Practical Proficiency Podcast
Where world language teachers gather to transition to proficiency oriented instruction through comprehensible input. All through practical, real-life, teacher-friendly ideas that make teaching language more joyful! Hosted by Devon of La Libre Language Learning.
Practical Proficiency Podcast
#24 - Innovative Literacy Strategies for Language Teachers with DigiGals: Jen Degenhardt & Theresa Marrama
The Digigals, Jennifer and Theresa, have written a combined 120 novels for world language classes. Listen with us as the Digilangua creators, known as the Digigals in their dynamic duo, answer real community questions from the Practical Proficiency Network teachers about how to better use novels in the target language to promote literacy and acquisition in world language.
Check out Digilangua - an e-reader platform for comprehensible novels: https://www.digilangua.net/
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What's up? Que lo que Et salut world language teachers. Welcome to the Practical Proficiency Podcast, where we make the transition to proficiency-oriented instruction in your world language class in a way that works for you, your unique context and teaching style, and doesn't sacrifice your well-being along the way. I'm your host, devon Gunning, the teacher author, conference host, curriculum creator and consultant behind La Libre Language Learning. This podcast is for the creative world language teacher like you who's ready to ditch the overwhelming pressure of switching to acquisition-driven instruction and CI overnight. You're ready to discover how using more target language in class can actually bring you and your students more joy instead of adding to your plate. With practical, authentic and down-to-earth strategies that don't require reinventing the wheel or more training, we'll work together towards the magic of a community-based, target-language-rich classroom rooted in the power of community and comprehensible input. Let's go with my guest today on the Practical Proficiency Podcast.
Speaker 1:If you are watching this, you get to see the wonderful Jen Dagenhart and Teresa Marama are here from the DigiGals to talk all your questions about using novels and expanding literacy in the world language classroom. So y'all get really excited. We were just chatting before this that, like I put on mascara for this. It's a big deal. We're so excited for you to learn about this.
Speaker 1:This is a really exciting partnership that I'm starting with DigiLangua to make sure that it is easier than ever for you to work with novels in your classroom. I'm so excited for them to talk more about all the knowledge that they have. They actually shared a lot of these amazing ideas about literacy in the world language classroom by coming in and giving an amazing, dazzling workshop with the Practical Proficiency Network, and so they had this amazing idea of, after we did this workshop, let's go do this on the podcast and use these real questions from real teachers about what it looks like to be promoting more literacy through novels in the classroom. So, without further ado, we're going to answer some of these awesome questions from y'all the community. First, I want to give y'all a chance to introduce yourselves and talk a little bit more about how amazing you are, jen start us off.
Speaker 2:Bit more about how amazing you are, jen. Start us off. Hi, I'm Jen Degenhardt. I have been a Spanish teacher for over 30 years. Currently I'm teaching at the college level and I'm the author of about 40 stories, but translated to other languages. I've about published 105 books and I am half of the DigiGal extravaganza here and thrilled to let you know about our platform and some ideas to get you started with reading, because we need to be doing more of it in the class and it really does lessen your load as a teacher. So, terry, go ahead.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so thanks for having us, devin. We're excited to be here. I'm Teresa Orama and I'm a French teacher in northern New York. I've been teaching for 18 years and I also have published some novels in French that have been adapted to Spanish, italian, german and English, so we hope we can share some fun information with you about readers today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, boom, all right. Well, perfect, let's get into it. I mean, y'all they got matching jackets, they got the books with them. This is how you know it's real. This is how you know. So here's the first question that a member from this program asked. That is a great way to start us off is just thinking about well, when you want to get started with a class novel, what does that look like? And somebody was asking specifically about the novel Xenics, for, like, how do I get started with some pre-reading activities? How do you prime the pump for this? So walk us through what this looks like if you want to start with novels as a whole class together.
Speaker 3:I'll jump in. Okay, you jump in, it's your book. So I happen to teach Zeniques to my French four students and I always start pre-reading with just priming the pump with questions that are going to get the students engaged and connected to the themes in the book. But specifically with that book, there's a lot of geography that can be discussed ahead of time map chats. The book is based on art, right, so it's the first female graffiti artist from Senegal. Africa is the story, is the story and just asking you know what is art, what do you see as art? So, finding the themes woven in the novels which there are many different novels with different themes and knowing what's going to adhere and connect most with your students, and finding ways to ask questions that are going to get your students thinking about the topics and interested in what they're about to read, I second that.
