Beginning ESL



Beginning ESL

Instructor: Vanessa Kirchner

Activity: Morning Message

Morning Message is a letter that I write to my class every morning. I put it up on the white board. This message serves several purposes; 1) Introduce new vocabulary 2) Review Vocabulary 3) Reading practice aloud 4) Informs students of what we will be doing that day 5) Gives them an opportunity to copy the message and respond to me in their notebooks.

Example of a Morning Message:

Dear Class,

Today is Tuesday, November 26, 2008. It is cold outside!

We will begin with our presentations. Remember, you had to interview another student in class about the foods they like! After the presentations, we will do a Thanksgiving “brainstorm”. A brainstorm is when you try to think of all the things you know about something.

Sincerely,

Your Teacher

Students come in and copy the letter into their notebooks. Next, I ask students if there are any words they do not know! After we underline those words in a contrasting color and discuss them, I call on students to read sentences. The entire class repeats words that are being mispronounced. If it is an especially difficult word I listen to each student pronounce it individually. Students seem to like this activity and they often ask questions about punctuation and grammar as well... If the Morning Message contains a question, they are to write their answers in their notebooks and they then read it to the class. It must be written in a complete sentence.

Questions are such that answers will consist of only one or two sentences. Example: What is your favorite season? Why? (Prerequisite: Weather vocabulary from a previous lesson).

Beginning ESL

Instructor: Kirchner

Activity: Conjugation Sign Language

I use this activity every time I conjugate a new verb and to practice verbs we have already learned. It is simply putting motions to go along with the “I, You, He, She, We, You (Plural), and They”. I do this with the verb “To Be” first. It goes like this:

I am - Point to yourself using your thumb and right hand.

You are – Point using the index finger of your right hand away from you (toward the front).

He is – Use your thumb and your right hand over your right shoulder.

She is – Use your thumb and your left hand over your left shoulder.

We are – Use your index finger on your right hand and circle and then point up with an upward motion.

You are (plural)- Use your right hand, palm up and sweep across the front of your body.

They are- Use both hands, index fingers up by shoulders making circles (simultaneously) and then pointing (also simultaneously) in each direction.

*Note: You will develop your own “style” over time!

Beginning ESL

Instructor: Kirchner

Activity: Describe It To Me

I did this for the clothing unit with my Basic ESL class. This lesson is presented after we have gone over basic clothing vocabulary.

Bring in a variety of different articles of clothing. Give 1 or 2 items of clothing to each group of 2 or 3 students. Students take time in their groups to discuss “their” items of clothing. (10 minutes) Each group takes turns describing the article of clothing to the class. Each group member must say something: Name-(ie...T-shirt), color, zipper, buttons, short sleeves, a collar, etc...

The students really surprised me on how much they could tell me about each clothing item!

Beginning ESL

Instructor: Kirchner

Activity: “I am from...”

Students are able to do this activity early on because they may use vocabulary from their native language. Students write a poem about where they are from. I read to them a sample poem and explain that “I am from...” not only means a place but also foods, landscapes, weather, sayings, values, etc.. You will understand better by reading the sample poem that follows:

“I am From Quisquella la Bella”

By Amiris Ramirez

I am

From Quisquella la bella,

From merengue, bachata, perico ripiao,

And church bells on Sundays

I am

From the words

Dios, patria, libertad

From the feeling of sadness, but also of not giving up.

I am

From the promise of friendship and love,

From “always be yourself”,

“believe in who you are.”

I am

From rice and beans,

Roast chicken, pernil,

Platanos, mangos, coconuts, corn.

I am

From beautiful

Gardens with palm trees,

From mountains and precious blue sky.

I am Latina.

Dominican.

Proud.

As you can see from the poem, there is a lot of native language used. Students are encouraged to use English where they can. We talk a lot about the foods typical to where they are from, what the landscape looks like where they are from, the things they heard their parents say to them as children when they were young, sounds they heard, dances they danced etc... I used the example that when I was a child I lived by train tracks and when the noon whistle blew I was to go home for lunch if I was outside playing.

Then they end the poem just like the example but unique to them of course.

They practice reading to each other and then we have readings in front of the class.

Beginning ESL

Instructor: Kirchner

Activity: Draw It in the Square

In this activity students receive a piece of unlined white paper. I instruct them to fold it so that they have 16 squares or 8 squares depending on how large you want the squares to be. This activity helps students to visualize vocabulary words. Students put a small number in each square in the bottom right hand corner. You give the students the vocabulary words one at a time. They do not write the words at first, they draw a simple picture to represent the word. This way the students are not just translating a word; they are visualizing the meaning in their heads and “thinking” in English.

Beginning ESL

Instructor: Kirchner

Activity: “Lights, Camera, Action!”

I put vocabulary words onto individual squares of paper and put them into a hat. We have already gone over vocabulary words in class. The student pulls a paper square from the hat and reads the word silently to him/her self. When the student indicates that he/she is ready I say, “Lights, camera, action!” Class members try and guess the word. Students may use other words to help classmates guess the vocabulary word. It is more fun if the class is divided into teams. We did men vs. women. I have them name their teams. If the ladies go first and the women in class do not guess the word, then the men take a turn at guessing and vice-versa. The team to earn a predetermined number of points first wins.

Beginning ESL

Instructor: Kirchner

Activity: A Favorite Recipe

When we did our unit on food I put a recipe on the board and we discussed the ingredients and how to read the instructions. Students had to write a simple recipe for something they like to make. They make a presentation to the class that includes listing the ingredients and the instructions for how to make it. Making a small recipe booklet of class recipes is a good culminating activity. Then have a party where students bring the food to class to share.

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