Tutor Tips

How to "Float" in a "Lab Classroom"

2011-11-15T15:07:00.003-06:00

Assisting in a multi-level classroom involves many different types of activities. One of these is “floating”, or moving around and helping students while they are working independently. If you are volunteering in a drop-in center or “lab”, you may be assisting many different students, each of whom is working on a different level and/or topic. This could also include a computer lab.

1) Circulate around the room.

Observe students as you circulate, checking to see if their understanding of the assignment is accurate. Ask students if they would like help. If they do, ask students to show you their work and explain it to you.

Find ways to help students become independent learners. Resist the urge to give them the answer. Suggest other resources, like a dictionary, that students could use for assistance. If an answer is incorrect, ask them to go back and look at the problem or text again.

2) Assist.

Give hints. Don’t correct an error or give a student an answer immediately – facilitate the detection and correction of their own errors and/or help them find the answer themselves. For example:

Ask the student to go back and look at the reading again.
On a page with 8 questions, where 2 are incorrect, ask the student to look at those again.
Ask the student why he/she chose that answer.
Go over the instructions again and, if necessary, do an example together.
Ask a student to explain something to you, either the directions or the problem, to help figure out the source of their confusion. Students often forget to read directions thoroughly before starting an assignment.
Try to provide real-life, concrete examples before moving on to the abstract ones. For example, in math, make a paper pizza and cut it into equal parts to demonstrate fractions.
Check for the student’s prior knowledge of a subject. Perhaps some context is missing and needs to be filled in.

3) Don’t linger.

Assist a student with a couple questions/corrections/clarifications/etc., and then move on. After helping a student with a couple of problems, they should be ready to try again on their own. Encourage the student to continue with the rest of the activity, and tell them you’ll return to check on them or to find you if they need further help.

4) Continue to circulate, so that you can help as many students as possible.

Thanks to Kara Rotramel, ABE Instructor and Site Coordinator for Forest Lake Adult Education Center, part of Metro North Adult Basic Education Consortium, for suggesting the need for this tip and for providing valuable input.

Three Similarities and a Difference

2011-10-27T15:14:00.006-05:00

Purpose: This activity gives students speaking and listening practice, as well as allowing them to discover their commonalities and unique qualities. Since some students may be uncomfortable telling falsehoods, something that is required if you play Three Truths and a False, why not try this variation?

Prep Time: For intermediate level and up, little prep is required. For beginning level, you’ll need 5-10 minutes to create a short list of questions.

Materials: paper and pencil or pen; beginning level questions

Prep: Think about how you want to explain or model the activity. Decide if you want students to focus on a specific theme, like jobs, or if any theme is okay. The first time around, the theme will be the learners themselves. For beginning students, write out 6 questions that they can ask their partners so they can more quickly find similarities without getting bogged down by the language practice. For example:

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite food?

Do you have children?

How do you come to school every day?

How many languages do you speak?

Do you have a job?

Where are you from?

Where do you live?

Practice the questions together before continuing.

Procedure:

I do it/creating context:

1. Pre-teach or review the words similarity and difference (or same and different for beginners).

2. Provide examples and elicit examples from students.

We do it:

1. Choose several examples to do as a group. For example, how are a car and a plane similar? What is one difference? How is working in a restaurant like working in a hospital? Find three similarities. How is it different?

2. Ask a student to partner with you and do the activity again, this time looking for your own commonalities and unique qualities.

You do it:

1. Students choose partners and do the activity. Encourage them to work with someone who speaks a different first language.

2. Repeat the activity several times, so students have the opportunity to interact with more than one classmate.

3. Ask students to report what they’ve learned about each other.

Adaptations: For beginning literacy level, try giving partners two pictures which are similar, but have some differences. Pre-teach or review “same” and “different”. Plan on providing lots of examples of “same” and “different”, using objects. Now look at a picture together. Model how to circle things that are the same and put an “X” on things that are different. You may need to demonstrate with several pictures before asking students to work on their own. Make sure the pictures are very basic.

Alternatively, use objects. Ask learners to sort or categorize objects based on what they have in common. One object should not “fit”. For example, place three objects of the same color or shape in front of the students, along with one that is a different color or shape. Model the activity, using few words, moving the items around, and separating the items that are the same from the one that is different.

Three Bean Salad

2011-09-21T15:55:00.002-05:00

Purpose: This logic activity can be used to help learners work in a visual, concrete way with multiplication, fractions and percentages.

Prep Time: The first time you do the activity, allow time to go through the worksheet yourself.

Materials: dried lima beans, red beans and black-eyed peas; copies of the worksheet

Prep: assemble dried beans needed; plan to give each student, or pair of students, about 10 of each kind of bean

Procedure:

1) If you want students to work in pairs, ask them to find a partner.

2) Give each student or pair a set of beans.

I do it:

3) Using the beans, pre-teach the following vocabulary from the worksheet. Refer to the worksheet to see how the vocabulary is used in the various “recipes”. Model, using beans, then have the students demonstrate comprehension by configuring their sets of beans.

twice as many

half (1/2) as many

half (1/2) or half (1/2) of

double

¼ of

3 times as many

5 more _____than _____

4) Hand out the worksheet and ask a student to read #1 aloud. Talk through your logic as you figure out the recipe. If necessary, do several of the problems this way.

We do it:

5) Ask students to join you in figuring out several more. Ask them to explain their logic.

You do it:

6) Once students understand how the activity works, ask them to work on their own, alone or in pairs. Once they feel they have the correct answer, they check with the tutor/teacher or with another pair. The teacher or tutor can circulate and assist as needed.

Extension:

Students could re-write the recipes, converting fractions to percentages.
Students write their own recipes and challenge other students to solve them.

Thanks to Jennifer Boe Mesojedec, teacher, Minnesota Correctional Facility at Moose Lake, for sharing her worksheet and activity idea.

Techniques for Classroom Volunteers: How to "Float"

2011-09-21T15:51:00.002-05:00

Assisting in a classroom involves many different types of activities. One of these is “floating”, or moving around and helping students while they are working independently.

First, ask the teacher you are assisting what the focus of the lesson is. If you know what the objectives are, you can concentrate on those as you circulate and assist students. The teacher may ask you to monitor for student progress in:

· a particular aspect of pronunciation (word stress, the “s” sound at the ends of words, etc.)

· accuracy in a particular point of grammar

· reading comprehension

· comprehension of activity directions

Follow these steps, once you have clarified your focus:

1) Circulate around the room.

Observe students as you circulate, noting if their understanding/language use is accurate (according to focus). Ask students to show you their work and explain it to you.

2) Assist.

Give hints. Don’t correct an error or give a student an answer immediately – facilitate the detection and correction of their own errors and/or help them find the answer themselves. For example:

ask the student to go back and look at the reading again
on a page with 8 questions, where 2 are incorrect, ask the student to look at those again
ask the student why he/she chose that answer
go over the instructions again and, if necessary, do an example together

3) Don’t linger.

4) Continue to circulate, so that you can help as many students as possible.

8 Things You Can Do In A One to One Class

2011-08-09T14:37:00.003-05:00

1. Guess the news story

Collect a week’s worth of newspapers (in any language) and cut out pictures of news stories from each one. Aim for a selection of five or six topical news pictures from that week. Then take a letter size sheet of paper (or cardstock). Cut a small square out of the middle of this card. When you come to class, place a picture from the news under the card so that only some of the picture is visible. The student must 1) speculate about what the picture is about, and 2) tell you as much as they know about the news story.

2. Written conversation or role play
Conduct a conversation but only in written form. Take a piece of paper and write a question to your student and give him/her the paper to write an answer on. Go back and forth like this until you have a good sized sample of writing. This can be used as the basis for correcting written mistakes and planning further classes.

3. Sticky-note mania
Bring a pack of sticky notes to the lesson one day. Look around the room and write a word of something that is in the room on a sticky note. Give it to the student and ask him or her to stick the note on the correct object. Do this until you have labeled many things in the room. At the end of the lesson call out things and ask the student to bring you back the sticky note (unless they would like to leave it on the object as a memory aide!).

4. Get out of the class
One-to-one classes are often extremely mobile, and teachers can take advantage of this. Ask your student to take you on a guided tour in English of their home or workplace. Do a shopping class, where you and your student go to several shops together. Or just go for a walk outside with your student and do your class like that one day. A change of environment is very good for refocusing the mind, and there are lots of new topics for language study that you can get just from walking down the street.

5. Questionnaires
Prepare a series of question prompts on a topic. For example, if your topic was sports you could have the following question prompts:
- /like sports?
- what/ sports/play?
- what / sports /watch on television?
- ever / win / sports award? etc.
First, interview the student using the prompts. Then ask the student to do the same for you. When you are finished, review any special vocabulary or grammar that came up. Tell the student that for the next class he or she must prepare a similar list of questions on a different topic to interview you.

6. Index cards
One piece of equipment that is particularly useful for a one-to-one class is a set of index cards. Use them to keep track of new vocabulary. The cards can then be used from time to time to review this. You can also use index cards as cue cards for a presentation. Help the student write their cues for a mini presentation on a topic, then get them to give you the presentation using only their cues. You can also write different conversation topics or role plays on individual cards. Ask the student to choose one at random and talk about or act out the situation on the card.

7. Think of someone who
Many teachers of one-to-one classes are frustrated by textbook or resource material that is only suitable for large groups. However, some of these activities can be adapted. For instance, the classic Find Someone WhoThink of Someone Who and used with only one student. Using a Find Someone WhoFind Someone Who activity with a large class.

8. SWAT for one
In a typical “swat” activity, the teacher or tutor writes or tapes vocabulary words at random all over the board. activity can be changed to a worksheet, ask the student to write the names of people that he or she knows who match each category. The student must do this without telling you anything. He or she must also write the names down in a different order than they appear on the worksheet. Do the same yourself with another copy of the same sheet. Then swap papers. The objective is to ask and answer questions to find out which person written down on the paper matches which category. You and the student will therefore be asking and answering the questions several times, just like in a The words must be from past lessons, so that students are already familiar with them. Pairs of students are given fly swatters (hence the name “swat”). When the teacher calls out a word, the students race to see who can find and swat the word first. This is excellent for practicing scanning and sight word reading. In a one to one setting, write words on scraps of paper or on sticky notes. Distribute them on the table or desk top. As you call out the word, the student scans, then slaps or points to the word as quickly as possible. Use a stop watch to add to the challenge.

Dice Questions

2011-07-25T12:02:00.001-05:00

Purpose: to give lower level students speaking and listening practice; to give higher level students practice with critical thinking skills, as well as speaking and listening

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Materials: white board and markers for a group; typed or written page for one-to-one; dice (one die for each individual, pair, or small group); an object or picture for intermediate/advanced level

Prep: Prepare a list of 6 questions related to the current unit of study or the selected object or picture

Beginning level example: questions about family

1. Who lives with you?

2. How many people in your family live in Minnesota?

3. Where do the people in your family live? What countries?

4. Do you have children? How old are they?

5. What is a name that many people in your family have?

6. How many cousins do you have?

Intermediate/advanced example: Show students an object or picture. Ask questions that require different levels of critical thinking. For an object, ask questions about it and for a picture of a person, ask questions with she or he.

1. Describe: What does it/he/she look like, feel like, etc.

2. Compare: What/how is something like or different from something else?

3. Associate: What does it/he/she remind you of?

4. Analyze (only if the topic is a thing): What parts does it have? What is it made of?

5. Apply: What does it/he/she do? What might you use it for?

6. Argue for or against: good, bad, why?

Procedure:

1. If using a board, write the list of six questions or instructions that students can respond to about the topic, object, or picture.

2. Check for comprehension of vocabulary and instructions.

3. Model the activity with several students.

4. Students work with partners or in small groups. One student rolls the die to see which question he/she needs to answer about the assigned topic. Then the next student takes a turn with a new question.

A Great Resource for teachers and tutors

2011-07-25T11:54:00.003-05:00

Notebook: Resources for the Adult Educator is a 16-page resource designed especially for teachers and tutors. It is published three times per year as a benefit for ProLiteracy members. Each article in Notebook describes a ready-to-use teaching idea related to reading, writing, listening and speaking, numeracy, or a practical application of literacy skills such as making a budget. Most articles contain reading material and/or worksheets that can be photocopied for students to use. In some instances, additional worksheets are made available online for tutors and teachers who want to do additional work on the topic. Each issue also contains an inspirational story about a learner or an instructor as well as a resources section that lists events or links to other valuable teaching resources.

