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TE Project TEFL, Quick Reference Guide

August 24th, 2011

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Teaching ESL / EFL

The TE Project emphasizes on the most important aspects of teaching including teaching speaking, grammar, listening, reading and writing skills as well as how to assess student needs, develop a syllabus, hints and tricks for a more enjoyable teaching environment and a large number of ready to go lesson plans. The TE Project always works with new teachers, volunteer teachers and those who are thinking as well as teachers who are looking for new teaching ideas, lesson plans and activities. Here is an outline of some of the TEFL topics to know before entering on an EFL classroom: 1. Introduction to ESL / EFL: Basic Theory 2. A Variety of Teaching Techniques 3. Teaching Skills: Grammar 4. Teaching Skills: Writing 5. Teaching Skills: Listening 6. Teaching Beginners 7. Assessing Student Needs / Creating Your Own Courses 8. Helpful Teaching Tools, Hints and Activities

Approaches to Language Teaching

Popular language teaching methods today include grammar-translation, audiolingualism, cognitive-code, the direct method, the natural approach, total physical response, and Suggestopedia. How do these methods fare when they are evaluated by Second Language Acquisition theory? Each method will be evaluated using the following criteria: Requirements for optimal input -- comprehensible -- interesting/relevant -- not grammatically sequenced -- quantity -- low filter level -- provides tools for conversational management Learning restricted to: -- Rules that are easily learned and applied, and not acquired yet -- Monitor users -- Situations when the learner has adequate time and a focus on form

1. GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION
Grammar-translation usually consists of an explanation of a grammatical rule, with some example sentences, a bilingual vocabulary list, a reading section exemplifying the grammatical rule and incorporating the vocabulary, and exercises to practice Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 2

using the grammar and vocabulary. Most of these classes are taught in the student's first language. The grammar-translation method provides little opportunity for acquisition and relies too heavily on learning.

2. AUDIO-LINGUALISM
An audio-lingual lesson usually begins with a dialogue which contains the grammar and vocabulary to be focused on in the lesson. The students mimic the dialogue and eventually memorize it. After the dialogue comes pattern drills, in which the grammatical structure introduced in the dialogue is reinforced, with these drills focusing on simple repetition, substitution, transformation, and translation. While the audio-lingual method provides opportunity for some acquisition to occur, it cannot measure up to newer methods which provide much more comprehensible input in a low-filter environment.

3. COGNITIVE-CODE
Cognitive-code is similar to grammar-translation except that it focuses on developing all four skills of language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Communicative competence is focused upon. Since the cognitive-code approach provides more comprehensible input than grammar-translation does, it should produce more acquisition, but other newer methods provide even more and have better results. Learning is overemphasized with this method.

4. THE DIRECT METHOD

Several approaches have been called the "direct method"; the approach evaluated here involves all discussion in the target language. The teacher uses examples of language in order to inductively teach grammar; students are to try to guess the rules of the language by the examples provided. Teachers interact with the students a lot, asking them questions about relevant topics and trying to use the grammatical structure of the day in the conversation. Accuracy is sought and errors are corrected. This method provides more comprehensible input than the methods discussed so far, but it still focuses too much on grammar.

5. THE NATURAL APPROACH

In the Natural Approach the teacher speaks only the target language and class time is committed to providing input for acquisition. Students may use either the language being taught or their first language. Errors in speech are not corrected; however homework may include grammar exercises that will be corrected. Goals for the class emphasize the students being able use the language "to talk about ideas, perform tasks, and solve problems." This approach aims to fulfill the requirements for learning Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 3

and acquisition, and does a great job in doing it. Its main weakness is that all classroom teaching is to some degree limited in its ability to be interesting and relevant to all students.

6. TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

Total Physical Response, or TPR, involves the students listening and responding to commands given by the teacher such as "sit down" and "walk," with the complexity of the commands growing over time as the class acquires more language. Student speech is delayed, and once students indicate a willingness to talk they initially give commands to other students. Theory predicts that TPR should result in substantial language acquisition. Its content may not be always interesting and relevant for the students, but should produce better results than the audio-lingual and grammartranslation methods.

7. SUGGESTOPEDIA
Suggestopedia classes are small and intensive, and focus on providing a very lowstress, attractive environment (partly involving active and passive "seances" complete with music and meditation) in which acquisition can occur. Some of the students' first language is used at the beginning, but most in the target language. The role of the teacher is very important in creating the right atmosphere and in acting out the dialogues that form the core of the content. Suggestopedia seems to provide close to optimal input while not giving too much emphasis to grammar. What does applied linguistics research have to say about these methods? Applied research has examined the older methods of grammar-translation, audio-lingual, and cognitive-code much more than it has looked at the newer methods. There seems to be only small differences in the results of the older methods. While much research remains to be done, Total Physical Response and the other newer approaches "produce significantly better results than old approaches." So what is better, the classroom or the real world? "Quite simply, the role of the second or foreign language classroom is to bring a student to a point where he can begin to use the outside would for further second language acquisition.... This means we have to provide students with enough comprehensible input to bring their second language competence to the point where they can begin to understand language heard 'on the outside'.... In other words, all second language classes are transitional." In the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer understand are very helpful. These native speakers engage in what

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is called "foreigner talks," not very different from the way that a parent would talk to a child. Voluntary pleasure reading is also beneficial for second language acquisition, especially as the reader is free to choose reading material that is of interest and the proper level in order to be understood. Taking content classes in the language that is being acquired can also is helpful to the more advanced learner, especially when the class is composed of students who are all acquiring the second language. How does all of the above affect our views on achievement testing? As students will gear their studying to the type of tests they expect to take, the kinds of language tests that are given is very important. "Achievement tests...should meet this requirement: preparation for the test, or studying for the test, should obviously encourage the student to do things that will provide more comprehensible input and the tools to gain even more input when the class is over." With this in mind, general reading comprehension tests are helpful, as would be a test that would encourage students to participate in conversations and employ the tools of communicative competence.

