Lesson 1: Febuary 13th - 24th
"INTRODUCTIONS"
The goal of the first lesson is to introduce the class, get them comfortable, and establish the rules. Also to work on listening and speaking skills in class. Introduce myself as their New Oral English teacher.
“My Full name is…Jeffrey Stephen Placencia / Colleen Massengale”
Introduce ourselves...
Give our names; Where we come from; What we like to do; The reasons why we traveled to China to teach; Talk a little bit about our heritage.
Now, I want to establish a few classroom rules:
1- Free Expression -All opinions will be respected.
2- Please remember to be mindful of others feelings. Treat others, as you would like to be treated.
3- Please no talking while I am talking. Everyone should pay attention while others are speaking to the class. If I ask you to listen, please stop talking and listen.
4- Please speak only in English.
5- Please speak in full sentences.
Also tell the class:
1- Remember that this is a class – treat it as you would treat any other of your classes.
2- Try your hardest- as with anything- the more work you put in the more rewarded you are.
3- Please feel free to ask questions. If we are speaking too fast let us know that we should slow down. If you do not know a word try your best to write down the word- or ask us to define the word.
4- Everyone should participate!
Write these sentences on the board. Ask the students to consider what their answers are to these questions
1- What is your name?
2- What is one thing that you enjoy?
3- What is one thing that you do not like?
4- What is the hardest part about learning the English language?
5- Do you have a question for me? If so, what is it?
During the introduction you may have noticed that some of the students may have been shy/embarrassed. Address the Embarrassment! Have them all get up and shake the embarrassment off. Shake it off!!! Explain how boxers and celebrities shake if off before games and public appearances.
Introduce the game:
Intro toss. Students sit or stand near their desk. The first student takes the “ball” and answers the questions on the board. They have now earned one question that they can ask the teacher to answer about himself, America, English or whatever. The teacher, then, answers the question asked and writes the question on the board. The first student tosses the ball to another student and the process is repeated. Everyone should be given a chance to answer the questions and ask a question.
If there is time left, talk about the history of Valentine’s Day. Write words like “adore,” “beautiful,” “love,” “Happiness,” “heart,” “friend,” “arrow,” “spring,” “rose” or “roses,” “chocolate.” Etc.
Remember!! The goal of the first lesson is to introduce the class, get them comfortable, and establish the rules.
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Lesson 2: Febuary 27- March 10th
"Runners, Readers and Writers" then
NOTE: We had some difficulty with lesson 2. The first activity that we did was too difficult for some of the students. They did not know the vocabulary we used in the texts. Because it was a competition, some students tended to
cheat. We then decided to change to different lesson. I am going to post the different activities anyway.
Lesson 2A (Jeff): "Runners, Readers and Writers"
Aim: review, preview, reading, writing, speaking, listening, pronunciation
Materials needed: copies of a text
A. Explain the rules of the game
1. Student sit in three rows: readers on the right side of the classroom; runners in the middle; and writers on the left side of the classroom.
2. Runners get up and approach the readers, who have the text. The readers read one sentence of the text to the runners.
3. The runners run to the writers and dictate the sentence they have heard. As quickly as possible return to the readers for the next sentence,
4. Continue until one group is finished with the whole passage, declare that group winner.
5. Let the whole class check the original text to see how closely the followed it.
B. Separate students into groups of three.
C. Have them line up facing the right side of the classroom.
D. Hand out the passages to the readers.
READ BEFORE ACTIVITY
Asian Youth Trends
While young Asian Americans seem increasingly assimilated to American ways, they also carve out a defining culture, distinct from that of their counterparts who live in Asia, but also dissimilar to that of young Americans of other cultures. As they blend traditional elements into the hottest trends, Asian American youngsters are inventing a whole adoptive culture within the youth culture itself.
READ AFTER ACTIVITY
One of a Kind:
Young Asian Americans value their family and their culture. Among this group, their cultural traditions come first and foremost. In order of importance is an appreciation for individual ethnicity, as an individual in their own right, and for being recognized as part of American culture.
