Create a glyph
If it’s a multiple-choice question, assign a color for each of the choices. If it’s a true/false question, assign a color for true and a color for false.
Instead of asking personalized questions, assign a color to each possible answer for each question. Even still, I prefer to use glyphs on formative assessments, not summative assessments–although I have very occasionally used them on summative assessments. If coloring is involved, the assessment seems much less assessment-like and therefore is much less stressful for my students with test anxiety. When I do, I have to create several versions of the glyph. Glyphs make any assessment less intimidating. If you’d rather have coffee with Adele, color the peas blue.” The prompt need not have anything to do with the actual image. For example, “Would you like to eat ice cream/have coffee with Beyoncé or with Adele? If you’d rather have coffee with Beyoncé, color the peas pink. Then, create a key that asks questions about things that students might actually care about or be interested in. Do you have a textbook unit about something that you would never actually talk about in real life? Perhaps a foot unit that requires students to memorize words like ‘peas’, ‘fork’, ‘rice’, ‘bowl’, etc.? Create a glyph with pictures of the words that you know you are not going to use in class very often. Glyphs are a sneaky way to use lame-o vocabulary.īy lame-o, I just mean ‘not super useful’. Billy likes soccer better than football!” (of course you can still confirm with the student–“ Billy, do you like soccer better than football?“).
For example, “ Does Billy like football or soccer better?” “Look! The hat is blue. It is easy to show a completed glyph to the class and ask questions about it in order to discuss the subject student’s personal responses. There are multiple ways that students can express meaning without actually speaking (thumbs up/thumbs down, moving to certain areas of the room, drawing a sketch, voting with tally marks/post-it notes, etc.), and glyphs are one of them. Looking at the example above (the picture of the guy with the lollipop), students are able to ‘say’ a lot about themselves without uttering a single word. Glyphs allow students to express without producing language.įor this reason, they are GREAT for emergent speakers. They were especially nice on testing days or other times that I knew that students would be coming to class with extra mental and emotional tension. I didn’t use them often, but I did use them regularly.
You have to weigh the cost (time) against the benefit (relieving stress) to decide whether or not it is worth it to use glyph. Who doesn’t feel more relaxed after coloring something? When you add a glyph component to a typical Q&A activity, it will take longer for students to complete it, and it will relax them. Why use glyphs in language classes? Glyphs are a great stress reliever.