20 TEFL Teaching Tips

http://www.tefl.net/teacher-training/index.htm

These teaching tips by Liz Regan will be of general help to new teachers or others who simply wish to brush up on their technique.

Teaching Tip 1: Pairwork / Groupwork

How: 1. Make a list of pairs of names before the lesson starts or while the students are coming in, or just tell them when the time comes: "Gianni, you work with Paola; Marta, youre with Stefano this time." 2. If there is an odd number of students make a group of three but break them up later in the lesson and put them into pairs with someone else so they get more chance to speak. 3. You could put them in small groups to start with if the activity allows. You could even make the activity a competition in small teams if the activity Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 5

allows, seeing which team gets the most answers right. Use the board or a piece of paper for keeping score. 4. Change the partners quite often so that the students dont get bored with their partner. This is especially important if there is a student who isnt very popular with the others.

Teaching Tip 2: Reading Aloud

How: 1. Pick a student and ask him/her to read the instructions for Activity 1/2/3 or whatever. "Marco, please read the instructions for Activity 2 for us". 2. Pick a different student each time.

Teaching Tip 3: Checking Understanding

How: 1. Ask your students "Is that clear?". 2. If its clear, fine. If anyone says "No, can you explain that?/Can you explain again?", dont. Ask if one of the other students can explain it. 3. If nobody understands it, go through an example step by step together. They should get it then. 4. If they still dont get it, go through another example together. 5. If the poor things are still lost either... o Do the whole activity together as a class, if possible, or... o Give up and go to the next activity. o If its a word they are having difficulty understanding, you could set it for homework and get the students to explain the meaning to you next lesson. 6. Another way to check understanding of instructions is to ask the students to imagine that you are a new student who has just come in - can they explain how to do the activity? 7. Another way to check understanding, not only of instructions, is by concept checking (see TT19).

Teaching Tip 4: Pronunciation

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How: 1. Model the word yourself. (This means you say it in a normal way to the students). Then get the students to repeat it after you, all together like in a chorus until they get it nearly right. Dont worry if they arent perfect. Who is? 2. Then model the word again and ask individual students to repeat the word after you. 3. You could put the word on the board and ask the students how many syllables it has and then practise some stress placement. Ask them which is the stressed (strong) syllable. For example: before = 2 syllables be FORE = The second syllable is stressed. after = 2 syllables AF ter = The first syllable is stressed. computer = 3 syllables com PU ter = The second syllable is stressed. afternoon = 3 syllables af ter NOON = The third syllable is stressed. If you know the phonetic alphabet you could write the words in that too.

Teaching Tip 5: Speaking to Other Students in English

How: 1. Put the students into pairs or small groups (See TT1 for further explanation).

Teaching Tip 6: Guessing Answers

How: 1. When there is a list of possible answers, encourage students to guess the answers (by saying things like "There are two words to choose from and only one gap to fill so you've got a 50% chance of being right!) 2. Encourage students to look at the words before and the words after the gap (in a gap-fill - a.k.a. cloze - exercise) to help them decide what type of word is needed in the gap. Will the answer be a verb? An adjective? A noun? In most exercises this will limit their choice of answers and therefore increase their chances of guessing the right one (see the previous point I made). 3. If they are still looking a bit blank it's probably because they are suffering from "gap-fill tunnel vision" which means that this is what they see: Irrelevant gobbledygook an __________ with I needn't read this because it comes after the gap. Would you know what to write in the space? I wouldn't! Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 7

4. Encourage them to try to guess the meaning from the context (i.e. the sentence or paragraph the gap is in). Lets look at the same example again, this time with the context: It rained yesterday when I was out but I hadn't got an __________ with me so I got wet. In this example the context tells us that the missing word is probably going to be "umbrella". 5. This technique also works well when there is a word which the students don't know in a sentence. If they have never seen the word "umbrella" before and it is in the sentence then the sentence will look something like this to the student: Irrelevant gobbledygook an umbskjdhfskjflla with I needn't read this because it comes after the gap. Some students will panic at this point and ask you what an umbskjdhfskjflla is. You don't need to spoon-feed them the answer. If the students use the context to help them they will probably be able to work out the meaning for them (see point 4 above) and thus gain confidence as learners.

Teaching Tip 7: Stopping an Activity

How: 1. If you have a small enough group that you can be heard by everyone, just say something like "OK, you can stop there. Well done everyone. Thank you, you can stop now. Yes, that includes you, Giovanni!" Then give the students a few seconds to finish their sentences until the room falls quiet. Let them finish what they were saying. 2. If you have a big group so you won't be heard if you try talk over everyone then don't bother to shout yourself hoarse, simply have a certain place in the classroom where you go and stand when you want everyone's attention and go and stand in it. The students will stop talking very soon. (I stand in front of the board, facing the class which gets their attention because for the previous ten minutes or so I've been cruising round the room monitoring). You can explain to students at the beginning of the course, "When I want your attention I will stand here and you will stop what you are doing and listen to me because I don't like shouting for your attention. Is that clear"?

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Teaching Tip 8: Feedback

How: 1. Ask one of the students what the answer to question 1 is. If s/he gets it right, fine. If not, ask if anyone else knows the answer. (If nobody knows and nobody can guess, you'll need to give it to them). 2. Ask one of the students what the answer to question 2 is. If s/he gets it right, fine. If not, ask if anyone else knows the answer. (If nobody knows and nobody can guess, you'll need to give it to them). 3. Ask one of the students what the answer to question 3 is. (Are you getting the hang of this?) 4. In the "True or False?" activities on my worksheets, the feedback questions would be: "How many of your guesses were right?/How well do you know your partner?/Which of your partner's answers surprised you?"