The Spring 2011 issue of Notebook: Resources for the Adult Educator, is available online and we have been encouraged to share the link with tutors and teachers in our network.

In this issue:

Health Literacy
Applied Literacy
Numeracy
Exploring Resources
Tutor Profile

Access an electronic version of this issue along with related expansion materials here.

For more information about ProLiteracy, visit http://www.proliteracy.org/.

2011-06-16T13:25:00.007-05:00

This is the second in a series of two lessons based on Reading for Life, a two-volume collection of worksheets and activities published by the Minnesota Department of Education and designed to enhance the teaching of life and work skills to adult ESL and ABE learners. Both volumes can be found at:

http://www.themlc.org/Reading_for_Life_Lessons3.html.

Our intention is to help teachers and tutors by building lessons around specific competencies addressed in Reading for Life by Linda Strand. Each lesson plan outlines three stages of addressing a competency:

a real-life application
a list and links to applicable worksheets in Reading for Life
links to multiple-choice, CASAS-style worksheets and answer sheets

Lesson Name: Housing Advertisements (Reading for Life Volume 1, Unit 2: Ads: Jobs, Product and Housing)

Purpose: Learners will be able to read and interpret newspaper-style apartment ads.

Key Vocabulary: apartment, rent, lease, security deposit, property, furnished, available, unit, efficiency apartment, studio, utilities

Topics to Review: classified ads

Materials: apartment ads from a newspaper or other source, photocopies of apartment ads

Procedure:

Real-life application/creating context:

1) T facilitates discussion with students about the places they live. Do they live in apartments or houses? Discuss how many bedrooms there are, other rooms, utilities included, security features, furnished/unfurnished and anything else you and your students can think of. Use this as an opportunity to teach and review vocabulary.

2) Look at an apartment ad from the newspaper. Discuss with students the same information as before, based on the ad.

3) Students circle all of the abbreviations in the ad. T and students work together to figure out the abbreviations. Students look at other ads to find abbreviations. Make a master list on the board of abbreviations and their written-out form.

4) Abbreviation Scavenger Hunt: Give each student one abbreviation and a photocopied page of ads. The student scans his/her page to find all the instances of his/her abbreviation.

5) Ad rewrite: In pairs, students rewrite an ad for an apartment without using abbreviated forms.

Progress to Reading for Life, v.1 competency worksheets: Applicable worksheets: RFL v.1, pages 31, 32 and 33

Progress to multiple-choice format activities:

Housing Ad Worksheet for page 33

Stand-Alone House Ad Worksheet

Extensions:

See Daily Living Activities on page 30 of Reading for Life v.1.
Have students write a list of questions to ask when calling to inquire about one of the apartments on the worksheet. Do role plays in pairs after discussing the questions as a group.
Do the Scanning for Items activity outlined in the Reading section of the Tutor Tip Archive on the MLC website http://www.themlc.org/Reading2.html

Recognizing Telephone Numbers

2011-06-10T14:27:00.004-05:00

MLC trainers have written a number of CASAS-style lesson plans for use by tutors and teachers. We encourage you to check out the others at: http://www.themlc.org/Reading_for_Life_Lessons3.html.

The lessons are based on Reading for Life, a two-volume collection of worksheets and activities published by the Minnesota Department of Education and designed to enhance the teaching of life and work skills to adult ESL and ABE learners. Both volumes can be accessed from the link above.

a real-life application
a list and links to applicable worksheets in Reading for Life
links to multiple-choice worksheets and answer sheets

Each lesson plan includes links to specific worksheets from the two volumes.

Recognizing Telephone Numbers

Purpose: Learners will be able to recognize phone numbers and distinguish their format from that of other personal information

Key Vocabulary: telephone/phone number, area code

Topics to Review: writing and saying numbers 1-10

Materials: phone book

Procedure:

Real-life application/creating context:

1) T shows the phone book. T asks “What information can we find in the phone book?” Use student responses to assess knowledge.

2) T writes his/her phone number with 1+ area code on the board.

T asks “What’s your phone number?” Students repeat the question.

T gives response, using own phone number. Students repeat the question until confident.

3) T asks: “What does the 1 mean? When do I need to dial 1? What are the next three numbers? What does area code mean? What is the area code where we live?”

4) Students practice asking for and writing down each others’ phone numbers.

5) Write different numbers on the board: phone numbers, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses. Have students identify which numbers are phone numbers.

Progress to Reading for Life Volume 1 competency worksheets: Applicable worksheets: RFL v.1 page 59. Additional worksheets: Phone # Info Gap and Circle the Phone #.

Choose from worksheets listed according to your learners’ needs. Please see a copy of Reading for Life for additional worksheets and units.

Progress to multiple-choice format activities: A stand-alone multiple-choice worksheet to complement Reading for Life v.1 unit 4 is attached as well as a bubble answer sheet.

Extensions:

See Daily Living Activities on page 57-58 of Reading for Life v. 1, as well as additional activities on pages 64-67 related to alphabetizing and using a phone book.
Reading phone numbers can be an excellent pronunciation activity. Model the intonation used when giving a phone number, then provide students with a list of numbers to read to each other as a dictation. Or, give each person a different phone number and ask them to read it while everyone else writes it down.
With lower level students, do the Personal Information TPR activity in the Tutor Tip Archive on the MLC website http://www.themlc.org/Listening.html

Making Grammar Text Exercises Open-Ended

2011-06-10T14:22:00.002-05:00

Purpose: To make grammar text exercises more engaging and more multi-level; open-ended exercises allow students to participate at their own ability levels.

Preparation Time: 10+ minutes; allow extra time if you plan to make a handout rather than using the board.

Materials: grammar exercise from a traditional grammar book; board and markers

Preparation: Look at the sentences in the grammar activity and decide how you’d like to change them. For example, in a beginning level exercise, you might see the following sentence:

Lucy ______(do) her homework every night..

An alternate approach involves asking students to fill in the blanks with any word that makes sense in the sentence. Use the same text in Rounds 1 and 2, but change what students need to fill in.

Round One: Lucy does _______ every night.

Students could fill in the blank with: dishes, mending, exercises, etc.

Round Two: Lucy ____ her homework every night.

Students could write: finishes, does, checks, etc.

Round Three: Students write their own version of the above sentence, changing the name, the activity, the verb and/or the time.

Procedure:

I do it:

1) Review the vocabulary or grammar that you are focusing on. If your grammar focus is the past tense, make sure the verbs in the sentences are in the past tense.

2) Model the activity by doing several examples and using different words to fill in the blanks, so students understand there is no right answer, as long as the sentence makes sense. Go through all 3 rounds with each sentence.

3) Try doing some examples that don’t make sense to check for comprehension.

We do it:

1) Do a number of examples on the board, filling in the blanks with words elicited from students. Have fun trying out different possibilities.

2) Ask students to come to the board and fill in blanks. Other students decide if sentences make sense.

You do it:

1) Students work on their own to complete the sentences, written either on the board or on a handout. Tutor/teacher circulates to assist as needed.

Note: In a multi-level class, give a time limit rather than a quantity-of-work limit. Each student does as much as he or she can in the given time.

Statement Checks

2011-06-10T14:11:00.001-05:00

Purpose: This is a conversation activity that encourages students to produce language quickly and cooperatively, while practicing a specific grammar point.

Prep Time: 10+ minutes (time needed to locate 3-4 pictures)

Materials: projector for showing pictures to class; 3-4 colorful, interesting pictures from magazines or books

Prep: Once you decide on the grammar that students will practice, choose photos to use both for modeling (“we do it” step) and for the activity itself.

Procedure:

I do it

1. Introduce or review the grammar structure and vocabulary you want students to practice, such as using prepositions, adjectives, or the present tense. Also, review the components of a simple sentence. You’ll model correct sentence structure in the “we do it” step as well.

We do it:

1. For the activity itself, students will work in small groups, but to model the activity, the tutor or teacher and the class act as one group. Explain that one person in the group is a recorder. For the “we do it” phase, the teacher acts as the recorder.

2. Show a picture to the class for one minute. For a large group, use a projector, if possible, so that everyone can see.

3. Ask students to say sentences about the picture, using the grammar point you’ve specified.

4. The recorder (teacher) makes a check mark on the board for each sentence that the group produces.

5. At the end of a minute, count the number of check marks. This is your score.

Note: For a lower level class, you might want to repeat the above activity, but model it with a small group, so students will understand how to proceed. Have one of the students act as the recorder this time.

You do it:

1. Now divide students into small groups.

2. Each group decides on a recorder within the group. The recorder also participates in producing sentences.

3. Show the picture on the projector for one minute while groups create sentences.

4. When time is up, students count the number of check marks they have.

5. Now show the class a different picture for one minute, with the goal of generating more sentences than they did the first time. Students will almost always find that they have more sentences about the second picture.

Vocabulary House

2011-05-16T12:37:00.002-05:00

Purpose: This is an association activity and a memory aid that helps students retain new vocabulary.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Materials: markers, large sheets of paper, such as newsprint, one per student, pencils

Preparation: Gather materials. Think about the floor plan that you intend to draw on the board as a model.

Procedure:

1. Each student draws the basic floor plan of a house where he or she has many memories. The rooms/yard/gardens should be empty (no furniture) and large enough to write plenty of words in the empty spaces. Students use pencils initially, then trace over the lines with markers.

Demonstrate this activity first by drawing a simple floor plan of your own present or childhood home on the board. Model putting words into certain rooms and talk about the associations you’ve made. For example: “I put the word ‘traffic’ in the kitchen because that is the busiest room in my house. Everyone always ends up in the kitchen! It is the center of our family life.”

2. Students select a new word, associate it with a place in the floor plan they drew, and write the word in that room. Everyone will have a different association.

3. After they have done this with several words, students tell each other, in pairs or small groups, why they put each word where they did. When students tell one another why they put each new word in a particular room, they learn a lot about each other.

4. Students keep their Vocabulary House, adding words to it and talking with classmates about it throughout the unit or class.

5. Charts could also be posted on the wall, creating a “neighborhood”, while students continue to add to them.

Buidling Workplace Vocabulary

2011-05-16T12:28:00.003-05:00

Purpose: To practice talking about jobs

Preparation: None

Procedure:

Have students generate a list of jobs.
Choose two to three job titles and have students suggest typical activities for this type of employment.
Have students get in groups and pick one job and tell a story about a person, real or fictional. Example: Jenny is an assembly worker. Every day she puts things together. She must work very fast. She does the same job again and again. Sometimes her job is boring.
Have students illustrate the actions or difficult vocabulary words in the story by drawing stick pictures, cutting pictures out of magazines or taking photos of people on the job.

Extensions:

Create a simple dialogue where one person asks basic questions about another person’s new job. Then have students practice the dialogue, pretending to be a nurse, or assembly worker or an accountant.

Practice word processing skills by typing up a story, printing it in large font and making a poster picture story with it.

Use a workforce Web site, such as www.iseek.org, to find information about average salaries, benefits and educational requirements for each job.

Jigsaw Technique

2011-05-16T12:19:00.001-05:00

Purpose: To practice reading comprehension; to practice speaking skills.

Preparation before class:

Choose appropriate reading material to use with your students. Examples of good types of material for this activity include anecdotes or stories, stories told from two or three different viewpoints, fairy tales and information about different community services or different cities.
Divide the material into sections. The number of sections you create depends on the type of material and on how many groups of students you would like.
On a separate sheet of paper, write comprehension questions for the material so that 2-3 questions pertain to each section.
Photocopy the material and then cut out each section separately. Make enough copies of each section so that each student can have one section (not one of each). Make one copy of the question sheet for each student.

Procedure:

Distribute a section of the text and the questions to each learner. Learners read the text silently and then work with other students who have the same section to complete the questions. If your text is divided into sections A, B, and C, all the students with part A work together (AAAA groups). Explain to learners that they will not be able to answer all of the questions, only the ones that pertain to their part of the text.
When students are ready, regroup the students so that each group forms a complete version of the text (ABC groups).
In the new groups, each student summarizes or retells his/her part of the story, so that other students can answer the questions for that part. Students should not read the text to their group, nor show the4 group their question papers.
When groups have finished, go over the comprehension questions as a whole class.

