Our learners can all benefit from reading aloud to you and receiving your feedback. It helps fluency, comprehension, vocabulary building, pronunciation and more! Try to spend a little time reading during each session.
Here are a few suggestions for resources:
http://bestofthereader.ca/
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/
http://www.readingesl.ca/
The Westcoast Reader newspaper, available at all Chilliwack library branches (a favourite of Heather, Dianne, and others) Worksheets to go with the newspaper are in the teacher's section at http://www.thewestcoastreader.com/
For higher learners, try the Chicken Soup for the Soul books (thanks to Sandra and her learner for this idea)
Active Reader books at all levels are available at our office, or I can get them for you. Have you visited our new office at 8472 Harvard Place yet?
Books from the ESL or Adult Learner Collection at the library are great. Ask the librarian for suggestions.
I would be happy to recommend specific reading for your learner!
Friday, March 7, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Teaching Conversation
Learners may be confused by the many ways we can say something in English. Practicing phrases for conversation can be helpful. For example, you can use a map to practice asking and giving directions:
Where is (the) . . . ?
How do you get to (the) . . . (from here)?
How do I get to (the) . . . ?
Can you tell me how to get to (the) . . . ?
Can you give me directions to (the) . . . ?
What's the best way to get to (the) . . . ?
(First,) go down this street (for ____ blocks).
(Then,) turn left/right at the traffic light.
(After that,) go straight on _____ Street until you get to the ______.
(When you get to the _____,) turn left/right again.
(Then,) stay on______Avenue for about _______ meters.
It's on your left, next to the __________. You can't miss it!
Sorry, I don't know.
Sorry, I don't live around here!
For more conversation phrases by topic, visit: http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/phrases.html
Where is (the) . . . ?
How do you get to (the) . . . (from here)?
How do I get to (the) . . . ?
Can you tell me how to get to (the) . . . ?
Can you give me directions to (the) . . . ?
What's the best way to get to (the) . . . ?
(First,) go down this street (for ____ blocks).
(Then,) turn left/right at the traffic light.
(After that,) go straight on _____ Street until you get to the ______.
(When you get to the _____,) turn left/right again.
(Then,) stay on______Avenue for about _______ meters.
It's on your left, next to the __________. You can't miss it!
Sorry, I don't know.
Sorry, I don't live around here!
For more conversation phrases by topic, visit: http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/phrases.html
Monday, February 3, 2014
Keep the Conversation Going
Choose topics that are of interest to newcomers. Suggestions:
Ask questions, such as
- meeting people
- getting acquainted
- getting to know neighbours
- getting directions or information
- taking phone messages
- arranging appointments
- dealing with emergencies
- talking on the phone/getting information
- looking for a job
- applying for a job
- looking after housing needs
- using public transportation
- dealing with merchants
Ask questions, such as
- What did you do next?
- Why do you say that?
- How did that happen?
- When did that happen?
- What did you say?
- Where did that happen?
- How did you react?
- Did you like it?
- Do you recommend it?”
- describe and interpret pictures
- describe objects (qualities, colours, shapes, uses)
- compare and contrast (objects, pictures, sports. experiences, films, etc.)
- describe and interpret recorded material (radio advertisements, newscasts, TV shows. etc.)
- solve dilemmas and survival problems
e.g. Suppose you lost your wallet and money in a foreign country. What would you do? What five things would you take to a desert island and why? - state and support opinions
- have the student describe things (what makes her happy, what she likes to do, the things she cannot live without, etc.)
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Everyday Expressions
Spoken language is full of fixed expressions that are not necessarily difficult to understand but have a fixed form that does not change. These have to be learned as whole expressions. Like idioms, these expressions are sometimes difficult to find in dictionaries.
