GETTING STARTED
Welcome to our language teacher community!
Scroll down for a step by step explanation of how to navigate the site.
MEMBER PAGE
After you log in, you will be here. These are the 3 main parts of the site.
Let’s explore the MAIN LANGUAGE PAGES first.
LANGUAGE PAGE
On each language page, you’ll see available units. Pick one to get started.
It’s not a physical textbook – but a collection of online units organized by proficiency level.
Note: There are two types of units – Planner and Complete.
Complete Unit
Unit Docs + Resources + Complete Lessons
(white border)
Planner Unit
Unit Docs + Resources to get you started
(orange border)
UNIT PAGE
overview of the entire unit
This is an example of a unit page: it has all the important info about the unit. The top shows you “I can” statements (or lesson objectives) and as you scroll down you’ll see the unit documents (which you can download by clicking the button underneath). Below that you’ll see resources that are available in the unit.
What’s on the unit page…
LESSON PAGES
Each “I can” objective is a lesson.
Choose a lesson to preview. These have visuals, activities and authentic resources embedded for you to use as you teach. It’s created for you to teach right from the site.
Open the lesson and project it. Scroll through it. You use the target language and they will see examples, photos, videos, etc. The lessons are not downloadable. Think of it like Netflix. You have access to it all the time.
At the bottom of every lesson, there is an orange “for the teacher” bar. This part is just for you and gives you step-by-step instructions of how you can teach the lesson. You can make your own adjustments as you see fit! This section will also include a button for you to download any handouts for your students (in PDF form). You can print them to give to learners in class.
You do not need to download anything from here to teach. Just project it on the board and scroll through it as you go.
If the formatting is off, try this:
- Make the website “full screen” on your internet browser
- Change the browser zoom to 100%
Teaching Tip: Bring up the lesson on a second device (your phone, iPad, etc). Use that to have the teaching directions available while you teach.
We think awesome images and graphics make the lessons more interesting. Our pages are full of high resolution images, so expect pages to load slowly the first time you visit it.
Good access to internet is important since lessons connect to current authentic resources. Due to copyrights, you will need to visit these outside sources.
For documents that are in color that you want to print in black/white, try printing in “grayscale” to help with the quality when copying in black/white.
If you are finding that documents are not printing correctly, try googling the printer’s brand and model plus the problem. Many times the issue can be easily solved by adjusting printer settings. For example, there is one setting called “Print to fit page” or “Print to scale” that will ensure that the document fits on the page correctly.
Option 1: When printing from a PDF program like Adobe, click “Fit” or try some of the other options that have to do with the sizing.
Option 2: You may have to change the “SCALE” from 100% to a lower number.
We use PDFs to maintain the unique formatting and fonts that we use… But sometimes you may want to modify a PDF to personalize it for your class and students.
Here are a few options you can use:
- Kami Extension: This is an extension for the Chrome Browser. Check it out!
- 123apps.com: This is a free website with PDF tools. You upload the PDF to edit it, change it to a different type of document, and more.
- Adobe: You’ll need to purchase this, but many schools have this available to you.
- Good ol’ text box with a white background. Yep, old school, but it works!
Unfortunatly, our images are not editable (that we know of) by using these things above, except the good ol’ text box. We use several programs to make them, so email us if there’s an error.
We love videos! They include it all – language, culture and real people. Here are tips to using videos in class.
1. Preview all videos before showing. You make the decision if it is appropriate for your schools’ climate and your students.
2. Slow down the video if needed.
Click on “Settings,” and then “Speed.”
Change to .75 or lower to slow the video down.
3. Another feature some videos have is Closed Captions (Click the “CC”).
4. Create a YouTube account that you will use only for school. Commercials on YouTube pop up based on your language setting and search history. Set the target language and search only for school-related videos so the commercials have a possibility to be connected to class. It’s neat to see familiar brands advertise in other languages! If commercials are an issue or annoyance, you can purchase “YouTube Red” to remove them permanently.
Note: All videos are linked to the original videos.
1. Explore the units
Build your own curriculum and pick the units you want to use. It’s a buffet! Units are given a proficiency range to help you pick the best ones for your level.
2. Visit the UNIT Page
Now dig into the unit. Look through everything on that page to understand the main goals and resources.
3. Preview the LESSONS
Check out the lessons and adapt to your classes.
This can be your complete curriculum
or
support what you are already doing
TOOLBOX
Think of this as your digital file cabinet. It is full of activities and ideas that you can use in any unit and for any language.
Click on the category at the top to jump to that section.
MINI-PD
This page has tutorials and videos to explain “all thing proficiency.” These are also perfect for PLC meetings to get the conversation started.
Here’s everything else the site offers. Click icon to visit that page.
links are for members only
Toolbox
tasks, templates, graphic organizers, posters, games, & more
Planning
Scope & squence options to create your curriculum
Emergency Plans
Lessons & activities so you can be prepared
Assessing
rubrics, grades, proficiency and more
Mini-PD
Videos and posts to explain all things proficiency
FAQ
Common questions and answers here like “How do I use this site?”