In keeping with my previous posts, these resources are focused on one theme, which in this case is on teaching speaking. Hope you find something of value for your teaching context!
This site contains three speaking activities for students. The first involves small group work of 2-3 people. Each student in the group is given a different picture of 8-12 women, who ideally look similar, but are dressed differently. Some of the women are found on each picture, some on just two in the group and some on just one. The students, without looking at each other's photos, are to try to discern which other member of their group has the same women as they do. I would like to try this with an advanced beginner group.
The second activity is role playing a family going away on vacation and as the site suggests, might lead to some heated arguments erupting among students, since the goal is to come to a decision and everyone wants something different. I would probably create my own cards, which do not have such distinct desires from each family member.
The third activity is similar to the second in that it is role playing a family, this time after winning $100,00 lottery. The 'members of the family' are to decide together how to spend the money, with each member having different desires as to how the money should be spent. I think these last two activities would be better for more intermediate-advanced students and could be fun or nasty depending on the group. They might require careful teacher monitoring.
This site is geared more towards the ESL learner, but the teacher could recommend it for their students who want or need to practice common phrases. The student's level is easily demarcated on the first page and then the student has numerous options as to what type of conversational phrases they would like to practice. Audio is supplied as well as visual. As I was further browsing the site, a warning notice came up on my screen that the site might damage my computer (!), so needless to say I stopped my browsing!
This site comes from a curriculum guide for teaching English Language Arts in middle schools. This particular page gives many ideas on how to incorporate speaking in the classroom. Even though it was not originally intended for ESL teachers, I think it would be a valuable resource. I like the viewpoint that activities should be student centered, for example having the students come up with discussion question prior to discussing a previously viewed video or story the class has read. Small group work is suggested regularly so as to give more students the opportunity to speak, including those who would not normally speak in a large group. A suggestion for a teacher-led discussion is that the students speak more than the teacher. I have an affinity towards numerous ideas on this site, as they were included as part of my teaching philosophy. So not only are many general activities suggested, but HOW a teacher should bring them as well, which would be a good reminder to refer from time to time while teaching.
This site has three courses for learning English: one for beginners, one for low intermediate English skills and one for high intermediate reading skills. Each site has a list of eight topics such as: workers and the workplace or home and family life. When one of the topics is clicked onto a long list of activities is provided. There is a check off box for a student to mark when completed. Each activity, when clicked, had a video with a written text option, as well as a box of learner objectives to the side. I think this would be a useful link to give to students for practice at home, but I also think it could be valuable for reinforcement of points in the classroom. For example one clip showed a man drinking coffee in a shop differentiating between the words: like, hate, must, & need, when speaking about why he wants sugar in his black coffee. Lots of possibilities here.
This site has a wide variety of activities from working with segmental sounds to aviation vocabulary and lots in between! There's practice with minimal pairs, rude vs. polite intonation, business english, current events, and telephone skills. One section has an amusing you tube video illustrating the difference in meaning one sound can make. There are opportunities to listen to multiple sentences with one sound difference and adjacent to each pair of sentences is a recoding option for the learner to record their voice at the same time. A bit of a catch is if a student is having trouble with a sound, they are able to purchase a corresponding study package. Oh well!
No comments:
Post a Comment