This past summer I took course work on ESL instruction. In the course we discussed the difference between deductive and inductive instruction methods. Deductive refers to a more teacher-centered approach to instruction, where inductive instruction is a more student-centered approach. For a clearer understanding of these methods visit Dr. Bilash’s page titled Inductive and Deductive Instruction on the University of Alberta’s website. Dr. Bilash has written a very nice description of the two methods along with a clear explanation of “noticing” as if connects with inductive instruction. Although I do believe there are times for both deductive and inductive instruction, I do fall more often into an inductive and very student-centered approach to my teaching, and especially for grammar instruction. The lesson I have attached below is an example of an inductive approach to grammar instruction. I thought the lesson was a fun activity and wanted to share it here for others to use. I created this lesson with my middle school Chinese students in mind. I used an inductive approach where I have students ‘notice’ the grammar for the simple past tense and then do activities using the grammar point. I chose the inductive approach because, although I like this approach for teaching new grammar concepts, I would likely use this lesson as a review to a grammar point and want students practicing the rule. I also like the inductive approach because is has students discover, or ‘notice’ what the grammar point is through the learning process.
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In ESL/ELL instruction Readers Theatre is a strategy that comes up often. Whenever I have looked at Readers Theatre I have often found the lessons or units to be overly detailed and wanted to find a way to simplify the concept. As well, I wanted to ensure my students were gaining practice with the four language skills; reading, writing, listening and speaking. So, I did some research online and came across several Readers Theatre ideas, and a few things I might like to try. The lesson below is a loose planning of a Readers Theatre lesson and not specific to any script. I hope it can support you in your lesson planning and maybe simplify the concept of Readers Theatre for you. Included in the lesson plan are several suggested modifications and accommodations for the range of learners in any given class.
Among the many activities and lessons I developed for my grade eights this year the most exciting was building a classroom library. Since I am teaching in China, building a classroom library took a little more pre-planning and creativity to organize than if I had an English bookstore in my city. Prior to the winter holiday I met with my students’ parents and proposed my plan to build a class library. With my parents’ support and financial contributes I was able to buy over 170 books while on holiday in Vancouver, Canada. Getting the books back to China was a balancing act of weight distribution in my returning suite cases. It all worked out however and I was able to make the books fit with out paying for extra weight!
The finished library was divided into three learning levels with a wide range of topics to fit the diverse levels and interests of the class. The library includes reading levels for early English language learners, intermediate and advanced to fluent readers. The library consists of fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels and several reference books such as, dictionaries and thesauruses, which were purchased in China. For the remaindered of the year I conducted silent reading time in class where I did mini lessons about effective reading and reading for thinking purposes. I was very happy with the results of the library and look forward to using the books again next year with my students as they enter grade nine. In the last month of this school year I introduced peer tutors into both my classes. In China I have two different groups of grade eight students who are all Chinese students, born in China and whose first language is Chinese. I am their main grade eight English teacher and will be teaching the same group of students next year for grade nine. I introduced peer tutors into the end of grade eight because in grade nine students write a government exam called the Zhongkao for entrance into high school, and I wanted to establish more support and collaborative learning into the classroom. In China, mandatory government funded education ends in grade nine. Students who do not score high enough on the Zhongkao will not be accepted into a high school and will not be eligible for university. The Zhongkao determines if students leave school, filter into the trades, or are accepted into a high school with the potential to enter university. In my classes I have roughly 2-3 very strong students, and in one class, have two who are very close to fluent and could easily assimilate into a Canadian grade nine classroom. At the opposite end however, I have students who are very low where basic communication is a challenge. Taking into consideration the variety of levels within my classes and the desire to build more collaboration and unity I chose to introduce peer tutors. Near the end of the year I developed a review of the term’s language lessons in conjunction with a short novel study, which was to be completed over six days. Before starting I provided a training session for my peer tutors and then introduced them into the classes to support with the final novel study review. Overall I had great success with my peer tutors and I was very pleased with the results from students they worked one-on-one with. Having the peer tutors supporting others in class allowed me to focus my efforts on individual students who require more time and direct support from me. My peer tutors also felt more useful in class and liked the leadership challenge. As successful and rewarding the experience of peer tutors was; I do recognize some possible challenges with the concept. Below are some possible challenges and some suggestions from my experience: • It can be challenging to encourage students to collaborate and support one another. For my students in china, and I suspect many groups of other English Language Learners (ELLs) who come from a different education system, they are not used to the idea of group work and supporting one another for the benefit of all. In China students are used to the lecture style of teaching and because the school system is highly competitive-only the top scoring Zhongkao students are accepted to high school-there is a