Teaching Tip 9: Dealing with Vocabulary Queries

How to avoid doing it: 1. Get the students to read the exercise completely before starting to actually do anything. They can underline the words they don't know, or (more positively) underline the words they do know. 2. When a student asks you to explain the meaning of a word, don't. Ask the other students if anyone can explain it. 2. You could put the students in pairs or small groups and get them to explain the words they don't know to each other. This sounds daft but it's quite logical really - the words Gianni is having difficulty with won't necessarily be the same ones that Marco is struggling with. (Beware of the students' tendency to translate the words. See TT17 for info on Translating). 3. It's a good idea to get the students to try to guess the meaning of the word from the context it's in. (See TT6 for further information on "deducing meaning from context"). 4. Get the students to look the word up in a (preferably English to English a.k.a. monolingual) dictionary, should such a thing be available (see TT20 for further information about dictionaries).

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Teaching Tip 10: Monitoring

How: 1. While the students are doing an activity you walk slowly round the classroom and listen to their conversations. 2. You can sit down too, if there are enough chairs, but try to sit in the background a bit or the students will direct their conversation to you. 3. Look at one pair whilst actually listening to a different pair nearby. Correct the pair nearby (which will probably make them jump because they thought you were listening to the pair you were looking at) just to keep everyone on their toes - they never know when you're listening to them so they can't ever switch off or revert to their mother-tongue. 4. Be ready to massage any flagging conversations back into life, to stop students monopolizing conversations, to stop students falling out with each other and to offer encouragement and praise where appropriate. Listen and supervise. 5. Take a piece of paper and a pen with you on your travels round the classroom so that you can jot down any howlers (which can then be dealt with at the end - see TT11 for further explanation).

Teaching Tip 11: Error Correction

How: 1. Let the students make mistakes. They need to. We all learn best through making mistakes. Trial and error is the name of the game. 2. Give the students time to realise they've made a mistake and try to correct it themselves. If they can't, maybe someone else can help them. If nobody can help then you can either step in and give the correct form or make a note of it for later. 3. As far as possible, correct mistakes anonymously. Do this by making notes of students' mistakes as you monitor (see TT10 for further explanation) then putting them on the board later and give the students themselves the opportunity to correct them, in pairs or small groups. If no one knows the right answer, give it to them, but only as a last resort. Anonymous error correction is a kind way to deal with mistakes. It isn't important who made the mistake originally - the point is, can the students all correct it? I tend to doctor the mistakes so that even the perpetrator doesn't recognise them as his/her Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 10

own. For example: Original error: "I have been to Paris last year." = On the board: "I have been to London last week."

Teaching Tip 12: Eliciting

How: 1. Instead of giving information, ask if anyone in the class can provide it. When a student asks "What does this mean?" or "What's the past of this verb?" etc. say something like "That's a good question - what do you think?" Can you guess? Can anyone help Maria here?" 2. If you want to teach some vocabulary, for instance, then rather than giving it to the students, try to get them to give it to you. For example: I want to teach the word "cow". I could draw a little picture on the board. I could explain what a cow is. Or I could elicit the word from the students along these lines: "What do we call/What's the word for an animal which makes milk and goes "mooo"?! With any luck the students will say "cow". There you go - I've elicited the word "cow" from the students. I didn't say it to them - they said it to me; that's eliciting.

Teaching Tip 13: Checking Together

How: 1. When the students have finished doing an activity on their own, put them in pairs or small groups and tell them to check their answers together. 2. Tell the students that if the answers are the same, they are probably correct but if they are different they need to explain/justify their choice of answer to their partner - in English! They can change their answers if they like.

Teaching Tip 14: Reading before Writing

How: 1. Tell the students to read the whole exercise first before writing anything. (This will be unbelievably hard for some students to do). 2. Once they've read it all, let them begin doing the exercise.

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Teaching Tip 15: Brainstorming

How: 1. Ask the students to think of all the words they know connected with the topic. 2. Tell the students to write them on a piece of paper. 3. Give them a couple of minutes to do so. 4. Put them in pairs or small groups to compare their vocabulary and transfer words they hadn't thought of from their partner's list to their own. 5. Feedback (see TT8) on to the board. 6. Or you could do it all on the board in the first place - just ask the class to give you words to write on the board. (Or give board pens to one or more students and get them to do the writing!)

Teaching Tip 16: Personalising

How: 1. It's been done for you on the worksheets. All the gap-fill exercises, questionforming exercises and even the majority of the grammar analysis exercises have been made to include that ever-important word "I". The discussion questions are mostly aimed at encouraging the students to give their personal opinion on aspects of the topic.

Teaching Tip 17: Translating

How to avoid doing it: 1. Refuse to give translations for new vocabulary yourself. Pretend/admit you don't speak the student's language. 2. Encourage the students to guess the meaning of words they don't know or to ask each other for help or to look it up in a monolingual dictionary instead. (See TT6 , TT9 and TT20 for further explanation). 3. Explain that you are a teacher, not an interpreter. 4. Remind students that you are a teacher, not a dictionary.

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Teaching Tip 18: Pacing

How: 1. Change the pace of the lesson by breaking things up a bit. Instead of simply doing one activity straight after another, allow a little time for something different (pronunciation work, for example - see TT4 for further information). 2. You can also change the pace during a lesson by allowing time for a brainstorming session (see TT15 for further explanation). 3. Another way to liven up the pace is to put a time limit on some activities "You have 2 minutes for this, so get going!" Or introducing an element of competition - put the class into small groups and tell them that these are teams and the first team to finish this activity is the winner. (Prize = no homework, or something like that.) Maybe the activities which involve matching words with pictures would be a good one for this). 4. Use other material during the lesson - your coursebook etc. 5. Wake people up by giving them a 2 minute test on last week's vocabulary. 6. Allow silence at appropriate times during the lesson - while students are reading the questions or during speaking activities when students are formulating a response (thinking of something to say). Silence in the classroom can be a bit unnerving at first but it doesn't mean you're not doing your job - students need time to absorb information and time to think. We all do.

