Level A: Unit 5.2

Pronunciation Powerpoint Slides:

Family Activity Powerpoint Slides:


Family Activity Personal Descriptions and Scenarios: Cut personal descriptions into slips and label with and M or F (male or female). Keep personal descriptions in separate envelopes by family until you count the students in class and determine which families to use. Cut scenarios into slips and keep in separate envelopes. Give scenario envelopes to students once they have found their families.



The main purpose of this class, particularly the family activity, was to get students involved in the subject matter, bring it alive, and provoke critical thought. However, my expectations for the family activity were a little too high. The following were some of its strong and weak points:

Strong:

• Students enjoyed the different stories.
• Students got to practice critical thinking.

Weak:

• The activity was too long to hold student's rapt attention the whole time.
• Some of the vocabulary was too difficult.
• Families larger than four struggled to find each other (I made them smaller after the first class).
  
• One of the scenarios did not have a clear solution, or at least one that could be described in simple English.
• In one of the three classes, we did not have time to present the skits.

And lastly a self-evaluation...

Level A: Unit 5.1

Pre-Listening Activity: Cut the paper in two halves, descriptions and pictures. Break students into pairs and have them take turns reading descriptions and searching for their matches.


There's not a ton to say for this lesson, except that students enjoyed a spontaneous lesson on pronouncing TH. First, I used my teeth and tongue to demonstrate correct and incorrect TH pronunciation, showing students that if the tongue is between the teeth at the outset, it's correct; but if they only see teeth, it's not. Then, I asked them to give me a thumbs up or thumbs down to show if I had pronounced a word correctly. Lastly, I had students come up in rows and one by one say TH words in front of the class. Students in their seats had a chance to observe the visual and auditory manifestations of the sound and provide feedback (thumbs up or down) on whether or not their peers were correct. The activity was challenging at first, but students got the hang of seeing, hearing, and saying TH correctly. For those who truly struggled, I had them put a finger on their tongues so they remembered to keep them between their teeth until they uttered the sound. Students nearly fell of their chairs in delight.

Other than that, the grammar concepts were review for the students. The challenge is getting them to remember in natural speech. Blackboard races are always effective, though they get a little less engaging towards the end. Both the pre-listening activity and dicto-comp were novel concepts for the students and seemed engrossing.

Note on the dicto-comp. It is an MVP of exercises since it requires listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. Students listen to a passage three times. The first time they simply listen. The second time they listen and take notes. And the third they fill in holes in their notes and turn their notes into complete, grammatically correct sentences. The goal of the activity is to create replicas of the passage, exact in meaning and accuracy, but they don't have to be word-for-word. Students should pool their resources and work in groups.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...


*Pre-listening activity from http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.

Level A: Units 1-4 Review

This class was a joy. Unique activities went according to plan, students were excited and engaged, and we thoroughly reviewed the material. Only thing wrong was timing in the Tuesday class.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...


*Activity 2 came from Friederike Klippel's book Keep Talking.

Level A: Unit 4.1

Powerpoints from the Lesson:






Opinion Poll Worksheet:


Likes and Dislikes Worksheet:

Alas, this lesson was too long ago to remember subtle observations. Students did, however, appreciate the jazz chant; and the opinion poll was a useful tool for practicing questions, sharing personal information, and breaking with routine.

And lastly, a self-evaluation: