Forums and Discussions

Hello Georgia ESL Teachers! Welcome to this faculty-led discussion!

It was great to meet you in Atlanta at the statewide adult education conference.  I was pleased to have the opportunity to share information about ELL-U with all of you and to focus on the essential topic of vocabulary instruction. During our workshop, we talked about the importance of applying what is learned in professional development in our practice. Toward that end, I sent you the ELL-U Plan Practice Reflect document (which is also available here), so you can think systematically about what you might like to try out in your classroom related to vocabulary instruction.

MAKE A PLAN TO APPLY YOUR LEARNING
Here are a few of the teaching ideas we discussed in the workshop that you might want to try:

• Access Averil Coxhead’s Academic Word List at http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/. Carefully examine texts provided to learners to identify Tier 1, 2 and 3 words. Teach Tier 2 words explicitly using Dutro and Kinsella’s steps for teaching vocabulary. (This idea is most appropriate for low intermediate level and beyond.)

• Engage learners in creating vocabulary word cards with English on one side and their home language on the other. (While using flash cards is a very traditional idea, research has shown it to be an effective way to learn new words and expressions.)

• Create sentence frames for the vocabulary words you teach explicitly to give students lots of oral and written practice using the new vocabulary. (You received a template for this at the workshop and I’ve uploaded it here.)

• Pay close attention to phrasal verbs and teach those explicitly. Use Dutro & Kinsella’s steps and sentence frames, which I’ve uploaded here.

• Pay close attention to collocations and draw learners’ attention to the contexts for using new vocabulary. (This idea is most appropriate for intermediate level and beyond.)

• Teach prefixes and suffixes explicitly to help learners build their knowledge of vocabulary and better understand how English works.

POST TO THIS ELL-U DISCUSSION FORUM FOR GEORGIA TEACHERS
When you decide what you would like to try out in your classroom, use the Plan Practice Reflect document to record your plan. Then introduce yourself and share your idea with us here. This is a great way to continue the important learning and networking we started at the conference.

The Discussion Board is wonderful because not only can we raise questions and issues with one another, but we can also upload documents and share resources. So, if you have a document you’d like to share or a favorite website, please upload it here.

In addition to this ELL-U Discussion Board, you can also contact me by email by going to the Faculty Directory on the ELL-U website.

Looking forward to hearing from each of you!

(PS: Do you remember the answer to the poll question?!)

Susan Finn Miller
ELL-U Faculty

1.  I am planning to explore using more games in the classroom.
2.  I chose this because many of our classes are during the evenings and I would like to try to get the students to become more involved and awake.
3.  There are different skill levels within the class. 
4.  I would like to use the students as moderators, to ask the questions, and to keep the score.
5.  I would like to see that the students are building a sense of community and friendships in the classroom as well as learning.

• Try out a new learner-centered teaching technique

PLANNING QUESTIONS
1. What teaching idea are you planning to explore or implement in your classroom?
I will teach every subject by playing games: nouns, verbs, adjectives or any subject to be taught at any level.

2. Why did you choose this focus? What do you expect to learn?
According to my experience I have learned that students learn more when they are engaged in student-centered activities. I will learn if my students understand the concepts that I am teaching through this process.
3. Are there any contextual factors (e.g., class size, student levels, content focus, etc.) to be aware of?
Yes, it could be large or small class, same student level, and focus on the subject that is or will be taught. 
4. How will you implement your idea? What will you do?
a. I will choose the subject to be taught.
b. I will separate students by levels.
c. I will teach each group according to their level.
I will use nouns, adjectives, verbs etc. word cards. Also, I will have word cards with the parts of speech cards (nouns, adjectives, verbs etc.)
The class has to be divided into two groups. The first set of cards is for the first group of students; the second set of cards is for the second group. The students have to move around the classroom looking for the part of speech that matches his or her word.
5. What signs will you look for to know if the activity or strategy is having an impact on the adults in your class?
I will know if the students mastered the skill if at the end of the game they come up with the correct match of the cards.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Thank you very much,

Eugenia EVans