Teaching Tip 19: Concept Checking

How: 1. Ask the students a question closely related to the target concept. For example, if you are working on a third conditional sentence like this: "I would have done my homework if I had had enough time", your concept checking questions could be these: Did you do your homework? Did you have enough time? If you're checking the understanding of instructions which say: "Guess your partner's answers to the true or false questions below", you could ask: Do you need to speak to your partner at this stage?

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Teaching Tip 20: Using Dictionaries

How: 1. If possible, give the students each an English-English dictionary. 2. Make sure they know how to use it. If not, teach them how. (If you don't know how to teach them how, see Extra Info below for some ideas). 3. Encourage the students to refer to their dictionary whenever appropriate during the lesson, though they should try to guess the meaning from the context first where possible (See TT6 for further info).

Teaching Grammar in an ESL / EFL Setting

Teaching grammar plays a central role in every ESL / EFL teacher's classroom. The important question that needs to be answered is: how do I teach grammar? In other words, how do I help students learn the grammar they need. This question is deceptively easy. At first look, you might think that teaching grammar is just a matter of explaining grammar rules to students. However, teaching grammar effectively is a much more complicated matter. There are a number of questions that first need to be addressed for each class:

What are the objectives of this class?

Is the class preparing for an examination? Is the class improving their English for business purposes? Is the class preparing for summer holidays? etc. The answer to this question is important as it will help you decide on how much grammar really needs to be taught. If students are preparing for a Cambridge Exam then grammar will play a large role in your lesson plans. On the other hand, if you are teaching a business class, linguistic formulas may play a larger role as you provide the learners with standard phrases for written documents, participating in meetings, etc.

What type of learning background do the learners have?

Are the students at school? Have they not studied for a number of years? Are they familiar with grammar terminology?

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Adults who have not been attending school for a number of years are likely to find grammar explanations confusing while as students who are currently studying will probably be much more adept at understanding grammar charts, expressions, etc.

What learning materials and resources are available?

Do you have the latest student workbooks? Do you have no workbooks at all? Is there a computer in the classroom? The more learning resources you have the easier it will be for you to employ different strategies when teaching your students grammar. For example, a group of students who like using computers could use the computer to study a certain grammar task while another group who prefers spoken explanations might prefer to have you explain the point with a number of examples. Obviously, the more varieties of learning opportunities the better your chances are that each student will be able to learn the grammar point well.

What kind of learning style does each student have?

Is the learner comfortable with standard right brain learning techniques (logical charts, study sheets, etc.)? Does the learner work better with listening and repeating exercises? This is one of the most difficult aspects of teaching - especially teaching grammar. If you have a class of learners with similar learning styles, you can afford to use a similar approach. However, if you have a class of mixed learning styles then you need to try to provide instruction using as many different methods as possible. Once you have answered these questions you can more expertly approach the question of how you are going to provide the class with the grammar they need. In other words, each class is going to have different grammar needs and goals and it is up to the teacher to determine these goals and provide the means with which to meet them.

Inductive and Deductive

First a quick definition: Inductive is known as a 'bottom up' approach. In other words, students discovering grammar rules while working through exercises.

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For example:
A reading comprehension which includes a number of sentences describing what a person has done up to that period in time. After doing the reading comprehension, the teacher could begin to ask questions such as: How long has he done this or that? Has he ever been to Paris? etc. and then follow with When did he go to Paris? To help the students inductively understand the difference between the simple past and the present perfect, these questions could be followed with which questions spoke about a definite time in the past? Which questions asked about the person's general experience? etc. Deductive is known as a 'top down' approach. This is the standard teaching approach that has a teacher explaining rules to the students.

For example:
The present perfect is made up of the auxiliary verb 'have' plus the past participle. It is used to express an action which has begun in the past and continues into the present moment... etc. I personally feel that a teacher needs in the first place to facilitate learning. That is why I prefer to provide students with inductive learning exercises. However, there are certainly moments when the teacher needs to explain grammar concepts to the class. Generally, I recommend the following class structure when teaching grammar skills: Begin with an exercise, game, listening, etc. that introduces the grammar concept. Ask students questions that will help them identify the grammar concept to be discussed. Follow with another exercise that more specifically focuses on the grammar concept, but takes an inductive approach. This could be a reading exercise with questions and responses in the structure that is being taught. Check responses, ask students to explain the grammar concept that has been introduced. At this point introduce teaching explanations as a way of clearing up misunderstandings.

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Provide an exercise which focuses on the correct construction of the grammar point. This could be an exercise such as a fill the gap, cloze or tense conjugation activity. Ask students to once again explain the concept. As you can see, the teacher is facilitating students to do their own learning rather than using the 'top down' approach of dictating rules to the class.

Beginner English - Content Overview

Order of Introduction - Teacher Lesson Plan
When teaching beginners, it is very important to proceed methodically building on what has been introduced. Here is a progressive list of points to be taught in order to build up the 20 points listed above. Most of the points have specific lessons teaching the various grammar and usage skills. In the case of definite and indefinite articles and basic prepositions, the points are taught through assimilation throughout the various lessons, as the explanations required would involve vocabulary skills beyond the means of most absolute beginners. These exercises will appear very simple to you, and you might even feel that they are insulting. Remember that the students are taking very little steps to quickly establish a base on which to build. Here is a list of each of the 20 points to be covered, as well as a brief description and/or list of what is included in each point: Give Name & Personal Information Name, telephone number, address Greetings - Introductions Basic small talk including 'How are you' Numbers 1 - 100 Pronunciation, counting skills, telephone numbers Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 17

Alphabet Spelling Skills This, that, here, there Recognizing the connection between 'this, here' as opposed to 'that, there' Present of the verb 'to be' Conjugation of the verb, question and negative forms for all subjects Basic descriptive adjectives Ability to describe objects simply Basic prepositions use in, at, to, on, etc. There is, There are Difference between singular and plural, question and negative form Some, any, much, many When to use some and any in the positive, negative and question forms. Questions using much and many Question Words The use of 'wh-' question words as well as 'how much' and 'how many' Adverbs of Frequency The use of adverbs of frequency such as: always, often, sometimes, never

