account needed.
  • Can create visuals with text from basic to advanced.
  • Tutorials built into app.
  • Students can email photo and/or print (or export to use in one of the options below).

Glogster (create & view on computer, view only on iPad)

  • You must create an account.
  • There is a free version that includes a 31-day premium trial.
  • Students should use Glogster.com to create accounts.
  • Great for students or teachers to create.
  • Choose your editable template. Add text, graphics, images, audio and video. Save & share the link. Can be printed.
  • CAN view on iPad (with free app) but cannot create.

ThingLink (also a free app)

  • You must create an account.
  • Great for students or teachers to create.
  • Can create and view on both computer & iPad.
  • Add an image. Then add ‘tags’ to insert text, photos, web links, music or videos. Share & save the link. Not ideal for printing.
  • Cool example

Tumblr (also a free app)

  • You must create an account.
  • You can have multiple ‘blogs’ per account.
  • Best for students to create on-going visuals throughout a unit.
  • Add text, photos, quotes, web links, chats, audio & video.
  • Students can share the link to their Tumblr blog with teachers. Not ideal for printing.
  • Has potential for redefinition (SAMR).
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COETAIL, Course 3

Qu’est-ce qu’on mange?

Lissa Layman

Visual resumés
My journey to better understanding visual literacy has been slowly progressing over the last couple of years. Mostly through discussions with Jeff. We both did a huge rework of our resumes before we applied to teach abroad. They were a hit at our Search fair (we got jobs!). I think my next rework is going to have to be another major one as I am uncomfortable making my resume any longer than 2 pages.

Infographics
When I started thinking about using an infographic in my French classes, I immediately went to Twitter to see if anyone in my PLN had something good. If I can take a couple seconds to outsource the work and not have to reinvent the wheel, I’m all for it. Karina came to my rescue and shared an amazing Pinterest board full of infographics…en français! (Merci à Gillian pour les réponses aussi!)

My class
In my MYP Phase 2 class, our current unit is about food (Qu’est-ce qu’on mange?). Our unit question is “How can cooking be good for my well-being and culture?” and our AOI is Health and Social Education.

My lesson
I found the infographic below on the blog ‘Autour de la gastronomie‘ which has numerous resources for French teachers. Although it would have to be altered for my students, I loved the layout and information! A few lesson ideas:

  • students choose a section of the graphic then discuss how/if food plays a similar role in their lives or culture (en français bien sur!).
  • in small groups students create survey questions for the school (using Google Forms). Results are tabulated and each group creates a part of the infographic (using easel.ly or similar). Surveys could also be shared on principal blogs for parents to take. Students could then compare and contrast (en français) the data from the two infographics.

COETAIL, Course 3

Visual Interpretation in MYP Language B

Lissa Layman

Another year as a Technology Coach, another year teaching French. I am once again in the MYP Language B classroom (grades 9 & 10; phases 1, 2 & 3) part time due to unforeseen circumstances. I am entering my 3rd week in the classroom and I’m expecting to be teaching a minimum of this week and next. While it has been an incredibly challenging few weeks, I’ve learned a lot about MYP assessment.

The four criterion that can be graded in Language B are oral communication, visual interpretation, reading comprehension and writing. The middle school French teacher and I have started planning our formative assessments for the next unit based on our summatives.

Phase 3 Unit 2: On fait la fête!
Unit Question: ‘How can I be organized?’
AOI: human ingenuity.
Assessment tasks: A- tell a friend about your birthday party, B- analyze & compare birthday party invitations, C- read a text about Mardi Gras & answer questions, D- write a letter to describe your birthday party

Our focus will be on organizing parties. Although the summatives will be about birthday parties, we want to include a variety of cultural events throughout the unit. My favorite ‘C’ from the US National Standards for Foreign Language is Culture!

Language B French Formative: It is July 14. You are standing on the streets of Paris. This is the image you see as you look up into the sky. In French, write a short paragraph describing the holiday you are celebrating. Then, write a dialogue between you and two friends that you might have while participating in the festivities.
Les neuf Alphajet de la Patrouille de France.