Activities

Introduction Activity #1

Over the course of a few weeks the class spends some time forming a list of questions that they would like to ask of someone that they work with to get a sense of what moves them, or is important to them. I've been on the hot seat before and it was a great experience for me, and for the relationship between me and the language learners that I work with. In this exercise, the class focuses on appropriate lines of questioning, learning how to develop questions, choosing what they want to know or ask about, forming the sentence structure, and then verbalizing. Listening skills are engaged when the class has the opportunity to ask questions, hear responses, and then develop corollary questions in real time. There is a level of vulnerability that the person on the “hot seat” must be open to, as the questions come, but the instructor works with the learners to ensure that they understand which questions are culturally permitted to ask and the “hot seat” participant has the option to decline and/or reflect the question back to the learner. Everyone understands the rules prior to engagement.

For the purpose of introductions at the beginning of a class, I think you could initiate the idea by having the instructor put themselves in the “hot seat” and use the method to introduce themselves and seek feedback/response in some areas from the participants. This could lead into multiple lessons on the construction of such an exercise and the class could invite someone in so they can practice their oral skills, listening skills, and demonstrate competence in how they have developed their list of questions. On day one, they wouldn't be required to participate, but encouraged. As part of the lesson, each learner would choose a question they feel comfortable asking, and take an opportunity to do so and interact with the “hot seat” participant.

I find that this activity, while introducing vulnerability into the relationship is honoured with improved connection and communication between the instructor, the learners and the “hot seat” participant. It fosters a sense of understanding, community, and camaraderie which is valuable for developing positive open relationships with those you're engaged with, whether in the workplace, community or both.

Introduction Activity #2

A second activity that I would consider at the beginning of a new class is a session around “What is important to me?” When we can identify the things that are important to us and understand that we have at least some shared values, we are generally more willing to be engaged and less likely to be engaged in the “fight or flight” reactions. I've engaged in this activity in other workshops that I conduct and almost without fail people share the values of safety and health, financial well-being, happiness, family and friends, good productive work to do, respect, caring, the sanctity of faith or religion, integrity. When you can identify shared values, you can refer to those throughout your class times. You can use these values in order to develop and create a safe classroom for your learners (and yourself), and you can use these as launching pads for discussion around a host of ideas or themes. If you can find a way to come up with a collective value statement, poster, or some other way of showing this, you also have a visual reminder from class to class that reinforces this for your learners and anyone who happens to visit your class.

Needs Assessment Activity #1

One of the ideas that I have for a needs assessment tool is to have a "pretend" phone call.  Since I work with workplace language learners at this time, it's important for them to be able to communicate to a manager if they are going to be late, absent, are sick, or something else is going on.  Have the instructor and the learner sit in chairs back to back a little way apart so they cannot see each other, but can hear each other clearly.  The instructor explains that they hear the phone ringing and answers the phone. The conversation following allows the instructor to assess phone skills, appropriate communication ability, diction, vocabulary, and possibly the ability to follow instructions (if the learner is asked to bring a note from the doctor as an example).  Note: this assessment would be done without observers/audience and I think is suitable for CLB 3/4.  I like this assessment idea because it leads to very practical and transferable skills - learners can adapt this to many avenues of life.  Communicating with the children's teachers, the doctor, the pharmacy, regarding an overdue library book, etc.  It also allows me to get to know the individual without the class.

Needs Assessment Activity #2

This assessment is a focus on interaction and perceived shared importance between the classroom learners.  Have the learners make a list of things they are important to them to learn.  This can be done with or without picture helps, depending on the level that you're working with. (probably the same as NA Activity #1) Then turn to a partner and work together to make a list of things that they have in common and negotiate those things that weren't of shared importance and add them to the shared list. Then, as a class, develop a list of our shared learning goals for a certain period of time.  As the instructor, I might have additional pieces that I want to include and could make suggestions regarding the list as well.  With this activity, I can assess writing skills in some measure, oral communication and vocabulary, teamwork, classroom dynamic, focus/attention/motivation of learners, and start to understand what motivates them as individuals.  I like this assessment because I learn about the individuals within the classroom context, and it's interactive with me and with each other.

Speaking Activity

Purpose: To ask for help in the store to find the right kind of clothing for winter weather (important for newcomers to Canada/Manitoba)

Level: Low Intermediate (CLB 5-6)

Skill Building - 3-5 minutes - teacher establishes vocabulary you might want to use - mittens, gloves, toque, hat, scarf, parka, jacket, ski pants, base layer, long johns, etc and students practice the words they do not know and ask questions if they need items defined (teacher could provide in pictorial format for easier correlation of item and vocabulary)

Skill Practicing - 5 min - learners decide which items are most important for them by discussing their needs (or their children/family needs) with a partner and practice what to say

Skill Using - 5 min - learners perform dialogue role play of store clerk and shopper for the class

Corrective Pronunciation Activity

Context: working with learners to develop the /v/ sound in oral communication.

