Monday, September 3, 2018

Introductory Activity: Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate)

Welcome to English 5150. Before we dive into the local English curriculum and the many methods of teaching English skills, we want to ask an important question, "How would you teach if it were completely up to you?" This question is intended to explore your own preference, bias and experience as a novice teacher. But it is also a practical question, as teachers are important stakeholders in the development of a school-based English curriculum. Let's find out what you think. 



Activity Description:
A diverse group of fifteen schoolchildren is gathered in front of you.  They are a mixed-age group, about 12 – 15 years old. They have learned English for between 5-7 years, but are very reluctant to say anything. You don’t know what they have learned, as you are new to their country. You do not speak a word of their first language (L1). You will teach them for one hour, five days a week, and you have two years to teach them to communicate in English so that they may attend schools in an English speaking country. You must work with your own knowledge of English only; as you do not have access to any textbooks, computers, tablets or other IT equipment of any kind, and you are not in a native English-speaking environment. With the members of your group, create a plan for the first day of class and objectives for the first six months of the course.

One member of your group should write your "Language Learning Objective" and "Other Learning Objective" in the Comments section below. Use this format:

LLO: Students will ____________________________________________________.
OLO: Students will ____________________________________________________. 

10 comments:

  1. LLO: Students will learn to use positive adjectives to introduce their classmates
    OLO: Students will learn to give supporting details to further elaborate themselves

    Renee, Lucy, Cherry, Sammy, Crystal, Constance

    ReplyDelete
  2. LLO: Students will use present tense for self introduction and will use past tense to tell
    English learning experience
    OLO: Students and teacher will get to know each other

    Charlotte, Agnes, Vivian, Angel, Serena

    ReplyDelete
  3. LLO: Students’ language proficiency will be assessed through in-class activities.

    OLO: Students will be able to introduce themselves and their friends in both written and spoken forms.

    Isabella, Jamie, Chelsea, Erica

    ReplyDelete
  4. LLO: Students will acquire some advanced vocabulary (such as adjectives) to describe their classmates.
    OLO: Students will be comfortable and confident in speaking English.

    Kirin, David, Jimmy, Anthony

    ReplyDelete
  5. LLO: Students will learn some adjectives to describe a person's appearance/character/personality.
    OLO: Students will be more confident when speak in English.

    Vivian T, Natalie, Iris, Alice, Peggy

    ReplyDelete
  6. LLO: Students will have to introduce their country using different adjectives on the first day, and are expected to introduce their friends, family members and country using correct tense and grammar after six months.
    OLO: Students will be encouraged to have a simple self introduction to me (as a new teacher) on the first day, and are expected to be confident to speak to others in English after six months.

    Anthea

    ReplyDelete
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  8. LLO: Students will be encouraged to speak out.
    OLO: Students will establish their self-confidence to speak out.

    Patrick, Natalie Tong, Veronica, Kennie, Zoei

    ReplyDelete
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  10. LLO: Students will get to know each other by introducing themselves through ice breakers.
    OLO: Writing skills - be able to express themselves through different context
    Speaking skills - be able to describe themselves through self-introduction, description of their community
    Reading skills - be able to complete various reading comprehension exercises
    Listening skills - be able to complete various listening exercises
    Grammar - be able to identify parts of speech, simple tenses + continuous tenses
    Vocabulary - be able to understand the lexis by the thematic choices of each lesson

    Deena, Isha, Rebekah, Eric

    ReplyDelete