Where I am From Poems

This semester and last semester, the CMU ELI held a poetry competitions for the students. Because I'm on administrative leave this semester, I wasn't able to help students participate. However, last semester, I highly encouraged my students to submit poems. 

Image via parnassusreview.com

Because poetry can feel daunting (if I had a dollar for every time I've heard, "I can't write poetry, I'd be rich!) for anybody, but especially for non-native speakers/writers. The students often said to me, "But I can't even write poetry in my native language! How will I write it in English?" This is valid concern because poetry can be scary. That's why I decided to provide one type of poem that students would be writing. I hoped that it would make poetry more accessible and real to them. That's why I chose "Where I am from" poems. 

Image via thoms8thgradeblog.blogspot.com

For those of you who haven't heard of these before, the lines start with "I am from..." and the poet finishes the line with whatever he or she would like. For example, I am from Michigan, so I could say, "I'm from the Great Lakes" or "I am from corn fields and good manners." The point is that students think about their origins, their identity, how they see themselves, and how they want to be seen. 

My students created beautiful poems that they were proud of, and many of my students won first or second runners up for Level 3. One of my student won the entire competition! I don't have permission to share their poems (I have to remember to get permission next time!), but I will share mine as an example. Please feel free to use it in your class if you'd like to use this excellent form of poetry in your classes. 

I even created a wordle with my poem... I wish I had thought of doing this with my students. How fun!

There are lots of other great examples online, and I've included some links at below if you'd like more resources. If you'd like to see pictures of the ELI poetry competition, we have some on the CMU ELI's Facebook site. I'd love to hear: do you use poetry in your class? What's your favorite type of poem to use? I've heard (clean) limericks can be fun!

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=785

http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

http://www.teenink.com/poetry/free_verse/article/281119/Where-I-am-from/

https://sites.google.com/site/msweisocialstudies/sample-projects-and-assignments/msweiswhereiamfrompoem

Do you love English?

If you love English, vote in the Macmillan Dictionary Love English Awards for the best websites and blogs about English. You can also check out last year's winners, and those from 2011. 

A few highlights from the past few years: printables, wordsmith, worldwidewords, filmenglish, and closeyourtextbooks. I can't wait to try some of these ideas out in my classroom next semester. 

And of course, my all time favorite: Free Rice, which helps people learn vocabulary and gives rice to people who are hungry. 

The Trickiest Word in English: Quite Tricky!

Vicki Hollett (of Learning to Speak 'Merican) wrote a great blog post for the Macmillian Dictionary blog about the trickiest word in English. In it she writes about a quite tricky English word: quite. 

Image via http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/quite_wordle.bmp

The meaning of quite in American and British Englishes has different meanings. In American English the meaning is rather (quite?) positive, and in British English, it is less than positive:

If your American boss says your work is quite good, should you be pleased or a little concerned? In British English quite good only means pretty good or fairly good, but in American English it’s much more positive. Quite good means very good, so you can give yourself a pat on the back.

As I am a native American English speaker, I consider quite to be positive. If you're an English language learner, how did you learn the meaning of quite? If you're a teacher, how do you teach it? With both meanings? Or just for the country in which you're teaching? What if you teach EFL?

"All art is quite useless" -Oscar Wilde

P.S. Here's the link: http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/the-trickiest-word-in-american 

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!

Secrets for Adult ELLs

Learning a new language is hard, especially for adults. This brief post, Unearthing the Secrets of Adult ELLS, from the TESOL blog provides some suggestions for adult ELLs (English Language Learners). They were generated by students and seem similar to what most (all?) English language teachers preach.

Suggestions:

1. Run away from people who speak your language. Be in contact with as many English speakers as possible. Ask them to correct you.
2. Expose yourself to America and to American culture. Avoid stores and other locations in the United States where they speak your language. Watch movies and TV without subtitles or English closed captions.
3. Just try to speak—if necessary, use gestures.
4. Try to think in English.
5. Keep a pencil and a notebook with you to write down new words and expressions.

One of the big questions we have to deal with on a daily basis is challenged with suggestion number one. How do we encourage students to speak English most of the time without disregarding their culture, heritage, friends and family? Some adults have spouses and children, so they really can't "run away" from people who speak their language. They live with and love those people. Learners who have children want to pass along their language and culture to their children, especially when they're so far from home; and many spouses don't speak English. How can they reconcile their family/emotional needs versus their language needs?

The first part of #1 isn't always possible for all students, but they can "be in contact with as many English speakers as possible." This probably means something different for everybody, but it's essential for success nonetheless. The CMU ELI has a conversation partner program, and we recommend partners meet for at least one hour per week for English conversation. While this definitely isn't enough, it is a start and may be the best option for adult students with families.

Do you have any other advice or suggestions for adult ELLs? Did you learn a language as an adult? How did you do it?

Slash

Here's a great article by Dr. Anne Curzan, a fabulous University of Michigan linguist, on the use of slash as a conjuction, i.e. "I am a teacher slash blogger." I didn't have the opportunity to take Dr. Curzan's class, as she was on sabbatical when I was enrolled in  "her" education course, but I did read her book. I think she's brilliant.




Picture via NPR.org

This is a great example of how typing has influced the way we speak, like when people say "OMG," as they would in a chat, rather than saying "Oh My Goodness."

Here's the full link: http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/04/24/slash-not-just-a-punctuation-mark-anymore/ or read a synopsis of it here from NPR.

P.S. More by Dr. Curzan

Idioms

NPR's Morning Edition had a great story about idioms in English. They interviewed the editor of the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms... a true lover of words. The interview was loaded with great expressions that we use (and often take for granted) every day.

Elephant in the Room via NPR.org and iStockphoto.com

What a great way to share expressions with students who are interested in expanding their idiomatic vocabulary!  I like that so many of our expessions come from Shakespeare, such as "cold fish." We're in the middle of mid-terms now and the one that seems most apropos is "the straw that broke the camel's back." What are some of your favorite expressions?

Check it out here: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/28/173060110/dictionary-of-idioms-gets-everybody-on-the-same-page

English Mania

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I haven't had much time to post during the beginning of the semester. I would love to share with you a great (and short) video that one of my colleagues found. It's about English mania and English as the world's second language. It is originally from TED.com, and the speaker is Jay Walker.

 

I love the focus on China, as well as his perspective on English NOT taking over the world. As an English teacher, I am all too aware of the issues of language and power. I don't want to dwell on it now (maybe in a different post); however, I think it's important to add to the conversation that English should be used as a supplement*, rather than a replacement* for one's native language.

Thanks for the link, Natalie!

P.S. I love TED.com

*supplement and replacement were vocabulary words in my ELI 082 class, and this was a "conclusion" we drew as a class while discussing English as the lingua franca.