This could apply to L1 in German or Tagalog.  Tagalog doesn’t have a /v/ sound verbalized and in German is often replaced with the /f/ sound

Consonant sound focus:  the English Alphabet letter “V”

L1 Interference: there is no /v/ sound in Tagalog and speakers frequently use the sound “bi” to express a /v/; in German the /v/ sound is spoken interchangeably with the /f/ sound.

In order to make the /v/ sound:

Your lips part slightly and your top teeth are touching your bottom lips.  When you make a “growly” sound from your vocal cords, you will get the /vvv/ sound.  You should feel your throat vibrate when you make the sound and it will come out as the /vvv/ sound if your teeth and lips are in the correct place.  The sound is coming from your throat and will vibrate in your throat and your lips.

You might also try putting your forefinger on your bottom lip to hold it in place so that it doesn’t want to move into the “bi” sound.

In comparison, if you put your mouth in the same position – lips parted slightly and top teeth resting on the bottom lip and breathe through your teeth, you will get the /f/ sound.  You use the same position for your lips and teeth and instead of vocalizing from the throat, you just breathe and the sound changes.

Some words to practice both the /v/ and /f/ sounds could be:

/v/                                                        /f/

Van                                                     Fun

Ever                                                    Fall

Vet                                                      Sofa

Vase                                                   Life

Very                                                    Fire

Dive                                                    Five

Even                                                   Fifty

Resources:

Reading by Phonics.com. (2012-2020). Learning Letter V and its /v/ sound. Retrieved from:https://www.readingbyphonics.com/letter-sounds/v.html 

Listening Activity

Context:  High Beginner/Low Intermediate (CLB 4-5) - community or workplace English class - learners are primarily newcomers to the country/climate.  There has been previous classes on the topic of weather and students have some established vocabulary.  To support the listening development it helps for the learner to see and hear the information together.

Objective: That learners would understand weather reports so they know how to dress appropriately for the weather conditions.

Listening Strategy Foci: 

• The text content is:
• authentic.
• practical for the area in which the learners live,
• has an added focus on safety.  
• is appropriate for the language level.
• The text support the following listening strategies:
• taking notes when listening to keep track of information
• listening for key words for context (scaffolding learning from past classes)
• checking in with other listeners
• some reconstruction in writing integrated into the activity

Teacher Instruction: Listen to Part 1 of the recording.  You may use a paper and pen or pencil to take notes if you would like.

Use an audio/visual tool to record the script.  Screen-cast-o-matic works well, is easy to use, and is a free tool.

Script:  Part 1: "The weather today will be sunny and cold.  The temperature will stay at minus 21 celsius but it will feel colder because of the windchill.  It will feel like minus 29 celsius with the wind chill.  Exposed skin can freeze in 10-30 minutes, so dress warmly if you are outside today and protect your skin from the cold air." Pause recording and prepare to play part 1 a second time.

Learner Response: Have the learners write three ideas they remember from the recording.

Thinking/Processing: 

• Ask the learners if they would know what to wear outside if the weather report was true.
• Then, regardless of their answer, play the recorded script one more time and have the student write down anything they missed the first time.
• Ask the students if they added anything to their list that wasn't there the first time they listened
• Have students take turns sharing what they heard and make a list of items together as a class.
• Have the students identify what they think they should wear considering the weather conditions.  You might have them make a list, refer to a previous vocabulary list, or even have a matching sheet of items with parts of the body where they go to reinforce what to wear, and where it goes.

Teacher Instruction: Listen to Part 2 of the recording.  You may use a paper and pen or pencil to take notes if you would like.

Script: Part 2 "To stay warm you will need to wear a warm winter jacket, a touque or ski mask, winter gloves, and a scarf to protect your face.  If you like you may want to wear ski pants to keep your legs warm.  Have a great day from your local weather specialist!"

Have the learners compare their clothing choices to the suggestions of the weather reporter.  Are there any adjustments they need to make?  Are they able to identify why the adjustments need to be made?

Activity notes:  CLB 4 Listening says that this level should be able to understand short weather forecasts if the person can be face to face.  In this case the speaker is recorded with both audio and video to support this particular need at this level.  CLB 5 is included as an appropriate level due to some of the vocabulary used in the scripts.

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TESL 0110 Grammar Fundamentals

Needs Assessment Activity – CLB 4

Teacher Instruction:  Have the students answer questions about themselves (not too 

personal) in order to assess written communication for specific grammar needs in the class to inform future lessons.  This is a good exercise to do in the first few classes of a new class group in order to support specific learner needs around grammar and get to know the students a little bit.  The teacher should answer the questions as well, then share the answers visually and verbally to demonstrate and share a bit about themselves with the class also.

