In this activity, students listen to messages left on an answering machine in the target language and take notes. This activity is created for listening comprehension but extensions are included to make this a speaking assignment, also. This activity can be utlized at many different proficiency levels and for any spoken language. Included are ‘message’ templates for English, German and Spanish.

In this lesson, students explore the Internet for information on the metro system as a means of transportation and for information on culturally appropriate and polite behavior for the metro. Students research polite forms of address and connect to a digital penpal in the target country. Students email digital penpals in the target country to ask about culturally appropriate behavior on the metro. Modalities include interpersonal communication, reading and writing. Language structures focus on forming questions and polite language. The acitivity includes a variety of role play scenarios. This activity is applicable for any written world language course.

In this activity, students are asked to make a decision or take an opinion on a given topic then defend that choice to a like-minded partner. Ultimately, each student writes their two top reasons for making that decision or taking that opinion. A group spokesperson then orally summarizes the written reasons to the rest of the class. This activity is applicable for any written world language course. Included are suggestions for adapting and extending this performance task.

In this activity, students predict what housing ads in the target culture will include and scan newspaper ads for information and style of the ads. They compare US housing and target culture ads. Using the style and language of the target culture, students write their own ad describing their ideal house. The language structures include present and future tense. This activity is applicable for any written world language course. Included are suggestions for adapting and extending this performance task. Included are sample housing ads in French and Spanish as well as roommate ads for French, German and Spanish.

In this activity, teachers can learn how to set up inside and outside circles to serve as icebreakers, warm-ups or reviews of specific vocabulary or grammatical structures. This activity should be for short periods of time to get students to interact in the target language. The language structures can vary as can the cultural topic. The modalities include speaking and listening. This activity is applicable for any world language course. Included are suggestions for adapting and extending this performance task.

In this lesson, students view, investigate, write, rehearse, perform and present the news. The format of the news in the US is compared to the format in the target country. The modalities include listening, reading, speaking and writing. The lesson could be utlized for any language that has news reports. Included are rubrics for evaluating the student newscasts as well as options for adapting the lesson to other language levels. Language structures for this performance task include present tense, past tense, future tense, embedded clauses and question formation.

In this activity, students predict what they will read in obituaries from the target culture. They compare US obituaries to those from the target culture. The language structures include the present and the future tenses. There are samples in German and Spanish but this activity can be done with any written language course. Included are adaptiations for language and extensions for culture as well as a multi-trait rubric.

In this activity, students select and describe an item from another culture that has impacted the culture in the US. The student’s two minute oral presentation describing the item is followed by questions and answers between students and presenter. Cultural values are discussed. Included is a rubric for evaluating the oral presentation as well as extensions for other proficiency levels. This performance task could be used in any modern language course.

This activity focuses on the ability to invite, accept invitations, refuse invitations, politeness, persuasion and birthday celebrations. During the three stages, there is small group rehearsal and planning session, a role-played performance in front of the class, and whole class debriefing. The modalities include speaking and listening. This activity is applicable for any world language course. Included are suggestions for adapting and extending this performance task. Rubrics for scoring are provided as are additional role plays.

In this activity, students will write descriptions of guests who will be attending a wedding. The teacher hands out the descriptions to each student who asks and answers questions to find the mystery guest. Once each person has found their mystery guest, they must present them to the class explaining their likes, dislikes, residence, work, age, family, etc. The modalities include interpersonal communication as well as written and spoken presentational communication. This activity is applicable for any written world language course. Included are suggestions for adapting and extending this performance task as well as character descriptions for French, German and Spanish.

In this lesson plan for novice high second language students, students will negotiate, in pairs, a time to meet. They will communicate about their daily schedule, appointments and events. The language structures include present tense verbs and expressions for telling time. Culturally, students will compare their daily life and school schedules in the US with schedules in the target culture. The modalities include interpersonal communication, writing and reading. This four-page lesson plan is applicable for any world language course. Included are suggestions for adapting and extending this performance task.