Books from the library

I am trying to teach the students what to look for in choosing books appropriate to their level. I've noticed that most of the students go to the library and choose a book without really knowing why they have chosen it. Sometimes, a student would come back with a very difficult book of about 300 pages when their level is very low.It would usually take the student one day to get through just one page. This book is inappropriate to the student's actual reading level, but the student doesn't realise this. So, today, I taught the students about some of the things to look for in choosing a book. For example, we looked at the grammar, vocabulary and number of pages. We also looked at how the pictures help in giving more understanding of the text. We discussed the books that the students got out from the library yesterday, and then went to the library again today to get another book, but this time based on the things I had taught the students to look for. The students are beginning to understand why they are choosing a book. They are deciding how the book will help them to improve their English. This skill is getting the students to assess books for their own level in a more realistic way.
We also looked at the length of the book. If the book is over 200 pages, then I don't expect the student to read the book many times. However, if the book is only about 10-20 pages then the student should be reading the book two or three times. I explained how repetition in reading can be very beneficial for learning new vocabulary or grammar, as well as improving reading fluency.

I also gave the students three different vocabulary books and got them to choose which one was the most suitable for them and why. The students came up with some good ideas as to why they chose only one of the books. This exercise made the students assess whether or not the books that they get to study English are appropriate to them. Hopefully, the students will choose books that are more suitable to their level and have more of a purpose when searching for reading material.

After the students had given a brief summary to their group of why they had chosen their book, I made a connection to the books that they had chosen and the S.R.A (reading box that is in class). The students could see that if they chose a book from the library then it should match the level that they are at from the reading box. Again, I am getting the students to evaluate their decisions about choosing books.

You Tube

Recently, I have been using some very informative YouTube videos to teach the students about some interesting topics, but also as a listen and repeat lesson. I firstly, get the students to listen to the topic and then get them to talk about it for 45 seconds to their partners. I then give them a model answer. I go back over the model answer by stopping and starting the video and get the students to repeat the sentences. I pay attention to particular vocabulary and idioms and anything else that I think the students had difficulty understanding.

Here are a few of the Youtube videos that I showed gave to the students. They are all to do with the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux2Q0upiD_0

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJg138YlwvA

(If these links don't work then just go into YouTube and write in TOEFL and all of the links come up.)

The students find this difficult, but it certainly does give the more advanced students some great listening and speaking opportunities. Once again, the students can decide to go to the level that they are comfortable with. The students can also replay the clips as many times as they like for extra practise. Since the students are going to be doing the TOEIC test soon, then this is a good starting place.

1000 Basic Vocabulary

Before the end of last term, I gave the students the 1000 most basic words in English. The students have been writing out sentences using these words and I have been correcting them. The students have then been playing vocabulary games in class to familiarise themselves with these words. In fact, now, every day, the students have to take the role of teacher and make up a five minute game to play. The idea is for the teacher to use a lot of instructional English to get the class to perform. It also gives the students an idea of how challenging it is to be a teacher. The students also learn the vocabulary.

When the students have a grasp of these 1000 words, I will go onto the TOEIC vocabulary. The TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is a test which the students will take when they return to KTC and is an important test.

The first week back

This term I am placing emphasis on vocabulary. I have given all of the students the 1000 most common words in English. They had the task of highlighting any words that they didn't know well and then they wrote it in a sentence. This week we concentrated on only the first 500 words (the first sheet). We also played some vocabularly games. Next week I plan to focus on the second sheet and get the students to recognise how the words are formed and how they can be changed into verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc. I would like the students to be competent at using these words because we will then start to focus on the TOEIC vocabulary as well as some other academic vocabulary.

Fourteen students from the University of Otago TESOL class came last Tuesday to meet the CEE students over morning tea. On Wednesday the TESOL class sat and watched while two teachers each taught for about 40 minutes to the CEE students. The first student was from Palestine and taught about his culture. The second student taught about the weather. This class will continue every Wednesday from 10-12 for the term. It is a good way for the students to interact with people of their own age - with a purpose.

I have finally got a Smartboard in my classroom. A Smartboard is an interactive whiteboard. It means that I can touch the screen and do all sorts of wonderful things - changing sentences around, produce pronunciation activities, etc. It is a valuable tool to have in the classroom and hopefully the students can also see the benefit of its use.