Speaker 2:I think getting students interested in what's going to happen, what's going to come up in the book, is key. And for a this is not about Zen Inks, because I don't teach that, I teach Spanish but for a novel that I'm reading this semester with my students, I had to pre-teach a lot of the history, and even in English, just so they would have a basis for what's going on and you know what takes place in the story and why. So you know going into history a little bit of very basic economics. Geography is wonderful and that's a great discussion. Just reviewing cardinal directions is getting kids involved and and they like the fact that they can get the answers right away, like they know that they know geography and you can review that with a map. So there's a whole bunch of things to get started. What else do you do Terry with? With Xenix?
Speaker 3:Well, the map chat. I have to tell a really funny story. It just happened today because I'm introducing, I'm doing pre-reading right now with Zenique, so it's kind of cool. This question came up and we did geography chat, map chat, and today one of the students I asked the question in French, you know, does Senegal have access to a sea or to an ocean? Is it on a port right? And they're like oh yeah, I know this, it's the Atlantic Ocean, it's right next to the Atlantic Ocean. Of course, it was all in French and they're like I don't think I would have known that otherwise unless we talked about this, like thought about what ocean is near Africa, you know, on the eastern, yeah, the western coast of Africa. And they're like we just randomly learned. I'm like well, this is important, it's world geography, so it is very relevant. When you say it's relevant, it's relevant. They need to know this stuff.
Speaker 1:It's important. That's so cool that you're doing it right now in real time.
Speaker 3:It's real and it's really cool. We talk about some of the artwork that's actually displayed in, like you know, the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York City and the MoMA, and they're like wait, are those both in New York City? So like there were things that they put together for their own state, that they live in, that they didn't even think about. Oh wait, those are two major art museums that are located in New York city. I didn't never realize they were in the same city, right? So it's kind of cool. Like they didn't know that art traveled from one place to the other. Like they exhibit, yeah, so it was cool, things that we talked about.
Speaker 2:I think, as teachers, if we go in thinking not in a negative way, just thinking that they first of all they don't know what they don't know and it's not their fault. So just make it an exploratory thing, invite them to be curious about things, to make those kinds of connections, because curiosity is what's going to lead to more learning and when they're excited about it it could be the dullest piece of reading ever. I've written a few of those and they're still interested because they can find some sort of nugget to latch onto for the rest of the time. You're doing the story. So getting students' interest, piquing their interest is so important.
Speaker 3:And pictures too. I'll throw pictures up on my board of just everyday life in Senegal today now and I'm like what do you notice? What do you see? How does this compare to where you live? So, just getting them thinking about life in Senegal, life in Africa and some things they're surprised about and other things they're like oh I, you know, that doesn't. I figured that or I didn't know. They wore really bright colors or it was. You know, wow, their flag is really different, like even down to the flag and the colors of their flag. So that was all part of my pre-reading activity stuff.
Speaker 1:And the magic of that, too, really speaks to me as the teacher who's like oh, that's not going to take a lot of prep. Like you could Google search a couple images really quickly. I don't have to make a bunch of pre-made questions you get to. It sounds like what you're doing with them is you get to flow with what their own curiosity is, and so you don't. There's not a lot of prep involved with that, but even better, you get to fly in the moment with what students are saying, what they're actually interested in and where the conversation takes you.
Speaker 3:Which is the beauty of teaching with the novels. It opens up this whole other discussion that may never have happened if you don't have those novels as like a pinpoint. You know it's really, it's fun, they enjoy it.
Speaker 2:And organic conversation too, and I think that that getting students involved in in conversation and realizing you know what can come next, and teaching students that well, maybe, if you don't have anything to say, then ask a question. And I find sometimes you know maybe not with the college students so much, but with younger kids that really their conversation skills are a little bit lacking. A little bit lacking right now, even in English, even in, you know, in their native language. So, or or whomever you know, whatever native language they have, and just getting them thinking like okay, well, what's the next logical question? If you say that Senegal is in Africa, you know? My next logical question is where in Africa? And asking and really you know latching on to that word why, why, why? That will always generate more conversation. I know I've spoken with some teachers who are hesitant to do this kind of lesson because they're not very confident in their own speaking skills. This is one way to improve your speaking skills. They don't remember, they don't know if you're making a mistake. Okay.
Speaker 3:And the beauty, Jen, the beauty of that is like you said, Devin, you don't have to script anything out, but if you're not comfortable enough with it yet the topic or it is, you can script it out you can take the time script it out. So you do have that. I don't know the um support right. Your cheat sheet.
Speaker 1:Your cheat sheet yes, language chunks of your own yeah that's a really great way to get started like, especially with the, with the pre-reading activities, with the novels. And I want to draw back to the, the conversation that we had last week, like while we were as a group with with my members, that you said something really crucial here, both of y'all that it's a good idea, before you start doing something a little bit more loose like free, voluntary reading, that it's a good idea to start with a whole class novel first, which I've never heard before. I was like, oh, I wish I knew that earlier, because it is really helpful. Tell us more about why you think that's a really important first step to do.
