Monday, September 7, 2020

Using Worksheets---More than a time filler

 



When students hear the word "worksheets", they automatically think of it as boring busywork. However, for teachers, worksheets can help support the lesson's objective while providing an opportunity for some good practice. And, with the right teaching technique, students can be engaged without feeling like these papers are only tedious assignments that pass the time in class.


What is the right technique? One way to engage students with a worksheet is to look at the worksheet as if it is a page in their textbook. Normally, when using a textbook, teachers stimulate the students' interest by coming up with a warmer that excites students towards the topic that will be used on that particular page. If the topic is about the weather, your warmer covers parts about the weather outside. If the topic is about animals, ask about what your students' favorite animal is, or have a photo with various animals to talk about in pairs.

Personally, I like to have warmers that review steps or vocabulary which one needs to know to be successful in completing the page. I might do Pictionary, have related photos to discuss in pairs, a ball toss, or call and response activity. A few of many activities to use as a warmer for the worksheet provided.

Next, look at the first part of the paper. How can it be used as a pairwork? Maybe, one student asks the question, and the other answers it. Then, for the next question, they switch roles. Or students could fold the page and have to do dictation with their partner.

Once the students' pairwork has finished, think about what extended activity could they do with the topic they have just practiced. Maybe they could write a postcard with a drawing or listen to a song about the same subject. They can practice learning the song, or you can make it a fill in the blank exercise.

The last part of the worksheet could be used as a game, such as Speed Round Robin, in teams. Speed Round Robin is where there are teams of 2-3 students must work together to complete each question. Once they have solved the first one correctly, they notify the teacher to see if it is correct before moving on to the next. 

Or you can have them do Running Diction. Place the worksheet on the other side of the room, one student reads the paper for one question and runs to their partner to write the answer together. They cannot move to the next question until the teacher has checked that their answer is correct. The first team to complete the assignment first, wins. Then the whole class goes over the answer to clear up any mistakes and confusion.

Julia M Cameron at pexels.com

However, if you are sharing a screen in your online class, you can place the worksheet on your screen for students to see. Have them look at the exercise as a speaking activity. Go through the exercises, and ask individuals what the right words are to complete it. Then, for students who can write, have them complete the worksheet on their paper after you have gone over some of it verbally as a class. For the ones who don't write well or at the normal speed, (You know the ones who take 20 minutes to copy two sentences!) ask more questions that help repeat the grammar or vocabulary from the worksheet.

Another option would be to have students placed in breakout rooms to complete assignments with time periods. When the time is up, check who has the most answers. Then, the class agrees or disagrees with what answers the winning team has presented.

Either way, worksheets do not always have to be quick fillers to keep your students quiet for 10 minutes. They can be engaging as well as helpful in your lesson planning while using all four skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) in language learning.


GET GREAT ESL YOUNG LEARNERS WORKSHEETS HERE!

Click to See More

Need some help building or reinforcing vocabulary in your ESL Young Learners class? This book has worksheets activities that will keep your students learning while they are having fun. All of the pages in this book are designed to be photocopied handouts. 


Engage your students in activities for the weather, time, animals, months, question words, prepositions, family, US holidays, describing people, and more. Plus, there is advice on how to use worksheets to extend a lesson and help practice vocabulary. 


These worksheets are suitable for children, aged 6 to 10 who are learning English at a beginner to intermediate level. There are also great fillers for fast finishers in your class. 

Teachers, give yourself a break from creating classroom material and let your students have fun with the activities in this book. 


Find on 

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HGLPZHB

Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08HGLPZHB

Amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B08HGLPZHB

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Amazon.es: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B08HGLPZHB

Amazon.it: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B08HGLPZHB

Amazon.jp: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08HGLPZHB

Amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08HGLPZHB



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Monday, May 11, 2020

Picture Game for Young Learners


Guess the Picture



In my Hidden Images slides, click the blue squares to reveal an image. Students try to guess the image before all the squares disappear. This is a fun way to review vocabulary and motivate students.

 ***If you would like to change anything in the slides or the Translation document attached to it, just go to file and make a copy. That copy you will be able to edit as you like.
***Don't email me to request access to edit. I will need this copy to stay the same.

Here is the link to Hidden Images

To change the images, simply click on a square and move it to the side. Then select the image underneath and delete it. Next, place your desired image on the slide. Then go to the ARRANGE tab and click ORDER to place the image behind the squares. 

There is more in my new resource book.

Don't waste any more of your valuable time and build your confidence in ESL teaching.

I've created a book for the experienced teacher to the least experienced ones. It saves you the time of finding FREE sites filled with the material to supplement your textbook or provide material for non-textbook environments.

My resource book has a variety of topics are categorized in the order for teaching young learners from ages 3 to 8 years old. Teach with the ease of accessing a multitude of subjects.

