Recently I took a story and had students get into groups to which I assigned a section of the story. They then had to explain that section to the other students, who took notes on what they were told. They were then allowed to carry those notes into the test. The test consisted of the stories copied out for them so any notes they had made on the stories themselves, on the page, would not be available to them nor would the glossary in the back of the textbook.
The questions were in English and the answers were in English. My freshmen liked that a lot and so Monday, tomorrow, we’ll talk about why that is not the best way to learn the language. But I want to get to a certain point in the textbook by the end of the year for psychological reasons. No one is putting any goals on me; I just want to get to a point where when we start next year, we can read just three or four stages (15-20 stories), and then jump into a new book. That’s serve as review yet getting into the new book quickly will give them a sense of progress.