I won’t be posting during December but plan to return in January.
I hope all of you have a wonderful solstice season!
David
Next Posting will be January 1, 2019
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Taking TPR to Another Level of Engagement: Two Fun Lower-Level Activities (Part 2: Movie Directors)
(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)
This activity is not only great for skill building, but also offers an opportunity for students to be creative. It’s also very entertaining and a complete change from other activities that students usually do in class.
After students have done the TPR (Total Physical Response) activity which I had describe in Part 1 , Taking TPR to Another Level of Involvement: Two Fun Lower-Level Activities (Part 1: Triads) they’ll be prepared for this one, “Movie Directors.”
In brief, these are the steps and the handout.
Taking TPR to Another Level of Involvement: Two Fun Lower-Level Activities (Part 1: Triads)
(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)
This activity will show how TPR (Total Physical Response) can be more student-centered than the traditional teacher-directed approach. Also, it is a pre-step to the TPR activity “Movie Directors,” which I’ll share in the next posting .
In this activity, students are put in groups of three (Students A, B, C). Each member is given a paper with different “commands.” They read their commands to their partners, who listen and do the actions.
7th Free Reading Unit. Animal Empathy
(This posting includes handouts which you are welcome to use with your students.)
See FREE Reading Units: Reading for Insights (Introduction) for an introduction to these reading units. FREE Reading Units: Reading for Insights (Introduction)
Article & Study Guide for Animal Empathy
Most Stimulating and Engaging but Often Over-Looked Essay Mode
(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)
A frequent type comment by teachers, “I always look forward to reading these essays. They often give me new insights into my students and their cultures.”
A frequent type comment by students, “When I heard that we would write a complete essay about one word, I thought it would be impossible. But after I chose a good word, I really enjoyed writing this.”
Another frequent type comment by students, “This was the most challenging essay for me, but in the end, it was the most rewarding.”
Many ESL Writing books and instructors overlook this essay mode because they don’t realize its secret potential. It’s the Definition Essay. The potential lies in the type of words that the students write about.
Traditional Definition essays can be very unstimulating for the students to write and for the teachers to read. There are two major reasons for this:
(1) The category of topics from which to choose provides little opportunity for ESL students to feel truly invested in it.
(2) The students are given few specific or poorly designed techniques which they can use.
The Dynamic Definition Essay: Category of Topics and Specific Techniques
EASY Needs Analysis for What ESL Teachers Should Teach (Needs Analysis) Part 2
In general, teachers can lose credibility in the eyes of their students by asking them what they want to learn. The teacher is the professional in the room and should know what the students should study.
However, there are situations in which former students’ insights can be valuable. Surveying these students about what would have been helpful for them to have learned in our classes from their new perspective can give us an awareness of students’ needs beyond our classrooms.
Example of needs-analysis surveys of former students
6th Free Reading Unit. Science of Shopping
(This posting includes handouts which you are welcome to use with your students.)
See FREE Reading Units: Reading for Insights (Introduction)for an introduction to these reading units.
