This is on the learning side. A student last year turned this in. We were shifting between two textbooks. The students decided they preferred the one because of the clarity of the stories and they had more interest. After the quote, I’ll explain a couple of things.
“I enjoyed answering the questions about the [textbook title] story b/c I noticed I comprehend it so much better. I could understand what you were asking.
I also learned the culture of Roman people, which inc. dolls and games.
I like the “actionis folium” b/c we can analyze the story and reassure [sic] we understand what’s going on. Also, we can get more out of the story.
I wish at times we can make sure more than just [other student] gets in and better our understanding of verbs and tenses.”
The questions were asked orally. The ’folium actionis’ is what I call an action sheet. I started this some years ago and tried to explain it on one List or another. B/c it’s not a set procedure, it’s difficult to explain. It’s really a way to approach the topic at hand, in many cases, a story. The idea of it is to force students to consider, in the TL, various factors and write them down, things like how did she feel, what did he do, why did he do that, why were they wearing those…. and so forth. But it could also entail webbing a story, using a Venn diagram, and just about anything else. It’s a way of focusing students and making them responsible for meaning.
I guess it started when I noticed students paying only as much attention as necessary to offer an answer to a question. Questions are fine, but I wanted the student to make meaning for himself.
The reference to another student was to a guy who sbsorbed material like a sponge. He could recall minute grammar points from two years prior and the former teacher had just taught to him. Some of the students really did want to grasp the grammar (isn’t tht the best time to teach it?). This guy would blurt out the facts abuot a construction before anyone else could grapple with it.