Speaker 2:You want me to go first? Sure, I'll go first, okay, I think. Well, students aren't reading as much as they used to anymore, and I think any time that we have the opportunity to teach students how to read, and how to read well, it's beneficial. And if you're going through the novel together, you get to the opportunity to point out what they already know. You know, doing a cognate search and making sure, say really so. So basically, what's what is that paragraph saying? Okay, well, you know the, the rat is, or the mouse is afraid of the cat, or not afraid of the cat, or something like that.
Speaker 2:I'm using one of Teresa's novels, or or the. The main character is writing some text messages to her friend and really, that's really all you need to know, right, that's going on in the chapter, it's not, they don't need to know every single word. And to lessen that fear, you know, lower that effective filter, that, don't worry, you don't know every single word in English either. Just press on, my friend, it's going to be okay. And um, and choosing a novel for your first class novel. That might be a little bit lower than the level that they're in. So they're like, yeah, I can read this, right, and getting really excited to uh building up that confidence.
Speaker 3:What did I forget? No, that's great, and you touched upon everything. I think too is like with the comprehensible novels, my students, we I have the same students for five years in a row and still some of them I'm like there's a glossary in the back of the book, that last thing, what a word means. And I'm like there's the glossary, like Like, you can do all this on your own, really, once I teach you how to do it. So here are the tools. We just have to show them how to use the tools, and I think by reading the class novel first, together, you're showing them how to use the tools that they have right in their hand, which is the book that has everything footnoted or glossed in the back of the book.
Speaker 2:So I just think it's important to model that before we send them off to grab a book and expect them to know how to use it properly. I you know. Adding on to that, that footnote thing. It came up even in college and these are not first year college students coming in and I said I asked them what the word meant and they said I don't know. And I said it's footnoted on the page. I said do you see the little number after the? I mean really this is the conversation we had. Do you see the little number after the word yes? Okay, well, then move your eyes down to the bottom of the page. I mean they just skip over that stuff. So I mean these are all skills that are cross-curricular. So that's wonderful to promote that. And with these comprehensible novels too, the glossaries are comprehensive. Every word in the story is glossed in the back of the book, so there should be no problem whatsoever in finding what the meaning of a word is.
Speaker 1:Oh, and that's like the brilliance of this being such a big time saver thing is doing a novel with your class. I remember when I was doing a novel with my class, it's the oh my God, like all the work is done for me, Like I can do weeks and weeks of content like this. It's all here in this one book. I don't have to make new stuff to talk about every day with students and all the scaffolding is a lot of it's already in the book with the glossary and everything.
Speaker 2:It really is like a huge time saver it is amazing, it's amazing and it's and not only a time saver but it's a connective tissue from class to class. If you're only doing little mini units every day, you know some kids don't, um, you know, can't cut back into it, right. But with the novel, you just start out the next day like, ok, remind us what's going on, you know two to three minutes and then move on into the lesson. Right, just like those math teachers who get to review the homework I mean, I was always jealous of them who got to review the homework and then move into the new stuff. But this is a way to keep you know, keep what's current with the students and remind them. Okay, remember, we're reading about this, these are the characters, what's going on. And again, you know, with the comprehensible input, it's repetition, repetition, repetition, input, input, input. So it's okay if you're repeating, it's okay, the ones that need it, we'll get it repeating.
Speaker 1:It's okay, the ones that need it will get it. Oh, that's so good and it's a nice reminder too. Is that students like coming back to the same language over and over again? And with a novel, it gives them a fun way to do it because they're reading a story. That's what we want to do anyways. All right, we got another question with this too, and so, when it comes to, as you're starting to Like what happens with the, do you do writing activities with this? Like, do you have to do accountability with novels? What is what's your stance on like doing activities as you go along with the novel?
Speaker 3:I'll start. So for me, I have five preps so I teach five different classes every day and every class I teach a novel every quarter. So that's four times five is 20 books, right? I, for sanity purposes, I have accountability, but it's just in different ways, based on how much my students can do, right? So, for example, accountability writing might be for my level fours where we've read a couple chapters.
Speaker 3:I put an opinion question on the board and they walk in my room and let's say it's a bell ringer, kenyon, does Zenix really love the art that she does? And why? You know, why do you think the art that's happening in the book is important to the people of Senegal? You know something just to get them thinking. But stuff, I know that if they need the book with them while they complete the writing accountability activity, they can use the book to help them. So they have the scaffolding right.