Variation:
To make the technique livelier, occasionally during the process of dictation shout Switch and let students exchange roles:
(readers become runners; runners become writers; and writers become readers or switch in a substitute student if there are not an even amount of students).
Lesson 2A (Colleen): "Make Mine Long"
Materials needed: copies of a text
A. Explain the rules of the game
1. Student sit in three rows: readers on the right side of the classroom; runners in the middle; and writers on the left side of the classroom.
2. Runners get up and approach the readers, who have the text. The readers read one sentence of the text to the runners.
3. The runners run to the writers and dictate the sentence they have heard. As quickly as possible return to the readers for the next sentence,
4. Continue until one group is finished with the whole passage, declare that group winner.
5. Let the whole class check the original text to see how closely the followed it.
B. Separate students into groups of three.
C. Have them line up facing the right side of the classroom.
D. Hand out the passages to the readers.
READ BEFORE ACTIVITY
Asian Youth Trends
While young Asian Americans seem increasingly assimilated to American ways, they also carve out a defining culture, distinct from that of their counterparts who live in Asia, but also dissimilar to that of young Americans of other cultures. As they blend traditional elements into the hottest trends, Asian American youngsters are inventing a whole adoptive culture within the youth culture itself.
READ AFTER ACTIVITY
One of a Kind:
Young Asian Americans value their family and their culture. Among this group, their cultural traditions come first and foremost. In order of importance is an appreciation for individual ethnicity, as an individual in their own right, and for being recognized as part of American culture.
Variation:
To make the technique livelier, occasionally during the process of dictation shout Switch and let students exchange roles:
(readers become runners; runners become writers; and writers become readers or switch in a substitute student if there are not an even amount of students).
Lesson 2A (Colleen): "Make Mine Long"
Exercise 5.6 on page 122 from Teaching Large Multilevel Classes “Make Mine Long”. 45 min.
1. With the whole class, demonstrate sentence expansion. For example: write the sentence ‘The cat likes milk’ on the board and ask the class to contribute words that would make the sentence more interesting. Students should contribute one word at a time as you or a student as secretary inserts these words into the sentence. You could finish with a sentence that reads:
The big gray, clever cat that belongs to my wonderful, eighty-two year old grandmother, who lives on eighty-second street in New York City on the 5th floor in a large apartment house, really and truly likes only chocolate flavored, slightly heated, evaporated milk in the afternoon.
2. Each small group of 4-5 gets a sentence and expands on it.
3. Each group reads out its sentence to the whole class.
4. A secretary from each group writes the group sentence on the board.
5. The class votes for the most original sentence. (Students are not allowed to vote for their own group.)
Senior 1: vocabulary words from Advance with English Book 2. Strength, disappointed, mysterious, thick, support, possibility, convincing, silence, discovery, strangely, qualified, curious, express, explore, progress, surprisingly, and speechless.
1. The fog was thick.
2. Nighttime is mysterious.
3. The girl disappointed her father.
4. The campus was silent.
5. The man qualified for the job.
6. The judge was convinced.
Senior 2: vocabulary words from unit 11 and 12 of their English book. Private, breakthrough, announce, strategy, impressive, failure, perfect, rejuvenate, arrange, brainstorm, companion, permanent, submarine, applied, foundation, balloon, prisoner, gentle, grasp.
1. The announcer failed.
2. The girl failed to grasp the balloon.
3. The submarine passed through the water.
4. The water rejuvenated the boy.
5. The foundation was unsteady.
6. The man had a breakthrough.
1. With the whole class, demonstrate sentence expansion. For example: write the sentence ‘The cat likes milk’ on the board and ask the class to contribute words that would make the sentence more interesting. Students should contribute one word at a time as you or a student as secretary inserts these words into the sentence. You could finish with a sentence that reads:
The big gray, clever cat that belongs to my wonderful, eighty-two year old grandmother, who lives on eighty-second street in New York City on the 5th floor in a large apartment house, really and truly likes only chocolate flavored, slightly heated, evaporated milk in the afternoon.