Variation:

This activity can also be done with listening material if you have multiple cassette/CD players, can make copies of the sections of tape and have places where groups of students can go to listen to their section without letting other groups hear.

The Three Rs

2011-03-28T12:50:00.004-05:00

Purpose: to help learners understand what recycling is and why it’s important, as well as to provide listening practice

Prep Time: time needed to view the video and think about how you’ll explain vocabulary

Materials: index cards, copies of worksheet, equipment needed to show video, realia needed to clarify examples of reducing, reusing and recycling

Prep: gather realia, locate index cards, make copies of worksheet

Procedure:

1) Setting the Context and Introducing New Vocabulary:

Start by giving students some examples of reducing, reusing and recycling and ask students if they have done any of these things or anything similar and why. It is not necessary at this point to use the terms reduce, reuse, or recycle. See below for some possible examples you could tell students.

Examples of reducing: using cloth grocery bags, using plastic containers to store food, use your own water bottle, write on both sides of a piece of paper, turn lights off when no one is in the room

Examples of reusing: giving clothing to a younger brother or sister, buying something that is used (a car, books, appliances), new uses for boxes or jars

Examples of recycling: using paper, plastic, glass, cans to make more of the same thing

Teach students the terms reduce, reuse, and recycle, referring to the examples that you discussed. Then elicit/discuss reasons why doing these actions are important.

Please note: If students aren’t familiar with recycling, avoid turning the lesson into the topic of how to recycle; this would make a good follow up lesson. Instead, focus on what it is and why it is important.

2) Practicing the New Language

For this portion of the lesson you will need access to the Three Rs video found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKdZYYmTT9A

You’ll also need copies of this fill-in-the-blanks worksheet.

Introduce the Three Rs video by telling students that they will be doing a listening activity called the Three Rs. Ask students to guess what the Three Rs are.

Play the video once and ask students what they remember.

Pass out the fill-in-the-blanks worksheet and, if necessary, watch the first part of the video and do a couple examples as a class. Then play the whole video a couple times while students fill in the rest of the blanks.

Check the answers for a couple of students and then refer other students to the ones who have the correct answers until every student has the answers. If there is interest, play the video again while students compare their answers to what they hear in the video.

3) Follow-Up Discussion

Students can work with partners or in small groups to come up with some more ideas about ways that people can reduce, reuse and recycle and then report their ideas to the rest of the class.

4) Wrap Up

Pass out an index card to each student. Write the following questions on the board for students to answer on their index cards.

1. Write your name

2. What are three things that you learned today?

3. What questions do you have about the Three Rs?

Read the cards and choose some questions from the cards to discuss/answer as a class.

What is it?

2011-03-14T15:46:00.002-05:00

Purpose: To practice vocabulary, descriptions and sentence formation

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Materials: Index cards

Preparation: Choose nouns that your students know and that relate to their goals. Write each noun on a separate index card or piece of paper. Lower-level learners can be given pictures.

Procedure:

Give each student a card with a word on it. They should write or say three sentences that describe the word. For example: It is yellow. It has a peel. You take the skin off it before you eat it. Encourage students to use complete sentences.
After writing the sentences, each student should read them out loud. The other students in the class should try to guess what the word is.

Best Practice: Activating Learners' Prior Knowledge

2011-03-02T14:35:00.003-06:00

All students bring knowledge and experiences from the world and their lives into the language classroom. A reading passage or a spoken message means something different to each person, based on the individual’s experiences, education, and culture.

One of the challenges in teaching a diverse group of learners is that everyone comes to class with different life experiences and expectations! As you prepare to do an activity, think about how you might prepare your student or students. How can you link the material to what they already know? Here are a few suggestions:

Introduce the topic. “Today we’re going to talk about making a doctor’s appointment.”
Ask questions. The kinds of questions you ask are dependent on the level, of course. If possible, find out what they do in this country to make a doctor’s appointment. Ask them to compare it to practices in their home countries.
Assess language. What language do they already have to talk about the topic?
Use visuals and props to help pre-teach new vocabulary. Model and demonstrate as much as possible.
Explain the purpose of the activity.
Make sure students understand their task or tasks. Consider asking them to repeat your instructions back to you or demonstrate them to you.

Now, let’s put you in the role of the student. The following video demonstrates clearly, and with humor, the value of activating prior knowledge or schema. If the two men in the video were ESL teachers, what suggestions would you have for them, besides the importance of revealing the topic to you before they start? What questions could they ask to assess your knowledge before the presentation? What vocabulary might they pre-teach? What props or visuals might be helpful? What tasks or activities might they give you to complete during and after this listening exercise? Now watch the video and replay it as many times as you need to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzbRpMlEHzM

Dictionaries, Definitions and Vocabulary

2011-02-21T16:54:00.014-06:00

Purpose: To give intermediate and advanced level students practice working with dictionaries and recognizing differences in the definitions of similar words, as well as increasing learners’ vocabularies

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes

Materials: class set of dictionaries, such as the Longman Student Dictionary of American English

Preparation: Prepare a short list of words that have similar meanings, and their definitions, to use in modeling the activity (see first example). Then create an additional list of 5-6 words and definitions (see second sample list). Plan to write both sets on the board, unless you prefer to create a handout.

Procedure:

I do it:

1. Explain that you are writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to complain about ways that your life has been negatively affected by the economic crisis. For example, city services have decreased, as have your hours at work, etc.

2. Ask the student(s) what you could do to find some other words that have meanings similar to decrease. Generate a list. If no one suggests looking in a dictionary, ask if anyone has ever used one to find words to use in writing.

3. Pass out the dictionaries. Ask students to look up the verb decrease and suggest some alternate words for you to use.

4. Discuss which words would work best in the context of your letter to the editor. Then write a few sentences on the board using those words. For example, you might use go down, drop, fall, diminish.

5. Since the alternate words can have slightly different meanings in other contexts, refer to the dictionaries again for sample sentences and additional definitions.

We do it:

1. Write the short list of words and definitions on the board in two columns. For example, you might choose the word see and write two or three others words that also mean see, but are used in slightly different ways:

2. Explain that all the words mean see but that they are used for different purposes.

3. Ask students to look up the first word in the dictionary. Can they help you match it with its definition?

4. Once you agree on the definition, draw a line from the word to its definition.

5. Ask students to look up the other words, then come up to the board and connect the words to their definitions.

You do it:

1. Now repeat the activity with the list of 5-6 words and definitions.

2. Let’s assume you’ve chosen the word tell. Explain that all the words mean tell but they can be used for different purposes.

3. Ask the students to use their dictionaries to match the words and definitions. Here’s a sample list:

Wrap Up: Students come to the board or in some other way indicate which words they matched with which definitions. Now ask them to use each word in a sentence. Check the sentences and select several to use for a dictation exercise.

Whole-Part-Whole

2011-02-10T12:40:00.003-06:00

Purpose: This method starts with a theme or context (the “whole”), pulls out specific parts to analyze, then goes back to a text to practice the “part” in context. It can help students work on spelling and pronunciation skills.

Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes

Materials: Work with your core text, a level-appropriate reader, or create your own text.

The Talk of the Block series from New Readers Press contains readings on various themes that work well for this type of activity.

Preparation: Look for vocabulary in a text that can be used as the basis for a spelling and pronunciation lesson. For example, in the story, "Food from the Heart" from the Talk of the Block series, words using the long “e” sound are featured. These include words like meal, meat, and peel, which illustrate different spellings for the long “e” sound. You could write a simple story of your own about family, using words like nurse, daughter, and first to illustrate the different spellings for the same sound.

Procedure:

Based on your theme, elicit vocabulary from learners. Using visuals to prompt learners’ memories is very helpful. Add to these words the ones you want to highlight for your spelling/pronunciation lesson. Elicit spelling when writing all the words on the board and pre-teach any new vocabulary that students will encounter in the story.
Focusing on the sounds and letter combinations you wish to emphasize, circle or underline them in the words on the board, model them, and practice the pronunciation.

Erase the words on the board and give students a brief dictation or spelling test.
Give students a copy of the story to read. You may decide to have them read it silently first, then aloud to see if they remember the spelling and pronunciation rules. Again, list the words in the story that illustrate the spelling lesson, or ask learners to identify them.
Ask students to write sentences using the words.

Written Role Play

2011-02-07T13:50:00.002-06:00

Purpose: To improve writing fluency and to practice language specific to the chosen role play situation. An interesting problem can get students writing without being too concerned about making mistakes.

Preparation Time: The time it takes to choose a scenario for the role play.

Materials: Paper and pens

Preparation: Choose a role play situation in which there is a problem to discuss. For example: Two roommates have different preferences for cleanliness with one that is quite messy and the other who likes things to be neat, or an employee is stuck in traffic and late for a meeting and a manager that has been waiting for twenty minutes.

Procedure:

1. Describe the role play situation from the point of view of one person in the role play. For example: You have a very messy roommate. You prefer to keep your house clean, but your roommate hasn’t cleaned up for weeks. You notice a strange smell when you walk into the house and decide that it is time to talk to your roommate about the problem.
2. Students get out pens and paper and write their names on their papers. Then they start writing what the person in the role play would say. Instruct students to write legibly so that someone else can read their writing.

3. After a few minutes ask students to finish writing their last sentence and then pass their papers to the right. Give students a minute or two to read.

4. Now all the students write the other role in the role play. They write whatever they want to in response to the original complaint. After a few minutes, students pass their papers back to the original writers who then get to write another response.

5. Continue trading papers and writing as long as there is interest.

Possible Follow up Activities: Students can read their dialogs out loud for other students to hear, they can edit their dialogs and then share them, or they can do the role play again as a conversation activity.

Variation: In a one-to-one tutoring situation, the teacher can write and then trade papers with the student.

Picture Flash

2011-02-07T13:36:00.005-06:00

Purpose: Visuals cues provide an interesting and challenging way to review vocabulary, as well as testing students’ powers of observation. This activity works well in one-to-one situations as well as in a group.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Materials: If the group is large, you’ll need a projector so that everyone can see and participate.
Choose pictures from magazines, or the Internet, that relate to the lesson topic. You’ll also need
a blank sheet of paper to cover the picture.

Preparation: Select several photos related to your topic. Make sure all the students in a class can see the area where you are projecting the picture. If working with an individual student, sit at a table to facilitate showing the picture.

Procedure:
Explain that you will show the picture very briefly. Model this.

Ask the students to talk about what they saw after you cover up the picture. For example, you might flash a picture of a room. Encourage students to shout out what room it is.

Flash the picture again and see what else students can add. What’s in the room? Are there people in the room? What are they doing?

Flash the picture until students can’t add any more details.

Repeat with other pictures if desired.

Note: If you’re using a projector, don’t turn it on and off during this activity. That will quickly ruin the bulb. Cover and uncover the picture using a piece of paper.

Texting to Teach Reading and Writing

2011-01-19T14:31:00.003-06:00

Purpose: To incorporate text messaging into reading and writing instruction for ESL or general literacy/ABE learners.

Tips for using texting with students:

· Ask students to read a text and then summarize it for you in one to three text messages. Compile the summaries, if working with a group, and ask the students to choose the best summary.

· Send out a word of the day. If you are studying workplace skills, send out words related to those lessons. Ask student s to respond by sending you a definition of the word. For more information on how to do this, visit http://www.ehow.com/how_4995209_use-text-messaging-teach-esl.html

· Share grammar tips. The article above will tell you how to do this. Ask students to write back incorporating the grammar in context.

· Ask students to text you their opinions related to a discussion or an article covered in a lesson recently, or ask them to text you and tell you something that they learned in a recent lesson.

· Create a glossary to help “translate” text message abbreviations and acronyms. Sites such as Sharpened Glossary (www.sharpened.net/glossary/acronyms.php) allow users to type in an acronym and find out what it means. Try sending out a message with various abbreviations or acronyms and encourage students to use a site like Sharpened Glossary to decode the meaning.

· Share announcements. If class is canceled due to a blizzard, students may be more likely to respond to a text message than an e-mail or phone call.

Note: Be aware that keyboards can be very different and someone with a normal keypad (non-blackberry or qwerty) will be much slower than someone with a specialized keyboard.

Frame It

2011-01-11T16:20:00.002-06:00

Purpose: This activity encourages students to think about how they make decisions and to explain those decisions to others. Explaining decisions is a form of critical thinking.