Speaker 3:But it's my way of getting them to reread, it's tricking them to reread. So I do a bunch of different things like that and it might not be a bell ringer. We read the chapter and then I will put a list of specific things I want them to pull out of the chapter or the problems in the chapter and my seventh graders can do it in French or they can do it in English, so it's whatever they're comfortable with, right. So not not forcing them output, but allowing them to reread, to be part of the review or whatever activity is to promote the discussion. Jen, do you have certain things that I? I mean that's a very broad answer. There's a ton of things I do, but those are some ideas.
Speaker 2:Yeah too. Well, sometimes we read together and then I will just ask questions about what's going on, just to check for understanding. And I don't do as much accountability as I would if I were teaching high school or middle school because you know the onus really is on the student at the college level. But I have, you know, I have them work in a workbook, you know, and answer the questions, but that's just to practice their writing skills and with no penalty. It's practice. So you do it, do it well, work with somebody if you don't know how to do it.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, language is a skill rather than something to be mastered by or some certain amount of content to be mastered, and I think that you know. I just asked my students this week, you know, what do you think about second language learning? And they came up with some great things. Like you know, we don't have the culture in this country that really values learning language and it's so important to do. And for my courses, and I think when I taught high school too, I don't want to kill that spirit. Like, if they're you know they want to learn. Like, have at it, pick the words you want to learn, you know if you want to talk about. You know Dungeons and Dragons. Go ahead, learn those words. I don't know them. You know, I know I could make a dragon, but I don't know what a dungeon is. And you know, I know I could make up dragon, but I don't know what a dungeon is, and you know, and we'll just, we'll just figure it out, but you know, I'll get interested because the student is interested. You know that sort of thing. I mean, um, I have a lot of students who are business majors and finance majors, but very, very not so exciting to me, right, but I'm into because they're into it. They want to learn that vocab. I'll figure it out, you know that kind of thing. Or help them discuss what they want to with words that they know. Ok, early words that I know. Let's be honest about that.
Speaker 2:So I even forgot the question. So here we go. We're just having a middle age moment. So the accountability, oh, the accountability, yeah, I mean I don't do as much as I would because I the assumption is that they're going to come in and do it, and I think if you create that atmosphere where you lower that effective filter and everything's not so grade oriented, that they might actually just do the work. I'm finding that more this semester than I have since I started teaching college and I've just let it be like just come in, I want you to learn something, I want you to learn something. I want you to learn something, I want you to be thinkers. You know we are a very privileged group of people here in this class. Be thinkers, and I just invite that, and I've gotten a lot of success so far. I mean success. So far.
Speaker 3:I mean, we've only had four classes, so stand by, yeah, but it's great. It's great With my lower level kiddos. I'm the teacher who has like 50 questions either, or right. So they're hearing a million repetitions of like il est grand, il est petit, il est en garçon. You know what I mean. So I come up with tons of that and then I'll put it on the board and it's already made because I used a novel or taught it before. So I do a lot of either or stuff with my younger level kiddos, or true, false stuff, where you know I'll have them create a few sentences from each chapter and then they have to decide what's true, what's false, or ways to get them up and moving. There's so many different ways. It's just a matter of what level are your students and what do you expect of them. Right, what do you know they can do and not do?
Speaker 2:Right, because, again, to get them to want to be in the class and learn another language, it can't be. You know a pressure cooker and you know. And if some activities work for your students and some don't pick the ones that do, okay, like there are people I know there are people out there to say you should do this activity this way, well, listen, if it doesn't work that way, then then really, I mean here's this is going to be winner. Winner chicken dinner advice for me Don't do it. If it's not working, don't do it.
Speaker 2:Okay, I mean yeah, they pay me the big bucks over there.
Speaker 1:So there's so many options that people can do with novels Like you can even like check in with the English department and see, like, what are some ways that you check for understanding at the end of a novel. But the heart of what I'm hearing from both of you is that it's so much more fun, so much more engaging and so much more personalized when you give students the opportunities to explore their own language, explore their own interests and help foster a sense of curiosity with working with the activities that you know that they like and are going to let them have. Still working with language in a structured way, like you said, like with level ones, you're giving them either or questions, but you know the questions that don't work. You toss them and you move on to the next one and don't lose sleep over it. So it's the same type of accountability activities that you would do with other things, but it seems like novels in general from what you're saying too. The beauty of it is that it's supposed to ignite an excitement for learning about something new.
Speaker 1:So accountability isn't really a full focus of what you're trying to do, like literacy is the focus. So I have a. I have a spontaneous question, since we're on it, just thinking about it. Like you've talked about how important literacy is in the classroom, especially in world language, what is it about literacy that you think really helps with being a language teacher and helping to foster more words in people's heads and with helping them to understand that whole, like understanding more language and appreciating language more? Like what the focus on literacy? What?