2. Each small group of 4-5 gets a sentence and expands on it.
3. Each group reads out its sentence to the whole class.
4. A secretary from each group writes the group sentence on the board.
5. The class votes for the most original sentence. (Students are not allowed to vote for their own group.)
Senior 1: vocabulary words from Advance with English Book 2. Strength, disappointed, mysterious, thick, support, possibility, convincing, silence, discovery, strangely, qualified, curious, express, explore, progress, surprisingly, and speechless.
1. The fog was thick.
2. Nighttime is mysterious.
3. The girl disappointed her father.
4. The campus was silent.
5. The man qualified for the job.
6. The judge was convinced.
Senior 2: vocabulary words from unit 11 and 12 of their English book. Private, breakthrough, announce, strategy, impressive, failure, perfect, rejuvenate, arrange, brainstorm, companion, permanent, submarine, applied, foundation, balloon, prisoner, gentle, grasp.
1. The announcer failed.
2. The girl failed to grasp the balloon.
3. The submarine passed through the water.
4. The water rejuvenated the boy.
5. The foundation was unsteady.
6. The man had a breakthrough.
NOTE: After we tried these activities out for a week we switched to a new activity for the second week.
Lesson 2B: "Positive and Negative" or "Optimists and Pessimists"
“Abstract Picture” And “Positive/Negative”
Goal- To work on students speaking skill as well as help them learn to express themselves in class. Speaking. Critical Thinking.
Activity One- 10-20 min.
Draw an abstract image on the board. Have the students look at the image and tell you what they see. Write their answers on the board. Next, Ask the students how the picture makes them feel. What emotions do they feel? Lastly, ask the class to raise their hands if they like the picture. Ask those who raise their hands why they like the picture. Ask the classes to raise their hands if they do not like the picture. Ask them the same. Explain that there are no wrong answers. Encourage the students to give their opinions.
Talk about varying opinions. How that one picture can elicit some many responses. Talk about “Tai Ji” or Yin-Yang. How there are positive and negative forces. And how these are based usually on opinion. Explain the how positive people see a half glass of water as “half full” while negative people the glass as “half empty.”
Activity Two- 25-35 min.
Positive and Negative Game.
Divide the Class in half. Explain that the kids are going to play a game. The object of the game is that the students must find a positive and negative for each of the subjects. The Rule is that you give a subject and the student to think of the positive and negative for the subject first stands up first. If they have good answers the team the student is on gets a point.
After the game if there is still time. Ask the students if they can think of anything that has a negative side but not a positive side or vise versa.
Goal- To work on students speaking skill as well as help them learn to express themselves in class. Speaking. Critical Thinking.
Activity One- 10-20 min.
Draw an abstract image on the board. Have the students look at the image and tell you what they see. Write their answers on the board. Next, Ask the students how the picture makes them feel. What emotions do they feel? Lastly, ask the class to raise their hands if they like the picture. Ask those who raise their hands why they like the picture. Ask the classes to raise their hands if they do not like the picture. Ask them the same. Explain that there are no wrong answers. Encourage the students to give their opinions.
Talk about varying opinions. How that one picture can elicit some many responses. Talk about “Tai Ji” or Yin-Yang. How there are positive and negative forces. And how these are based usually on opinion. Explain the how positive people see a half glass of water as “half full” while negative people the glass as “half empty.”
Activity Two- 25-35 min.
Positive and Negative Game.
Divide the Class in half. Explain that the kids are going to play a game. The object of the game is that the students must find a positive and negative for each of the subjects. The Rule is that you give a subject and the student to think of the positive and negative for the subject first stands up first. If they have good answers the team the student is on gets a point.
After the game if there is still time. Ask the students if they can think of anything that has a negative side but not a positive side or vise versa.
Lesson 3: March 13 - 17th
Colleen did the "Optimists and Pessimists" game. I played a listening game posted below.
"Listening is believing…seeing helps too."
Goal: The goal is to work on the student’s listening and speaking skills. The lesson will focus primarily on listening. We will also try to activate the students and hopefully entice them to participate though competition.