Prep time: 5 -10 minutes

Materials: pens and paper

Prep: Choose an easy topic for the example that you will show to students and another topic for students to try. Ideally the topic the students write about should be related to today’s lesson.

Procedure:

I do it:

1. Write the name of a topic that is easy for your students on the board and draw a circle around it. For example, the word food.

2. Draw a larger circle around the first circle. Think out loud about associations you have with the topic. Then write these associations in the space between the two circles. For example, you could say Food makes me think about shopping, cooking, and being healthy and then write shopping, cooking and being healthy in the outer circle.

3. Draw a third very large circle around the other two circles. Think out loud about factors and people that influence your decisions about the topic. For example, you could say I think about what my family likes to eat when I buy food. Then write family in the outer circle. Continue giving a few more examples.

We do it:

1. Write another easy topic on the board and draw a circle around it. For example, write the word English.

2. Draw a larger circle around the first circle. Elicit associations that students have with the topic. You might ask them, What does English make you think about? Write their associations in the circle.

3. Draw the third circle around the other two circles. Elicit ideas from students about factors and people that influence their decisions about the topic. For example, you might ask students Why do you read in English? Why do you come to English class?

You do it:

1. Now assign a topic related to today’s lesson. Tell students to write it in their notebooks with a circle around it.

2. Instruct students to write what the topic makes them think in the next circle.

3. Instruct students to write people and things that help them make decisions about the topic in the last circle.

Extension:

Students can share their answers with a partner or in a small group and discuss decisions they make (related to the topic) and why they make them.

Celebrating the New Year

2011-01-03T14:15:00.004-06:00

Purpose: To share cultural information about New Year’s celebrations around the world and to encourage students to set goals by making resolutions.

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes, not counting food preparation, which is optional

Materials: 2011 calendar, copies of chart for conversation activity, envelopes, greeting cards for New Year’s (if desired)

Prep: Prepare chart, if you intend to hand it out to students; think about specific vocabulary you’ll want to pre-teach and how you want to illustrate it; think of examples of resolutions to share

Procedure:

I do it (Part I):

1. Find out what students have observed about New Year’s celebrations in the U.S. This conversation could include reviews of top news stories from the past year on TV, as well as foods typically eaten in certain regions, such as black-eyed peas, a southern tradition. (A recipe for New Year Peas is included at the end of this tutor tip.) New Year’s Eve celebrations, in modern times, often involve fireworks, music, alcoholic beverages, and noisemaking, with a countdown at midnight. New Year’s Day tends to be quieter and more family-oriented.

2. Ask: When do you celebrate the New Year in your country or culture?

What kinds of food do you eat on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day?

Do you go out or stay at home to celebrate?

Do you decorate your homes?

Do you wear special clothes?

Do you give or get gifts?

We do it:

1. Draw a simple chart on the board or on a piece of paper if you’re working with one student or a small group. The chart should look something like this:

Name	Country	When do you celebrate New Year’s?	What are two things you do to celebrate?

2. Interview a single student and fill in the chart.

3. Now ask that student to interview another student in front of the class and fill in the chart, with your assistance if needed.

You do it:

1. Give your student or students a copy of the chart or ask them to reproduce it on a piece of blank paper.

2. Now ask them to interview four other students and fill in their charts. If you only work with one student, you could share information about different traditions, for example Persian New Year, Chinese New Year, Jewish New Year, etc. and have the student take notes to fill in the chart.

Note: Emergent readers and writers may be able to do the first three columns after lots of modeling. They can interview two students instead of four and ask the fourth question orally.

Wrap-Up:

Ask for volunteers to report on what they’ve learned. Now encourage students to find some commonalities amongst all the traditions. Make a list together.

I do it (Part II):

1. Using a calendar, point out that January 1 is the day that marks the beginning of a new calendar year in countries that use the Gregorian calendar. New Year’s Eve or Old Year’s Night is always observed on December 31. The image of a new baby is sometimes used to represent the New Year.

2. Find out which calendar students use and are familiar with.

3. Explain the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. Be prepared to share examples.

4. Find out if other cultures do this, too.

We do it:

Elicit examples from students. What might they encourage their friends, family members or classmates to set as goals for the coming year? Why? What resolutions might they set for themselves? What would help them keep those resolutions?

You do it:

1. Students talk in pairs and share at least one resolution with their partner.

2. Give each student an envelope. Depending on literacy levels, each person writes his or her name on the envelope, then writes his/her New Year’s resolution on a piece of paper and places it in the envelope. Alternatively, one student dictates to the other and the higher level student writes for both or the tutor/teacher assists.

3. Seal the envelopes and put them in a safe place. Agree on a date in the future when you will bring out the envelopes and see how people are doing with their resolutions.

Wrap-Up: Wish everyone a Happy New Year. Share expressions that are used in the U.S. or show examples of greeting cards and talk about images and words associated with the holiday. Eat some black-eyed peas!

Recipe for New Year Peas:

· 1 pound dried black-eyed peas

· 1 pound link sausage, or your favorite

· 1 small onion, chopped

· 3 tablespoons brown sugar

· 1 tablespoon prepared mustard

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1 cup prepared barbecue sauce

Preparation: Rinse, prepare, soak, and cook peas in about 3 cups water, following directions on the package. Drain and reserve half of the cooking liquid. In a skillet over medium heat, brown sausage and onions; drain off excess fat. Place peas in a 3-quart casserole; add sausage and onions. Stir in reserved liquid, brown sugar, mustard, salt, and barbecue sauce. Bake at 300° for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Serves 6.

Starting Class on Time

2010-12-27T10:09:00.008-06:00

Purpose: It’s important to start class on time, even if only half of your students are there! Starting on time sets expectations about when students should arrive. Students who arrive early or on time can work independently, or in pairs, on review activities, and verify their answers on their own.

Preparation time: This depends on which activity you’re planning, but remember that once you prepare the materials, they can be used over and over again. Also, think about asking students to help with some of the preparation. This can be a learning activity in itself.

Materials: 3 X 5 or 4 X 6 index cards, markers, pens, pencils

I. Practicing Spelling and Vocabulary

Pair dictations from flash cards or spelling lists
Put word cards in alphabetical order
Sort vocabulary cards

Into word groups - words related to weather, words related to jobs, words that are nouns, etc.
Sort adjective cards into 1 or 2 syllable words (great for teaching comparative and superlative).

Write two statements on the board.

Minnesota is ___________________.(adjective)

Minnesota has __________________. (noun)

Give one student (the “teacher”) 5-8 flash cards that are all true about Minnesota.

The other students use the flash cards to make a sentence, using the models on the board. Write the correct sentence on the back of each flash card. The “teacher” affirms or corrects his/her students. As students advance, make a new set of cards and change the model, for example, making the statement negative or using the question form.

II. Drilling

Preposition Cards - Write sentences on the fronts of the cards with a blank where the preposition should be. For example, “He works ___ night”. On the backs of the cards, write the appropriate preposition, in this case, “at”. One student takes the role of teacher, shows the front of the card to the student(s) and affirms or corrects the response.
Verb Cards - Make a set of verb phrase cards: work at Pizza Hut, sit in the chair, drive a car, etc. Write a model on the board: He is working at Pizza Hut. Students work through the cards, following the model.

Variations:

· Change “he” to “they, I, we”, etc.

· Change the model to practice present tense, the negative, a question, or past tense.

· Regular present and past tense pronunciation:

On the back of each card, write the final sound of the present tense, third person singular: -s, -z, or -ez. For regular verbs, write the final sound of the past tense: -d, -t, or -id.

wash the clothes

-ez -t

play with children

-z -d

· Drill irregular past tense with flash cards. Write the present tense on the front and the past form on the back. One partner says the verb in the present tense and the other writes it in the past. The student with the cards checks the other’s work.

· Add in irregular verb phrases as in model above.

III. Checking Homework

Make a transparency of the homework page. Have it projected on the board or wall when students arrive. Alternatively, write sentences on the board. Ask each student as they come in to choose one that they are confident of, and write it on the board or the transparency. Those who haven’t finished, use the time to finish. Ask those who have finished to edit the work on the board, checking for capitalization, punctuation, etc.

Pro Con Improv

2010-12-16T10:41:00.002-06:00

Purpose: To encourage advanced-level ESL and GED students to use transition phrases in conversation. This activity will help students use more academic language in speaking and in writing.

Prep Time: 10 – 15 minutes

Materials: none

Preparation: Based on the content of past lessons and learner interest, choose a number of subjects that students may choose from. Think about a topic you would like to speak about as you model the activity. Write down examples to illustrate the transition words you’ll introduce at the beginning of the lesson.

Procedure:

I do it:

1. Introduce the idea of transition phrases in speaking (and writing). For this activity, you will focus on connective words used to express thoughts in opposition to each other. Most of us tend to use the word “but” a lot, but there are other options to choose from which are more academic. These include “however”, “on the other hand”, and “then again”. Provide examples of each used in a pair of sentences.

2. On one side of the board, write a list of topics. For example: TV, travel, cell phones, computers, cars, fast food, etc.

3. On the other side of the board, write the transition phrases.

4. Check for comprehension of the terms “pro” and “con”. If necessary, pick a topic, make two columns, one with a (+) at the top and the other with a (-), and ask the students to help you outline the pros and cons of the topic.

We do it:

1. Now elicit sample sentences from the students, using the information you’ve generated and a transition phrase.

2. Ask a student to model the activity with you.

3. Tell the student your topic and explain that you will begin talking about the pros. When they clap their hands, you have to use a transition phrase and begin talking about the cons. Every time they clap, you have to switch course, using a transition phrase before you continue.

You do it:

1. Students pair up.

2. Give them a few minutes to reflect on their topic of choice.

3. Each student has a turn to speak and a turn to listen (and clap!)

“All learning involves conversation. The ongoing dialogue, internal and external, that occurs as we read, write, listen, compose, observe, refine, interpret, and analyze IS how we learn.” – Regie Routman

Sentence Games

2010-12-08T09:09:00.002-06:00

Purpose: To explore and discover the “rules” of sentence formation.

Prep time: none

Materials: white board and markers

Prep: none

Procedure:

1) Write a simple sentence on the board, such as “It’s a book”. One by one, students suggest one or two words, or a phrase, which can be added to the sentence.

2) Each student writes in the new word or words and then reads the new sentence aloud. The class then decides if it is grammatically correct.

3) The level of the students will determine the complexity of the sentence. Beginning level might be: It’s a book.

It’s a big book.

It’s a big, red book.

It’s Maria’s big, red book.

It’s not Maria’s big, red book. Etc.

Variations:
Start with a longer sentence and students remove a word or words to make the sentence shorter. Continue until you can’t reduce the sentence any more.

Replace words in the original sentence to change the sentence completely. The meaning of the sentence can change, but it must remain grammatically correct. As above, each time the sentence is changed, the student reads it aloud and the class decides if it is correct.

Second Language Acquisition

2010-11-12T09:19:00.006-06:00

Do you ever feel like a student is losing ground rather than progressing? Do you wonder why a structure they used correctly last week is now used incorrectly? The following video, Second Language Acquisition in Under 5 Minutes, was created by MLC’s own Educational Technology Trainer, Susan Wetenkamp-Brandt. It will help you understand why mastery of a grammar rule doesn’t happen all at once and why it’s important to be patient with ourselves and our learners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_LOBBLmgYc

Points to reflect on after you view the video:

1. Mastery of a grammar rule does not come quickly or all at once. Remind your learners to be patient with themselves. You’ll need to review and repeat each grammar topic frequently.

2. Mistakes are not bad! Mistakes are windows into your learners’ grammar and can help you understand what they already know and what they need to work on. When learners start making different kinds of mistakes, this can actually be a sign of learning!

3. Correct grammar does not always indicate mastery of the rule. The learner may simply be repeating something she has heard, without understanding why it is correct. Don’t assume that your learners won’t benefit from review and repetition, just because they already use the grammar correctly.

4. People don’t always learn what they are taught – they learn what they are ready to learn. Not everyone in a class or group will be ready to learn a particular structure at the same time. This is not a failure on the part of the student or of the tutor/teacher.

5. Some things which may seem simple or beginning-level at first glance are actually very complicated. Don’t frustrate yourself or your learner(s) by insisting on complete accuracy before moving on to something else. Do another activity, and then come back to the grammar later.

