SWCOLT 2025

In this workshop, participants will explore ways to adapt tasks for authentic text to meet the needs of all learners across the proficiency continuum through tiering--providing scaffolding and support for struggling learners and open-ended, challenging tasks fro advanced learners. Participants will also explore how to tier text on the same themes and how to create generic tasks that span the tiers to challenge all learners.

This workshop will focus on effective strategies on enhancing students' language competence by integrating the six AP Chinese language and culture themes at a pace that brings a sound horizontal and vertical articulation across levels. Participants will have opportunities to explore strategies in their everyday teaching through hands-on activities. Examples from actual classroom practice will be shared.

Want to know the secret for teaching today’s Gen Z & Gen Alpha students? Spoiler alert: it’s students having fun! In this session, you will learn how to invigorate your curriculum as you participate in new (and improved!) engaging WL activities that reflect today’s students. Whether you follow a textbook or create your own curriculum, these activities will work in every level & language. Participants will engage in a fun and interactive presentation. At times, participants will play the role of student. At other times, they will reflect with their WL colleagues and go over the new strategies they learned. Strategies presented include vocabulary introduction & review, grammar games & review, and kinesthetic & communicative partner activities. Participants can take notes on a paper handout (which will also be available digitally) to track the activities that are of interest to them. They will also have access to the slide presentation for their own future use. The goal is that they will be able to walk out of the session with activities that they can implement in their classrooms on Monday! The presentation will be in English, but samples will be from our Spanish and French students.

Presenters:Amy Kingsley & Marina Barcelona

In higher education, one of the most recent threats has been labeled "the enrollment cliff". This demographic phenomenon will touch not only post-secondary institutions, but secondary ones as well. After reviewing the general data behind the trend, the presenter suggests challenges and potential opportunities for world-language instruction. Participants brainstorm to 1) assess their institutions' sensitivity and degree of planning for these changes; 2) discuss the implications of this looming threat to their disciplines and to their pedagogy; and 3) strategize what their unit can do to mitigate shrinking numbers (possibly and reduced staff) to reconfigure effectiveness in teaching world languages.

This presentation will explore ideas, research, and student perspectives on routines to start secondary, lower-level language classes. Some strategies to be discussed, practiced, and evaluated include opening class with free voluntary reading, weekend talks, music, Duolingo, and language-based puzzle games. The presenter will share variations on these routines that avoid repetitiveness while incorporating differentiation and student choice.

This session outlines steps to promote Advanced and Superior levels of proficiency using weekly proficiency activities to prepare students to present a panel on current events, e.g., climate change. Each student presents one aspect of the topic, building their presentation around the three superior-level functions, namely in depth discussion, supporting an opinion, and hypothesising an outcome, and making use of transition and connector words to organise their prepared content. This project serves as a capstone activity for advanced level students to push their language skills to the next level. This presentation will guide educators through the preparation process and will introduce them to transition words which can facilitate organisation of student presentations and highlight where students can elaborate their individual presentations.

Learn how to develop a virtual or in-person exchange with a sister school abroad and empower your students to develop their language skills and cultural proficiency while transforming your school into a truly global campus. You will receive a step-by-step planning guide, identify best practices in establishing an exchange partnership, and walk away inspired to start a group exchange at your school.

Presenters: Patricia Roque & Zachary Richardson

This session presents a unit plan for A2/B1 German learners, focusing on Vienna's criminal past through detective and murder mystery genres. Participants will learn how to engage students in interpreting literary texts using theater pedagogical methods, such as tableau, soundscapes, and atmospheric reading. The unit culminates in student-created radio plays or short films, offering a creative way to deepen language skills while exploring cultural contexts. This session is perfect for educators seeking to combine language learning with cultural immersion and creativity.

Authentic real-world challenges in the target culture provide opportunities for integrating language objectives with problem-solving skills, in addition to promoting understanding of cultural perspectives and the ability to make cultural comparisons. Participants will be guided to develop ideas for effectively integrating challenges into their existing units aligned with level-appropriate language objectives.

Full length movies, short films, selected scenes, cultural videos-it all fits into a proficiency based classroom to engage students on a totally different level. By harnessing the world of media, students connect with the language in a more complete and meaningful way. Come and join this session on a quest to bring videos into the world language classroom to harness the power of technology for proficiency!

Presenters: Margarita De Leon Viera & Jennifer Newman-Cornell

Are you looking for resources that provide students with opportunities to dive into authentic questions as they learn to read, speak, and write in Spanish? Learn how The DBQ Project Method structures interactive, language-rich experiences for teachers and students. Our lessons in United States and World History, Geography and Civics embed vocabulary acquisition with reading, writing, and oral communication. Students investigate primary and secondary sources to discover answers to mysteries in history and the social sciences. After some introductory remarks, participants will collaborate and discuss whether to re-enlist in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Experience firsthand, the ways in which well-curated authentic content can bring a classroom to life. Teachers in any Dual Language Immersion Program and World Language Spanish Courses are invited to join the fun.

Reading is key for student’s growing in proficiency, but how can it be done effectively in a world language classroom? This session will look at tips and tricks across multiple language levels. It’s a chance to try out the techniques and decide what will work best in your classroom. Come and join us to get excited about reading and engaging your students!

This session will explore the transformative power of bilingualism in multilingual spaces, emphasizing how it fosters cultural understanding and global competence.The presenters will discuss practical strategies and resources to help students build cultural knowledge, enhance communication skills, and thrive in diverse environments. Attendees will gain insights into creating inclusive learning experiences that celebrate linguistic diversity and support students' growth as culturally aware global citizens.