I have been teaching writing for a while and at another school where we have department finals. For higher levels instead of giving a ton of comments and feedback, I focus on a Top 3. These are three areas I feel are most important for improvement. Students must improve for their revision and then highlight/bold. After they turn it in, examine and provide additional feedback. If students can focus on certain areas, teachers will see […]
Category: Miscellaneous
Song “Yes, We Can Can as sung by Maria Muldaur
This song was a tribute to Obama sung by Maria Muldaur, with Bonnie Raitt, and the Women’s Voices for Peace Choir at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. It is the perfect follow up for a unit about the Civil Rights movement. It has lots of photos of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. You could just have the students see how many civil rights leaders, presidents and famous people they recognize. The visuals are […]
MLK Poem “Excellence” & a Chinese Proverb
This is one of my favorite handouts to promote peace in the world. I often use it with material about the Civil Rights Movement or at the beginning of the semester, especially the spring semester, which begins right after MLK Day. It went very well with the Rosa Parks book I used this semester. First, I elicit what students know about MLK and ask them what was different about his kind of protest marches. Who […]
Rosa Parks and the Bus to Freedom by Beth Johnson
Here are the additional handouts to the rest or the chapters of this wonderful book from Townsend Press (only $2.00 per book for teachers, very affordable!). My Level 2 students have enjoyed the challenge of reading this for 2 semesters now, and learned a lot of vocabulary. They were very inspired by the story of Rosa Parks’ life. It would be an easier read at Level 3 or 4, but just as motivating. The first […]
How to Learn a New Language?
When a new class starts, I usually question how much time is needed to teach second language acquisition methodology. I’ve noticed a lot of students have very poor study habits and really do not understand how a language is acquired. Some students think that if they take one English class they should be fluent by the end of the course! I put together this slide to introduce students to language acquisition and to nullify the […]
My Bonnie Song and Engergizer
Having staffed leadership conferences for many years, this was always my favorite “go to” if I felt everyone needed some extra energy. It also works well at the beginning of class, or to refocus after some challenging classwork. I explain the background of the song, and explain who Bonnie might be. They are always terrible the first attempt, but there’s lots of laughter and astonishment. We try it again, and go even faster once they […]
Interviewing An American # 1
»INTERVIEWING AN AMERICAN # 1 « (click on this for the handout) This homework will make students get out into the community to interview two Americans about their favorite vacation spot. They have to take notes, and write down the information on a form, which they will turn in. They are also graded on their participation in groups when they share the information on one of their interviews. Finally, each group picks the student with […]
Interview Icebreaker
I like this icebreaker because the students enjoy it. On the first day of class, I have students pair up and interview one another for twenty minutes. They really enjoy getting their cell phones out to show the class their photos. The students will pair off and then they have to introduce their partner to the class. I will have a one minute timer on so we stay on pace. After the introductions, I have […]
Adverbs of Frequency: Notes for the Babysitter
This is an activity I use with my beginning ESL students (ESL 215, Level 1). It is used with World English Intro, Unit 5: Daily Activities. We work with a limited number of adverbs: always, often/usually, sometimes, never. This activity takes place after teaching the students the adverbs in a prior lesson (World English Intro, pp. 60-61). For the first box, advise students to fill in their cell phone numbers (I always tell them no […]
Class Observation Assignment, Rubric, and Letter
This assignment is for higher level students about to transition to mainstream courses. I created this assignment to encourage students that they could actually attend classes and be successful. The assignment is assign towards the beginning of the semester (multiple reasons for this: scheduling observations, vocabulary [usually the classes are more advanced as the semester rolls out], and reflection). Before doing this assignment, I present lectures from real classes for them to practice the skills […]