Voter Education

2010-10-18T10:04:00.005-05:00

Lessons on Elections and Voting in Minnesota

For English Language and Citizenship Classes

Thousands of students who are taking English or citizenship classes are, or will be, eligible to vote in the upcoming election. To be a voter, students must:

be citizens
be 18 years or older
have resided in Minnesota for a minimum of 20 days.

To become citizens, they study and pass a rigorous examination. Then they have the opportunity to vote in the election, and you, as a teacher, have the opportunity to help their participation by preparing them to vote. The basic message of these lessons is the importance of voting as one way to be involved in one’s community and country. Voting is a right of all citizens, and it is the responsibility of all citizens to be informed about the issues and candidates.

Voter Education for English Language and Citizenship Classes is a primer on the basics of voting. It is written for intermediate through advanced English language learners. These lessons are relevant for all students, even if some students in the class are not citizens. They can still learn about the issues, have opinions about candidates, and talk to others about their views.

The lessons are based upon original stories, using a ‘real-life’ approach to learning language. Students develop skills in reading, writing, speaking and critical thinking while they learn about a significant facet of life in the United States – voting and elections. All lessons include a question worksheet, an activity and relevant materials (or links to websites to obtain materials) for Minnesota and US elections.

Lesson 1 Registering to vote is about eligibility and voter registration. The story of Hawa teaches about voter registration. A pre-registration form in English is included in the lesson. Teachers are encouraged to actually register eligible voters in class, up until 20 days before the election. Otherwise, students can fill out the registration form in class, and take it with them when they vote in November.

Lesson 2 Learning about Levels of Government uses a map to teach about boundaries for federal, state, county and local jurisdictions. The story about Fatima responds to students’ confusion about who is running for which office.

Lesson 3 Learning about the Candidates and the Issues is how to become informed about the candidates. In the story, students follow Carlos as he learns to think about political ads and ethnic identification with a candidate. The subject of political issues is introduced, to help students discern what positions candidates support.

Lesson 4 Making a Choice continues the story of Carlos as he struggles to decide how to vote. Students learn about political parties and how to get more information before they make their choices.

Lesson 5 Going to the Polls focuses on the procedure for voting, using a sample polling place diagram and sample ballot. Mai takes his mother Tran to vote for the first time and they work their way through the polling place. Students end the lesson series when they make a sticker to wear that says “I Will Vote!”

Information for the lessons is from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office and the League of Women Voters. Recommended sources for you and your students

Voter’s Guide, published by the StarTribune; available at Target Stores, Mervyn’s and Marshall Fields, free of charge; StarTribune newspaper voter’s guide: www.startribune.org
Secretary of State’s Office: www.sos.state.mn.us
League of Women Voters of Minnesota Voter Guide: statewide nonpartisan publication that includes, in one issue, all the candidates for statewide offices for all the major and registered minor parties and photos, biographies and responses to our questions from US president, US House and statewide judicial candidates. www.lwvmn.org

Lesson 1 Registering to Vote

Any person can provide registration cards and assistance to help register voters, and the ESL and citizenship classrooms are ideal places to do voter registration. When new voters take this first step of filling out the registration form, they are more likely to actually cast their vote on the day of the election. ESL teachers have a good opportunity to pre-register eligible voters. You can keep a list of names and phone numbers of the people you register to call and remind to vote the day before the election.

Eligibility requirements in Minnesota are:

18 years of age or older
A citizen of the United States, and
Have lived in Minnesota for at least 20 days before the election

U.S. citizens may not be deprived of the right to vote because they cannot read, write or speak English.

Pre-registration is accepted up to 20 days prior to an election. Voters who register by this deadline will receive a postcard in the mail with information about their polling location. Eligible voters who have not pre-registered can register at their polling place on the day of the election.

Teacher preparation and materials: Make copies of the story, questions and voter registration form for all students. Decide on key vocabulary you might want to pre-teach. You also may get a supply of voter registration cards, available in Hmong, Spanish, Somali and Russian, at one of the following locations:

County Government Center
Local Library
City Hall
Secretary of State’s Office on-line www.sos.state.mn.us/election/register.html

Procedure:

1. Hand out a copy of the story and questions to each student.

2. Read the story aloud while students follow along. Then read aloud, sentence by sentence, with the group repeating.

3. Ask if there are words or phrases students don’t understand and then explain and clarify as you go along. Teachers may want to pre-teach key vocabulary words before reading the story.

4. Give students time to go over the story silently and underline anything they don’t understand or want explained. If some finish quickly, they can work on the questions following the story.

5. Work with the words or phrases students underlined, and help them understand the concepts in the story.

6. You can use the questions in a variety of ways.

Have students work in pairs to write answers to questions on the worksheet, using complete sentences. Ask for volunteers to write answers on the board.
Use questions as a catalyst for discussion.

Follow-up Activity: Read aloud the statement of eligibility on the Minnesota Voter Registration Card. Explain anything students don’t understand. Give non-registered eligible students the option to complete the card. Other students can use the card to interview a partner and fill in the card for the partner (without their signature). Mail in only those cards that have certified eligibility and a signature.

Story: Hawa Registers to Vote

Hawa is 34 years old. She became a citizen in 2001 but she has never voted. She didn’t register to vote when she became a citizen. Now, there is going to be an election, and Hawa wants to vote.

Hawa asks her ESL teacher, John, “What do I need to do to vote?”

John says, “First you need to register. You can register to vote before the election. This is called pre-registration. That puts you on the list of voters so it will be easier when you vote in November. You can also vote on Election Day at your polling place.”

“What is a polling place?” asks Hawa.

“A polling place is the room where you vote. Polling places also are called ‘polls,’” says John. “Polls may be in schools, apartment buildings, churches and community buildings. Your polling place is in your neighborhood. The Secretary of State’s Office can give directions to your polling place if you call 651-296-2803. Their web site is www.sos.state.mn.us.”

“I want to register before the election. I want to pre-register.” says Hawa.

“I will bring a registration card to the next class and you can pre-register.” John answers. “Do you want the card in English or Somali? They also are available in Hmong, Spanish and Russian.”

“Please get me a card in English, so I can practice my English,” says Hawa. “Will you help me if I don’t understand the instructions?”

John gets a voter registration card in English at the public library. It is free. He brings it to class the next day. He also gets a card in Somali for Hawa to give to her husband. They need to pre-register 20 days before the election.

Hawa completes the card in English, using a pen, not a pencil. It is very easy. She puts on a $.44 stamp and mails it to:

Secretary of State

60 Empire Drive

Suite 100

St. Paul, MN 55103

When Hawa goes home, she takes the other registration card to her husband. Now she can help him fill it out. She can be his teacher.

Questions: Hawa Registers to Vote

What does Hawa need to do before she can vote?
What is the name of the place where a person votes?
How do you find out where to vote?
In what languages are registration cards?
Where does John get the registration card?
Where does Hawa mail the registration card?
How can Hawa help her husband register?

Quick Pronunciation Lesson

2010-10-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

Purpose: to assist a student who is having difficulty pronouncing a particular word or phrase

Prep time: none

Materials: something to write with (optional)

Prep: none

Procedure:

You hear a student having difficulty pronouncing a particular word or phrase. It could be that the student is having difficulty with word stress, consonant clusters, a particular sound, or some other difficulty.
Replicate what the student says (do the best you can) and then say the target pronunciation. Repeat both versions a few times to help the student hear and see the difference between what he/she is actually saying and what he/she is trying to say. You can also write the two versions, using conventional spelling.
Indicate that the student should attempt to say it again, if he/she hasn’t already done so.
After a couple attempts, move on. It takes time and repetition to learn to pronounce words and being put on the spot during class can be frustrating. Suggest that the student say some repetitions for homework.

We've Moved!

2010-10-18T09:54:00.006-05:00

The Minnesota Liteacy Council's main office moved the last week in September. You can now find us at:

700 Rayomond Ave
St. Paul MN 55114

Our parking lot is located around the corner on Wabash. From Raymond, take a left on Wabash and then turn left into the parking lot. The door in the part of the building with the green siding is our main entrance.

Helping Learners Correct Their Errors

2010-09-03T14:01:00.002-05:00

Activity: Helping Learners to Correct their Errors

Purpose: When students make errors it is a best practice to help them correct their own errors rather than give them the answers.

Prep time: None

Materials: Whatever the students are currently working on

Prep: None

Procedure:

Here are some general strategies to use when doing error correction. Specific examples are below.

Help learners notice discrepancies between what they wrote/said and the examples.
Help learners notice discrepancies between something that they answered correctly and the error.
Ask learners how they found the answer (ask this for correct answers too).
Ask learners why they think that is the answer.
Ask learners to read what they wrote aloud and then ask what is missing.
Help learners narrow down their answer choices.

Example: Multiple Choice Worksheet

For example, let’s say that a learner circled D for question number one on this worksheet. The teacher responds by first asking the learner to read the question aloud. Then she asks the student to point to the answer in the reading material. Next, she points out that this answer choice is under the wrong category. She asks the student where the correct category is and then asks the student to scan for the correct answer.

Example: Modals Worksheet (When you click on this link, you’ll go to a page that says Road Safety – Intermediate at the top. Click on the second worksheet in the list, which says Modals Worksheet – (“Have to/Don’t have to”).

As another example, let’s say that a learner is filling out this modals worksheet. She answered number one correctly, but she wrote, “A learner don’t have to get 100 percent on the written test” for number five. The teacher responds by asking the learner to read number one aloud and asks her to point to the place in the chart at the top of the worksheet that shows the correct answer. Then the teacher asks her to read number five aloud and to point to the chart. If she points to the wrong place the teacher will tell her that it is in a different place on the chart.

Odd one Out (Which One is Different?)

2010-08-09T12:21:00.003-05:00

Purpose: This activity can be used at all levels to review vocabulary. It also works well in one-to-one tutoring situations.

Materials: board and marker

Prep: Based on the theme or unit you want to review, make groupings of 6 words in which one of the 6 doesn’t fit with the others. There may be room for debate about which one doesn’t fit, and that adds a layer of complexity and interest to the activity.

Procedure:

I do it:
The tutor writes 6 words on the board, reads them to the class, then circles the word that doesn’t belong and explains why.

Example: chair table window sofa desk shelf

T: In my office at home, I have a chair, a table, a window, a desk and shelf, but no sofa, so I’m going to circle “sofa”.

We do it:
Ask learners what they would choose in the above example and why. One might circle “window” because it’s the only item that is both inside and outside. A key idea here is that there’s not always one right answer, but learners need to be able to explain their choices.

Write one more set of 6 words on the board and ask members of the class to indicate which word they would circle and why.

You do it:
Write sets of 6 words or numbers (or 4 for lower level) on the board (unless you decided to make a handout ahead of time). If you want learners to practice writing, ask them to copy the words, then circle the word or number in each group that they think doesn’t belong, knowing that they will need to justify their choices.

To wrap up, ask volunteers to come forward, circle the word in each list that doesn’t belong, and explain their choice. If other students made different choices, ask them to share those and justify their choice.

Extension: If everyone agrees on a particular word that is the “odd one out”, erase it and ask students to choose another one in the same group that doesn’t fit. When you have two words left, ask the learners to come up with ten ways that the two remaining words are different.

Scramble Relay

2010-07-30T09:03:00.004-05:00

Purpose: This is a warm-up activity that can be adapted for all levels and used to review any situational dialogue or grammar point previously covered in class.

Preparation Time: 10+ minutes

Materials: Paper or index cards, pen or marker

Preparation:
Make 2 complete sets of sentences, one for each of two groups. Limit the number of sentences, based on the level of the group and what can be accomplished in 15 minutes. For higher level students, a whole dialogue, poem or story could be put onto cards. Write each word from each sentence on a separate card. Scramble the words in each sentence and clip them together with a paper clip.

Procedure:

Divide the group into two teams, each team standing around a table.
Place each team’s pile of scrambled sentences in front of the room.
A runner from each team takes one scrambled sentence back to its team.
The team works together to unscramble the sentence. When they think the sentence is in correct order, they send a different runner back to the teacher to whisper the solution.
If the sentence is correct, the runner takes another sentence for his or her team to unscramble.
If the sentence is not correct, the runner returns to the team to try again.
When one team has unscrambled all the sentences, the game is over.