hesitation to collaborate. Building a sense of community into the classroom prior to introducing peer tutors can greatly support a successful introduction of their role. • A secondary challenge that can arise from the above point is the selection process of who your peer tutors will be. Their fluency with English is an important component, yet their potential for leadership, providers of support and ability to keep confidentiality when working with others are important factors to consider. In my experience, I’ve found many of these skills can be taught, however the peer tutors also need to agree to the terms and be willing to learn. • After the selection and introduction of the peer tutors, some students in the class who have good/very strong English skills may feel left out because they were not asked to be peer tutors. A possible rotation of peer tutors could be a way to alleviate this possible challenge, and something I might do next year. • Other students’ comfort level with the notion of peers supporting them may be a potential challenge for long-term continuation. However, I think in the end if there is enough structure and strategic planning students will come to embrace the additional support and view the peer tutors as an extension of the teacher. • Effective role modeling by peer tutors is something that needs to be learned and as a result the teacher needs to be aware to support peer tutors on how to do this. For example, they are leaders in the class and students will be watching them. If peer tutors are not doing their work, taking initiative, or on task other students will not see the need to do these things. The peers tutors need to have clear instructions given to them, and they need to be encouraged to communicate with the teacher if they are finished and needing something to do. • There is a balance to consider of when to use peer tutors and when to have them be learners in the class. Having peer tutors as supports in the classroom helps provoke their own learning by reinforcing what they know and becoming aware of gaps in their own proficiency. In the long term the teacher needs to take into consideration when to engage peer tutors in their support roles and when to allow them to be learners. Lesson Notes: Introducing peer tutors at the end of this year has been something I really wanted to try and has become what I have enjoyed most all year. I had a very positive experience with my peer tutors and will be continue their roles next year. Objective: To engage students in thinking and discussion using art. Student Development:
In November last year I wrote about art appreciation and Chicago's Concordia University art lessons. At the time I was using the art lessons with a weekly group of grade sevens I taught during the school's weekly "English Corner". Since the art appreciation lessons were so well received with the grade sevens I decided to introduce the lessons to my grade eight class in the second term of the school year. I selected several pieces from the Concordia lessons and had them printed on card stock to use as handouts, which would then be put on the wall as a collection of pieces we had looked at. Each lesson started with a brief introduction of the piece where I would give the title, artist's name and the date it was created. Then, showing the piece on a projector and providing one printed on card stock, students were asked to fill in the attached handout and start to analyze the piece. I encouraged students to get up and walk around the room, viewing the piece from different angles. The handout provided prompts to guide student's thinking. At the bottom of the handout I asked students to consider their feelings when they look at the piece and why they think it was created. After about 25mins I would provide students with biographical and historical information about the artist and the piece. To conclude the lesson we would have a class discussion about the piece, discussing points from the handout and exploring thoughts and opinions of the peice.
This term one of the units in my student’s textbook is themed “Endangered Animals.” Using the theme I made an assignment where students had to create fact sheets for different endangered marine animals. Students were first in groups of 2-3 and then in larger groups of 4-6. Attached is the lesson plan I used for this activity, along with the factsheet template and grading scale I used. To narrow the focus in class I chose to have students write about marine animals, however there are many options for this lesson. In the PDF I have provided some good websites for endangered animal resources.
Objective: To introduce students to common idiom expressions and have them actively build expressions into sentences for deeper understanding. To first understand the reason why teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) idioms is important we first have to understand what they are. Idioms are cultural phrases, which cannot be understood by knowing the individual word meanings alone. For example, “raining cats and dogs.” It is understood that the sky cannot literally rain cats and dogs, but what then do cats and dogs have to do with the rain? In the meaning of this idiom they represent large and heavy raindrops. To say, “it is raining cats and dogs” is to mean, “it is raining very heavily.” Idioms pose a challenge for ELLs because often they have not been raised in the culture the idiom is being used in. Not being able to understand the meaning of phrases can lead students to misunderstanding and confusing situations. When I have taught idioms with my classes I have first developed a definition I feel is appropriate for their level of understanding and then provided them with an Idioms List Handout (see attached). Students can record the definition on the handout and read pages of idiom examples with their meanings. The Idiom List Handout was compiled using idioms from Idiom Site. There are several other good websites for idioms; including Idioms The Free Dictionary and Using English-Idioms. Once students have had a chance to explore the idioms on their own I introduce the Idiom Activity Handout (see attached) and provide and exemplar, using the idiom “back to the beginning” (see attached). Each student should choose, or be assigned a different idiom to complete the activity. The activity sheets can be displayed in the classroom or put into a book. This is a basic activity that can be built into expanded lessons or used as filler between units or lessons. Students can also be put into pairs to complete the activity. There are many options…enjoy!!
