SIOP® Lesson Plan 7th Grade ESL
Lesson 1 of 2: “Translating Fairy Tales with a clear Voice”
STANDARDS: Illinois English Language Proficiency Standard 2: Analyze and Interpret literary devices. Interpret Author’s Purpose. Rewrite stories from different points of view.THEME: Writing with Voice
LESSON TOPIC: Translation
OBJECTIVES:
Language: Using Complex sentences with specific cultural vocabulary for characters in a fairy tale
Content: Fairy Tales in each students 1st language
LEARNING STRATEGIES: Metacognition of language organization and Comparison of cultures
MATERIALS: computers with google documents and “garage band”. Various fairy tales from students’ first language
MOTIVATION: personal voice in writing
PRESENTATION: oral and guided writing
PRACTICE/APPLICATION:
Students will record their chosen fairy tale into Garage Band application on the computer.
Students will plan the writing based on the rubric. Especially focusing on specific vocabulary. They may use an online dictionary for some words.
Students will identify any linguistic idioms that are difficult to translate and find a suitable alternative.
Students will write a draft of the translation on google docs.
Students will evaluate the strength of their voice in the writing by answering the questions in the Rubric.
Is the vocabulary appropriate for the audience?
Are the word choices specific to the setting and the character?
Are the cultural references clear?
Is the story interesting?
Does the story follow a traditional plot scheme or is it different based on the culture of origin?
Students will revise the draft using the rubric.
Students will proofread their draft for sentence complexity, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, word usage.
Students will record their English version of the fairy tale on Garage Band.
Students will evaluate each others' stories looking for the cultural voice.
REVIEW/ASSESSMENT:
Oral recording of original story and English translation will be observed.
Rubric for Voice in Writing
Self-Assessment using Rubric
Lesson 2 of 2: “Translating Fairy Tales with a clear Voice”
STANDARDS: Illinois English Language Proficiency Standard 2: Analyze and Interpret literary devices. Interpret Author’s Purpose. Rewrite stories from different points of view.
THEME: Writing with Voice
LESSON TOPIC: Translation
OBJECTIVES:
Language: Using Complex sentences with specific cultural vocabulary for characters in a fairy tale
Content: Fairy Tales in each students 1st language
LEARNING STRATEGIES: Metacognition of language organization and Comparison of cultures
MATERIALS: computers with google documents and “garage band”. Various fairy tales from students’ first language
MOTIVATION: personal voice in writing
PRESENTATION: oral and guided writing
PRACTICE/APPLICATION:
(Meaningful activities, interaction, strategies, practice/application, feedback)
Students will choose a fairy tale from their native language.
Students will translate that fairy tale in two ways. First, a literal translation which includes a word by word translation of the original text into English.
Students will identify the organizational differences, idiomatic elements, cultural reference, and other barriers to literal translations of literature.
Students will write an artistic translation of the same fairy tale using the same rubric as for the fable.
Students will write a draft of the translation on google docs.
Students will evaluate the strength of their voice in the writing by answering the questions in the Rubric.
Is the vocabulary appropriate for the audience?
Are the word choices specific to the setting and the character?
Are the cultural references clear?
Is the story interesting?
Does the story follow a traditional plot scheme or is it different based on the culture of origin?
Students will revise the draft using the rubric.
Students will proofread their draft for sentence complexity, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, word usage.
Students will record their English version of the fairy tale on Garage Band.
Students will evaluate each others' stories looking for the cultural voice.
REVIEW/ASSESSMENT:
Oral recording of original story and English translation will be observed.
Rubric for Voice in Writing
Self-Assessment using Rubric
Students will write a journal entry comparing the difficulty in translating literally and artistically. They will need to explain the differences in linguistic organization and vocabulary usage.
(Reproduction of this material is restricted to use with Echevarria, Vogt, and Short (2008), Making Content Comprehensible for English
Learners: The SIOP ® Model.)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Artistic and Literal Translations
One of the key elements of global education in communication. Since I am English dominant I have a clear linguistic perspective. My students come from at least 9 different countries and may have immigrated to the U.S. or may be staying for a short time to learn English before returning to their home country. The cultural aspect of language is a major aspect of my ESL instruction. I want the students to draw from their education in their first language and apply that knowledge to English. Many of my students progress quickly in their language acquisition. I wanted to make them aware of the mental processes their brain requires when they are translating. The project that I developed took several weeks of instructional time. I think it revealed many ideas about language that my students had never considered prior to the lesson.
The major point the students learned was that literal translation of words does not communicate much meaning. They often struggled with doing a word by word translation from their first languages into English. They tended to convert the entire thought into English rather than keeping the original word order or syntax. By forcing them to do the word by word translation, the students analyzed the differences between their thinking and linguistic processes in the first language and English. Their comments demonstrated insight into both the cultural influence of words and connotations as well as the mechanical organizations of both languages.
Students commented that they finally understood the concept of "Voice" in writing. Some students were able to adapt their written voice to the purpose and audience. As English Language Learners voice in writing limited the progress in writing. While grammatical errors were still present, flexibility in voice began developing. One student stated that he never knew or even considered how his brain was working as he negotiated two languages simultaneously. Most students said this was the most difficult lesson we did all year because there were so many possible solutions and variables.
I plan to continue to adapt this unit for my students in the future. While getting a numeric assessment of the project proved difficult, the process of deep analysis that the students engaged in yielded immeasurable results.
Samples of student Writing are linked here.
The major point the students learned was that literal translation of words does not communicate much meaning. They often struggled with doing a word by word translation from their first languages into English. They tended to convert the entire thought into English rather than keeping the original word order or syntax. By forcing them to do the word by word translation, the students analyzed the differences between their thinking and linguistic processes in the first language and English. Their comments demonstrated insight into both the cultural influence of words and connotations as well as the mechanical organizations of both languages.
Students commented that they finally understood the concept of "Voice" in writing. Some students were able to adapt their written voice to the purpose and audience. As English Language Learners voice in writing limited the progress in writing. While grammatical errors were still present, flexibility in voice began developing. One student stated that he never knew or even considered how his brain was working as he negotiated two languages simultaneously. Most students said this was the most difficult lesson we did all year because there were so many possible solutions and variables.
I plan to continue to adapt this unit for my students in the future. While getting a numeric assessment of the project proved difficult, the process of deep analysis that the students engaged in yielded immeasurable results.
Samples of student Writing are linked here.
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