Extension:

When working with a dialogue, poem or story, ask the teams to put the sentences in the proper order after unscrambling them.

Note: This activity can be done with an individual learner. If your student is open to adding an element of competition, time him/her to see how long it takes to unscramble each sentence or to complete the whole task. Sitting next to the student makes it easy to confirm the correct order, but the student must still get up and go get the next set of cards. The physical movement will help keep them alert and make the activity more interesting.

Using a Written Text to Practice Multiple Skills

2010-07-20T11:58:00.003-05:00

Purpose: To use listening, speaking, reading and writing in working with a written text

Preparation Time: depends on time needed to gather materials for pre-teaching vocabulary (see below)

Materials: Selected text, plus copies for learners, markers, white board

Preparation: Plan to spend a little time thinking about how you will create context for the reading. What questions can you ask to elicit vocabulary and student knowledge about the subject? Decide which vocabulary words you need to pre-teach. What pictures, definitions, or examples do you need?

Procedure:

I do it:

1) Create context related to the story.

2) Teacher/tutor reads out loud while students listen. At this point, students do not have a copy of the text.

3) Go back to the beginning and read the first sentence. Ask students to name a key word from the sentence. Write that word on the board. Continue until you have one key word from each sentence on the board.

Note: Be sure to write the words in sequence on the board.

We do it:

1) Ask the class to refer to the key words on the board and retell the story.

2) After the retell, depending on the content of the story, ask students to express an opinion about it, share additional information they may have, infer meaning, suggest solutions to a problem, etc.

3) Encourage students to ask questions about the topic or story.

You do it:

1) Now pass out the story. Students read independently.

Making a Bar Graph with Post-It Notes

2010-07-12T09:16:00.004-05:00

Purpose: To help students create and interpret a simple bar graph

Preparation Time: none

Materials: white board or flip chart, markers, post-it notes, pens or pencils

Preparation: Choose a question related to the unit or theme you are working on. This will be the basis of a survey that the students will conduct in class.

For a housing unit, the question might be:
Do you live in an apartment, duplex, townhouse, mobile home, or house?

For a transportation unit, ask:
Do you come to school by bus, by car, by bike, on foot, or by train?

Procedure:

I do it:

1) Write columns across the top of the whiteboard. For example, make 5 columns, one each for apartment, duplex, townhouse, mobile home, and house.

2) Model the activity by asking 2-3 students the question regarding housing. As each student answers, write the response on a post-it note and place it in the correct column.

We do it:

1) Ask a student to take your place and ask the question of several more students.

2) Ask another student to write the responses on post-it notes.

3) Ask the group in which column you should place the post-it note.

You do it:

1) Ask the students to find a partner, preferably someone who speaks a different first language.

2) Students take turns asking each other the question and recording the partner’s response on a post-it.

3) Each pair then goes to the whiteboard and places the post-its in the correct columns.

Note: The teacher/tutor may need to assist learners to make sure columns are clearly separated, so that the final result looks like a bar graph.

Wrap-Up:

1) Ask questions about the bar graph to practice “reading” the information. How many people live in apartments? Do more people live in apartments or houses?

2) Ask students to write sentences about the information on the bar graph.

3) Practice summarizing the information on the graph. For example: Four people live in houses, one lives in a townhouse, and six live in apartments.

Best Practice: What is Teacher Talk?

2010-07-06T12:11:00.001-05:00

“Teacher talk” is everything you say when you're in the classroom. If you are someone who habitually thinks out loud, pay a lot of attention to your “teacher talk”!

Focused, deliberate speaking is most critical in Beginning and Intermediate ESL settings, but even Advanced and GED instruction can benefit from it.

Here are a few points to ponder:

Which do you think is easier for ESL students to understand?
A. "I'm gonna go ahead and ask you all to turn to page 34."
B. "Please go to page 34."

Which statement is the most authentic?
A. "I'm going to introduce myself to you now. 'Hello, my name is Emily.'"
B. "Hello, my name is Emily."

Which definition is most useful to your students during a lesson on the American K-12 education system?
A. "The word Kindergarten comes from the German, meaning 'a garden of children.'"
B. "Kindergarten is school for young children. It's the level before first grade. There is a lot of reading, art, and play."

The answers are all B because they are comparatively clutter-free, authentic, and relevant.

Try tackling a section of your next lesson with your teacher talk in mind.

Think, Pair, Square

2010-06-21T09:39:00.002-05:00

Purpose: Students from traditional academic backgrounds may struggle with the idea and practice of group discussions, which are more common in U.S. classrooms. Here’s a technique that may help them ease into the activity.

Procedure:

1) Give the class a discussion question.

2) Ask students to think and talk about the question with a partner.

3) Next, each pair goes and talks to another pair.

4) Now lead a whole-class discussion.

Giving Directions for Worksheets

2010-06-07T14:31:00.002-05:00

The best time to give directions for completing a worksheet is BEFORE you hand it out!

Let's say that as part of an intermediate level unit on making a schedule and setting goals, you are using a worksheet that asks your students to look at Sadia’s schedule in chart form, answer questions about it with a partner, then write sentences about Sadia’s activities using adverbs of frequency.

Before handing out the worksheet, plan to:

ask questions to find out what experience students have maintaining a written schedule of their daily activities (activate prior knowledge)
pre-teach any vocabulary that might be new
review adverbs of frequency if necessary
explain the purpose of the worksheet - what will the students be practicing?
check for comprehension of instructions

Show students the worksheet using an overhead or document projector. Talk about or show them the different parts of the worksheet. Starting with the first part, look at the example. Talk about the process for arriving at the answer given in the example. Do the next one as a group, with you as the leader, and then ask the group to complete the next one together. Check for comprehension. If the learners can’t repeat instructions or show you, spend more time modeling the activity.

Introduce each part of the worksheet in the manner described above. Demonstrate as much as possible, even when giving verbal instructions. For example, if you want students to underline the adverbs of frequency in their sentences, show them what you mean or ask them to show you.

Now hand out the worksheets.

Qualities Brainstorm

2010-05-26T10:27:00.003-05:00

Purpose: To practice speaking; review nouns and adjectives

Preparation time: None

Procedure:
1. Choose a quality, such as round.
2. Have learners name as many things as possible that have that quality (e.g., wheel, sun, moon, clock, etc.).
3. You may write down what your students say or you may have them write a list themselves.

Here are some categories:

Things that …

Are red/blue/black/white
Are round/square/oval/flat
Are hard/soft/liquid
Are sweet/sour/bitter/chewy
Fly/float/jump
Come in twos/threes/fours
Have holes/handles
Use electricity
Are made of plastic/wood/metal/glass
Move quickly/slowly

Variation:
To turn the activity into a game, have each student read his or her list while the rest of the class tries to identify the quality.

Best Practice: Pre-Teaching

2010-05-12T13:32:00.002-05:00

Every activity has three parts: the introduction, the activity itself, and some kind of follow up. The introduction to an activity is called pre-teaching. This involves getting students ready to a reading, writing, listening or speaking task by:

activating students' prior knowledge to link the new material to something they may already know
teaching key, unfamiliar vocabulary using visuals, props, and examples
asking questions to find out what learners remember or think about the topic or grammar point so they can start thinking about it
enabling learners to anticipate content, facilitating comprehension
explaining the purpose of the activity
clarifying the learners' task

Examples

Before playing a song

share the title of the song and ask learners to guess what it will be about
ask true/false predictive questions based on students' guesses in #1
discuss the topic and/or grammar focus of the song
show a picture that sets the scene
talk about the singer/musician and why he/she is important
look at some words and phrases form the lyrics to pre-teach key vocabulary
clarify what the listening task is

Before reading a story

set the scene with pictures
talk about the title and ask learners to predict what it will be about
administer a questionnaire to find out what learners think or know about the topic
generate some questions from learners related to the topic and revisit the questions after reading
ask true/false questions about the topic
do a word web, eliciting vocabulary from the students related to the topic
clarify the reading task, e.g. reading for the main idea, looking for specific information, reading to form an opinion

Who Did What?

2010-05-06T10:49:00.002-05:00

Purpose: to practice the past tense in yes/no questions and affirmative and negative statements

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Materials: paper and chalkboard or whiteboard

Preparation: Plan to review past tense forms with the students before the activity. Pre-teach any vocabulary that might be unfamiliar, but try as much as possible to use vocabulary that the students already know. On a sheet of paper, make two columns. In the left column write the names of seven people. In the right column write seven actions in the past tense (e.g. wrote a letter to the teacher, played soccer with friends, studied English all weekend). Then draw lines connecting each of the seven people to one of the seven actions. The result will be seven sentences that make sense and are grammatical. Try to avoid using his and her to make it more challenging. These seven matches are the "correct" answers.

Procedure:

Write the two columns (people and actions) on the board. Do not draw lines connecting them.
Explain to students that they will ask yes/no questions to guess which person did which action. Be prepared to model this a few times, but use extra names and actions and erase them when you're finished modeling.
Divide the class into two or three groups that will compete to solve the mystery. In turn, have a student from each group ask you questions, such as Did Maria write a letter to the teacher?
If the answer is yes, then another student from the same group can ask a question. If the answer is no, then the turn passes to another group. When a group guesses the correct statement, they earn a point. Because there are seven sentences, a tie is impossible.

Variations: Have the students work in groups of three. Each student creates an original list, in two copies: one with the lines drawn (the answers), another for the other to students who will ask questions to solve the mystery of who did what.

The 2010 Census

2010-03-15T14:01:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Meredith Sommers at Centro Guadalupano School at Holy Rosary Church in Minneapolis for this lesson idea!

The 2010 Census count is approaching. The official day of the count set for April 1, 2010, but the census forms will be mailed during March. Census data is widely used by governments and businesses to determine programs and funding, plus to apportion seats to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Purpose: To help learners become familiar with the Census, its purpose, and how to fill out the form.

Prep Time: about 10 minutes, or longer if you need more time to decide how to explain the vocabulary

Materials:

copies of “Juanita and the Census” (see attached)
picture of a fictional family
copies of the 2010 Census form available at
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/pdf/2010_Questionnaire_Info.pdf
and a copy of the Census form envelope, if you have one

Note: The Census 2010 office in your area has free pencils and other items that you can obtain for students. You can find your local office on the census.gov website.

Prep:

make copies
decide how to explain the vocabulary
make up some fictional names and ages for the people in the picture

Vocabulary

confidential Representatives Congress

official business census personal information

temporary permanent related

Procedure:

Prepare students to read the story by doing a pre-reading activity and teaching the vocabulary listed above. If you have a copy of a 2010 Census envelope, use it to help explain the vocabulary.
Hand out and read aloud the story of “Juanita and the Census.” Ask students to write a question mark next to any sentences that they don’t understand.
Answer students’ questions and then read the story again.
Check comprehension of the story. For example, “Why do they count people?”
Show students the fictional family. Tell students the names and ages and how they are related.
Show students the census form. Elicit from students how to fill out the form for the fictional family.
Hand out the census form to all students. Help students complete the form. Encourage them to copy this completed form when they fill out the official census form.

Note: Question 9 in the form asks “what is person’s race?” The advice to Hispanic/Latino students is to write “Mixed” if they don’t call themselves White or Black.

For more information on Census 2010, go to the government website at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/.

Juanita and the 2010 Census

Yesterday, Juanita got a letter in her mail box. It is for “Resident” at 3828 35^th Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55407. That is Juanita’s address.

Juanita doesn’t know what to do with the letter. Should she open it? It says “Official Business” on the envelope. Juanita brings the letter to her teacher. She asks her teacher if she should open it.

“Yes,” her teacher says. “This letter is sent to everyone in the United States. It is called the Census. The Census counts how many people live in this country.”

“Why do they count?” Juanita asks.

“The census is important. It helps the government choose how much money to give to schools. It tells the government how many Representatives in Congress each state will have. This year, Minnesota might lose one Representative. If they count everyone, maybe we will not lose a Representative.”

“Do they count every year?”

“No, they count every ten years,” her teacher says.

“I am not a citizen,” Juanita says.

“The census counts everyone. They count immigrants, citizens, and unemployed people. They count all the men, women, children, and babies.”

Juanita is nervous. She doesn’t want problems because she filled out the form.

