 “Relevant aspects of an interactional or communicative situation”  “Utilizes students’ funds of knowledge and skills as a foundation for new knowledge”  “Giving new information in a way that is meaningful and purposeful to learners”

 Things that are noncontextualized › Translations › Examples that are not relevant › Rules › Examples?

 Meaningful to students lives  Connects prior knowledge to new learning  Providing examples that are usable and applicable to everyday life › Connect to prior knowledge › Communities › Life outside of school

 Strengthens newly acquired knowledge  Increases student engagement  Research shows that connections make learning more meaningful

 Begin activities with prior knowledge and students’ lives › Community (local, family, community norms) › Parent involvement  Vary activities by student preferences › Vary group size › Vary styles of conversation

 Connections › Integrates language with other topics  Promoting language use, content and culture  Purposeful  Students express themselves  Negotiate meaning

 Learning is more meaningful when language is used in an authentic and natural situation  Can reinforce curriculum  Gives students new vocabulary  “facts and skills presented in isolation need more practice and rehearsal to be stored in the brain than does information presented in a meaningful context”  Can you think of any other ways that it could be beneficial?

 Thematic Center › Webs, graphic organizers › Holistic  Reading, writing, listening, speaking  Multiple Intelligences  Learn about your students, classroom, community etc.  Examples: › Solar system, fairy tale, etc.

 L1 and L2 should be taught separately and not through direct translation

 L2 learned in the same way as L1 › L2 not accessed through translation of L1 › Avoid transfer from L1 › L1 does not interfere with L2 › Functional language like expressions, discourse markers and collocations may not be directly translatable

 Give L2 a context instead of a translation › “Lost in translation” › Learn how to use L2 in different cultural, regional, social or situational contexts › Give collocations a context through your own authentic activities  Odd one out- various situations  Brainstorming- situations in which expression would occur  Fill-in exercise – manipulate abstract examples  Dialogue - give context

 Draw a web or graphic organizer