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Subject Pronouns I, You, He, She, It, We, You, They Possessive Adjectives My, Your, His, Her, (Its), Our, Your, Their a, an, the Basic rules for usage definite and indefinite articles Jobs Names of the most common jobs Telling the Time How to tell the time Time expressions Using 'in the morning', 'in the afternoon', 'in the evening', 'at night', and 'at' with time Everyday Objects Well rounded basic vocabulary Present Simple The use of the present simple for describing everyday routines, positive, negative and question forms

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Beginner English - The Present of the Verb 'to Be'

When you begin teaching beginners it is important to use gestures, pointing and what is often called "modeling". You can begin teaching subject pronouns and also introduce the verb 'to be' at the same time with this simple exercise. Part I: I am + Name Teacher: Hi, I am Ken. (Point at yourself) Teacher: Hi, I am Ken. (Repeat stressing each word) Teacher: (Point to each student and have them repeat 'I am...') Part II: He, She, is Teacher: I am Ken. He (stress 'he') is ... (Point at a student) Student(s): Paolo (Student(s) give that student's name) Teacher: I am Ken. (Point at the student again and then circle your finger in the air indicating 'everybody') Student(s): He is Paolo. Teacher: I am Ken. She (stress 'she') is ... (Point at a student) Student(s): She is Illana. (If students make a mistake and say 'he' instead of 'she', point to your ear and repeat the sentence stressing 'she') Teacher: (Point at different students and repeat a number of times) Part III: Question with 'is' Teacher: I am Ken. Is He Ken? No, He is Paolo. (Use modeling here - ask yourself the questions) Teacher: Is he Paolo? Yes, He is Paolo.

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Teacher: Is He Greg? (Point to various students illiciting a yes or no response) Student(s): Yes, He is Paolo, No, She is Jennifer, etc. Teacher: (Point from one student to the next indicating that he / she should ask a question) Student 1: Is he Greg? Student 2: No, He is Peter. OR Yes, He is Greg. Teacher: (Continue around the room) When you begin teaching absolute beginners it is important to use gestures, pointing and what is often called "modeling". You can begin teaching subject pronouns and also introduce the verb 'to be' at the same time with this simple exercise. Part I: You are, We are + students Teacher: Hi, I am Ken. I am a teacher. We are teachers. (Point outside the class indicating you and other teachers) Teacher: We are teachers. You are students. (Stress 'we' and 'you' to point out the difference, indicating the entire class when using 'you') Teacher: (Point to all of the students and have them repeat 'we are students') Part II: They are + teachers Teacher: (Model that you belong to the group students at this point by sitting with them or in some other manner) We are students. They are teachers (stress 'they' Point at a student indicating the 'other' teachers) Student(s): They are teachers. Teacher: (Continue around the room indicating students to repeat either 'They are teachers' or 'We are students' based on what you indicate) Part III: Question with 'are'

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Teacher: Are you students? No, we are students. (Use modeling here - ask yourself the questions) Teacher: Are you students? (ask a student) Student(s): Yes, we are students. Teacher: Are you teachers? Student(s): No, we are students. Teacher: (Point from one student to the next indicating that he / she should ask a question) Teacher: (Continue around the room)

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Beginner English - This and That - Classroom Objects

Learning 'This is' and 'That is' at the very beginning can help you quickly move onto picking up some basic vocabulary so that students can start building vocabulary from the very beginning. Part I: This is, That is Teacher: This is a pencil. (Stress 'this', hold the pencil up in your hand) Teacher: (Signal students should repeat) Teacher: That is a book. (Stress 'that', point to a book somewhere in the room) Teacher: (Signal students should repeat) Continue this exercise with some basic objects around the room such as: window, chair, table, board, pen, bag, etc. Make sure to stress the difference between 'this' and 'that' when you hold or point to something. Part II: Questions with this and that Teacher: (Model a question to yourself by first holding the object and then laying it down for the response, you can also change places in the room, or change your voice to indicate that you are modeling.) Is this a pen? Yes, That is a pen. Teacher: Is this a pen? Student(s): Yes, that is a pen. OR No, that is a pencil. Continue this exercise with some basic objects around the room such as: window, chair, table, board, pen, bag, etc. Make sure to stress the difference between 'this' and 'that' when you hold or point to something. Part III: Students ask questions Teacher: (Point from one student to the next indicating that he / she should ask a question) Student 1: Is this a pen? Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 23

Student(s): Yes, that is a pen. Teacher: (Continue around the room)

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Beginner English - Negative statements with 'to be'

Now that students have learned some basic vocabulary and can respond to questions with yes or no, it is time for them to pick up the negative form of the verb 'to be'. Notice that we can now use all of the subject pronouns, as well as some basic object vocabulary. You might also want to bring in a few pictures from magazines to introduce some other professions to give your students further vocabulary. Negative statements with 'to be' Part I: Are you a...? No, I'm not a... Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling.) Are you a student? No, I am not a student. I am a teacher. Teacher: Paolo, are you a teacher? (ask a student) Student(s): No, I am not a teacher. I am a student. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Example: Teacher: Are you a teacher? Student(s): No, I not a teacher. Teacher: No, I AM not a teacher. I am a student. Part II: Expand to 'he', 'she', 'this' and 'that' Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling.) Is she a teacher? No, she isn't a teacher. She is a student. Teacher: Paolo, is he a teacher? (ask a student)

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Student(s): No, he isn't a teacher. He is a student. Teacher: Georgia, is this a book? (ask a student) Student(s): No, that isn't a book. That is a pen. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Example: Teacher: Is this a pen? Student(s): No, that not pen. Teacher: No, that ISN'T a pen. That is a book. Part III: Introduce 'we', 'you' and 'they' Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling.) Are you teachers? No, we aren't teachers. We are students. Teacher: Paolo, are you teachers? (ask a student) Student(s): No, we aren't teachers. We are students. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling.) Are they students? No, they aren't students. They are teachers. Teacher: Paolo, are they students? (ask a student) Student(s): No, they aren't teachers. They are students. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students.