Use it to cut your planning down by giving the majority of what you need to plan a great lesson along with tips to help you develop the lesson with seamless transitions.

 Get your copy of TODAY!



And if you'd like to know more about ESL instruction, sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter:

     *get teaching tips and ideas about teens and kids
     *receive FREE worksheets, craft projects, flashcards, games, and other materials
     *promotions/offers on resource books
·          
·         Click here to join


Monday, May 4, 2020

Fast and Easy Lesson Planning for ESL Young Learners --FREE YL Lesson Plan


Unsure what or how to teach ESL to young learners?
Tired of spending long hours searching for material to use in your ESL lesson?


Don't waste any more of your valuable time and build your confidence in ESL teaching.

I've created a book for the experienced teacher to the least experienced ones. It saves you the time of finding FREE sites filled with the material to supplement your textbook or provide material for non-textbook environments.

Here is a sample lesson of what you can do using my new book:


Age: 6-7
Topic: Farm Animals

1st-Start the class: with "Old MacDonald" in the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HzoUcx3eo (during this students are writing down the date and/or get out settled in their seats with paper and pencil )

2nd-Warmer: Sing the days of the week with the Hello PPT (=a PowerPoint that goes over the days of the week and other quick review verbal exercises)

3rd-Game 1: Telling Timehttps://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/telling-the-time/


(Students shout out the correct option by saying A, B, or C. This is a game that covers a topic we have reviewed in the warmer.)

4th-Speaking 1: Video-Learn the Farm Animals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV8MSaYlSbc
(Have students listen and repeat. Ask what it is in their language. For older kids, you can have them write down the translation from English to their own language. Have students mimic the sounds of the animals they see. Keep stressing the phrase: This is a..... Encourage students to use the whole phrase after a few times of completing your sentence.)

5th-Game 2: Group Wordsearch (I've been working online since the quarantine so I place a word search about the vocabulary the class will be using. Before starting the word search, we go over the words in their own translation. Then students use the computer's pen to find the answer to the word search on the screen.)

6th-Speaking 2: Show students the worksheet from https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/vocabulary/animals/farm-animals/9021 Ask: "How many animals do they see?" Have them say what the animals are. Encourage the phrase: This is a... Ask: "Which is their favorite animal?" Have students do a round-robin of answering you in a complete sentence. This goes back to practicing a previous language point (A habit you should get into when teaching YL. Always have parts in your lesson where students are encouraged to use old phrases so as to refresh their memory and continue their English education.)

7th-Writing: (Some students are still slow at this stage when it comes to writing. At this age of 6-7, I minimize the writing. Otherwise, it will take all class period for three of them to complete writing 5 sentences.) We complete the worksheet as a class. Then I have students comply and complete 2 or 3 sentences from the worksheet that I give them. Example: (1) This is a ... , (2) It is ....(color);  (3) My favorite animal is a...

8th-Game 3:Online memory game:https://www.eslgamesplus.com/farm-domestic-animals-vocabulary-esl-memory-game/


(Put the students in teams and have individual pick the cards. Score points when a team member gets a pair. To make it less boring and fairer, I only allow a turn per student, even if the student has won a pair for his/her team.)

***I put in more games than normal because I am teaching online and it helps keep my young learners' attention.

End the class with "Old MacDonald" in the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HzoUcx3eo  as students get ready to leave.

It took less time to plan this lesson than it took for me to explain it to you. This is what I mean by shortening your lesson planning and having less hassle from searching what to do.

My resource book has a variety of topics are categorized in the order for teaching young learners from ages 3 to 8 years old. Teach with the ease of accessing a multitude of subjects.

Use it to cut your planning down by giving the majority of what you need to plan a great lesson along with tips to help you develop the lesson with seamless transitions.


Get your copy of TODAY!





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  • *ESL teaching tips and ideas about teens and kids.  

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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Can Flashcards Help Language Learners?

Some people think flashcards are for little kids and are a waste of time. Both are not true!

Flashcards are great for vocabulary. They help build our spaced memory with repetition. In other words, they are used for drilling, which creates a section in your memory where you store facts. This active recall teaches your brain to remember.

Not drilling!?! How boring?

Drilling like any other practice or exercise is essential to getting better. You do planks to strengthen your tummy. It seems tedious and boring but after 3 months you have abs of steel.

Basketball players run drills up and down the court. Again, they hate them but that keeps them fit and on the team.

Either way, we work for what we want. If you want your students to learn English more effectively, use flashcards.

Flashcards are only for young learners: FALSE!
Flashcards can be used for any age. In the past, I've used them frequently when cramming for all my university exams.

Yes, when it comes to teaching teens, you can't do the same games or interactive lessons with the flashcards that you do with your tweenies. It won't work. But like everything, when the player changes, you change the game.