At the start of class I will play a film clip on the television. The TV will be covered so that the students can only hear the clip. I will ask the students questions about what they thought the clip was about. We will discuss how listening to keywords can help you understand what is happening even though you cannot see the action. We will go over “who;” “what;” “why;” etc. I will then introduce the game to them and explain the rules.
Method: “Who, What, Why, Where Game.” First I will break the class into groups of 4-5. The groups will be asked to listen to the film clips that are played on the T.V. I will cover the television so that the students can only listen to what is happening in each clip. I will play each clip twice. The first time I will ask the students to listen to the whole clip. The second time I will ask the students to try to listen to keywords and sounds on the clip. Then I will ask the students to work with their groups to try to answer the questions:
1. “Who is speaking?” And “How many people are speaking?” If Possible “Can you name some of the people talking?”
2. “What do you think the people are talking about?”
3. “Where do you think the scene takes place?”
4. BONUS- “Why do you think the scene is important?”
5. BONUS- “When do you think this scene takes place?” (Time of day, year, Day of the week, etc.”
Goal: The goal is to work on the student’s listening and speaking skills. The lesson will focus primarily on listening. We will also try to activate the students and hopefully entice them to participate though competition.
At the start of class I will play a film clip on the television. The TV will be covered so that the students can only hear the clip. I will ask the students questions about what they thought the clip was about. We will discuss how listening to keywords can help you understand what is happening even though you cannot see the action. We will go over “who;” “what;” “why;” etc. I will then introduce the game to them and explain the rules.
Method: “Who, What, Why, Where Game.” First I will break the class into groups of 4-5. The groups will be asked to listen to the film clips that are played on the T.V. I will cover the television so that the students can only listen to what is happening in each clip. I will play each clip twice. The first time I will ask the students to listen to the whole clip. The second time I will ask the students to try to listen to keywords and sounds on the clip. Then I will ask the students to work with their groups to try to answer the questions:
1. “Who is speaking?” And “How many people are speaking?” If Possible “Can you name some of the people talking?”
2. “What do you think the people are talking about?”
3. “Where do you think the scene takes place?”
4. BONUS- “Why do you think the scene is important?”
5. BONUS- “When do you think this scene takes place?” (Time of day, year, Day of the week, etc.”
After each clip the groups will discuss their answers. After the groups discuss their answers they will choose a person to report their answers to the class. For each acceptable answer the group will gain a point. The students must be prepared to explain their answers. For every clip a new person must report. After points are added. I will play the clip for the students without the covering.
Near the end of class I will tally the total point earned. The team with the most points wins the game. Huzzah!!
Near the end of class I will tally the total point earned. The team with the most points wins the game. Huzzah!!
Lesson 3B: March 20th - 31st
"Whats the Question? / Jeopardy"
Level: Any Level
Focus: listening and speaking
Groups: two teams (three will work, but two seems to add just the right amount of competitive tension).
Lesson: Explain the game, with a few examples of answers in search of questions. Ask, 'What's the question?' and get students to correctly say the corresponding questions for your answer.
1. Have two players--one from each team--come to the front. (Style it like a game show if you like, with the students standing side-by-side. If you have access to bells or buzzers, it's even more fun.)
2. Read an answer to a question and say, 'What's the question?'
3. The fastest player to respond wins a point for her/his team.
4. New contestants come to the front for a new round.
Note: This forces the students to think backwards a little, so they must provide a grammatically perfect question. All too often, they are used to answering rather than asking questions, so this is challenging and useful as review.
Introduction: Brainstorming
What is Brainstorming? When do we use it? Why do we use it?
Writing an essay, a research paper, or a composition I would use this to organize my thoughts. Give the example of Basketball.