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Part IV: Students ask questions Teacher: (Point from one student to the next indicating that he / she should ask a question) Student 1: Is this a pen? Student(s): No, that isn't a pen. That is a pencil. Student 1: Are we teachers? Student(s): No, we aren't teachers. We are students. Teacher: (Continue around the room)

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Beginner English - Possessive Adjectives

Your learners have now learned some basic vocabulary, simple positive and negative statements with 'to be', as well as questions. Now you can introduce the possessive adjectives 'my', 'your', 'his', and 'her'. It is best to stay away from 'its' at this point. You can work on getting students to know each other by using their names for this exercise, before going on to objects. Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling. ) Is your name Ken? Yes, my name is Ken. (stress 'your' and 'my' - repeat a few times) Teacher: Is your name Ken? (ask a student) Student(s): No, my name is Paolo. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Expand to include 'his' and 'her' Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling. ) Is her name Jennifer? No, her name isn't Jennifer. Her name is Gertrude. Teacher: (Model a question to yourself changing places in the room, or changing your voice to indicate that you are modeling. ) Is his name John? No, his name isn't John. His name is Mark. (Make sure to accent the differences between 'her' and 'his') Teacher: Is his name Gregory? (ask a student) Student(s): Yes, his name is Gregory. OR No, his name isn't Gregory. His name is Peter. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 28

Part III: Having students ask questions Teacher: Is her name Maria? (ask a student) Teacher: Paolo, ask John a question. (Point from one student to the next indicating that he / she should ask a question thereby introducing the new teacher request 'ask a question', in the future you should then use this form instead of pointing to move away from the visual to the aural.) Student 1: Is his name Jack? Student 2: Yes, his name is Jack. OR No, his name isn't Jack. His name is Peter. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students.

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Beginner English - The Alphabet

At this point learners need to be able to use the alphabet in order to assimilate new vocabulary and ask spelling questions about new vocabulary they will be learning in future lessons. You should take in an alphabet chart for this lesson, this chart should have pictures of various objects beginning with the various letters of the alphabet (pre-schoolers alphabet books would work well in this situation). Teacher: (Read the alphabet list slowly, pointing to pictures as you speak. The following list is just an example, make sure to use something with pictures if possible. ) A as in "apple" B as in "boy" C as in "car" D as in "dog" E as in "ear" F as in "flag" G as in "great" H as in "house" I as in "insect" J as in "joy" K as in "kind" L as in "light" M as in "magic" N as in "night" O as in "orchestra" P as in "people" Q as in "question" R as in "red" S as in "sure" T as in "truck" U as in "unique" V as in "video" W as in "wow" X as in "xerox" Y as in "yes" Z as in "zebra" Teacher: Repeat after me (Model the idea of repeating after me, thus giving the students a new class instruction that they will understand in the future.) A as in "apple" Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 30

B as in "boy" C as in "car" D as in "dog" E as in "ear" F as in "flag" G as in "great" H as in "house" I as in "insect" J as in "joy" K as in "kind" L as in "light" M as in "magic" N as in "night" O as in "orchestra" P as in "people" Q as in "question" R as in "red" S as in "sure" T as in "truck" U as in "unique" V as in "video" W as in "wow" X as in "xerox" Y as in "yes" Z as in "zebra" Student(s): (Repeat the above with the teacher) Part II: Spelling Names Teacher: Please write your name. (Model the following new class instruction by writing your name on a piece of paper. ) Teacher: Please write your name. (You may have to gesture to students to take a piece of paper out and write their names.) Student(s): (Students write their names on a piece of paper) Teacher: My name is Ken. K - E - N (Model spelling your name.). What is your name?(Gesture to a student.) Student(s): My name is Gregory. G - R - E - G - O - R - Y Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 31

Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Jobs Vocabulary

Learning the names of various jobs can help students get involved by speaking about their lives. At this point, you can go beyond having students identify objects and naming other students to getting them to speak about their profession. This exercise will also continue to work on their spelling skills. You should bring in a magazine or another source of pictures of various jobs. Teacher: (Point to your photos or illustrations of various jobs. I think it is best to limit the number of jobs to around 10 different professions.) He is a policeman. She is a teacher. He is a pilot. She is a nurse, etc. Teacher: Teacher: Repeat after me (Model the idea of repeating after me, thus giving the students a new class instruction that they will understand in the future.) Teacher: He is a policeman. Student(s): He is a policeman. Teacher: She is a teacher. Student(s): She is a teacher. Teacher: He is a pilot. Student(s): He is a pilot. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Asking questions about jobs Teacher: Paolo, is he a policeman? Student(s): Yes, he is a policeman. Teacher: Susan, is she a teacher? Student(s): No, she isn't a teacher. She is a nurse. Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 33

Teacher: Paolo, ask Susan a question. (Give the student a picture) Student(s): Is she a nurse? Student(s): Yes, she is a nurse. OR No, she isn't a nurse. She is a teacher. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part III: Spelling jobs Teacher: I am a teacher. T - E - A - C - H - E - R. Please repeat after me. Teacher and Students: Teacher. T - E - A - C - H - E - R. Continue this exercise spelling each of the jobs.

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Beginner English - Questions with 'Who' and 'What'

Now that students have learned a number of jobs, you can introduce questions with 'who' and 'what'. Teacher: Ken, what are you? I am a teacher. (Model the next question to the students.) Teacher: Susan, what are you? Student(s): I am a nurse. Teacher: Susan, ask Paolo a question. Student(s): What are you? Student(s): I am a student. This exercise can get complicated because many of the students' jobs will not have been included. If this happens, point to a picture and then model a question pretending to be something from one of the pictures. Part II: Who is a ...? Teacher: What are you? I am a teacher. Who is a nurse? Susan is a nurse. (Model the difference between 'what' and 'who' by first asking yourself 'what are you?' and accenting the 'what' in the question and 'teacher' in the response. Next, show the difference by asking the question 'who is a ...' accenting 'who' in the question and the person in the response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students distinguish the differnce between thing and person.) Teacher: Paolo, who is a policeman? Student(s): Olaf is a policeman. Teacher: Susan, who is a teacher. Student(s): You are a teacher.

