Idea from: One Stop English - Jill Manwaring
Categories
Divide the students into teams or 3-4, each with a 'runner'. The runner comes to the teacher's desk and reads the category on the card - e.g.
5 ways to wake someone up
5 animals you can see on a farm
7 things to do in London
8 things you can read
7 things that come in pairs
6 reasons for speaking to a stranger
8 things that keep you warm
etc.
The runner returns to the group to tell them what the category is. The group must then brainstorm the list, and the first group to finish shout 'stop' (or make a noise like a donkey - use your imagination!) and the other teams must put their pens down.
My note: I adapted this idea for a vocabulary review, using new vocabulary in the prompt. I also used many cause and effect prompts to fit with our current rhetorical pattern in writing. Some of the list were:
3 effects of smog
5 causes for misinterpreting a set of directions to a party
2 hypothetical reasons why you would steal something
1 fashion trend which has passed its heydey
The students really enjoyed the brainstorming and the competition aspect of the activity!
Wednesday
Idea from: TESL-L - Lance Jackson
Idea for linking Listening lectures and Presentations
In a recent Advanced listening class I tried using small group presentations and notetaking. This was scaffolded with deconstruction of lectures (on tape). Extracting the key textual features of a lecture and the typical language phrases that appear in each of the stages of lectures. These were collected and put onto posters. Then when small groups had a discussion on some topic, they prepared a presentation that resourced the posters for the types of language they would use: (eg firstly, secondly, for example, an instance of this...).
My note: Our lectures have many cohesive device and methods of restatement which I would like to draw more on for student presentations. I think I will try a similar idea, deconstructing the lecture following the listening by identifying clarification and transitioning language as we take up the outlines.
Idea for linking Listening lectures and Presentations
In a recent Advanced listening class I tried using small group presentations and notetaking. This was scaffolded with deconstruction of lectures (on tape). Extracting the key textual features of a lecture and the typical language phrases that appear in each of the stages of lectures. These were collected and put onto posters. Then when small groups had a discussion on some topic, they prepared a presentation that resourced the posters for the types of language they would use: (eg firstly, secondly, for example, an instance of this...).
My note: Our lectures have many cohesive device and methods of restatement which I would like to draw more on for student presentations. I think I will try a similar idea, deconstructing the lecture following the listening by identifying clarification and transitioning language as we take up the outlines.
Tuesday
Idea from: TESL-L - Anthea Tillyer
Subject: Re: Writing for low-level students
...The students have now had 13 weeks of English instruction, 18 hours a
week, but they are still really low level.
Here are the topics for this term:
1. My favorite spot (written as if they were actually there at the moment of writing.."I am standing in XXXXX". They have to evoke what they see, feel, hear, think, and smell in that spot).
2. Where were you on September 11, 2001? What were you doing when you heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center? Did it change your mind about coming to or being in New York?
3. Describe one of your grandparents (alive or dead)
4. Describe wedding customs in ___________ (they had to interview a class- mate from a different country to do this and then write about wedding traditions in their partner's country)
5. A recipe (we are making a cookbook)
6. Money is the most important thing in life - do you agree or disagree?
7. Describe your dream house - money no problem.
8.
Every week, I work with one or two of the students individually. They tell me what they want to say in their paper and I write it out (in good English!) exactly as they tell it to me. They then have to organize this content so that it makes sense and presents the ideas in a logical and attractive way. I find that since they don't have to worry about the grammar, vocabulary or punctuation that I have done for them, they can concentrate only on their ideas. They love to do this! At the end of the week, everyone in the class reads these "cooperative ventures". I don't let the whole class see them before the end of the week, partly because the writers are still working on the organization of the content but mostly because my words and phrases tend to become models for the rest of the group ...and then they just copy them!
Every student in the class gets a chance to write collaboratively with me at least once in the 8-week term. This term it's much easier than usual because I only have 13 students.
Anthea Tillyer City University of New York
Subject: Re: Writing for low-level students
...The students have now had 13 weeks of English instruction, 18 hours a
week, but they are still really low level.
