Create A Language Global Educator Award Winner: sharon mcadam. lo b a l e d u cato r awa r d w i n n e r. Global Connections 1: Global Society

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1 g lo b a l e d u cato r awa r d w i n n e r Global Connections 1: Global Society 2015 Unit 1: My Culture, My Family Create A Language 2015 Global Educator Award Winner: sharon mcadam PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CURRICULUM

2 Create A Language At the end of the lesson students will be able to (SWAT): 1. Define the concept language. 2. Create their own language. 3. Read and answer questions about the hardest language. 4. Use K.W.L. to understand language and its difficulty to learn. 5. Identify the importance of language to culture. 6. Organize data about language and population using Gapminder. 7. Engage in journal writing. 8. Complete Content Frame on World Languages. 9. Understand the relationship between population and language. Grade Level: Grade 7 Subject: English Language Arts, Environment, History, Mathematics, Social Studies, World Languages Region: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania Materials: Computer with projector ipads/chromebooks, students personal technology devices Journals World map/atlas Class set of Content Frame For World Languages Class set of blank KWL Charts or get students to draw them in their journals Class set of the comprehension passage: The Hardest Language Class set of the VIF-created Hello World Activity Sheets Questions for journal writing/creating the Gapminder Questions for creating language Compelling Question: 1. What is the relationship between language and culture? 2. What makes a language difficult to learn? 3. What are the components of creating a language? 4. How will the continued growth of population impact the languages people speak? 5. How are languages similar and different? Activating: 1. In their journals or on lined paper, students will be asked to write a short paragraph about what they did last weekend using texting language as opposed to English Language. Give them 2 minutes. Next students will exchange papers with each other where the receiving student will be asked to rewrite in standard English what the other student wrote in texting language. Students will then share both responses, after which a discussion will

3 ensue to summarize what was learned from the activity. 2. Students will then be asked to answer the following questions: a. When did texting originate? b. How and why was texting started? c. When and how was the first text message sent? Get students to share and discuss their responses in order to check for accuracy. They can research using the internet to validate their responses. 3. Next organize students in pairs and give them the VIF-created Hello World Activity Sheet. They will do the following: Cut out the rectangles below. With a partner, match the translation of the word HELLO with the appropriate language. The pair with the most pairs correct will be given candy. 4. Have a discussion with students in order to get them to recognize the differences in the languages, e.g. what is the component of the language - symbols, characters, etc.? This will also help to make the connection between language and people. Investigating: 1. Students will be given the Content Frame For Written Languages. They will be required to find 10 different languages to complete the chart. Teacher should explain what is required for each category on the worksheet and complete at least two with the class. Next, students will use computers/ipads/chromebooks/phones to research and complete the activity. They should use the following website to gather data: After collecting and grading, return the sheets to students so they can have data for their Gapminder assignment. 2. Engage the students in a discussion about what the hardest language is based on their research in the previous activity. Students will be asked to draw a KWL chart in their journals or you can provide them with a copy of a KWL Chart. They will use this to analize the issue of the hardest language. Tell them to take 3 minutes to think about what they know about the hardest language and then to write no less than three responses in the first column of the chart (K). Share and discuss students responses. 3. Next, give them 3 minutes to think about and then record what they want to learn about the hardest language. Students record their responses in the second column (W). Share and discuss responses. 4. Now show students a PowerPoint about the hardest language ( Discuss the PowerPoint and get students to write at least three things they have learned from the PowerPoint in the final column (L). This should be followed by a discussion. At this point let students know they will re-visit their KWL chart again after reading a passage entitled, The Hardest Language. 5. Pass out The Hardest Language passage. Ask students what they think the passage is about based on the title. Share and discuss students responses. Next read the passage as a class getting different students to read different sections of the passage. Discuss. Then get students to re-read the passage quietly and answer the questions that follow. Before collecting sheets for grading, ask students to re-visit their KWL Chart and record at least four more things they have learned about the hardest language in the third column (L). 6. Collect both the KWL Chart and The Hardest Language passage for grading.