Their education as well as our educational systems has been based around questions and answers. Teachers ask questions and expect the students to give them an answer. But what would happen if I gave the student the answers and they had to provide me with the question. I explain the television game show “Jeopardy” is structured. Divide them into 2 teams and they can pick team names. One person from each group comes to the podium at the front of the class. (3 podiums, 1 for each team and 1 for me in the middle of them) I say the clues or answers and they have to give me the question. The two students at the front of the class can go back to the group for help but the group cannot come up to the front, this will eliminate a bit of chaos. As soon as the student has an “answer” they slap the desk or ring the buzzer and ask, “What is----?” The team gets a point if they get it correct. Those two people sit down and chose who comes up next.
Conclusion: Remind students that if they are writing a paper they can use brainstorming as a way of not only organizing the structure of the paper but to get ideas of what to talk about in the paper. Also, if they are taking a multiple-choice exam, they can use the idea of working backwards. They can think to themselves, “What do the answers have in common?” It’s the same as the process of elimination, choosing the best answer to suit the question.
Example: Brainstorming: Basketball (The Game, NBA, Ball, 2 teams of 5 people, hoop)
Answers/Questions:
What is chocolate? (Brown, White, Dark, Milk, Sweet, Creamy, Solid or Liquid, Cold or Hot, gives you energy, can make you fat, it’s delicious)
What is an MP3 Player? (Small, electronic, portable, it plays, music)
What is Harry Potter? (Young, male, round glasses, wizard, a movie)
What are glasses? (Metal, plastic, glass, expensive, Doctor prescribed, allows you to see)
What is a basketball? (Round, Bounces, Orange, a game, goes in a hoop)
What is being Famous? (No secrets, lose privacy, everyone knows who you are, may or may not have a lot of money, a type of person)
What is a taxi? (Knowledgeable, Fast, for hire, 3 seats available, gets you from here to there, it has four wheels, it has a meter)
What is a cell phone? (Convenient, Small, electronic, communication)
What is “Tai Ji? (Male & Female, Black & White, Opposite Powers, 2 parts, Round, Kung Fu, a symbol, belief of Daoism, the Universe, slow movement, balance).
What is a laptop computer? (Portable, lightweight, fragile, expensive, has keys, entertainment, informative, and excellent tool for school)
What is chatting on the Internet? (Private, not in person, a place to meet friends, fast way to communicate, electronic)
What is traveling? (By bus, car, foot, plane, boat, see new places, luggage, tickets, costs money, may get lost)
What is a hospital? (Some lives begin here and some lives end here, Makes some people nervous, you can get help here, you never want to have to go here)
What is a heater/air conditioner? (Used indoors or in cars, changes the temperature, makes you comfortable, makes you warm or cool)
What is being rich? (Successful, lucky, admired, has a lot of money, type of person, may or may not be famous)
What are cats? (Hairy, they make some people happy, some people are allergic to them, can be a pet, dogs run after them, mice hate them)
What is air? (It’s all around, we would die without it, it can be fresh, it can be polluted, we breathe it)
What is water? (It can be salty, it can be flavored, it can be warm, it can be cold, it’s 70% of our body, we drink it)
What is school? (A building, books, chairs, desks, students, teachers)
What are different types of music? (Country, folk, rock, dance, classical, disco, pop, rap, rhythm & Blues)
What is candy? (Hard, soft, chewy, sticky, sweet, sour, fruity, chocolate)
What is ice cream? (In a cup, on a stick, cold, melts, summer)
What is a UFO? (Unknown, feared, It may come from outer space, flies)
What is a Dog? (Big and small, loyal, cleaver, protection, barks)
What is GPS? (Can be used in a car, position, directions, electronic, map)
Focus: listening and speaking
Groups: two teams (three will work, but two seems to add just the right amount of competitive tension).
Lesson: Explain the game, with a few examples of answers in search of questions. Ask, 'What's the question?' and get students to correctly say the corresponding questions for your answer.
1. Have two players--one from each team--come to the front. (Style it like a game show if you like, with the students standing side-by-side. If you have access to bells or buzzers, it's even more fun.)
2. Read an answer to a question and say, 'What's the question?'
3. The fastest player to respond wins a point for her/his team.
4. New contestants come to the front for a new round.
Note: This forces the students to think backwards a little, so they must provide a grammatically perfect question. All too often, they are used to answering rather than asking questions, so this is challenging and useful as review.