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Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Mixing up 'who' and 'what' Teacher: Paolo, what are you? Student(s): I am a clerk. Teacher: Susan, who is a clerk? Student(s): Paolo is a clerk. Teacher: Olaf, what is Paolo? Student(s): Paolo is a clerk. Continue this exercise around the room with mixing 'what' and 'who' in the question form, be sure to also vary the questions using 'you', 'he' and 'she'.

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Beginner English - Basic Greetings

This is a simple exercise to get students communicating with basic greetings. Notice in the second part of the activity that you can use this opportunity to recycle spelling, object and job vocabulary. Teacher: Hello, How are you? Hi, I'm fine. - Hi, How are you? Hello, I'm OK. - Hi, How are you? Hi, I'm well. (Model the question to the students. You can make gestures such as the thumbs up sign, etc. as well as strong facial gestures to help students understand the differences.) Teacher: Susan, hi, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Teacher: Susan, ask Paolo a question. Student(s): Hi Paolo, How are you? Student(s): Hello, I'm well. Continue this exercise around the class. Part II: Goodbye Teacher: Hello Ken, how are you? Hello, I'm fine. - What is this? That's a book - B - O O - K. - What are you? I'm a teacher - T - E - A - C - H - E -R. - Goodbye. Goodbye. (Model this dialogue physically, you may want to model this exercise a few times as it will demand a number of skills from the students.) Teacher: Hello Paolo, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Teacher: What is this?. Student(s): That is a pencil - P - E - N - C - I - L. Teacher: What are you? Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 37

Student(s): I'm a pilot - P - I - L - O - T. Teacher: Goodbye, Paolo. Student(s): Goodbye. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Questions and Answers

This exercise builds on basic greetings and introduces the names of the nations, cities, etc. Teacher: Where are you from? I am from the USA.(Model 'where' and 'from' by accenting 'where' and 'from' in the question and 'from' in the response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn the new form. You might want to repeat this question a few times also including city names.) Teacher: Susan, hi, how are you? Student(s):Hi, I'm fine. Teacher: Where are you from? Student(s): I'm from Russia. Teacher: Susan, ask Paolo. Student(s): Hi Paolo, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Student(s): Where are you from? Student(s): I'm from Pisa. Continue this exercise around the class. Part II: Asking questions with 'he' and 'she'. Teacher: Where is Paolo from? He is from Italy. Teacher: Susan, where is Olaf from? Student(s): He is from Poland. Teacher: Where are you from? Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 39

Student(s): I'm from Russia. Teacher: Susan, ask Paolo. Student(s): Paolo, where is Maria from? Student(s): She is from Brazil. Student(s): Where are you from? Student(s): I'm from Pisa. Continue this exercise around the class.

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Beginner English - Nationalities

This activity expands students' vocabulary by adding nationality adjectives and making a comparison between nations and nationalities. At this point, it would also be a good idea to introduce a map and/or write the names of various nations and nationalities on the board. Teacher: Where are you from? I am from the USA. Are you American? Yes, I am American. (Model the difference between nation and nationality by accenting the nationality in both the question and response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn the differnce between nation and nationality. It might also help to point to the board when asking this question.) Teacher: Where is Paolo from? He is from Italy. Is he American? No, he isn't American. He is Italian. (Go through the various nationalities in the classroom. This is also an opportunity to repeat the negative forms of 'to be' for 'he' and 'she'. You may also want to go through the list of nations and nationalities having students repeat after you to focus on pronunciation for a moment.) Teacher: Paolo, where is Olaf from? Student(s): Olaf is from Poland. Teacher: Is Olaf Polish? Student(s): Yes, he is Polish. Teacher: Olaf, ask Susan. Student(s): Is Paolo from Italy? Student(s): Yes, he is from Italy? Student(s): Is he Italian? Student(s): Yes, he is Italian. Continue this exercise around the class. Introduce and review the negatives. Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 41

Teacher: Paolo, where is Olaf from? Student(s): Olaf is from Poland. Teacher: Is Olaf American? Student(s): No, he isn't American. He is Polish. Teacher: Olaf, ask Susan. Student(s): Is Paolo from Italy? Student(s): Yes, he is from Italy? Student(s): Is he Polish? Student(s): No, he isn't Polish. He is Italian. Part II: Expanding to a mini-conversation. Teacher: Susan, hi, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Teacher: Where are you from? Student(s): I'm from Russia. Teacher: Are you American? Student(s): No, I'm not American. I'm Russian. Teacher: What are you? Student(s): I'm a nurse. Teacher: What's this? Student(s): That's a book. Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 42

Teacher: Goodbye. Student(s): Goodbye. Continue this exercise with each student around the class.

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Beginner English - Numbers

At this point, students should feel comfortable performing simple conversations speaking about where they are form, what their jobs are and naming a number of objects. It's time to go back to some basic rote repeating for students to learn their basic numbers. Teacher: (Write a list on the board and point to the numbers.) 1 - one 2 - two 3 - three 4 - four 5 - five 6 - six 7 - seven 8 - eight 9 - nine 10 - ten 11 - eleven 12 - twelve 13 - thirteen 14 - fourteen 15 - fifteen 16 - sixteen 17 - seventeen 18 - eighteen 19 - nineteen 20 - twenty Teacher: Please repeat after me. Teacher: (Point to the numbers.) 1 - one Student(s): 1 - one 2 - two Student(s): 2 - two 3 - three Student(s): 3 - three, etc 4 - four 5 - five Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 44