4 Synthesizing: 1. Create a Language Project. You can let students do this in pairs or individually. They should do the following for the project: a. Make an alphabet for their language. b. Provide the text orientation. c. Give the geographic location. (This can be real or fictional.) d. Give five examples of words in their language with the English translation. e. Provide a conversation using cartoon. It should be written in both their language and English. f. Write a reflective paragraph that talks about the reason for creating the language, the way it made them feel, and a global perspective (the importance, relationship and connection language has to culture). 2. Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast languages. 3. Google Form/Gapminder presenting data on languages and connection to people. Sharing: 1. Student work is displayed on the wall outside the classroom. 2. Students create presentations and discuss. 3. Talk about student work products with other students in other classes. Reflecting: 1. Pair Sharing/Discussing 2. Collaboration in groups 3. Journal writing 4. Questioning/Answering Assessing: Formative Assessments: Content Frame For Written Language The Hardest Language Passage KWL Chart Hello World Activity Sheet Summative Assessments: Creating A Language project Gapminder/Google data sheet Journal Writing (Reflection)

5 Extending: 1. Students will use Gapminder/Google Sheets to analyze and present data about the different languages researched as they relate to population and culture. 2. Reflect on the relationship language has to culture, acquisition and complexity. What would cultures be like without languages? Standards Alignment: 1. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience. 2. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research. 3. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies. 4CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. 5. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points. Print/Web Resources: Link for comprehension: Link for PowerPoint used: Link for Content Frame About Written Languages: Link for learning about Gapminder: Additional Information about languages: School: Clayton Middle School District: Johnston County Schools

6 KWL Chart A KWL Chart is a graphic organizer designed to help you learn. The letters KWL stand for What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Have Learned. The KWL Chart was invented by Donna Ogle in It was created to help students learn about what they are reading. The What I Know column is completed before reading. It allows students to call forth any prior knowledge they have on their topic. It also allows a teacher to see how knowledgeable the students are in the subject area. The What I Want to Know column is filled out throughout the reading. When the student comes across concepts that are of interest, the concepts can we addressed here. The What I Have Learned column is completed when the reading is finished. This columns let s students review their reading, so they retain more of it. (Source: Name: Date: Topic: What I Know What I Want to Know What I Have Learned

7 The hardest language Instructions: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. People often ask which is the most difficult language to learn, and it is not easy to answer because there are many factors to take into consideration. Firstly, in a first language the differences are unimportant as people learn their mother tongue naturally, so the question of how hard a language is to learn is only relevant when learning a second language. A native speaker of Spanish, for example, will find Portuguese much easier to learn than a native speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very different, so first language can affect learning a second language. The greater the differences between the second language and our first, the harder it will be for most people to learn. Many people answer that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly influenced by the thought of learning the Chinese writing system, and the pronunciation of Chinese does appear to be very difficult for many foreign learners. However, for Japanese speakers, who already use Chinese characters in their own language, learning writing will be less difficult than for speakers of languages using the Roman alphabet. Some people seem to learn languages readily, while others find it very difficult. Teachers and the circumstances in which the language is learned also play an important role, as well as each learner s motivation for learning. If people learn a language because they need to use it professionally, they often learn it faster than people studying a language that has no direct use in their day to day life. Apparently, British diplomats and other embassy staff have found that the second hardest language is Japanese, which will probably come as no surprise to many, but the language that they have found to be the most problematic is Hungarian, which has 35 cases (forms of a nouns according to whether it is subject, object, genitive, etc.). This does not mean that Hungarian is the hardest language to learn for everyone, but it causes British diplomatic personnel, who are generally used to learning languages, the most difficulty. However, Tabassaran, a Caucasian language has 48 cases, so it might cause more difficulty if British diplomats had to learn it. Different cultures and individuals from those cultures will find different languages more difficult. In the case of Hungarian for British learners, it is not a question of the writing system, which uses a similar alphabet, but the grammatical complexity, though native speakers of related languages may find it easier, while struggling with languages that the British find relatively easy. No language is easy to learn well, though languages which are related to our first language are easier. Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not necessarily make a language more difficult than another. In the end, it is impossible to say that there is one language that is the most difficult language in the world. (Passage taken from:

