by Bea Pody

 Connection of school to students’ lives  Connection to students’ experiences  Connection to students’ homes  Connection to students’ communities abstract information = boredom

1. existing knowledge 2. meaningful activities 3. local norms 4. application of knowledge 5. community-based activities 6. parent involvement 7. variety of activities 8. variety of styles

 Build on knowledge that students already have  agriculture (seasonal workers)  hunting, fishing (rural)  street smarts (inner city)  alternate use for tools (low income)  meta-cognitive language skills (English learners)  geography (immigrants)  existing academic knowledge  personal experience

 learn something that can be used in real life  tutor younger students  help senior citizens  sponsor a meaningful event  raise funds while applying learned skills  get involved in a good cause  teach a class  help the underprivileged

 different gender roles  different view of age  majority/minority  reverence for elderly  children’s role  prioritization  money  moral and ethical values  religion

 overcoming idea that academics have no use in everyday life  make connections between academic knowledge and community  demonstrate benefits for student, school, family and community

 find out interests  reach out for potential partners  spell out purpose and terms of joint effort  work out kinks  share positive results  examples: mentoring at elementary schools, translation services for immigrants, entertainment through chorus, orchestra or marching band performance, reading to senior citizens, grounds improvements, collection of toys and clothing, work in soup kitchens, etc.

 syllabus and welcome letter  create a website  publish regular newsletter  hold parent-teacher dinner conferences  hold family fun nights  call parents  parents  put out surveys  calls to action (volunteering)  keep good records

student preference collective cooperative individual competitive right-brained vs. left-brained geared visual, auditory and kinesthetic opportunities to demonstrate special talents (music, art, acting)

 Conversation & participation to include cultural preferences, such as:  co-narration  call-and-response  choral

Building BlocksApplication existing knowledge Personal travel experience, German I weather and clothing vocab, German geopolitics, knowledge from other subject areas (math, physics, geography, history) meaningful activities Virtual trip, internet search, plan a trip, stay in a budget, team work local normsDollars, Fahrenheit, Avoirdupois system application of knowledgeCelsius, Euros, decimal system, family trip community-based activitiesContact travel agency parent involvement Find old tickets, boarding passes, chauffeur students to travel agency variety of activities Dialogue, hands-on, matching, PPT (more during entire project) variety of stylesOral, visual, kinesthetic

 This is the first day of a 6-week project called “Virtual Trip to Germany”  This project is conducted together with German III (they share a block and a classroom) whose curriculum calls for “Youth Hostels and Camping”, another concept foreign to all but one or two students in any given level.  For actual scenario see Word document

 Web Site Web link Berkeley Graduate School of Education, University of California. (n.d.). Making lessons meaningful. In CREDE (the Crede five standards for effective pedagogy). Retrieved February 9, 2010, from Berkeley Graduate School of Education, University of California website: Web link