Recently I completed my first marathon. I had completed several half marathons and decided I was ready to take on the challenge of a full 42.2K run. After completing the race I thought my experience might be worth sharing with my students. Teachable moments can come in many forms and I saw an opportunity with my experience. After some personal reflection and planning on what I wanted to share with my students; I decided I wanted to share the overall experience of setting a goal and working towards completing it. Finishing the race meant many things to me. There is something unique about setting out to run a marathon and both the physical and mental commitment that goes with such a goal. In class I shared my story with my students, and we talked about setting goals and working towards something. In education there is a term called modeling, and as it sounds, it means to model or demonstrate the behaviour, task or activity the teachers wants to see from their students. By sharing achievements and goals I set with my students I am modeling the behaviour of goal setting. By discussing the training process with my students I am modeling behaviour that demonstrates what it takes to make goals a reality. I truly believe all people can achieve great things and setting goals and then taking the steps to achieve those goals can be a rewarding experience. By sharing my race story with the class, students were able to learn from something I did and possibly connect my experience to their lives and something they want to achieve. Lesson Notes: Teachable moments can come from anywhere. In the day to day there are many opportunities to bring learning experiences from outside the classroom to enrich discussions and shape learning beyond course content. On Tuesday afternoons I do a forty-minute class with the grade sevens at my school during the English Corner block. The idea of English Corner is to engage students in the English language through activities, discussion and interaction with the teacher; and in my case a native speaker of English. For the first couple Tuesdays I did songs with the students, similar to my other posting on Friday Songs. There are other teachers from the foreign teaching group who also do activities during English corner so I am able to plan activities for a small group of students (1-8 max). Although I like the song idea and will continue to alternate the weeks with songs I wanted to find something else to bring as the focus. Upon reflection of topics, which interest me and might engage students I was reminded of an art history class I took in university. I loved the subject and found the topic engaging and the dialogue with others in the class very interesting. I have done art history or art appreciation activities with student before and so decided to include this into English Corner. The first painting I did with the students was The Girl With The Pearl Earring by Vermeer and it was well received with the students working to practice their English by sharing their thoughts on the painting. Often, one of the challenges I have had with bringing art topics into the classroom is the time consuming research aspect of gathering information on the piece, the artist and the academic dialogue or debate around the piece. I like to have my students first connect with their own understanding of what they see and then as we go into discussion I like to share information that is known about the artist, the piece and then if it is widely discussed in academia, bring in the debate. However, to prepare this on a regular basis is challenging and time consuming. What I wanted to share in this posting is a fantastic resource I came across while preparing for my art appreciation lessons. It comes from Concordia University in Chicago Art Lessons and includes full lesson plans for grades 1-8 with a paintings, sculptures, or art pieces for each month of the school year. There is information about the artist, the piece and ideas on how to use the artwork in your lessons. The content is very transferable and could easily be applied to teaching higher grades and adapted in many ways. Throughout my search for teachable art appreciation resources I have not come across a more well put together collection of art pieces, information and applicable ways to bring art into the classroom. Lesson Notes: I was really excited to see such a fantastic collection of lessons and had to pass it along and ask; have you come across any other great resources for teaching art history or art appreciation for grade k-12? I believe it is a fairly safe assumption to say music and culture are linked. As part of my position in China I am not only teaching through the use of Canadian teaching techniques, yet also asked to introduce Canadian/western culture into the classroom. A very popular part of western culture, often greatly enjoyed by my students is music. My student’s music choices often follow along the lines of pop music and Top 40 hits, with a bit of Alternative selections. As a way to gain greater interest in learning English as well as, infuse a bit of western culture into the classroom I end each week with a song. The songs I choose for Friday are usually ones I feel carry some form of meaning and which I believe send a positive message or encourage students to think about the message in the song. I begin by handing out the lyrics and give students time to read and write or draw what they feel the song is about. I also write down any vocabulary words from the song I feel may pose a challenge. Once they have had time to review the lyrics we discuss the song’s meaning by doing a mind map on the board where I have students share what they feel the song is about. Then we watch the music video. After the video we often discuss how what they thought the song was about compared with the video. In doing this each week I have noticed students have become more accustomed to looking at the lyrics as more than simply words written, and more as messages and meaning. When I started Friday Songs in September I was hoping to provide students with an engaging way to learn English and have found it has become an excellent way for students to practice their reading comprehension, critical thinking, and expression of opinions and thoughts. What I find the most rewarding about Friday Songs is the large degree of class participation and excitement I receive. Students are always eager to see what the song will be and in recent weeks I have been receiving requests for songs which students personally feel carry meaning and want to share with the class. Lesson Notes: Out of all the activities, lessons, projects, etc. I develop or assign Friday Songs has to be the easiest and least time consuming of all; and in turn could prove to be one of the most memorable and lasting activities my students take away with them. When I think of this, I am reminded of my purpose as an educator and that is to educate and inspire learning; this does not always need to be the biggest project, but can be as simple as listening to music. Here is a list of some songs I have used:
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Ms. Kolshuk's BlogWelcome to my blog where I post about my teaching practice, ideas, findings and discuss topics of an educational nature. Please feel free to comment and/or email with any topic suggestions.
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