The English We Speak

The BBC has a great section of their website dedicated to learning English. I think they have great stuff; if you haven't, you should check it out. They also have a wonderful section called "The English We Speak." Here you can find audio files and scripts for common English phrases. The speakers are British, but I think this is a good thing for students studying in the US. They often complain that they can't understand other "accents," and exposing them to these various dialects will help them improve their listening comprehension. 

Can a leopard change it's spots?
Image via BBC

However, the main reason I like these is because they teach very common expressions. For example, A Leopard Can't Change It's Spots would be perfect for my 052 (beginning reading/writing) class because our unit theme is animals (the speakers are at the zoo in this audio file) and one of their vocabulary words is spots. I will now require them to write a little skit of their own using this expression. I also plan to teach Haven't Slept a Wink because all of my students are always lacking in sleep. 

Are you as tired as Neil or FeiFei today?
Image via BBC

These can be used for quick and engaging lessons, which we always need, right? 

Twitter

Do you have a Twitter account? Upon request, I have created a new Twitter account focusing on ESL, teaching and learning. Please follow me @Caitlin_ESL. I would love to follow you, too!

Tweet, tweet!

21st Century Teacher!

I am happy to announce that I have officially joined the 21st century! I am now using spreadsheets for my grade book. I have been clinging to the paper version for my whole career, and now I am utilizing the power of technology to help make calculating grades much easier! 

I still have my paper book for attendance and daily homework, but it all goes into the spreadsheet at the end of the day. It's a big step for me, but I'm liking it so far. 

What do you use to record grades? Paper grade book? Excel? Google Docs? Blackboard? Any suggestions for using spreadsheets? 

Interesting or Interested?

I'm just loving Vicki Hollet's videos. Have you checked them out yet? I posted about the difference between American and British English here. 

Here's a great video on the difference between interesting and interested. It's a great example for the difference between adjectives ending in -ing and those ending in -ed. Who hasn't had a student write/say "I am very interesting" or "I am very boring"?? Of course we English teachers understand what they mean, but we definitely want to make sure students don't say "I'm boring" to new friends! How do you teach the difference?

Image via www.jaymug.com

Confession: I didn't know how to explain the difference between adjectives which ended in -ing and those ending in -ed until I went to grad school (Thanks, Dr. Spruiell)! Of course I now know -ing is used for describing other items and -ed describes how people feel. I don't think native English speakers can automatically understand this any better than non-native speakers. What do you think? Was I just behind the curve??

A Few Differences Between American and British English

Vicki Hollett, blogger of Learning to Speak 'Merican, has a great site called Simple English Videos. There are tons of great (and short videos) for learning English. These are wonderful mini-lessons and are a great addition to day's objective(s).

In one video, entitled How to Confuse an American, provides five differences between American and British English. Some of the ways include: zed, saying double plus a letter, and saying the day before the month in a date. I think this would be a great addition to a lesson on the differences between the two dialects students often learn. Many of my students learn British English in their home countries and get surprised by the differences when they arrive in the US.

Additionally, these videos have transcripts, so students can watch on their own and follow along by reading. Have you ever used these videos? What is the best way to incorporate videos in the classroom?

Special Olympics: Before Volunteering

As I mentioned in a previous post, my high-intermediate speaking and listening class volunteered at the Michigan Special Olympics. This was an assigned volunteer opportunity, and it was the first service learning component I have applied to my courses. I realize now that this was a huge undertaking for my first time implementing service learning. Most teachers usually start out with the soup kitchen or animal shelter; however, the Special Olympics were coming to town at the beginning of our summer term, and I couldn't let that learning opportunity pass me (and my students) by.

I will go into more detail about the actual day of volunteering in the second of this three part series; in this part, I would like to focus on what I did to prepare students for this experience. First, I asked students general questions about volunteering and their experience volunteering. Then I asked them if they've ever had experience with people with special needs. I had some questions written out for students to respond to in writing, then they shared them with a partner, and finally with the class (think, pair, share). Here are the questions I asked them, along with a few of their responses:
 
(1) Why do people volunteer?
-I think that it is a very active method to help others, but also can increase your self-confidence, social experience, and benefiting your English.
-To help other people and get experience
-People have the ability to help people in need
 
(2) Who does volunteering benefit?
-everybody can benefit from volunteering
-The volunteer might learn something different from volunteering, and some people can get help to get out of trouble.
-make a good community
 
(3) How could volunteering help international students?
-to offer them a job or to make them get to know the culture
-The volunteering can help international students to learn English, know new culture
-it can help them to practice their language

 

Next, I had the students watch a couple of videos and go to the Special Olympics website for homework. I asked them to watch these three videos:Champions Together, Different, and Unleashing the Human Spirit. Here are a few sample questions they were asked to consider, along with a few responses:
 
(1) What are the Special Olympics?
-Big event in sports for people with special needs
-In my opinion, the reason we organize special game is that we believe the people who is intellectual disabilities also need to be respected, they are a special group of people who need more special care
-health, education, sports
 
(2) Who participates?
-Everyone who is special needs who is over 8 years old
-People with intellectual disabilities, more than 4 million per year
 
(3) Who volunteers?
-Everyone can volunteer
 
(4) What do you think the goal of the Special Olympics is?
-Everyone want to make the people with special needs have happiness in their life because they need anybody to care for them
-Because it does a great job with disability people. "I like help people."They make them feel different.
-Because it benefits for every people in the word. Keep going.
 
As you can see, the students' responses about volunteering and the Special Olympics were thoughtful and reflective. They really took this assignment seriously and wanted to know how they could best help other people. It was also clear that they were interested in improving and practice their language skills in addition to helping others.  

I will post later in the week about the actual event itself and what students' responsibilities were. My final post about the Special Olympics will consider how to help students make the most of their volunteer experience through reflection.



Image via www.napavalleyspecialolympics.com

If you have any experience with ESL and service learning, I would love to hear your experiences and advice. I know many of my colleagues have implemented this into their courses, as well as many other instructors around the state of Michigan and around the US. Please share what you have done and any suggestions you have for making service learning a valuable experience for English Language Learners. 

 

P.S. What did you think about the videos? I'll admit I got a little teary-eyed! How inspiring the athletes are!

Summer Term

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month. I finished up our Spring Term, and we're in full Summer Term-mode here at the CMU ELI. That means 4 hour classes and starting at 8 am. It also means field trips, great discussions, and getting to know each student very well. While sometimes I don't think I'll ever get the grading done, I'm mostly excited to hear and read my students' ideas about our themes this semester.

Image via Justintarte.com

I am teaching advanced beginning reading and writing and intermediate speaking and listening. Any advice or activity ideas for these skills and language levels? My speaking and listening class volunteered at the Michigan Special Olympics last week (more on that soon, I promise!), and I already have my reading and writing class on their second extensive reading book (we use these, and the students really enjoy them).


Here are a few great links I'd like to share:

Reading-Based Freewriting for English Language Learners --I'm going to try this on Thursday with my class!

This post on culturally appropriate writing is spot on!

Etymological Origins of Insults  is awesome. Which is your favorite? Chump and Schmuck are a couple of mine. Thanks Jeanine!

Flashcards online and on your smart phone is just brilliant. I recommend it for my students, and I use it for my Spanish learning.

Emperor Penguins in Antarctica and Summer in Antarctica-- to go along with Mosaic 1 Listening and Speaking textbook (Chapter 2)

And finally, Nouns and Verbs by School House rock for those beginning classes that always need a little spice!