Speaker 2:Do you have? I have an answer yes, go ahead, okay, I well, I, I think students should read and I think you know, the the more words that you have in your brain, the more thoughts you can come up with in different ways. And I mean, yeah, so this again, paying me the big bucks, but and coming up with connections between the languages and also connections you know within, within the target language itself. We were just talking today about pensamientos and sentimientos, so thoughts and feelings, and we, it was on, it was on a vocabulary quiz. A vocabulary quiz I gave only to get them there on time, not because I really care if they got a good grade, okay. So, yeah, I gotta, I gotta work with what I got here and they were all on time, on time. And so in thinking like, okay, well, pensamiento, where does it? What verb does that come from? Oh, pensar, and then you can bring up I like this stuff, like oh, and the word pensive in English, three for one. Right there, you got two words in Spanish, one in English and you're heading on to your SATs if you're going that route.
Speaker 2:Sentimiento and the questions that were generated in class today were good, like, well, sentir, you know that means to feel right and I said, yeah, sentimiento here, you know, pensamiento here and just making those connections for students. And it's not about checking a box. You know, we've just gotten so rubric and so pyramided and so box checked. Okay, I made up all that stuff all by myself. Right now, that it's not. We're not allowing students to think and they like it, they love it when they can put some stuff together like, oh yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:I mean so and I think also my other, my other comment about reading in in a target language is it's more of a game, right, for students. I mean English reading is drudgery because we've made reading, you know, something not to be enjoyed. I don't know why, because it's so wonderful, but reading in English is drudgery. And well, don't get me started about why they teach the Odyssey in the ninth grade, because that's a whole other thing altogether right, give them something that's accessible to them where they're going to dive in. You can do the hero's journey and a whole bunch of other novels, just saying folks, but also, like you know, trying to put stuff together, because another language is kind of like a puzzle and I don't know.
Speaker 2:It sort of removes the. I think it removes the stress if the teacher allows for that stress removal. Just make sure that you keep repeating it's okay if you don't know all the words, it's okay if you don't get anything, it will come because it will. It will because you've already proven, you've done it once, you already speak one language, you already communicate in one language. And allowing them to just relax Because a lot of them also said to me in their responses to the question this week was I had some really bad experiences in high school and I said I get it, my friend, I get it.
Speaker 2:You know, don't grammar them to death. I just made that a verb, See. I mean, we know what I'm talking about when I say don't grammar them to death. It's not a verb. I don't think it's a verb, but don't do it. Ok, don't do it. And, but you know, allow for that communication. You'll be surprised what they come up with.
Speaker 3:In the sense of success and the way the students feel when they complete a reader as opposed to completing reader, as opposed to completing a vocabulary quiz. Right Like, where's the win? Where's the win in that? Like? The students were all like I cannot believe we read four books this year, like, and we can talk about them freely in the target language. I mean, my seventh graders can by the end of the year and it's like now isn't that something to be like? Pat yourself on the back for it. That's a huge accomplishment.
Speaker 2:Especially, I think, for for those kids who come in, like your seventh graders, Terry, who come in not knowing anything and then they're able to read a book by the end of the year. I mean that's fascinating. It always fascinates me. Level one is my favorite.
Speaker 3:And it's so cool to see their, their gains right, their progress yeah, absolutely, and not everybody progresses at the same time. But just to see that they can put a word on the paper that makes sense to what we read in the last five chapters, like that's a win it is.
Speaker 2:It's a total win it's a win and I think you know that's where we get into, where you as the teacher and you as the expert in the language delivery process, whatever that is. Clearly I don't know all the right words, but you get to make those calls Right. I mean I tell the students, don't worry, you know, because I've got kids who are native speakers in the same class as somebody who just popped out of high school not having taken language before because they went to a technical high school. Well, obviously I can't evaluate them on the same scale, because you know what I mean. I'd be out of a job, they'd be crying in their, in their soup and that'd be, that'd be the end of the story. So you know, be be malleable as you would want people to be malleable with you.
Speaker 1:Well said, I knew that y'all would sell it for sure, because it's not just like the average activity. There's so much power in using a book in class with any kind of literacy that you're doing To make this more accessible to both students and teachers. We had some questions that were really valuable about when you're working with new language, especially maybe something that students haven't seen before, or you're like in the middle of a book. What are some ways that you can make language more accessible to them? We talked about glossaries and I know that you mentioned modeling before in the workshop that we did previously. So what are some strategies you use to make sure that students have access to the language as they're reading?
Speaker 3:I have posters everywhere in my classroom for, like the super seven verbs. You know things like that. We always create anchor charts. So, like my kiddos and I will, after we read a chapter we'll be like, okay, what words do you feel were the hardest to figure out through context clues? Or you know, we just talk about it, talk about the chapter, like, well, I had no idea what this word meant. I definitely had to look it up in the glossary.