Here's a fun worksheet for higher level learners on this topic:
http://www.ryerson.ca/studentservices/els/pdf/Everyday%20Expressions.pdf
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Dictation
A short dictation can be added to almost any tutor-learner session. Most learners enjoy the challenge and it can give you some feedback on their spelling, listening, grammar, etc. A partial dictation can be prepared ahead of time or while your learner is doing an exercise. Here's a sample for low level learners. http://www.prolinguaassociates.com/BD/Sample%20Basic%20Dictations%20Lessons.pdf
Monday, December 30, 2013
Adjective Clauses (Relative Clauses)
Adjective
Clauses can cause problems for English learners. Here’s a briefing on this grammar challenge.
An adjective modifies a noun. An adjective usually comes before a noun.
An adjective clause describes or gives information about a noun.
The boy is adorable. He has the phone. (subject pronoun)
Subject pronouns: WHO or THAT cannot be omitted
Object pronouns: WHOM or THAT can be omitted
An adjective modifies a noun. An adjective usually comes before a noun.
Adjective: I met a kind man.
An adjective clause follows a noun.
Adjective clause: I met a man who is kind to everyone.
The boy is adorable. He has the phone. (subject pronoun)
The boy who has the phone is adorable. (who is the subject)
The child was funny. I saw him. (object pronoun)
The child whom I saw was funny. (whom is the object)
Subject pronouns: WHO or THAT cannot be omitted
The boy who
has the phone is adorable.
The boy that
has the phone is adorable.
Incorrect: The boy has the
phone is adorable.
Object pronouns: WHOM or THAT can be omitted
The child whom
I saw was funny.
The child that
I saw was funny.
The child I
saw was funny.
Use WHICH for things
Use WHICH for things
THAT for things OR people (correct but
might offend)
WHO or WHOM for people
I have a friend who is a great gardener.
I have friends who are great gardeners.
The class that she goes to is going on a
field trip.
The students that I know are all going.
Recognize adjective clauses
(also called relative clauses) by looking for THAT, WHO, WHICH. Clauses always need a subject and a
verb. An adjective clauses always
describes a noun. For more, see http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/relativeclause.htm
Monday, December 16, 2013
Ten Simple Phonics Activities
For tutors working with beginners, the following classroom ideas can easily be adapted for tutoring with pencil and paper...
Thanks to: Matthew Wilson, Sendai Board of Education, (Sendai, Japan)
Introduction
Getting students to discover and practice the connections between letters and the sounds they represent should be an important part of any English class routine. The following activities can be adjusted to meet different levels and adapted to fit into any timeframe. Please note that not every activity you do in class has to be extremely challenging. Simple ideas that everybody is able to accomplish can work wonders with student confidence which, in turn, can increase motivation.
The following are ten activities that can assist you in practicing phonics at any point in your lesson:
Letters on the Board
At first, the teacher writes some letters on the board. The teacher reads out a word, one at a time, and asks the students to try and spell each word using only the letters on the board. It is always a good idea to stop after the first word in order to write the correct spelling on the board. This can then be used as a reference point for the students for successive words. After reading out five to ten words, go through the spellings of each word. Also, limit the number of vowel sounds you practice as the variety of sounds they represent can be really challenging for students, especially beginners.
Speed Reading
Write a number of words on the board. If necessary, go over the pronunciation of each word. Then read through a list of the same words at a good speed leaving out only one of the words. The students should be listening to you read the list of words while following along on the board. After you are finished, they tell you which word (words) you didn’t read out. This activity can be targeted for a higher level by adjusting the vocabulary used, the speed you read, the number of words you leave off, or by doing additional tasks (e.g., like telling you which word you read wasn’t on the board).
Battleship Phonics
This is based on the popular game Battleship. The teacher would draw a grid on the board with initial sounds written across the top, and medial and final sounds written together down the left side of the grid. You would let the students know that you have chosen a few squares as ‘special squares’ that they should seek out. They find these squares by volunteering to say a whole word made up of a letter at the top and the side of the grid. The intersection of this row and column highlights a particular square. The object is for the students to find all your designated special locations.
