I teach university students who are
beginner’s level in their English. One of my favorite lessons was Unit 3 in the
Interchange Level 1 book. It was called, “How much is it?” The objective of the
lesson was for students to build confidence speaking English by using the
language that they already know. They learn simple phrases that can be useful
when making a purchase. Phrases such as “How much it is?”, “That is
expensive/cheap.”, “Can I have a discount?”, etc. The focus is on very basic
vocabulary and simple sentence structure. The activity for that lesson involved
creating a mock flea market using classroom objects. I divided the students
into groups. Within each group some of the students would sell the items and
others would try to buy them. At the end of the activity, they compared their
earnings in groups to find out who made the most money at the flea market. I
rewarded those who made the most money accordingly (usually some chocolate bars
from the US and so forth). Even those who are extremely shy at speaking English
can participate in this activity because the context of the situation
(bargaining at a market, simple phrases in English) is comfortable and familiar
to them. I enjoyed seeing the students interact and have fun trying to get the
best deal, yet make the most money.
I think that activity sounds great. I really enjoy role play in order to learn the material that the teacher is trying to teach. An activity like using money in a market is something that is very relevant to students. I have completed a similar activity with my class and it usually gets a positive response. Providing prizes at the end (especially US chocolates) gives the added incentive which I think helps in learning.
답글삭제William-I bet your students truly enjoyed that experience! Anytime you can get them moving around and interacting in a real-life scenario you know that they are going to take away so much more from the lesson. We just did a similar activity in third grade. It was relating to a unit on economics. Pairs of students created a business plan, made their own goods ( jewelry, cookies, artwork, etc ) or services ( massage, tattoos, etc ). They also created advertisements on the computer and posted them in the hallway a few days leading up the event. All of the money earned was donated to charity. We raised over 200,000 won! Afterwards they wrote a reflection about what they learned, things they liked, and things they would have changed.
답글삭제Hey William,
답글삭제I liked how practical and useful your lesson is. Learning and being able to use that knowledge in the real world makes it that much more meaningful.
I taught English at a hagwon as my first job in Korea. Especially at the preschool level, it was difficult to get major concepts across considering that their proficiency in English was quite low. I also studied Korean at a hagwon and found that certain things deemed simple or beginner to the presenter can be fun and engaging to the learner, to whom this material is new. I love how your lesson is extremely practical; shy people still interact in "business" transactions on a daily basis, so it seems like a great way to get them involved in the speaking process.
답글삭제Sometimes, teaching PE can feel repetitive or straightforward - year after year it's roughly the same skills being taught (the correct way to shoot a basketball will not change and is more or less the same for beginners and advanced athletes) and the same drills used for practice. I have to remind myself, though, that much of what I teach is new to most students, and ultimately it is they who should dictate the success of a lesson rather than my impression of whether it is routine or (dare I say) boring to me.