Speaker 3:So as a class, I'll be like, does anyone else feel the same? Who else had difficulty? And I just make an anchor chart, and especially with the words I know get repeated through the whole book. So it's not like they'll only see that word in chapter two. They need the anchor chart because they're going to see it in chapter three, they're going to see it in chapter four. But that's work on my part, where I kind of have a list ahead of time and a lot of times the questions, the words that they provide are words on the list and if they aren't, I put them up there anyway because it's a new word and some of them will never forget it, some of them will never remember it again. But I'm big with anchor charts, my big sticky notes.
Speaker 2:And with regard to making the language accessible, we're doing we started a story which is a little bit above their level for reading, and it's there's a lot of, there's a lot of grammar structures in there that they've never seen before. So I'm just making it a point to point it out. Said you know, we read, we're reading the chapters together to start with, but they are supposed to pre-read. I don't know if they do. You know, come in, but this is what it is and this is what you should be looking for, and just point it out. You don't need to use it, but just know what it is, know what you're looking at, know what you're reading. You know, making it just sort of like oh all right, it's something that I can, you know, keep putting in my back pocket, for, you know, maybe chapter 10, maybe by chapter 10, I'll figure it out, maybe I'll we'll ever figure it out, but I'm I'm big on use the language that you think you're going to need to express yourself.
Speaker 1:That's really good advice and it seems like it's going to be as you work with students, like the words that they need will become clear the more that you do this, the more that you work with them on this. All right, the last question I have for you from the workshop that we did together is there were a couple of questions. We're going to bundle them all together with this one, which is what are your advice, suggestions, tips for different age groups, working with text in the classroom, literacy in the classroom. So we had questions about, like, what about high school? What about middle school? You work with college students. Any ideas for what do you suggest for working with different age groups?
Speaker 2:You want to start, Terry? You want to start with? Well, I just happen to have our new book, Okay. Well, how am I doing here? Not very well, you can't really see it. I don't know how to work this technology. I'm sorry you guys. It's called Vernes et Ses Amis in French and it's very repetitive and you can use this. It's not really coming in, is it?
Speaker 1:You see a little bit coming towards you A little bit. Well, anyway, I see a tomato.
Speaker 2:It's a picture book and it has a lot of repetition and I think that for using novels, you know this isn't really a novel but this is a storybook and it has a beginning, a middle and an end and a problem and something to talk about and using using a book. As a language arts teacher would use a book with the younger level kids, you're just doing the same thing but just in the target language. Okay, and you know, and I don't know any um, you know the FLETS program very well at all but you know it's a lot of repetition and it's a lot about animals and food and colors and days of the week and and just keep repeating, you know, and making it fun for them. So I think you know you can do that all the way up to, you know, upper elementary and just choose books that are at their level and their interest level.
Speaker 3:And it's okay to choose books that are even a little bit below their level, because the conversation that comes out of, like, my French fours are reading Zeniques right now and that is not a French four level book, it's a novice, it's a novice reader, but they're obviously intermediate students. But the conversation that comes out of that reader is just amazing because at that level they can provide full sentences, they can provide opinions, but the book is just giving it's just the avenue for discussion, right. So I just think it's keeping in mind your students, what interests them. Make sure you figure out what interests them, because if you don't care enough to find out their interests, it can flop. Your readers can flop, yeah, your class novels especially.
Speaker 2:And also, you know, right now is that there's so much culture background in there and allowing that novel, like Terry said, to be the jumping off point for so many other discussions and at students' level, because they do want to discuss these things, they want it to be important. They don't necessarily always want it to be about, you know, I don't know the dog who runs away from home because he didn't get the right food or something. They don't always want that. You know, that's nice for a quick read sometimes. But students, I don't think we give them enough credit. Sometimes they're very interested in things.
Speaker 3:And they want to learn about different ways and cultures and people.
Speaker 2:Yes, and honestly, that will make them much better.
Speaker 2:It will make them much better college students, so send them on up folks but also make them better world citizens, and I think we can do our part as world language teachers in that sense. And I think we can do our part as world language teachers in that sense. So, middle school, same thing with middle school. It's key about using any kind of books with your students that is at, or a little bit below their level. That's really important because you want to create the feeling of success with them. They need to feel that success, just like trying anything else that's new.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you start with making, you know you want to cook and you want to make cocoa vent, I mean, listen, I'm not, I'm not, I don't pick anything to make in my kitchen if it has more than six ingredients, because I'm not. You know, I'm not really great at that, right. So you know, think about it that way. Think about you know the way students learn music these days too. I mean they get to play around a little bit. You know you get a little bit of structure. You play around. You know, giving them a song to learn, this is the same, the same sort of thing. You know, give them something. You know, I don't want to start singing Bonnie Raitt here, but give them something to talk about singing Bonnie.
