Building Fluency for All Students

What is fluency?
Flexible use of what you know
Reflexive
System 1: Automatic, Unthinking
Tying your shoes, riding a bike, using your smartphone
System 2: Logical, Effortful
Learning new things!
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Topic
Rule
Form
System 2: Logical, Effortful
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Topic
Rule
Form
System 1: Automatic, Unthinking
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Topic
Rule
Form
System 1: Automatic, Unthinking
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Who are our students?
Categories:
Strong
Weak #1: High Fluency, Low Accuracy
Weak #2: Low Fluency, High Accuracy
Weak #3: Low Fluency, Low Accuracy
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Understanding
Speaking
Our Goal
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Increasing Difficulty and Independence
The Build
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Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
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Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
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Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
resource-education.com

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Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
P1
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0%
100%
Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
P1
P2
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0%
100%
Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
P1
P2
P3
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0%
100%
Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
P1
P2
P3
Production
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Establishing Understanding
Parts
Presentation
Basic Practice
Students have to understand, and they have to understand that they understand!
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What is a good explanation?
Easy Reference
Too many words = out of reach for too many students!
…but oversimplified definitions make for useless definitions!
Reliable
Understanding confirmed in the low-level practices
Shows the necessity of the form
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2nd Conditional
“The second conditional (also called conditional type 2) is a structure used for talking about unreal (not true or possible) situations in the present or the future – things which don’t or won’t happen.”
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2nd Conditional
“The second conditional (also called conditional type 2) is a structure used for talking about unreal (not true or possible) situations in the present or the future – things which don’t or won’t happen.”
Weaknesses:
Asks for a qualitative assessment of the situation
No immediate necessity
No differentiation between “If I wasn’t working…” vs. “If I didn’t work…”
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2nd Conditional
Our definition:
2nd Conditional = A Different Now or A Different Reality
“If I had a million dollars, I would buy a house.”
A Different Reality
“If he wasn’t watching TV, he would be playing video games.”
A Different Now
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Testing the Definition
If I had a million dollars, I would buy a big house.
If I were you, I would drive more carefully in the rain.
Paula would be sad if Jan left.
If dogs had wings, they would be able to fly.
Source of Examples:
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A Reference for Students
“The second conditional (also called conditional type 2) is a structure used for talking about unreal (not true or possible) situations in the present or the future – things which don’t or won’t happen.”
A Different Reality or a Different Now
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Consistency in Explanations
What about 3rd Conditional?
What about mixed conditionals?
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Consistency in Explanations
What about 3rd Conditional?
“If Katerina hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t have come to talk today.”
What about mixed conditionals?
“If I hadn’t paid for the internet, I wouldn’t be speaking right now.”
“If you were on vacation in Hawaii, you wouldn’t have started to watch this webinar.”
Student: “I was right before. This makes sense based on what I know.”
They are ready to trust it faster!
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Topic
Rule
Form
System 2: Logical, Effortful
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Topic
Rule
Form
System 1: Automatic, Unthinking
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0%
100%
Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
P1
P2
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Automate Activities (P2)
Repetition that
Helps make the form reflexive
Shows clear progress for all students
Takes limited time
Rules: Start slow and check before making them move quickly!
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2nd Conditional: King of the Mountain
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2nd Conditional: King of the Mountain
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Automate Activities
Strong students are interested
Weak students see clear progress
Lots of exposure in limited time
Listening to one another
Repetition on own
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Topic
Rule
Form
System 1: Automatic, Unthinking
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Testing Fluency (P3/Production)
Goals for the teacher:
What are they using?
What are they avoiding?
What mistakes are they making?
Good speaking activities:
Give a reason to speak
Require flexibility
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2nd Conditional: Good Hire
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Bill: Good hire?
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Paul: Good hire?
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Karen: Good hire?
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Why It Works
Movement away from the personal = Freedom
Requires flexibility and adaptability
Reason to speak
Fun!
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0%
100%
Increasing Difficulty and Independence
Establish Understanding
Test Fluency (Speaking)
AUTOMATE
P1
P2
P3
Production
resource-education.com