Move.

Move forward.

Often when we think of a world language lesson, we remember vocabulary lists and grammar rules. Language is also stored in the brain in chunks and semantic groupings.

Word up!

What are chunks? Ben Zimmerman describes it as “meaningful strings of language that are committed to memory. Chunks may consist of fixed idioms or conventional speech routines, but they can also simply be combinations of words that appear together frequently, in patterns that are known as ‘collocations.’ (Nytimes, 2010). The WIDA standards, the K-12 language standards adopted by 42 of 50 states, note increasing competence in expressions and phrases as a mark of growing fluency in its vocabulary/phrases usage column of its interpretive rubrics.

Linguists utilize corpora to analyze large data sets to identify these collocations and patterns of words for research. (Sound familiar, computer scientists?) For EL teachers, the implications are that we should leverage this science how the brain stores language in phrases and explicitly teach language phrases, chunks, and idioms. It’s a well established approach in second language acquisition, “The Lexical Approach,” first introduced by Michael Lewis in the 90s. He calls for traditional language teachers to reject the traditional vocabulary/ grammar dichotomy and reimagine the language classroom (T-ESJ, 1997).

So let’s re-image the language classroom and take it a step further with computer science integration. Here’s where block programming comes in. Lines of code, that is, meaningful strings of language, are chunked in blocks. Students participate in reading and acquire language in chunks as they manipulate the blocks. Beginning programmers can easily code by dragging and dropping these blocks in an algorithm, which fit together like a puzzle. They test their code and receive instant feedback how they use the blocks of code phrases/ chunks of language as they test the code. And repeat. As sung by House of Pain, “Word to your moms, I came to drop bombs”–

–No longer do we teach and learn from just word lists.

Visual programming languages, like Scratch, go even further. They add another visual element by color coding the blocks according to their functions. Color further embeds the language in the brain. When learning language, we know that phrases related to visual experiences are stored together. Computer scientists will describe a benefit of visual programming is for ease of use. Psycholinguists would describe how the brain works this way too—we chunk language for ease of use. Linguist Schmitt in his 2000 article in ELT teaching, describes this: “There is less demand on cognitive capacity, because the lexical chunks are ‘ready to go’, and require little or no additional processing.” And, color coded chunks, works with the brain for learning language.

There’s a lot more to be said for this connection between chunking and the benefits of exploring and creating with visual programming blocks for English learners. It is my firmly held belief that integrating visual programming projects to teach language could be transformational to the language teaching community. With a teacher as learner mindset, our classrooms can be labs for innovative language teaching and learning. As for me, this connection is a huge motivator to continue to integrate CS in English language development instruction!

As integrating computer science has taken root in my ELD classes, I constantly look for the next WIDA standards/ CS opportunity. My goal is to integrate a minimum of one computer science project a semester. My inspiration for this unit began with a seed–CodeVA’s bilingual snail mail issue #21 on plants & simulation* (Language for Science & CS).

* CodeVA issues free bilingual, accessible booklets that students can have mailed to their homes. Who doesn’t love getting mail? Teachers can also use them, of course! Sign yourself up & encourage your students to sign up too!

The conditions for this unit’s germination were soon met! Edpuzzle’s featured video on Julio Noboa Polanco’s poem Identity/ Identidad for Hispanic heritage month (Language for ELA) was a perfect collab, and with Microsoft’s Make Code‘s project to create a self – watering plant with a small, programmable device Micro: Bits, we were ready to grow in our knowledge of plants/ germination conditions, poems/ identity, “I’d rather___ than___” preference sentence structures, and how computer science can aid in agriculture.

The unit was over three weeks. I’ve divided it into 3 parts.

Part 1: Prior Knowledge & Language for ELA: Julio Polanco’s poem Identity/ Identidad:

• The students will brainstorm and translate the names of known plants and create a class botany word bank.
• The students will diagram a named plant and generate 5 reasons why they would be them completing the frame “If I were a plant, I would be a _____.”
• The students will demonstrate an understanding of negation and diagram a named plant and generate 5 reasons why they would not be like the named plant by completing the frame “If I were a pant, I would not be a ______.”
• The students will demonstrate an understanding of a Venn Diagram and its use by completing a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting flowers and weeds.
• The students will read and demonstrate an understanding of text structure.
• The student will understand juxtaposition by comparing and contrasting plants they would or would not be like by using a Venn diagram.
• The students will rewrite a poem inspired by Polanco’s identidad to reflect their own identity.
• The students will verbally share their project by presenting to classmates.

Prior Knowledge/ Vocabulary Builder

1. First, we brainstormed plants in both languages–looked up images and translations. I put them in a Quizlet set for us later to review. Daisy is margarita, in Spanish, you guys! A fun fact to impress your friends at Mexican.

1. Second, I introduced the subjunctive: If I were a plant, I would be a _________. Students researched & drew the plant and wrote 5 descriptors why.
2. Next, the negative: If I were a plant, I would not be a _________. Students researched and drew the plant and wrote 5 descriptors why they would NOT be that plant.
3. Then I introduced Venn Diagrams. Note that it is important to describe what a graphic organizer is, how a Venn Diagram is a type of graphic organizer, and its purpose. For many of my students, this was their first encounter with a Venn diagram. We shaded each circle with a different colored pencil and the middle, overlapping part holding both colors. We wrote the word “differences” under the outside parts of the circle and similarities under the middle part. We co-constructed their first Venn Diagram. We brainstormed how a flower and a weed were similar and different. The topic was flowers and weeds, to preview Polanco’s Identity/ Identidad poem.
4. Next, they independently created a second Venn diagram based on the two plant diagrams they created in prior lessons to demonstrate that they understood how to compare & contrast utilizing one.

Reading

1. I generated interest–Polanco was 14 years old when he wrote this poem and it’s his most well known. Why did he write it? His girlfriend broke up with him!! How do you think he felt?
2. Students read and reread his poem in Spanish and English. Advanced students only entered into the Edpuzzle video–I found it to be a little extensive for beginner/ intermediate ELs.
3. Then with two different colored highlighters, they highlighted phrases/ words in one color that referred to the flower, in the other color that referred to the weed referencing the versions in two languages.
4. We noticed his poem’s stanzas had organized themes: Stanza one, the flower. Stanza 2 & 3, the weed. Stanzas 4 & 5 comparisons between the flower and weed.
5. We underlined the repeated line “I’d rather be______.” How many times did he use this?
6. Then we circled “than” which follows “I’d rather be” in the second and third uses. We conducted a comparative linguistic study and considered the Spanish equivalent “Yo prefiero ….. que…”
7. The students had created their own writing assignment with sentence stems!

Writing: Poems

1. Beginning students completed the poem frame with the information from their original two diagrams. Upper intermediate/ advanced students completed the more extended poem frame.
2. Kahoot reviewing then vs. than! I taught a trick– Than has an ‘a’ and comparison has an ‘a.’ Then has an ‘e’ and sequence has no ‘a’s, but ‘e’s.

Listening & Speaking: Round Robin Presentations

1. Students presented their poems and diagrams to each other as a capstone to this part of the unit in a round robin- style presentation. They posted their two plant diagrams, the Venn diagram comparing the two, and their original poem based on Polanco’s Identity/ Identidad. They had four minutes to make their way through the language guide linked below and they’d present to the next classmate in another four minutes, and so own guided by the timer.

Feel free to use my materials below! Let me know if you implement this unit– I welcome feedback! Look for part 2 and 3 coming soon.