Speaker 1:Raitt here, but give them something to talk about. That's such a good point, too, is that I think we don't. We get really focused on like I need to make sure that they know these words, or at least how this whole structure works so that they can use it. So that they can use it. And then it's like well, when are you going to give them a chance to use it? When are you going to give them a chance to play around with it? And this because it's it's really hard to do that in a world language classroom, Like there's a lot of constraints. So this is a nice, easy, playful way for students to experiment with language and to do it in a safe environment where they don't have to come up with the language. They're exploring it, they're learning about new things. It's, yeah, very freeing in that way. Where they do they get to learn some songs by going chapter by chapter with that? That's very cool, Awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm sure that people are like me and are just dying to see, like, what are some of the books that you have out there on your platform? Can you tell us a little bit more about DigiLingua and what it offers? And for the folks at home who are listening. We will, Don't worry, we'll narrate along for you so that you can see. But if you're watching, I would love to see what some of the things are that you have in the DigiLangua library.
Speaker 2:And while Teresa's getting set up there, digilangua is a platform it's kind of like a world language LMS, and we've put our books on this platform with audio. So it's a digital book and audio for most of the books and all of our books are on there and teachers can access the entire library. But you can also choose which books that your students have access to. So you don't want them to have the access in English and in the target language because they're going to read the English one. So you can toggle your way through and eliminate the books that you don't want your students have access to. Same thing, if you're doing free, voluntary reading and you want to have your students only have access to the level one books, right, because you don't want them jumping into. Oh, I really want to read. You know, I want to read Le Petit Coup de man Amicale, but it's too hard for me. Yeah, don't give them a book that's too hard. They'll be frustrated. So you know, sort of tailoring it a little bit to what they can do. What else should we tell them? Terry, teachers have options to put in their own questions to you know, multiple choice questions to verify student comprehension, and they're auto graded. Isn't that the cool thing.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and you can also put in an assessment, for example. You know if it's a snow day or something or whatever, and you say, okay, well, check, there's an assignment there on the LMS, on the DigiLongo LMS. You know, do that assignment and submit it into your own LMS. You know your school's LMS, or something like that. What else did I students on on this platform, we have no access to any student information none. So it's COPA compliant and ED2. Is that what it's called 2d law? Yeah, 2d law, yeah, and um, it's. It's really a game changer. Oh, and if we access a book, a single book right now, the this is my absolute favorite feature of this um, um, pick one that has some audio yeah, I, I'm going to go to.
Speaker 3:Spanish, I'll go to La Chica.
Speaker 2:Nueva. Oh, okay, la Chica Nueva. So if we go to La Chica Nueva and we're looking there at the chapters you can play, at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen is how you play the chapter and this is the best thing ever. On the bottom right-hand corner there is a velocity, I don't know what you call it, so a speed. You can slow it down or speed it up and for some students who need that extra, you know, jolt in their ear and a little bit slower for pronunciation purposes, it is perfect.
Speaker 2:Um, I recommend that very highly, especially for um, spanish, if you have some kids who have some speech language issues, for them to listen to it while they are reading. You know Spanish being phonetic, it's, it's um, it's easy to grasp onto and um, actually it was a way that I determined. You know I are diagnosed in myself, one of my students now who might have a little bit of trouble with with reading, who is a heritage speaker. So you know, just, it just helps them out, you know, gives them a fighting chance to get it right.
Speaker 3:And on the online. The books also have the glossaries as well, so you can go to the glossary still and look up the words if you have questions about any vocabulary in the text.
Speaker 2:Right. My students say that it helps them a lot, and a lot of the audio on this is professionally produced by Submarino Amarillo Studios in Venezuela. It's a friend of ours who's doing the background and helps with the sound effects and stuff like that, so it helps tell the story a little bit for those students who need that extra hook or who need that extra boost with oh okay, so the door is going to open. That's what that must be, what that means, or something like that.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, did you mention the themes, Jen, that they can toggle. I didn't get there, no, go ahead. So also on the site you can toggle by language level and the cool part is is if you're teaching you know a unit on identity or travel or social justice and human rights, we put all of our readers into their corresponding themes so you can find them really easily that way, which is really cool.
Speaker 2:And to provide a recommendation to all the teachers listening, you can find a novel that will complement what's going on and help keep the conversation going. Instead of that list of 75 vocabulary words on technology, you know only three of them that you use yourself, even though you've been speaking the target language for years.
Speaker 1:We all know it, though, so those of you who are listening is that these come in multiple languages. So what are the languages that y'all offer currently that people can get books in for anybody who's listening only?
