Techniques to Teach English

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TECHNIQUES TO TEACH ENGLISH


FOUR SKILLS TO TEACH ENGLISH LISTENING 1. Musical Chairs Arrange chairs as if to play musical chairs. Students will walk around them, but in this case they won’t be listening to a song. They will listen to a conversation. As always, give them the context and ask them a question: What is Tom’s favorite food? Students walk around the chairs as you play the audio and the student/s who hear the answer to the question sit/s down. Pause the audio. Those who are seated answer the question, and if it’s correct they will remain seated. If several students sit down at the same time, that’s fine, but ask them to whisper the answer in your ear to make sure they all heard the answer from the audio. 2. Which one is it? Something that is particularly difficult for ESL students is listening to the subtle differences between words that have a different, but similar spelling. These are words like leave/live, fill/feel, tree/three, fit/feet, etc… So here’s a great game you can play. Have a set of cards printed out with these troublesome words. Divide the class into two teams. Students take turns. You place the two cards on the desk in front of them: live and leave. Say one of the words out loud: live. If the student chooses the right card, the team gets 2 points. Now, if the student is unsure, he/she may choose to request “an example”, i.e. the word used in a sentence: I live a few blocks from here. If the student chooses the right card in this case, the team gets 1 point.


3. Step by Step Another important listening skill. Students must develop to learn to understand step by step instructions. Try this fun listening game, which also helps them practice asking for and giving directions. You’ll need a “city map”; you can use a real map, or better yet create one with your students’ desks, so they have actual “streets” to walk on. Start at any given point, say the “bank”, and have students ask for directions to another location. Tell them how to get there. The student must trace his/her finger along the route you indicated, or walk all the way there. Students who manage to reach their destination/don’t get lost win points!

4. Listen for it! One of the most essential listening skills your students should develop involves listening for key information, which often includes numbers, facts, hours, dates or other essential info. To help them train for this skill, first give them some context: You will listen to a man asking for information at the train station. Then, before they listen, give them something they will have to find


out: What time does the train to Boston leave? Now here comes the “game” aspect of it. You can: Divide the class into teams and have a team member raise their hand/ring a bell as soon as they hear the answer. Then, you do the same with another short audio track. You ask a question and play the audio; the team that answers first gets a point. And the team with the most points at the end wins.

5. Listen and draw a story The teacher reads or makes up a story and as the students scenes.

listen

they

draw

the

different

You can help them by explaining which

scene to draw. This can be done individually or in small groups on larger paper. This really helps you to see if the students are understanding and they will often ask questions if they don’t understand (because they’ll be so keen to draw the picture!)

6. Blindfold walk This is really fun. Teach: go forward, go backwards, (3) steps, turn right / left. Then place a blindfold on a student and direct him/her around the room to eventually pick up a flashcard or object (e.g. “Go forward 3 steps, turn right, go forward 5 steps, now go backwards 2 steps, turn left, etc.). Finally, have students work in pairs – one blindfolded and one giving directions.


7. Listening with flashcards Scatter a lot of flashcards that students have already leaned around the room and have the students sit on floor. Make up a story and incorporate all of the flashcard pictures … as you say flashcard word

the the

student nearest that card must touch it. For example, if students have learned lots of animal vocab the story could start “Once upon a time there was a farmer who had some cows (touch), sheep (touch) and pigs (touch). One day he was surprised to see lots of new animals on his farm. Next to the gate was a zebra (touch) and in the pond was a hippo (touch …), etc, etc.”. 8. Secret Message Make two teams and have each stand in a line (parallel with each other). Take two students from the front of each line outside the classroom and whisper a sentence to them (e.g. “Tonight it is going to rain and tomorrow it is going to be sunny”). Then the students come back and whisper the sentence to the next S, who in turn whispers it to the next, and so on down the line. The student at the end either writes the correct sentence on the board or says the sentence to the teacher (depending on the level of the class). Points are awarded: 2 points for a perfect sentence, 1 point for nearly perfect and a bonus point if the team finished first and got the sentence right. Then do it again with two new students.