Phonics Bingo
Write a good number of sounds on the board, e.g., pha, ma, la, ga. The students would choose a designated number of sounds you wrote and write them on an available space for writing. You would then play this like bingo and read out the sounds one by one. The students can get bingo when they have three of their sounds chosen or all of their sounds chosen. It is a good idea to go over all of the sounds written on the board beforehand to help ease comprehension.
Criss-cross Phonics
All the students stand up. To begin, show a word or a picture. The first student to raise their hand gets called upon and if they can correctly say the first (or last) sound of that word they can sit down and choose if the people in their row, horizontally or vertically, can also sit down. Gradually, there are fewer and fewer students standing. When you no longer have rows to choose from, only individual students would sit. Words and images could also be written/drawn on the blackboard if the teacher had no time to prepare cards.
Missing Sound
Draw or show an image on the blackboard. Beside the image, write all but one of the sounds. For example, there is a picture of a dog on the board, you write ‘og’ beside it and the students have to provide you with the missing sound, not the letter. This can be made into a group contest or a simple whole-class exercise where you would give the class time to think of the answer and get everyone to say the answer at the same time.
Two Sounds
Good to practice sound distinction. Have two words on the board representing the two different sounds you would like to practice, e.g., MEN, MAN. You would then show the students pictures and get them to put those words under the appropriate column. For example, you show a picture of a pen, the students should write ‘pen’ under the MEN column. (If you are dealing with beginners, they could just mark their choice with an ‘X’ under the column instead of asking them to write out the words. You would, however, have to give numbers before every word to help everybody keep track of choices.)
Beginning/Middle/End
Students copy down the chart you provided on the board which is divided into three sections. You can label the three sections, ‘beginning’,‘middle’ and ‘end’ in English or the native language of your students. You would focus on a specific sound and read out words containing that sound. The students would have to decide if that sound was found in the beginning, middle or end of the word by writing the sound in that appropriate column. This is a good listening activity with some implications for positive phonics reinforcement.
Ball and Cap Game
The students pass around a hat and a ball. When the music stops, the student with the hat must take out a piece of paper with a letter or letters written on it then read out its sound, not the letter name. The student with the ball must guess the letter(s). In lieu of music, the teacher can simply have his back turned and call out “stop”.
Pen and Eraser
Students have a pen and an eraser in front of them. You have two sounds you would like to practice, e.g., ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds, and designate one sound for the pen and one sound for the eraser. When you say a word beginning with one of those sounds, the students should pick up the appropriate object (for upper levels, the sound can be in any part of the word not just the beginning). If you say a word not incorporating one of the sounds, the students should make a big X with their arms. This can evolve into a pair contest with one pen and one eraser for every two students. The students would aim to be the quickest to pick up the object after you read out a word.
Concluding Remarks
Matching sounds to letters and letters to sounds can be quite a tricky and daunting task when students are learning English. Activities such as these are simple to initiate, easily adaptable, and are good ways to practice and enforce English phonics.
Thanks to: Matthew Wilson, Sendai Board of Education, (Sendai, Japan)
Introduction
Getting students to discover and practice the connections between letters and the sounds they represent should be an important part of any English class routine. The following activities can be adjusted to meet different levels and adapted to fit into any timeframe. Please note that not every activity you do in class has to be extremely challenging. Simple ideas that everybody is able to accomplish can work wonders with student confidence which, in turn, can increase motivation.
The following are ten activities that can assist you in practicing phonics at any point in your lesson:
Letters on the Board
At first, the teacher writes some letters on the board. The teacher reads out a word, one at a time, and asks the students to try and spell each word using only the letters on the board. It is always a good idea to stop after the first word in order to write the correct spelling on the board. This can then be used as a reference point for the students for successive words. After reading out five to ten words, go through the spellings of each word. Also, limit the number of vowel sounds you practice as the variety of sounds they represent can be really challenging for students, especially beginners.