Speaker 3:Yep, so we have readers in French, Spanish, German, Italian as well as English.
Speaker 2:And the books. Sometimes I have suggested this to a couple of my students who are really struggling. I said, okay, well, listen, I'm gonna give you access to the English book. Blow through that first, and just so you have an idea of what's supposed to be happening, right, I mean, is it a cheat? Sure, but you know what I'm all about making them feel like they can do it, and so you know, making that connection as they go along. And I think you know as a, you know as a teacher, you can, you can make that those choices and use your discretion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great and well and honestly, I have a surprising amount of people who actually teach English abroad and listen to this podcast, so don't be surprised if you have people who are like Ooh, I have some English readers that I can use in my classroom. This is awesome.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful, yeah, cause we are really. We think the books are really suited, well-suited for English language learners, and we're slowly getting the audio for the English books. And oh, I just wanted to mention, just so you know, that we're not running off to Tahiti on all of y'all's subscriptions. So you can do a monthly subscription for $29. Is that what it is, teresa? Mm-hmm? Okay, and then, or a yearly subscription starts whenever you know. You sign on on March 3rd, it's good till the following March 2nd, right? So for $199 and up to 180 students. So if you only need it for a month, just get a month. You want to try it out? We've got a free trial, yeah, but I use it with my students and they like it too, because it was less costly for them this semester to get books for my class, because they're going to be able to use this online for their literature circles instead of having to buy a book. So I think it does a service to a lot of students in different ways.
Speaker 1:For sure, and y'all have on the bottom of your of the I think it's on the main page somewhere, what we were looking at earlier that there's all kinds of access and help for people who are using school funding. There's a, there's a letter template that we saw here like a bunch of forms that anybody needs to download. Purchase orders like this. This is easy for you to go through school funding with this yes, yep, it's all downloaded.
Speaker 3:Downloadable on the bottom of the website RW9. Is there? Approval request letter? Everything that you need to download and submit to your department is there for you.
Speaker 2:And if you don't have, you would like to start FBR in your classroom and you don't have the funds to buy you know a good chunk of books that will be available to different levels that you teach. I mean this might be a good way to start, you know, just ease into it and then you can find out from your students which books they really like and just make the purchase of those books. And we're always coming out with new ones Every day. Yeah, we're, we don't do anything else.
Speaker 1:We teach Amazing. This is so exciting. I'm really stoked for people to jump onto this and see all the powerful things that you have on your on your ebook platform here and the over a hundred books that you have for them to check out. With all this, all the different features, too, that work well in tandem with teaching the novel, as well with all the ready-made questions that's so awesome. So thank you so much for sharing this with teachers. It's such a great resource.
Speaker 2:Our pleasure. Thanks for having us today, Devin.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, yeah, so much knowledge with us. This is so exciting. I think it's going to be so much easier for people to not only be be they got the fire. Now they know that, like literacy has got to happen, like this is. This is really something that's going to help you spark all the things that you want from students. You want to talk. You want to expand curiosity. You want to talk more in the target language with them. You want to expand curiosity. You want to talk more in the target language with them. You want to prep less. Like this is a really fun, easy way to do it. So let's land on this. Here is what would you hope would be like a good, what's the most important final takeaway that you have for teachers with working with books in the world language classroom in general? What do you hope for them that they get out of this session that we've done here together?
Speaker 3:I think, from my perspective, if you're not doing any type of reading like you need to start today, like that reading, whether it's starting with you know one pager, a story, then going to the novels, like whatever it is that's going to spark your students reading. That habit has to start somewhere. And if it's not happening now in your classrooms, like find a way to slowly get it started, because once it starts it'll just keep growing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it will expand and blow up in the best way possible. And you stole my answer, terry. But also I think that, oh, I lost my train of thought again. I'm so sorry. Yeah, just start. The only wrong way to do reading is just to hand students the book. You know, be interactive with it, you know, make it come alive and you're going to have, you're going to have so much fun and it lessens your planning so much, so so much. You will. You think that it's hard. It's not hard, you know. And once you get into a flow, you're like oh yeah, this is what the English teacher does Easy, peasy, right, and it is.
Speaker 1:and the words are easier teacher does Easy peasy right, and it is, and the words are easier too. So there's that. Yeah, so true. Yes, yes to all of that. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. This is amazing. I wish that I knew these things when I was trying out my first novel, and thank you so much for bringing this to people. I cannot wait to share it with y'all. So you're going to hear this in the future and be like Devin's freaking out it's because I am. This is really really great stuff. Thank you guys so much for this and for all the years of partnership that we've had. It's really great for you to share everything that you know about novels with the world. Thank you for that. Thanks for having us.