9. Number / Word bingo Playing bingo requires students to listen carefully. You can use either numbers or words that they have been learning. Creating the bingo sheets and words takes a bit of time but once done can be used with other classes, time and time again.

10. Stand up/sit down When working on individual sounds, give students a target sound and then read a script out loud that contains multiple examples of this sound. For example, if you are practicing the /ae/ sound (like in “cat,” “hat,” etc…, you could read the following script. “Yesterday, my cat ate a plastic toy and swallowed it fast.” Whenever students hear this sound for the first time (cat), they should stand. When they hear it again (plastic), sit down. Read slowly enough for them to have time to stand up or sit down. This activity is great because it gets them out of their seats and lets them get some excess energy out!


SPEAKING 1. Role Play One other way of getting students to speak is role-playing. Students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles. In role-play activities, the teacher

gives

information

to

the

learners such as who they are and what they think or feel. Thus, the teacher can tell the student that "You are David, you go to the doctor and tell him what happened last night, and‌"

2. Story Telling Students can briefly summarize a tale or story they heard from somebody beforehand, or they may create their own stories to tell their classmates. Story telling fosters creative thinking. It also helps students express ideas in the format of beginning, development, and ending, including the characters and setting a story has to have. Students also can tell riddles or jokes. For instance, at the very beginning of each class session, the teacher may call a few students to tell short riddles or jokes as an opening. In this way, not only will the teacher address students’ speaking ability, but also get the attention of the class.


3. Interviews Students can conduct interviews on selected topics with various people. It is a good idea that the teacher provides a rubric to students so that they know what type of questions they can ask or what path to follow, but students should prepare their own interview questions. Conducting

interviews

with

people gives students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class but also outside and helps them becoming socialized. After interviews, each student can present his or her study to the class. Moreover, students can interview each other and "introduce" his or her partner to the class.

4. Describe a TV show. Children love to talk about things they know something about and enjoy. One of the easiest ways to get a conversation started is to ask a child what's happening on his favorite television program. Shows such as Sesame Street and Arthur are designed to get parents involved too.


5. Whose Telling the Truth? Have each student write three facts about themselves that nobody in the class knows on a piece of paper. Make sure each student includes his/her name on the top of the paper. Collect the sheets of paper and bring three students to the front of the room. Read aloud one of the facts that is true for one of the students in the front of the room. The class then proceeds to question the students in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth, and who is lying. Each student is allowed to ask one question to one of the three students. After a round of questioning, the students predict who is telling the truth. 6. Descriptive Drawing Activity Pair up the students and give them each a picture face down. They must describe the picture for their partner to draw.


7. Comic Strip Descriptions Give each student a portion of a comic strip. Without showing their pictures to one another, the students should attempt to describe their image, and put the comic strip into the correct order. After about ten minutes, the students can predict the order, show one another their portion, and see if they were correct!

8. Debates Give each student a piece of paper with “agree” written on one side, and “disagree” on the other side. Read aloud a controversial statement, and have each students hold up his/her paper stating whether they agree or disagree. Choose one student from each side to explain his/her position and participate in a short debate.


9. I Have Never‌ All students in the class should start holding five fingers in the air (this number can be adjusted depending on how many students are in the class). The student who begins the activity will tell the class one thing that he/she has NEVER done. The students who have done that activity should put a finger down, and tell the class a story about this activity.

10. Desert Island Activity Give each student a piece of paper and tell him or her to draw an item. Any item. Tell the students that they have been stranded on a desert island, and only half of the class can survive and continue to inhabit the desert island. The student's goal is to convince the class that they should survive. The hard part is that the only thing they have is an item that was drawn a few minutes earlier by a classmate on the piece of paper.