Her teacher says, “All the personal information is confidential. This means only the Census Bureau will have the information. The police will never see it. Immigration services will never see it. The President will never see it. Only the Census Bureau will see your name.”

Juanita opens the envelope. There is a form with ten questions. She asks her teacher, “How do I fill out the form?”

Her teacher helps her with the form. It takes about ten minutes.

If you don’t fill out the form and mail it, someone from the Census Bureau will come to your house. They will ask you the ten questions.

You can get help with the form in English if you call 1-866-872-6868. You can also get help in Spanish if you call 1-866-928-2010. The telephone call is free.

English Only, Please!

2010-03-02T12:46:00.002-06:00

Purpose: Encouraging learners to speak English at all times can be challenging. Here are some ways to encourage the use of English during class.

1. Ask students to raise their hands to show who in the class speaks Somali, Hmong, Oromo, Spanish, etc. Help students understand that talking to each other in English helps them understand people they will encounter outside the classroom, too.

2. Make a STOP sign with the words “Speak English” on it. Hold it up at the beginning of an activity or during class when you hear a lot of other languages being spoken. The sign speaks for itself! Learners may start using the sign to remind each other, too.

3. Insist that, when doing pair work, students work with a partner who speaks a different first language.

4. When learners come into class, give them each three buttons, coins, or pieces of paper (something that won’t roll off or blow off the table!). Explain or demonstrate that every time you hear them speak a language other than English, you will take one of their buttons. For the first few times, you can give a warning before you take a button, but make sure to follow through. This is not meant to be punitive. It is simply a visual reminder. Learners will soon start to monitor themselves and each other.

Note: For higher levels, try enforcing the English-only rule for half of the class at first. For lower levels, try it for 15-20 minutes.

5. Help the class generate a list of sentences they can use when they don’t understand each other: I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Can you repeat, please? Could you please speak more slowly? Encourage students to practice these in class and when working in pairs and small groups.

Mixing It Up

2010-02-16T09:57:00.004-06:00

Purpose: Learners tend to sit with others who speak the same first language, share the same race or ethnicity, or are the same age or gender. While there are certain advantages to allowing adult students to choose their places (open seating), less desirable results can be: students speak to each other in their native languages, disrupting class, students speak less English and pay less attention, relying on translations from neighbors, students don’t get to know each other well across cultures and language groups.

Why not allow students to dictate seating on certain days, but at other times, provide activities that determine placement and enhance learning and student interaction and integration? Here are some ways to group learners randomly, based on interactive review exercises.

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes (time needed to label tables, write index cards, and, if necessary, arrange tables and chairs)

Materials: index cards or slips of paper, post-it notes

Preparation: Select a specific skill to review in English: pronunciation (words that sound alike, words that have the same initial sound, etc.), vocabulary (seasons, rooms in a house), verb tenses, synonyms, antonyms, prepositions, etc. Determine how many groups you’ll need, which helps you decide on arrangement of tables and chairs.

Procedure:
1. Before students arrive, use post-it notes to indicate table categories. For lower level, consider using pictures instead of words. If you’ve decided on forms of speech and four groups, write one form on each post-it note and place one on each table.
2. Prepare individual student cards for distribution. In this case, you’d need about 20 cards.
3. Write table assignments on the board:

Nouns Table #1
Verbs Table #2
Adjectives Table #3
Adverbs Table #4

4. As students enter, ask them to pick a card from a container, read the table categories on the board, and seat themselves at the correct table.

5. Encourage students to help each other.

6. Check to see that everyone is seated correctly.

7. Direct students to introduce themselves to each other and share the words on their cards.

Best Practice: Modeling and Demonstrating New Vocabulary

2010-02-11T08:51:00.002-06:00

Everyone loves vocabulary and it is a very important part of language learning, but it is easy to get carried away and teach too many new words in one lesson or confuse students with spontaneous explanations. Read on to learn more about best practices for teaching vocabulary.

How do you choose vocabulary to teach to students? Start with good activity and lesson objectives. Let the objectives guide your choices.

How do you explain the words? Concrete words can usually be explained by using props, realia, drawings, or a picture dictionary. Plan ahead so that you have the materials you need. Abstract words are more easily presented by giving examples. Good examples help students to infer meaning.

Let’s take, as an example, the word appropriate, a word that might be encountered in the intermediate level. Here are some examples that should help students infer meaning:
1) Ask students about movies they’ve seen. Then ask: Is this movie appropriate for children? Why or why not?
2) Is it appropriate to wear blue jeans to a job interview?
3) Is it appropriate to talk on your cell phone during class?
Now elicit examples from the group. If the students use the word correctly, you’ll know they understand it.

As part of your lesson planning

think about the specific language (key words) that you want the learners to produce

practice explaining those words in level-appropriate language

gather visuals and props that show meaning

think of examples that will help demonstrate meaning

try to limit the number of new words to 10 (memory can only hold 6 to 10 new items).

What about additional words that students ask about during class? If the word isn’t relevant to the topic, you might decide to write it down and talk to the individual student about it later. If the word is useful to the whole group and relevant to the topic, think before you speak. Keep your examples simple. Use visuals if possible, or act it out. If you need to look it up in a student dictionary, take the time to do that. It’s better to wait and be clear, than provide an immediate and confusing answer!

For example, let’s say that the students ask you about the word scientist. It isn’t related to today’s lesson. You could answer that a scientist is a job.

Milling to Music

2010-02-04T10:08:00.002-06:00

Purpose: There are many ways to pair students up for activities. Here’s one way to find
partners and get learners out of their seats at the same time.

Procedure:

1) Play a song or other piece of music.
2) Everyone gets up and walks around the room.
3) When the music stops, the person closest to you is your partner.
4) Now do an activity like Sentence Starters in pairs:

Each student has the beginning of a sentence. For beginners, it might be “Every day I _________________.”

For more advanced students, it might be “I have never _________________.”

Each partner shares the stem he/she has and the partner must complete the statement.

After reading an article in a higher level class, sentence starters can promote critical thinking: One example of an opinion in the article was ___________.

One thing I disagreed with in the article was ___________.

Repeat playing music, stopping to complete the activity with a new partner each time.

Out of Your Seats!

2010-02-01T15:27:00.003-06:00

Purpose: Most of us can only sit for a limited period of time before our capacity to learn decreases. Some of us learn better using a multi-sensory approach. Plan at least one activity in every lesson where learners get out of their seats. In this way, you appeal to a variety of learning styles. All students will return to their seats more alert and energized. Here are two examples of activities that require little or no preparation.

I. Vote with Your Feet

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes (to make signs the first time)

Materials: Make 3 signs for the classroom. Depending on level of students, signs read:
“strongly disagree”, “strongly agree”, and “neutral”
OR
“YES”, “NO”, and “?”.

Preparation: Place the signs along a wall or at either end of the room with the “neutral” or “?”sign in the middle.

Procedure:
1. Make a statement to the class. For example, if you are studying months of the year and seasons, you might say: I love winter. Then demonstrate what you want the students to do, by asking for volunteers to place themselves next to the sign that indicates their feeling or belief about winter. Teacher or tutor also participates, perhaps picking a position that hasn’t been chosen. Now each person explains his/her opinion.
2. Demonstrate a second time if necessary, with a different statement: Driving a car in the winter is very difficult.
3. Once instructions are clear, ask the students to arrange themselves along the spectrum in response to a new statement.
4. Encourage them to explain their position to the others in the group. One person from each group summarizes the reasons stated.

II. Line-Ups

Preparation Time: 0

Materials: none needed

Procedure:
1. Ask learners to line up sequentially: by month and day of birth, by height, in alphabetical order by first name, then last name, or by dates in U.S. history, for citizenship students.
2. Depending on the theme or grammar focus, ask students questions. For example, use “before” and “after” to talk about months of the year or where individual students are located in line. Use the comparative and superlative to talk about who is shorter, who is taller, who is shortest and tallest. For history, match an event with a date.
3. Have students ask questions of each other or make statements about the line-up, using the appropriate vocabulary or grammar point.

Variation:
Give each student a number and have them line up from smallest to biggest number. Students self-correct, then take turns reading the numbers, once the order is correct.

Tutor Tip: Keeping Word Lists for Phonics Review

2010-01-14T14:33:00.005-06:00

To reinforce phonics (and vocabulary), keep cumulative lists of words your students have learned. Use a flip chart, or create lists on a word wall, with a separate page or column for each beginning letter. Review them frequently with students.

**Once students have learned a number of words with the same initial sound, read the list orally together.
**Now ask students to listen to a list of words they know, raising their hands when they hear one with the target beginning sound.
**Alternately, have them identify words which do not have the same beginning sound. This is more difficult.
**Asking students to indentify final sounds is also a way to increase the difficulty.
**Extend the activity by having students add words they can think of which begin with the same letter or sound.

How do you use lists of words in your teaching? Share your ideas in a comment.

Checking for Comprehension Using Total Physical Response (TPR)

2009-12-17T15:48:00.005-06:00

We all know what most learners will say if we ask, “Do you understand?” Here are some alternative ways to check for comprehension.

--Ask a learner to show you the action or the object that you name.

--Ask learners to actively listen to a story that you tell, draw, or act out. Then ask them specific questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no”. Each student must respond by holding up a color card, one color for “no”, a different color for “”yes”.

--Learners brainstorm a list of clothing items while you record them on the board. Working from the list, ask people to stand if they are wearing a particular item. Or use family relationships and ask students to raise their hands if they are sisters, brothers, husbands, etc.

--Act out commands as you speak them. Students copy the actions. The visual component assures comprehension and the body language reinforces memory. With beginners, use TPR to teach classroom commands, like “please sit down” or “open your books”. For more advanced learners, in work readiness classes, for example, demonstrate the use of a piece of equipment, naming each step as you perform the action. Eventually, give the commands without demonstrating. Student response will be a clear sign of comprehension! Now ask students to take turns giving and following the commands.

How do you check and see if your students understand? Share your ideas in a comment.

Best Practice: Minimizing Teacher Talk and Maximizing Comprehension

2009-12-14T11:01:00.003-06:00

Minimizing teacher talk means not only limiting the number of words you use, but also thinking about which words you use. Here are some speaking tips to aid in communicating with your learners:

*Use gestures, mime and facial expressions to help clarify meaning.
*Use picture dictionaries, realia and visuals whenever possible.
*Slow down, but don’t talk down to your students.
*Enunciate, so learners are able to distinguish where one word ends and the next one begins.
*Use fewer reductions, especially with beginning level learners. Examples of reductions are: didja (did you), arentcha (aren’t you), gonna, wanna, etc.
*Avoid idioms. Have you ever realized how many idioms in American English come from sports?!
*Avoid slang. Monitor your choice of words. Is this something I’d say to my grandmother? If so, then it’s probably acceptable.
*Use simple words whenever possible, for example, “give me your papers” instead of “hand in your papers”. Multi-word verbs are more difficult for beginners to understand.
*Be prepared to repeat and rephrase what you just said. Use synonyms and/or define new words.

The above points come from a series of online presentations, designed to help native speakers of English communicate better with international students. To listen to them all, go to:
http://cybertower.cornell.edu/
1. click Cybertower
2. click Go underneath Study Rooms
3. scroll down and click on Watch Your Language: Improving Communication with Non-Native Speakers
4. click on a video title on the left and enjoy (the video may not work, but the audio is clear and easy to follow).

Do you struggle with minimizing teacher talk? At what point in the lesson is it the most difficult to reduce your teacher talk time? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Borrowing Letters

2009-12-07T11:05:00.004-06:00

Purpose: This activity provides practice in spelling clarification and requesting to borrow something.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Materials: a set of 5 word cards for each team of 3-4 people (each team should have different words, but the vocabulary should be familiar); one set of alphabet cards that contains all the letters used in the words given to the students (if each group has a word with “i” in it, then you need multiple “i”s in your set of cards).

Prep: see above

Procedure:

1. Divide the class into teams of no more than 3-4 people. Send each team to a separate area of the classroom.

2. Give one word card to each team.

3. The goal is for each team to collect the letters it needs in order to spell the word on its card.

4. Shuffle the alphabet cards and deal 5 alphabet cards to each group. Place the remainder of the cards face down in a pile in the center of the room.

5. Teams check to see if they have any of the letters they need for their first word. They put those aside and decide which letters they still need.