Speed Reading
Write a number of words on the board. If necessary, go over the pronunciation of each word. Then read through a list of the same words at a good speed leaving out only one of the words. The students should be listening to you read the list of words while following along on the board. After you are finished, they tell you which word (words) you didn’t read out. This activity can be targeted for a higher level by adjusting the vocabulary used, the speed you read, the number of words you leave off, or by doing additional tasks (e.g., like telling you which word you read wasn’t on the board).
Battleship Phonics
This is based on the popular game Battleship. The teacher would draw a grid on the board with initial sounds written across the top, and medial and final sounds written together down the left side of the grid. You would let the students know that you have chosen a few squares as ‘special squares’ that they should seek out. They find these squares by volunteering to say a whole word made up of a letter at the top and the side of the grid. The intersection of this row and column highlights a particular square. The object is for the students to find all your designated special locations.
Phonics Bingo
Write a good number of sounds on the board, e.g., pha, ma, la, ga. The students would choose a designated number of sounds you wrote and write them on an available space for writing. You would then play this like bingo and read out the sounds one by one. The students can get bingo when they have three of their sounds chosen or all of their sounds chosen. It is a good idea to go over all of the sounds written on the board beforehand to help ease comprehension.
Criss-cross Phonics
All the students stand up. To begin, show a word or a picture. The first student to raise their hand gets called upon and if they can correctly say the first (or last) sound of that word they can sit down and choose if the people in their row, horizontally or vertically, can also sit down. Gradually, there are fewer and fewer students standing. When you no longer have rows to choose from, only individual students would sit. Words and images could also be written/drawn on the blackboard if the teacher had no time to prepare cards.
Missing Sound
Draw or show an image on the blackboard. Beside the image, write all but one of the sounds. For example, there is a picture of a dog on the board, you write ‘og’ beside it and the students have to provide you with the missing sound, not the letter. This can be made into a group contest or a simple whole-class exercise where you would give the class time to think of the answer and get everyone to say the answer at the same time.
Two Sounds
Good to practice sound distinction. Have two words on the board representing the two different sounds you would like to practice, e.g., MEN, MAN. You would then show the students pictures and get them to put those words under the appropriate column. For example, you show a picture of a pen, the students should write ‘pen’ under the MEN column. (If you are dealing with beginners, they could just mark their choice with an ‘X’ under the column instead of asking them to write out the words. You would, however, have to give numbers before every word to help everybody keep track of choices.)
Beginning/Middle/End
Students copy down the chart you provided on the board which is divided into three sections. You can label the three sections, ‘beginning’,‘middle’ and ‘end’ in English or the native language of your students. You would focus on a specific sound and read out words containing that sound. The students would have to decide if that sound was found in the beginning, middle or end of the word by writing the sound in that appropriate column. This is a good listening activity with some implications for positive phonics reinforcement.
Ball and Cap Game
The students pass around a hat and a ball. When the music stops, the student with the hat must take out a piece of paper with a letter or letters written on it then read out its sound, not the letter name. The student with the ball must guess the letter(s). In lieu of music, the teacher can simply have his back turned and call out “stop”.
Pen and Eraser
Students have a pen and an eraser in front of them. You have two sounds you would like to practice, e.g., ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds, and designate one sound for the pen and one sound for the eraser. When you say a word beginning with one of those sounds, the students should pick up the appropriate object (for upper levels, the sound can be in any part of the word not just the beginning). If you say a word not incorporating one of the sounds, the students should make a big X with their arms. This can evolve into a pair contest with one pen and one eraser for every two students. The students would aim to be the quickest to pick up the object after you read out a word.
Concluding Remarks
Matching sounds to letters and letters to sounds can be quite a tricky and daunting task when students are learning English. Activities such as these are simple to initiate, easily adaptable, and are good ways to practice and enforce English phonics.
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