8 The hardest language quiz Questions: Q1 - The question of how hard a language is to learn is relevant to both first and second language acquisition. True False Q2 - Portuguese is definitely easier than Chinese. True False Q3 - A Japanese speaker may well find the Chinese writing system easier than a speaker of a European language. True False Q4 - The Hungarian alphabet causes problems for British speakers. True False Q5 - Hungarian is the hardest language in the world. True False Q6 - Hungarian has as many cases as Tabassaran. True False Q7 - Many British diplomats learn Tabassaran. True False Q8 - The writer thinks that learning new writing systems is easy. True False Q9. Which language does British diplomats and other embassy staff found to be the second hardest to learn? Q10. Which language does British diplomats find problematic and why? Q11. Which language has 48 cases? Q12. Name two things that may cause difficulties for an individual to learn another language: Q13. List ALL the languages mentioned in the passage: (Quiz taken from:

9 ANSWER KEY: The Hardest Language Question 1: False Question 2: False Question 3: True Question 4: False Question 5: False Question 6: False Question 7: False Question 8: False Question 9: Japanese The hardest language Question 10: Hungarian/ it has 35 cases (forms of a nouns according to whether it is subject, object, genitive, etc.). Question 11: Tabassaran Question 12: (Writing system/grammatical complexity, etc.) Question 13: (Japanese, Hungarian, Spanish, Tabassaran, Roman, Portuguese) Link for comprehension: Link for PowerPoint used: (Quiz answers taken from:

10 The hardest language Journal Writing: 1. Use texting language instead of the English language to tell your friends what you did last weekend. 2. When did texting originate? 3. How and when did texting start?

11 CREATE A LANGUAGE PROJECT: QUESTIONS 1. Create an alphabet for language. 2. Provide the text orientation. 3. Geographic location (can be real or fictional). 4. Write five examples of words in the created language and include the English translations. 5. Write a conversation using cartoons to present the information. (Use your language and the English translation to present the information.) 6. Write a reflection in paragraph format. The reflection should demonstrate global awareness and should include: a. Reason for creating language. b. Personal feelings about the language. c. Development process. d. Global perspective on the relationship between language and culture.

12 CONTENT FRAME FOR WRITTEN LANGUAGES Name: Date: Name of Alphabet Name of Language/ Geographic Location Text Orientation (How the language is written) Comprised of Sample/Example

13 Create a Language Project: Rubric Requirement Points Available Points Earned Alphabet 2 Geographic location 1 Text orientation (i.e. left to right, right to left, etc.) 2 What is your language made of? (vowels, consonants, characters, symbols) Five sample words with English meanings 10 5 (one point each) Sentence using your language with English translation 10 Cartoon with your language and English translation (minimum of four conversational boxes) Reflection that demonstrates global awareness and includes: - reason for creating language - personal feelings about the language development process - global perspective on the relationship between language and culture Total points available: 50 Total points earned: Comments:

14 The Hardest Language Comprehension: Rubric Requirement Points Available Points Earned Question 1 1 Question 2 1 Question 3 1 Question 4 1 Question 5 1 Question 6 1 Question 7 1 Question 8 1 Question 9 1 Question 10 2 Question 11 1 Question 12 2 Question 13 6 Total points available: 20 Total points earned: Comments:

15 Gapminder RUBRIC Requirement Define Gapminder Student provides no definition for Gapminder. Student attempts to define Gapminder. Student provides a definition for Gapminder. Student s definition of Gapminder is detailed and clear. Desribe how Gapminder is used. Student has a complete lack of understanding of the geographic location of the disease. Student has limited understanding of the geographic location(s) of the disease. Student has some understanding of the geographic location(s) of the disease. Student clearly identifies and lists the geographic location(s) of the disease. Accurately present data using Gapminder Student makes no attempt to present data using Gapminder. Student attempts to show data using Gapminder. Student shows an understanding of how to present data using Gapminder. Student clearly presents data using Gapminder. Total points available: 12 Total points earned: Comments:

16 KWL CHART RUBRIC 4 Exemplary Student has complete comprehension of the material. Student participated and completed all activities. Student completed all assignments in a timely manner and showed perfect performance. 3 Good Quality Student has proficient comprehension of the material. Student actively participated in all activities. Student completed assignments in a timely manner. 2 Satisfactory Student has average comprehension of the material. Student mostly participated in all activities. Student completed assignments with help. 1 Not There Yet Student does not comprehend material. Student did not participate in activities. Student did not complete assignments. Comments:

17 student learning products

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