What is important about you? (please write in complete sentences)
What are your favorite three foods or meals?  Explain why they are your favorite.
When you have free time, what do you like to do?
If you could go anywhere in the world you have not been before, where would you go?  Why?
What is your favorite time of the day?  Why is it your favorite?
Who is in your family? Describe the best thing about your family.
What is your favorite season?  Which season is your least favorite?

The teacher may also choose to include sentences with options for students to choose the correct option.

Examples:
1.   What (does/is/do) ___________ he doing at the moment?
2.   My house is (big/bigger) ___________ than yours.
3.   How (many/much) ____________ butter do we need?

Following are the criteria for grammatical knowledge in CLB 4 – Stage I Writing.  The teacher will look for things like appropriate verb tenses, word order in the sentences, punctuation, and personalization of experience in the sentences.  Using the CLB structure, the teacher will assess areas of specific focus for new lessons.

CLB 4 - Grammatical Knowledge

Ability to use:

• Basic grammar structures (such as simple and continuous verb tenses, simple modals, comparatives, and superlatives) to convey meaning effectively

• Basic syntax (such as indications of a statement, a negative, or a question; word order; prepositional phrases, and coordination and subordination)

• Simple yes/no and wh– questions

• Common everyday English spelling and punctuation rules and conventions for simple sentences

• Vocabulary and expressions needed to write about familiar, everyday topics (such as shopping, housing, daily routines, dates, banking, food, health, education, jobs, businesses, families, customs, weather, clothing, travel, safety, citizenship)

• Vocabulary needed to complete a variety of forms, such as personal identification

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Grammar Activity - Pronouns

Class Context:

Class of newcomers to Canada primarily from the Philippines where gender pronouns are not used in language communication.  There are 8-10 learners in the class and all are at the high beginner/low intermediate levels.  Approximately CLB 4-6.

Activity Context:

The focus is on appropriate use of pronouns in sentences. Step 1 is deductive in nature in that the understanding is provided in the definitions given so that the learner is able to identify the pronouns in the given text.

Step 1:

There are three types of pronouns:

·         Subjective – I, you, he, she, you, we, they

·         Objective – me, you, him, her, you, us, them

·         Genitive (Possessive) – my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, your, yours, our/ours, their, theirs

Read and notice the use of pronouns in the text.  Highlight the subjective, objective, and genitive pronouns in different colours.

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to do was play baseball.  My dad taught me how to play.  We liked to play ball together and when I played on a team, he helped to coach the team.  I can remember him throwing the ball to me over and over while I would try to catch the ball.  My brother was not as interested in playing baseball as I was because he had other things that he liked to do instead.  His favorite things were riding his bike and playing with his toys.  I liked playing with people.  One year at Christmas we both got a bike.  Mine was black and his was blue.  They were called BMX bikes and they were fun to ride.  We also received roller skates for Christmas and one of my favorite things was to have our dog pull us through the neighborhood while wearing my roller skates.  She was a strong little dog and I was not very big, so it was easy for her.

Step 2:

Step 2 is inductive in that the learners are asked to use what they have noticed/discovered/learned through the definitions and the text to determine the best pronoun option for filling in the blanks below.

Fill in the blanks with the correct pronouns:

1.    __________ brother didn’t like baseball as much as __________.

2.    __________ dog was a strong little dog and could pull __________ through the neighborhood without a problem.

3.    __________ both got bikes and roller skates for Christmas.  __________ bike was black, and __________ brother’s bike was blue.

4.    Playing with toys was one of __________ favorite things to do.

5.    When playing baseball __________ must be careful to catch the ball.

6.    __________ bikes were called BMX bikes.

7.    This story is from a long time ago, and so most people do not know what roller skates are.  Most people know __________ as roller blades.  Have __________ ever tried roller blading before?   

Additional ideas: 

1. Add some questions or statements that have are looking for more of the possessive pronouns to expand the thinking.

2. Part 1 is a good formative assessment to determine how the learners assess the pronouns.

Activity - Subject-Verb Agreement with Verb "to be"

Parts 1 – 6 should be about 15-20 minutes in the class, and there are additional pieces for follow-up adding to the content/concept in future lessons using the same tools for scaffolding learning.