Look at the grammar ESL teachers teach from starters to B2 level. All the grammar is the same more or less. It only gets more detailed and complicated the higher the level. Example: Movers are learning the past participle for present perfect while A2 teens are learning the different adverbs that accompany the same grammar.

The complexity of grammar follows the same for using flashcards in class.

***All flashcards can be adapted to use online. It can also add to the interaction in an online lesson.


The How?


Here is a list of ways to use flashcards for any level:

-Normal drilling (show the cards and explicit words)

-Pairing/ Matching (Pair by words to pictures; words to categories; or translated text)

-Catchphrase (Students pair up to explain a flashcard image/word to their partner or group members)

-Race to the card (Cards are spread across both sides of the room. Individual students from different teams race to touch the flashcard which the teacher has shouted out.)

-Flashcard Call Out (Students create sentences from flashcards provided. If they do it correctly, they get the flashcard. After you've completed the flashcards, the students count how many they have. The one with the most cards is the winner.)

-Make a story (place 3-6 flashcards in a group. Students tell a story using the items displayed on the flashcards)

- I-spy ( Say the first letter of the word on the card. Can act out or give verbal clues. Students guess the word.)

-Go Fish

-Odd One Out (Place four cards out. Students say which one does not relate to the other three. Example: Apple, Banana, Book, Orange. Students should say: Book.)
-Memory Game

- Musical chairs (place a card on each chair faced down. When the music stops, students turn over their cards. They must say the word or make a sentence with the chosen grammar to keep their seat. Go until all but one student is eliminated.)

-Bingo

-Start a conversation (Students have to ask their partner questions related to the flashcard they are presented. The team that can keep the conversation going the longest without changing topic, wins.)

-Quizlet writing race (Put on the board the mixed words or fill in the blank from a quizlet.com flashcard section. The first student who writes or says the sentence correctly gets a point. Can work for translations as well.)



Find a collection of flashcards at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Robbie-Lodge

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Monday, March 23, 2020

A Change of Plan: When Group Lesson Turns into a Tutorial


In teaching, you learn quickly that no plan goes accordingly. You could have an airtight lesson plan filled with objectives and clever transitional steps leading you to the next activity. Of course, you've planned brilliantly! It's what we had to spend a month to a year training to do. Yet, life always finds a way to wreak havoc on your plans. Especially, when dealing with human nature (specifically young children and teenagers. They have their own agenda.)

When your plan is failing.
For you, maybe, students have a very weak awareness of the past participle verbs during your present perfect lesson. Or a good chunk of students have missed lessons and you have to update the others to carry on to the next unit. 

Or worse, the internet shuts off. The computer decides to have a rest day and you are unable to use the tips and materials I have for you here. Ultimately, a complete nightmare with 13 to 25 students staring at you for instructions into what to do next.

Either way, disaster is known to strike. So prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

If you can't get anything to work out the way you've planned, its time to channel your creative flexibility.

As such, teachers must learn two things: when to divert from the plan and how to create an effective learning activity. Thus, welcome to my segment: A Change of Plan.



(Refers to the time before lockdown. Some nostalgia and words of wisdom for when we can go back to a normal classroom.)

I have an hour every Monday dedicated to B2 students who want extra practice in writing and/or speaking. Usually, I get anywhere from 3 to 8 students showing up. But last week I only got 1!

Personally, I can't stand tutorials. For one since it is only you and a student, it means you need a stack of material to work with. For two, you have to rely on one student to generate ideas that you guide them into. If you have a quiet or shy student, this can be like pulling teeth. And three, a tutorial turns out to be having a conversation for an hour. I don't talk to my closest friends for that long! Imagine doing that with a teenager. Plus, I'm sure its hell for the student too.

So what do you do when you find yourself in an impromptu tutorial?  I took my creative writing plan. I sat next to her and we did it as if I was a second student. That lasted 30 minutes and this is with me going off-topic and talking about random things in my life and in her life.

Then, before I wondered what tv series I could show her on my Netflix account, I had an idea. I went to a teacher with B2 students and asked to borrow a student for 10 minutes. 

Back in my class, the student heard the story and gave ideas to make it better. Our on personal Beta Reader. A Beta Reader is used with independent novelists who need someone to give notes on the content of the story. They say what works, what is good and what should be changed. I use it as a version of peer revision.

When my single student made the changes, I grabbed another Beta Reader. After the second round of changes, we had 5 minutes left so my student read the story aloud and we discussed what she thought about it.

Tutorial disasters avoided by stealing students from other sources. You may not be in an academy where this is easy to do. Or maybe you have private classes where other students are not in your area. In these cases, I suggest making Tic Tok or Powerpoints or memes with your one student in the publishing/independent producing stage of your lesson.

Either way, there is another activity put to in your teacher's toolbox which helps when the lesson plan has changed.


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  • *ESL teaching tips and ideas about teens and kids.  

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