Backwards Design for a Reading - CI Summit Example

A HUGE question which many novice CI/ADI practitioners ask is "I have readings/authentic literary resources in my textbook which I need to cover. How does one lesson plan for a reading?" This is a really good question which we experienced CI/ADI teachers/trainers need to do a better job of addressing, because so often at conferences and trainings while we may teach skills and demonstrate various strategies, we leave out this very important component.

The key to lesson planning a reading is backwards design, but to be honest, it can actually be a very detailed process. I originally learned this from Karen Rowan years ago (and she may have learned it from someone else) as well as from others in recent years. I have found that although this process can appear onerous, it really does provide a good map for where to go and what to cover. My goal is that when students see the actual textbook/literary/ authentic reading, 98%-100% is already comprehensible to them.

The following is from this past summer's CI Summit and how I did backwards planning for a reading. During our daily cohort time, as a team member of Cohort 2, my task was to teach Latin to this group of 50 teachers (most of whom knew NO Latin) with the goal that on the last day they would be able to read a short cultural reading IN LATIN which I had written up about the city of Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. These Latin lessons were roughly three 25-30 minutes sessions over 3.5 days.

Mons Vesuvius erat mons iratus in Italia antiqua. Pompeii erat urbs in Italia antiqua per litora. Quod Pompeii erat urbs per litora, erat urbs popularis! Multi homines iverunt ad visitandos Pompeiios, quod Pompeii erat per litora. 

Sed Mons Vesuvius erupit, et urbs Pompeii deleta est! Sed cum Mons Vesuvius eruperit, mons iratus multam terram addidit! Pompeii non iam erat per litora, sed erat procul a litore! 

Hodie, Pompeii est urbs in ruinis. Multi homines ad urbem Pompeios eunt ad visitandas ruinas. 

Mons Vesuvius adhuc est mons iratus activus! In futuro, Mons Vesuvius erupiet! In futuro, multi urbes in monte et per litora deleti erunt!

How I backwards planned this:

1. I wrote the cultural passage first. Since these were novice-low Latin learners, my emphasis was on “sheltering/limiting vocabulary,” with the intent of lots of repetitions and predictable sentences/structures. In addition, I made a conscious effort of utilizing as many cognates as possible
2. I made a list of EVERY vocabulary word/phrase in the passage and categorized them as follows: 
   
3. I determined which words I would TPR/gesture - mons iratus, per litora, iverunt
4. I determined which words I would use as a password - deleta/deleti sunt.
5. Using the words which i determined for a preview vocabulary story, I wrote a “silly story” 
6. I determined which words I would gloss and provide the L1 meaning in the cultural reading. Because I only had a few 30-minute sessions of Latin before revealing the cultural reading, I felt that I glossed a lot more words than I normally would have. If I had one more Latin session, I would have been able to target many of the glossed words.
   
7. I determined the activities to be used with this story
8. I determined how to introduce the cultural reading 

During CI Summit, my daily lesson plans were as follows:

• Day 1 (15 minutes) - TPR/Gestures, TPR/Gestures with Story
• Day 2 (30 minutes) - Password at the Door, Review of TPR Gestures, What is Behind the Door, Readers Theater of "Silly Story"
• Day 3 (30 minutes) - Post Reading of Silly Story - SEL Reading, Is this Relevant to the Story, Hot Potato
• Day 4 (25 minutes)- Cultural Reading, Read/Draw/ Discuss

Observations

1. Why did I not use an authentic resource about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii? My primary goal was comprehensibility and readability. If you know of an authentic Latin resource which communicates this event for NOVICE-LOW learners, please let me know!
2. I think too many times CI/ADI critics get caught up in an assumption that all we CI/ADI teachers do is focus on "silly stories" and never do anything beyond that. While I can understand that misconception, my use of a "silly story" was very deliberate and was to preview vocabulary and sentence structures which participants would experience in the cultural reading. In other words, it was part of the process and not the end goal.  

Hope this helps some!