Reading 1. Sequence: Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Use pictures to retell the story and help your students to remember main plot points, characters and events of the text. Here’s how: To prepare, you’ll need to make a worksheet of a bunch of pictures that are labeled with either numbers or letters. Make sure that there are spaces or lines immediately below the pictures so your students can label the pictures based on what they see. Depending on the level of your students, you can turn the labeling exercise into the perfect drill for practicing spelling and sentence construction.

2. Story Re-creation: It’s Alive! This is a great activity, especially for your drama lovers. Story recreation is about reading a text or story and acting it out to other students. Depending on the level of your students, you can read the story together in class before dividing them into groups for further discussions. If you want to have students figure out the plot on their own, make sure the group you create has members with different English skill sets. In other words, you don’t want to put all the strong readers in one single group. Spread them out so they can help


3. Following Directions: It’s a Treasure Hunt! When we think about reading comprehension materials, stories and short stories are usually the top resources that come to our minds. However, ESL teachers can do some hands-on activities to encourage students to read and thrive in a fun environment. The treasure hunt reading comprehension game does just the trick. To play: 1. Hide different treasures (cards, small balls and beanies) in the classroom or schoolyard. 2. Write a short story and clues that tell where to find each treasure. 3. Divide students in groups and give them a map and a clue sheet to locate the treasure. 4. Promote Phrased Reading in Class Fluency involves reading phrases seamlessly, as opposed to word by word. To help students read phrases better, begin with a terrific poem. Two of my students' favorites are "Something Told the Wild Geese" by Rachel Field, and "Noodles" by Janet Wong. After selecting a poem, write its lines onto sentence strips, which serve as cue cards, to show students how good readers cluster portions of text rather than saying each word separately. Hold up strips one at a time and have students read the phrases together. Reinforce phrased reading by using the same poem in guided reading and pointing to passages you read as a class.


5. Model Fluent Reading In

order

to

read

fluently, students must first hear and understand what fluent reading sounds like. From there, they will be more transfer

likely to those

experiences into their own reading. The most powerful way for you to help your students is to read aloud to them, often and with great expression. Choose selections carefully. Expose them to a wide variety of genres including poetry, excerpts from speeches, and folk and fairy tales with rich, lyrical language — texts that will spark your students' interests and draw them into the reading experience. Following a read-aloud session, ask your students: "After listening to how I read, can you tell me what I did that is like what good readers do?" Encourage students to share their thoughts. Also, ask your students to think about how a fluent reader keeps the listener engaged.

6. Artful artists Children love to be creative when it comes to drawing, and illustrations add visual imagery to stories. What to do: Find a fable, fairy tale, or other short story for your child to read. Then ask your child to illustrate a part of the story he or she likes best or describe a favorite character. Have the child dictate or write a few sentences that tell about this picture.


7. What’s in the news? Newspapers are a form of daily communication with the outside world, and provide lots of learning activities for children. Clip out an interesting news story and cut the paragraphs apart. Ask your child to read the paragraphs and put them in order. Ask your child to read a short editorial printed in your local newspaper and to underline all the facts with a green pencil and all the opinions with an orange pencil. Pictures fascinate children of all ages. Clip pictures in the newspaper. Ask your child to tell you about the picture or list adjectives to describe the picture.

8. Play word games. From toddlers to teens, kids love word games. Young children are limited by their vocabulary so you can boost it by playing games. One example is “show me”, where you ask them to show you a ball, pillow, table, or something tangible. When they get those correct most of the time, introduce a color or descriptive word. “Show me a red ball,” or “Show me a big truck,” are examples. The “opposite” game can be done over the phone and is wonderful when played with a grandparent or other family member. The adult starts by asking, “what’s the opposite of up,” and the child replies. The game continues with the adult suggesting a word. For the next call or game, the child should start it off.


9. Encourage imagination. When you encourage your child’s imagination, you open his or her mind to other possibilities. You teach them to think bigger and bolder. There are many ways to do this. One of the main ways is by asking, “what if” and then including something specific from the story. For example, “What if Horton didn’t hear the Who’s?” This could be discussed and you could continue asking other questions as your child verbally makes up a new version of the story. This is also a great way to get your child to write a new story.