1.    The teacher asks the learners to make a short list numbered 1-5 and write down 5 things about themselves using only one word, such as:

a.    Smart

b.    Good cook

c.    Funny

d.    Happy

e.    Friendly

2.    Then the teacher shares their list and points to themselves and says:

a.    I am smart

b.    I am a good cook

c.    I am happy

d.    I am funny

e.    I am friendly

3.    The teacher asks the students to turn to each other and share their list using “I am”.

4.    Then the teacher asks the students to trade lists and use them to speak about each other using “You are…” statements, and uses themselves as the example giving a student their list and coaching them to say…

a.    You are smart

b.    You are a good cook

c.    You are happy

d.    You are funny

e.    You are friendly

5.    Work together to make a class list for “he is”/”she is”/”it is” and start to convert the concept to family members (as per the observed difficulty in the scenario) “my sister is”, “my mother is”, “my siblings are”, “my parents are”

6.    Use a Coggle diagram to make the lists and have branches that have the correct beginning statements, adding extra branches as they make progress.

For further use in following classes:

7.    Have the students add to the class Coggle to support concepts they find.  When comfortable with statements, move to asking questions.

a.    Am I friendly?

b.    Are you a parent?

c.    Is he a good puppy?

d.    Is my brother busy at work?

e.    Is my sister a good cook?

8.    As students become proficient (likely over weeks) more branches may be added to the class Coggle as the teacher adds concepts like:

a.    Additional pronouns/conjugation of the verb (we are, they are, etc)

b.    Contractions (We’re, they’re)

c.    Negative statements (I am not happy; I’m not happy; my mom is not funny)

Writing Activity - CLB 4 - Appropriate Email Communication

Email etiquette is very difficult for newcomers with lower language levels.  I regularly receive emails from staff at work that:

• have the entire body of the email in the subject line
• are missing a greeting
• are missing a closing
• do not identify the person who wrote the email
• are inappropriate in terms of content in particular around sickness

An excellent exercise for learners at CLB 4 would be to practice drafting emails.  According to the information below, this level should be able to draft an email to request information, write a note about a problem, or write a note to ask for a day off.  These are all pertinent in a workplace and we have staff in our English classes at this level who do not have these skils.

Opportunities for scaffolding could include:

1. Doing a search of greetings and closings - this could be done as a class to start and we could talk about cultural norms.  What is normal for you?  What is normal for me?  Does relationship influence the greetings?  What does that mean for you?  How do you think this would be different if you were writing to someone at work or a family member?  Have the learners work in partners to identify the answers to these questions and write a list for themselves of possible greetings.

• This provides context for the learner and gets them thinking about making comparisons and opens the concepts of workplace culture, encourages noticing of emails/notes that they've received or sent, induces memory recall, and is a good way for the teacher to assess by observation what the students know about this form of written communication.

2. Provide examples for the class on good and not-so-good emails.

eg - good

Subject: Missing Class

Hi Dana, 

I am email to let you know that I am not in class today because I am sick.  Thank you for your kindness in understanding.

Joe

eg - not-so-good

Sujbect: I am miss class today I have the direa. 

(no opening, no closing, no body)

Discussion around what you need to say or not say if you're sick and can't come to class. This might lead to a discussion about cultural norms for seeking doctor help as so many newcomers don't seek medical help for things that could be addressed quite easily but was not available to them in their country of origin, where they worked previously, or in a refugee camp...  Eg - It has happened a couple of times that women haven't come to class because they have dysmennorrhea which is common menstrual cramping.  In Canada if we get this, we take Midol or Advil Muscle & Joint (works really well), or in severe cases someone may get a prescription from the doctor.  Most women don't miss work or class because of this.  In other countries it's more common to stay home during that part of the menstrual cycle.  Here I would recommend that someone see the Dr. for support to minimize disruption to life/work/class.  Some learners never considered that, realized it was an option or thought they would have to pay to see the doctor.  Sometimes this leads to a bigger discussion around Manitoba Health and what is included and when you should see the doctor, etc.  This provides additional opportunities for scaffolding learning - discussion, lists, make a coggle diagram, online research.

3. Provide learners with a worksheet to answer the following in preparation for writing a note:

• Who is the note for?
• Why am I writing a note?
• Do I need to do this on paper or can I do an email?
• What are 3-5 things that I need to write?
• How should I sign the note/email?
• Is the subject line complete?
• What is Ok to write and what shouldn't I say?
• Grammar checklist (punctuation, subject verb agreement, spelling, capitalization, etc)

4. Provide a space for the learners to write an email draft.  Provide a checklist of items as agreed upon by the class on the screen/flip chart for reference.  Have the learners write an email draft ensuring that they've covered all the important points.  Do a peer review with a partner.  Make corrections/re-write - submit for formal assessment to the teacher.

This is perhaps not a detailed set of activities, but could easily work to fill a whole two hour lesson that focuses on how to write an email or note for specific reasons ensuring proper etiquette is used.  The writing profile of ability focuses on the simple and the familiar - the above focuses on taking what the learner knows and has experienced and helping them to communicate that effectively in English in an appropriate to the chosen audience.