Introduction: Brainstorming
What is Brainstorming? When do we use it? Why do we use it?
Writing an essay, a research paper, or a composition I would use this to organize my thoughts. Give the example of Basketball.
Their education as well as our educational systems has been based around questions and answers. Teachers ask questions and expect the students to give them an answer. But what would happen if I gave the student the answers and they had to provide me with the question. I explain the television game show “Jeopardy” is structured. Divide them into 2 teams and they can pick team names. One person from each group comes to the podium at the front of the class. (3 podiums, 1 for each team and 1 for me in the middle of them) I say the clues or answers and they have to give me the question. The two students at the front of the class can go back to the group for help but the group cannot come up to the front, this will eliminate a bit of chaos. As soon as the student has an “answer” they slap the desk or ring the buzzer and ask, “What is----?” The team gets a point if they get it correct. Those two people sit down and chose who comes up next.
Conclusion: Remind students that if they are writing a paper they can use brainstorming as a way of not only organizing the structure of the paper but to get ideas of what to talk about in the paper. Also, if they are taking a multiple-choice exam, they can use the idea of working backwards. They can think to themselves, “What do the answers have in common?” It’s the same as the process of elimination, choosing the best answer to suit the question.
Example: Brainstorming: Basketball (The Game, NBA, Ball, 2 teams of 5 people, hoop)
Answers/Questions:
What is chocolate? (Brown, White, Dark, Milk, Sweet, Creamy, Solid or Liquid, Cold or Hot, gives you energy, can make you fat, it’s delicious)
What is an MP3 Player? (Small, electronic, portable, it plays, music)
What is Harry Potter? (Young, male, round glasses, wizard, a movie)
What are glasses? (Metal, plastic, glass, expensive, Doctor prescribed, allows you to see)
What is a basketball? (Round, Bounces, Orange, a game, goes in a hoop)
What is being Famous? (No secrets, lose privacy, everyone knows who you are, may or may not have a lot of money, a type of person)
What is a taxi? (Knowledgeable, Fast, for hire, 3 seats available, gets you from here to there, it has four wheels, it has a meter)
What is a cell phone? (Convenient, Small, electronic, communication)
What is “Tai Ji? (Male & Female, Black & White, Opposite Powers, 2 parts, Round, Kung Fu, a symbol, belief of Daoism, the Universe, slow movement, balance).
What is a laptop computer? (Portable, lightweight, fragile, expensive, has keys, entertainment, informative, and excellent tool for school)
What is chatting on the Internet? (Private, not in person, a place to meet friends, fast way to communicate, electronic)
What is traveling? (By bus, car, foot, plane, boat, see new places, luggage, tickets, costs money, may get lost)
What is a hospital? (Some lives begin here and some lives end here, Makes some people nervous, you can get help here, you never want to have to go here)
What is a heater/air conditioner? (Used indoors or in cars, changes the temperature, makes you comfortable, makes you warm or cool)
What is being rich? (Successful, lucky, admired, has a lot of money, type of person, may or may not be famous)
What are cats? (Hairy, they make some people happy, some people are allergic to them, can be a pet, dogs run after them, mice hate them)
What is air? (It’s all around, we would die without it, it can be fresh, it can be polluted, we breathe it)
What is water? (It can be salty, it can be flavored, it can be warm, it can be cold, it’s 70% of our body, we drink it)
What is school? (A building, books, chairs, desks, students, teachers)
What are different types of music? (Country, folk, rock, dance, classical, disco, pop, rap, rhythm & Blues)
What is candy? (Hard, soft, chewy, sticky, sweet, sour, fruity, chocolate)
What is ice cream? (In a cup, on a stick, cold, melts, summer)
What is a UFO? (Unknown, feared, It may come from outer space, flies)
What is a Dog? (Big and small, loyal, cleaver, protection, barks)
What is GPS? (Can be used in a car, position, directions, electronic, map)
