STUDENTS: Small class of 8 Korean children ages 11~14 who attend Shanghai
International School.
LEVEL: Fluency is pretty high. Advanced fluency. Sometimes I am amazed how
much their accents resemble a Standard North American accent which tells me
that SIS must be a fairly prestigious school which is doing a great job.
PURPOSE: Have them practice all their skills. The goal of my exercise is:
1) first and foremost teach them to follow instructions.
2) Have them read a passage and be able to understand
3) Be able to discuss it with one another and later to be able to recount it.
4) Be able to write about the passage and give an opinion.
NOTE: The writing portion of this assignment will be done at home.
Students are invited to visit my WIKI where they will find the
instructions or steps I have written down below. There is no
guess work. All is handed to them. They will be able to
download or see everything on their screen.
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1 Please click here to see the passage you need to read.
Step 2 Do the little exercise on the left-handside.
Step 3 Please visit my WIKI.
Step 4 At the top of the page of the WIKI, look for "PAGES & FILES." Click!
Step 5 Look for two documents you will need: first_tears.doc & tears.PDF
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. Everything is very clear.
CLICK here to see CROSSWORD PUZZLE related to reading!
1. How will you use this resource to meet the needs of your instructional purposes?
The first purpose is to be able to read and understand a passage. Get them to look up difficult words and learn about synonyms/antonyms, which we have discussed in class. That's why the CROSSWORD puzzle will come in handy because I designed it in a way that although some of the words are easy, they will have to find and match words like 'strange & choke,' or 'begin & commence."
2. Why is this application and format appropriate for the lesson you plan to create
(e.g., level of authenticity, relevance to target language, register, accuracy,
interest level, and motivation?
It is a story which I hope will appeal to them. We have talked in class about what is a story, a legend, a myth or a folktale. Later they will have a chance to create their own legend or story, so I feel that by letting them come in contact with this genre, this will help them with their projet. I will have no problem with the motivation as the story is simple enough and appeals to a younger audience.
3. What handouts or directions will you provide students to focus learning and
adapt this resource for your instructional purposes?
I created one HANDOUT which they will use to DISCUSS the story with their peers. Also, they have to look up some verbs, adverbs and nouns because these are not always very clear in their heads.
5. What are the potential problems, either language based or technical that you
may need to troubleshoot or prepare for?
One of the problems I may encounter is that they are often shy. This is a big problem with Asian students so they don't like to speak up in class. To remedy this situation, I am having them do this in groups of two so later they can present me with a FINAL PROJECT which must be written by two students, in this way, I assure that they have to communicate.
I liked the story. It was short, to the point, and used good solid regular vocabulary (nothing to over the top) . It also has many short paragraphs. It makes breaking it down for comprehension rather easy. I think, even though you have this set out for children, I could actually use this for my high-beginners as well as my low-intermediate adult students.
ReplyDeleteI liked the fill in the blank quiz and the multiple choices as well. I also like that you are having them write a short passage about what they read and understood.
For oral communications, I might adapt this to a listening and comprehension exercise. When I do a reading passage for oral, I try and find a reading that has an audio element to it. For a class exercise, I would actually set up the story with questions that would get them thinking about folk stories, as well as go over any vocabulary I thought might stump them. I would have them listen to the audio once (no written word in front of them). Then I would have a set of questions that I would ask for concept checking. I would then allow them to listen again. I would them prompt them with more detailed questions.
Then, I would allow them to go online to the story and read it. I would take your instructions and use them as I like what you’ve done here. I’d have them answer the questions just as you did, and to sum it up I would have them write a small paragraph (at least a few sentences).
I think the crossword is an added bonus. I happen to love working crosswords, so introducing them to my students while teaching them spelling and vocabulary is a fun way to check them on meaning and understanding.
So, this would be a great exercise that gives them practice on listening, reading and comprehension, and writing and grammar.
I like it!
I really like this lesson. It fits perfectly with the age of students you are working with. I especially like the cloze section the students do after the story as it is a great way to review the main points from the story as well as work on vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteOne way to follow up on this lesson would be to have students retell the story to their partner quickly to review the information. This way they also need to verbally express the new vocabulary. This is something that I do on a regular basis and it really helps students focus on the main parts of a story and not get caught-up in details. (I was unable to open your wiki to get to some of your activities, so you may have done something like this.)
Another way to look at this assignment from another perspective is to take apart the story and talk about the pieces of the folklore-what problem are they solving? Why do/would they need to solve this? (whatever questions you are focusing on) You could have a chart/graph and as you read through different myths/legends/folklore, have the students fill in the chart. They can then use this as a guide to help them make their own story. You could then have students exchange stories and look in their peers' stories to find the answers to the same questions.
Wonderful lesson!
Very helpful comments. You guys were very sweet and kind but also very helpful and professional. Thanks for the many tips.
ReplyDeleteARAMIS