Here are the topics for this term:
1. My favorite spot (written as if they were actually there at the moment of writing.."I am standing in XXXXX". They have to evoke what they see, feel, hear, think, and smell in that spot).
2. Where were you on September 11, 2001? What were you doing when you heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center? Did it change your mind about coming to or being in New York?
3. Describe one of your grandparents (alive or dead)
4. Describe wedding customs in ___________ (they had to interview a class- mate from a different country to do this and then write about wedding traditions in their partner's country)
5. A recipe (we are making a cookbook)
6. Money is the most important thing in life - do you agree or disagree?
7. Describe your dream house - money no problem.
8.
Every week, I work with one or two of the students individually. They tell me what they want to say in their paper and I write it out (in good English!) exactly as they tell it to me. They then have to organize this content so that it makes sense and presents the ideas in a logical and attractive way. I find that since they don't have to worry about the grammar, vocabulary or punctuation that I have done for them, they can concentrate only on their ideas. They love to do this! At the end of the week, everyone in the class reads these "cooperative ventures". I don't let the whole class see them before the end of the week, partly because the writers are still working on the organization of the content but mostly because my words and phrases tend to become models for the rest of the group ...and then they just copy them!
Every student in the class gets a chance to write collaboratively with me at least once in the 8-week term. This term it's much easier than usual because I only have 13 students.
Anthea Tillyer City University of New York
Monday
Idea from :The English Club
Last post for the night and this one is sure to help the next time you prep your students for a presentation. A great chart to use when talking about structuring your language. This Signposting Function Language includes the following:
Introducing the subject
Finishing one subject...
...and starting another
Analysing a point and giving recommendations
Giving an example
Dealing with questions
Summarising and concluding
and
Ordering
Go to the site to find the chart!
Last post for the night and this one is sure to help the next time you prep your students for a presentation. A great chart to use when talking about structuring your language. This Signposting Function Language includes the following:
Introducing the subject
Finishing one subject...
...and starting another
Analysing a point and giving recommendations
Giving an example
Dealing with questions
Summarising and concluding
and
Ordering
Go to the site to find the chart!
Another article in the quest for determining the look and potential for my website. I've run across Charles Kelly before... one the TESL-L list no doubt. Kelly - Guidelines for Designing a Good Web Site for ESL Students (I-TESL-J) I really have a lot of work to do on my own site, it reminded me that my friends in other countries really do have some of the limitations I have been assuming won't be an issue for my current students. I would like to have former students and friends also have access and find my site readable and easy to navigate. The irony is that this article couldn't be read completely because some words on the right margin are missing! (But then the author isn't the one who has posted it, so he is forgiven!)
Food for thought!
Food for thought!
While on this journey exploring computer based learning and relating it to my ESL world, I came across a paper entitled "Online interactions in language learning and teaching" here...TCC99.
From the abstract:
"This essay offers an overview of some of the most effective forms of on-line interactions that can be used in language teaching and learning: e-mail, network-based classrooms, web discussion forums, and MOOs. Topics discussed in the paper include definitions and concepts, the strengths and potential weaknesses of the different forms, current successful practices, and pedagogical as well as practical implications for the language instructor. "
From the abstract:
"This essay offers an overview of some of the most effective forms of on-line interactions that can be used in language teaching and learning: e-mail, network-based classrooms, web discussion forums, and MOOs. Topics discussed in the paper include definitions and concepts, the strengths and potential weaknesses of the different forms, current successful practices, and pedagogical as well as practical implications for the language instructor. "
Here is a site which may be of interest when discussing pronunciation. Make sure to check out the regional maps showing the distribution of word pronunciations at the Dialect Survey Login.
Friday
Idea from: Scott Fuller (while websurfing)
A useful tool for helping students in recognizing the difference between active and passive knowledge of vocabualry is found atBilgi EFL Ideas and Issues-Active or Passive?
A useful tool for helping students in recognizing the difference between active and passive knowledge of vocabualry is found atBilgi EFL Ideas and Issues-Active or Passive?
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