6. Then, one team sends a runner to one of the other teams. This student asks to borrow a letter that the team needs by asking, “Can I please borrow an ‘a’?”

7. The other team responds, “Sure. Here you are.” Or, “Sorry, we need our a’s” or “We don’t have any a’s.”

8. If the runner doesn’t get the card he/she needs, she picks a new card from the pile in the middle of the room and takes it back to the team.

9. Then it’s the next team’s turn.

10. When a team completes a word, it sends a runner to the teacher to get another word from the set of word cards. The first team to complete its word list wins.

Variations:

More advanced students can use forms like, “Would you mind lending me…” or “Could I borrow…”
Ask students to clarify their request by asking, “May I please borrow an a as in apple?”

Involving All Students

2009-11-04T15:42:00.006-06:00

Here are some ways to help ensure that all students are included in oral practice.

Many teachers tend to focus on one particular section of the classroom, without realizing it. Is it the area where the “good” students sit, or the front of the class, or the table by the window? Recognizing this tendency will help you adjust your focus and spread your attention more generally around the class.

Use the class list and call on every second or third student as you work your way down the list. Keep the list where you can refer to it easily.

To prevent students from “turning off” once they’ve responded to a question, ask several of them for a second answer later in the sequence. Ask the question first, pause, and then say a student’s name, instead of saying the name first. This way, everyone must listen to the question, in case they’ll be called on to answer it.

Look at the class as a set of lines or rows or groupings and address a question to a person from each row, line, or group.

If you have a few students who tend to shout out answers before anyone else has a chance to respond, make a rule that when a student has responded once, he or she must miss the next three chances before answering again.

After you ask the first question, invite the student who answers to name the student who will answer the next one.

If the student you ask is unable to respond, try repeating the question again. When it’s clear that the student isn’t able to respond, ask another student if he or she knows. If that student isn’t able to respond, open the question up to the group. Avoid asking, “Can anyone help Jamal?”

How do you help students participate in class? Share your ideas in a comment.

Using the Board to Practice Capitalization

2009-11-02T12:57:00.003-06:00

Select a series of phrases or sentences that contain a number of different examples of capitalization.

Examples: Paris, France
the month of June
on Park Avenue
the United Nations
Rainbow Foods
Pierre’s wife, Marie
Rosita is from Colombia.
We went to Seattle, Washington, in July.
Why was Henry absent on Thursday?
Have you read the novel Pride and Prejudice?
May I help you?
George and Carla were married in December.
Have you been to the Mall of America in Bloomington?
Laurence was born in France but lives in Minnesota and speaks French and Italian.
Is the new Target store located on Cedar Avenue or Cedar Street?

1) Write the list of phrases and sentences on the board.
2) Ask students to find examples within the phrases in which similar words are capitalized and to formulate rules to cover those situations.
3) If students are literate in a first language that uses the Roman alphabet, ask them to compare capitalization rules in the two languages and note the differences.
4) The next day, write the same phrases and sentences on the board, but without capitalizations. Have students go to the board and make corrections.

Grocery Store Vocabulary Activity

2009-10-14T11:52:00.005-05:00

Purpose: To recognize and practice container vocabulary associated with shopping for food (a can of tomatoes, a box of cereal, etc.)

Preparation time: None

Materials: Enough circulars from grocery stores for each learner to have one, paper, scissors; glue

Preparation: You will need to have taught the container vocabulary earlier in the lesson or in a previous lesson.

Procedure:
1. Go through one of the circulars with the students, asking them, “Is this a ______ of _____?” while pointing to various items in the circular. Example: Is this a box of cereal? Students answer yes or no and correct you if you identify an item incorrectly.
2. Give learners the circulars. Explain that they will be looking through the circulars, cutting out different items and grouping them together by container. They should choose four types of containers. For example, they might choose boxes, jars, bags and cans.
3. Learners cut out products from the circulars that come in the containers they have chosen.
4. Learners write the four container names in different areas on their paper and glue their pictures by the correct heading.
5. When all learners have finished, they can share their completed projects.

How do you use grocery circulars in your teaching? Share your ideas in a comment.

Encouraging Learners to Check their own Work

2009-09-16T12:51:00.003-05:00

By providing opportunities for learners to correct their own work, tutors and teachers can create an environment that encourages students to take more responsibility for their own learning. Here are some examples of ways you can do this:

1) Snowballing
The tutor or teacher corrects the work of the first student to finish. That student then helps another student make corrections. Those two students continue to help others, and so forth. When a learner comes to you for corrections, you simply say, “Go ask Victor. He has the answers.”

2) After completing an assignment, ask students to write their answers on the board. Ask “Who wants to do #1?” and hold out a marker to the first volunteer. Since students seem to be more comfortable working at the board in small groups, call up 4 or 5 at a time. Then look at the answers together and ask everyone if they agree with what is written. Correct any errors together. This works well with student-led dictations, too, where students take turns reading the sentences to their classmates, then correcting their work by writing the sentences on the board.

3) If you’re running out of time, write the answers on the board yourself and ask students to correct their own work.

4) Collect students’ work and choose a few examples to write on the board. Correct them together. Pass the papers back out to the students and give them time to correct their own work.

Focused Error Correction

2009-08-26T14:20:00.002-05:00

When thinking about error correction, consider the following: How can I help learners self-correct?

A good rule to follow is: Don’t do the corrections for your students!

Help learners notice the error. Once the learner notices, he or she may self-correct if the form is the focus of the lesson and the learner is ready for the correction. Remember that heavy correction is premature when you are just introducing new language. During activities that focus on accuracy, correction is helpful.

Example A: During an oral practice activity with the irregular past tense:

Student speaking: Yesterday I go to the store.

Teacher/tutor: Yesterday I…? (uses a nonverbal cue, like a questioning look, or a gesture to signify past tense).

S: Yesterday I no go to the store?

T: Try again. Yesterday I _____ to the store. (T emphasizes “yesterday” and hums where the word should be).
Note: If the learner continues to struggle, ask others if they can help. If someone knows the correct form, model it, ask the original learner to produce it. Then let them know they have it right. Ask them to produce it one more time. If a learner isn’t able to make the correction, then he or she probably isn’t ready for it. Let it go, but make a note that this is an area that needs more work for that student.

Example B: For recurrent errors, like the “S” in third person, hold up a big “S” or make a sign for the wall that you can point to. All you need to do is point to the sign or hold it up as a reminder. Repeat up to the point where the learner made the error and let them “fill in the blank.”

Example C: Write the student’s incorrect sentence on the board with a blank in place of the error. Give them a questioning look or ask them what’s missing. Or, if there are examples on the board, point to the correct form.

Example D: You are moving around the room, helping students individually as they complete a worksheet. Fadumo has finished, but 2 of her answers are wrong.

T: Fadumo, you did a great job. 10 of your answers are correct! Now look at numbers 7 and 12 again.

Note: Sometimes you can give a hint. “There are 2 words missing” or “Think about the tense. It says ‘yesterday’. Is that past tense or present tense?” You can also help by pointing out other key words that give clues.

Did you try these suggestions? Were they effective? Please share by making a comment below.

Rules of the Road

2009-08-20T09:47:00.004-05:00

Purpose: To talk about rules using “can’t” and “have to” and to discuss cultural issues in driving laws

Preparation Time: None

Materials: Board and markers; pencils and paper

Procedure:
1. Ask students if they drive. Ask students “What are some of the laws you must follow if you drive in Minnesota/the United States?”
2. Write students’ ideas on the board using “can’t” and “have to”. Examples: You have to wear a seat belt. You can’t pass in a no-passing zone.
3. Put students in small groups. Ask them to compare the driving laws between here and the country they came from. They should speak and work together to find 2 differences.
4. Groups share the differences they found with the rest of the class.

Did you try this activity? Do you have an idea for a variation on the activity? Please share by making a comment below.

Getting to Know Your Dictionary

2009-08-11T14:07:00.003-05:00

Purpose: To familiarize learners (low intermediate and above) with parts of a dictionary entry. This activity would work especially well if a weekly spelling/vocabulary list is part of your instruction.

Note: Dictionaries are a great resource for tutors as well as for learners. For example, the Longman Dictionary of American English defines words in simple language that students can understand. It also uses each word in a sentence to aid comprehension. Not sure how to explain a word to your students? Check the learner dictionary!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Materials: word list, class set of learners’ dictionaries

Prep: Prepare several dictionary entries to use as examples. Decide which features you’d like students to become familiar with. It would be ideal to project the examples on the white board or use a transparency for easy viewing.

Procedure:

I do it (Tutor):
Explain the purpose of the activity.
Have actual learners’ dictionaries on hand as visual aids.
Ask learners: When and why do you use a dictionary?
What information can be found in a learner’s dictionary?

Elicit:
definitions/meanings of words
grammar information
pronunciation
(other features may be discovered in next steps)

Put an example of an entry on the overhead projector. Initially, you might restrict yourself to 3-4 features. Underline, circle and label the features.
For example:
pronunciation
definition
example of the word used in a sentence
grammar/part of speech

We do it (Tutor/learners together):
Do another example, this time asking learners to come up and label the different parts. Hand out the dictionaries and look together at the section in the front that explains abbreviations, short forms and codes. Highlight a few of these.

You do it (Learners working independently or in pairs):
Provide students with a list of vocabulary words or refer them to your word wall. Working with dictionaries, students look up each word, noting the definition, the grammar information, and one other piece of information about the word.

Best Practice: I do it, We do it, You do it!

2009-07-29T16:55:00.002-05:00

Whether you are planning an activity or a whole lesson, here’s a simple and effective way to organize it.

I. I do it

“I” represents the teacher or tutor and includes any or all of the following:
-explaining why you are doing the activity/learning the skill
-creating context
-introducing new language or teaching key vocabulary
-activating learners’ prior knowledge
-giving examples and/or modeling to show learners what you want them to do
-using visuals and realia to aid comprehension
The teacher plays a major role in this step and the learners have a more passive role. We sometimes call these “controlled activities”

II. We do it

“We” means the teacher/tutor and learners are practicing together, or learners are working on structured (controlled) activities, with lots of teacher support, as they practice the new language or skill in multiple ways. Examples of “we do it” would be:
-worksheets
-drills
-speaking activities like role plays where tutor initially plays one of the roles
-cloze (fill in the blank) activities
-reading out loud as a class

III. You do it

“You” represents the learners. They are now practicing on their own, applying what they’ve just practiced, as the teacher moves among them, observing and providing assistance as needed. These are called free practice activities and tend to be more authentic or “real life” situations.
-interviews
-dialogue journals
-mingles
-projects
-role plays
-games

Progression within lessons and activities generally follows this pattern, from more controlled to less controlled, so keep this formula in mind when you plan: I do it, we do it, you do it! You’ll see some tutor tips in the coming year that follow this format, too.

A quick example:
I. I do it: T models a short dialogue using a picture, props, gestures, etc.
II. We do it: Learners repeat after T, one line a time, with multiple opportunities to repeat
III. You do it: Learners practice dialogue in pairs, while T observes and assists

Using Model Texts

2009-07-23T16:35:00.006-05:00

Purpose: To help learners better understand features and language of a writing task they will be attempting

Some activities using model texts

Label the different parts of the model. For example, if you are working with business letters, learners would label the addresses of the sender and receiver, the date, the greeting, the closing, the signature, the name typed out and any abbreviations used at the bottom.
Match standard phrases used in the letter to their meanings, which you have written below the model text. An example of a standard phrase is “Please do not hesitate to contact me …”, for which you might write, “It is ok to write or phone the person who sent the letter.”
Compare a successful version of that writing task to an unsuccessful version. For example, you might choose a good business letter and compare it to one that is too informal or poorly organized.
Fill-in-the-blanks
Learners put paragraphs or sentences from the text in the correct order.
Learners discuss the purpose of paragraphs or sentences.
Learners highlight sentences or paragraphs with different colors to denote their function.
Learners copy the model (shorter text) into their notebooks, substituting their personal information for the given information in the text.

Introduction

2009-07-21T17:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome to this new blog from the Minnesota Literacy Council. In this blog you can read tips, activity ideas, strategies and advice for adult literacy volunteers who work with adult immigrants and refugees. Check back every week for new tips.

Feel free to comment on the tips, ask questions, make suggestions and share your ideas related to volunteering to help adult immigrants and refugees learn English.