10. Graph It Graphic

organizers

help

young

children

understand what they read and connect it to their knowledge. A K-W-L chart is an example of a graphic organizer you can use with reading. The "K" column represents what the child already knows about the book's topic. This gets her brain engaged and ready to read. The "W" stands for what the child wants to know. She might have questions that she doesn't know about the topic. The "L" column happens after reading to show what she learned from reading the story. To help with comprehension, chart predictions about what will happen next. You can also create graphic organizers to show elements of the story, such as the character, setting, conflict and main ideas or events.


Writing 1. Story of my life Think of something that you did in the past, like playing the piano or going to school. Write about your experience with this activity. Your writing should start in the past and end in the future. For example, you can write: “I started playing the piano when I was five, but I stopped only two years later. Right now I can’t play anything, but I hope to start learning again in the future.”

2. Make a list. Few things are more fun than creating a wish list of gifts for an upcoming birthday or holiday. Don't worry about the specific items on the list; the idea is to get your child writing about something that interests her. You can also ask her to inventory the items in her room, such as her books or dolls. Some children enjoy writing "to do" lists at the beginning of every day, week, or month.


3. Get a pen pal. Children love the idea of making friends with someone far away. Writing to a pen pal is a great way for your child to practice her descriptive skills as she tells her pal about her family, friends, school, house, etc. Suggest writing to a distant cousin or the child of a far-off friend, or ask your child's teacher for ideas. Before she composes that first letter, take your child to a stationery story and let her pick out special paper, envelopes, and pens.

4. Keep a diary. Children love to talk about themselves. By encouraging your child to keep a diary, she'll learn to "talk" about herself in writing. Explain to her that a diary is a special place where she can write anything she wants, and that no one can read it without her permission. Let your child pick out a special book for her diary (those with a key are particularly appealing). Then add journal-writing time to her daily routine.


5. CREATE WRITING WORKSHEETS For

young

children

just

learning to write, try creating a worksheet where they can trace letters and words. Write out letters and words, place another piece of paper on top, and have your child trace onto the blank piece of paper. You can also create a connect-the-dots game by having your child trace along dotted lines and then tell you which letter or word she or he finds.

6. Postcards Using postcards in class can be a motivating writing task and add a level of stimulation for students. My students have always been very fond of this activity as they don't have to write too much and it involves a level of communication and imagination.


7. Note Writing This is an activity which is really useful for helping learners to write more fluently and can also help you to diagnose problems with your students' written work and ability to formulate questions. You can use it at the beginning or end of a class as a fun filler, or as an integral part of your lesson.  Give out a sheet of A4 paper (219mm x 297mm) to each student and ask them to watch and follow your instructions.  Hold up your paper and fold it in half. Then fold it in half again and then again. Press hard on the paper and then open it out. The folds should have divided the paper into eight rectangles. Use the fold lines to tear the page into eight rectangular pieces of paper.  Tell them to write the name of the person on the top left-hand corner and then to write the question on the piece of paper.  Once they have done this, tell them to pass the paper to the person the question was intended for.  Students then read any questions they got and start to write replies.  Students

who didn't get a question can start writing another question for someone else.

 Get

the students to keep writing and answering questions until all their pieces of paper are used up.


8. Chat Writing This activity simulates ‘chatting’ – a popular (online) communication process which has features common to both speaking and writing. It can be used in the language-learning classroom for students who still find it too difficult to speak without first having a little ‘thinking’ time, and also as a means of moving students away from being overly concerned with accuracy, and focusing more on successful communication. My students really enjoy this activity, especially the fact of being ‘allowed’ to write notes in class!

9. Business letter In this activity, learners attempt to re-write an inappropriately informal business letter in a more appropriate, formal style. They then compare their version with a model text, helping them to notice the conventional formulae used in this type of letter, and incorporate some of this new language into another similar letter. This activity is particularly suitable for higher level Business English students, or adult learners who need to write formal letters in English in real life.


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