6 - six 7 - seven 8 - eight 9 - nine 10 - ten 11 - eleven 12 - twelve 13 - thirteen 14 - fourteen 15 - fifteen 16 - sixteen 17 - seventeen 18 - eighteen 19 - nineteen 20 - twenty Teacher: (Write a list of random numbers on the board and point to the numbers.) Teacher: Susan, what number is this? Student(s): 15 Teacher: Olaf, what number is this? Student(s): 2 Continue this exercise around the class. Part II: The 'tens'. Teacher: (Write a list of the tens and point to the numbers.) 10 - ten 20 - twenty 30 - thirty 40 - forty 50 - fifty 60 - sixty 70 - seventy 80 - eighty 90 - ninety 100 - One hundred Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 45

Teacher: Please repeat after me. 10 - ten Student(s): Ten Teacher: 20 - twenty Student(s):Twenty Teacher:30 - thirty Student(s):Thirty, etc 40 - forty 50 - fifty 60 - sixty 70 - seventy 80 - eighty 90 - ninety 100 - One hundred Part III: Combined 'tens' and single digits. Teacher: (Write a list of various numbers and point to the numbers.) 22 36 48 51 69 71 85 94 Teacher: Please repeat after me. 22 Student(s): 22 Teacher: 36 Student(s): 36 Teacher: 48 Student(s): 48, etc

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51 69 71 85 94 Teacher: (Write another list of random numbers on the board and point to the numbers.) Teacher: Susan, what number is this? Student(s): 33 Teacher: Olaf, what number is this? Student(s): 56 Continue this exercise around the class. Part IV: Contrast 'teens' and 'tens' Teacher: (Write the following list of numbers and point to the numbers.) 12 - 20 13 - 30 14 - 40 15 - 50 16 - 60 17 - 70 18 - 80 19 - 90 Be careful to pronounce slowly, pointing out the difference in pronunciation between 14, 15, 16, etc. and 40, 50, 60, etc. Teacher: Please repeat after me. 12 - 20 Student(s): 12 - 20 Teacher: 13 - 30 Student(s): 13 - 30 Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 47

Teacher: 14 - 40 Student(s): 14 - 40, etc. 15 - 50 16 - 60 17 - 70 18 - 80 19 - 90

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Beginner English - Personal Information

Now that students can spell and count, they can also begin giving personal information such as their address and telephone number. This activity also helps review and build on their counting and past exercises. Teacher: What is your telephone number? My telephone number is 586-0259. (Model 'telephone number' by accenting 'telephone number' in the question and in the response.) Teacher: Susan, hi, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Teacher: What is your telephone number? Student(s): My telephone number is 587-8945. Teacher: Susan, ask Paolo. Student(s): Hi Paolo, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Student(s): What is your telephone number? Student(s): My telephone number is 786-4561. Continue this exercise around the class. Part II: What is your address? Teacher: What is your address? My address is 45 Green Street. (Model 'address' by accenting 'address' in the question and in the response.) Teacher: Susan, hi, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine.

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Teacher: What is your address? Student(s): My address is 32 14th Avenue. Teacher: Susan, ask Paolo. Student(s): Hi Paolo, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Student(s): What is your address? Student(s): My address is 16 Smith Street. Continue this exercise around the class. Part II: Personal Information - Bringing It All Together Teacher: Susan, hi, how are you? Student(s): Hi, I'm fine. Teacher: What is your address? Student(s): My address is 32 14th Avenue. Teacher: What is your telephone number? Student(s): My telephone number is 587-8945. Teacher: Where are you from? Student(s): I'm from Russia. Teacher: Are you American? Student(s): No, I'm not American. I'm Russian. Teacher: What are you? Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 50

Student(s): I'm a nurse. Teacher: What's this? Student(s): That's a book. Teacher: Goodbye. Student(s): Goodbye. Continue this exercise with each student around the class.

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Beginner English - Everyday Objects

Students are familiar with 'this' and 'that', so this is a good time to quickly expand vocabulary by using a structure students already know. You will need to bring in pictures or illustrations of a number of everyday objects. Teacher: This is a car. (point to a picture or illustration that you have brought into class.) Teacher: (Signal students should repeat) Teacher: That is a purse. (Stress 'that', point to a purse somewhere in the room) Teacher: (Signal students should repeat) Continue this exercise with the everyday objects you have brought into class. Alternate these objects with objects in the classroom that they have already learned so that you can reinforce the difference between 'this' and 'that'. Part II: Questions with this and that Teacher: Is this a car? Student(s): Yes, that is a car. OR No, that isn't a car. That is a light. Continue this exercise using the illustrations you have brought into class. Part III: Students ask questions Teacher: (Hand each student a different illustration.) Susan, please ask Paolo a question. Student 1: Is this a car? Student(s): Yes, that is a car. OR No, that isn't a car. That is a ball. Continue this exercise with each student around the class.

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Beginner English - There is, There are

Building on the new vocabulary students have just learnt, you can introduce 'there is' and 'there are'. You will need some more images, some of these images should have a number of the same item in order to practice both the single and plural form. Teacher: Is there a car in this picture? Yes, there is a car in that picture. Is there a book in this picture? No, there isn't a book in that picture.(Model the differnce between the question and answer by accenting 'is there' in the question and 'there is' in the response. ) Teacher: Is there a computer in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there is a computer in that picture. Teacher: Is there a computer in this picture? Student(s): No, there isn't a computer in that picture. Continue this exercise with the everyday objects images you have brought into class. Alternate these objects with objects in the classroom that they have already learned so that you can reinforce the difference between 'this' and 'that'. Part II: Are there four..., there are four... Teacher: Are there three cars in this picture? Yes, there are four cars in that picture. Are there two books in this picture? No, there aren't two books in that picture.(Model the differnce between the question and answer by accenting 'are there' in the question and 'there are' in the response. It is very important that you use specific numbers at this point as students are not yet familiar with 'some' and 'any') Teacher: Are there four people in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there are four people in that picture. Teacher: Are there three lamps in this picture? Student(s): No, there aren't three lamps in that picture. Continue this exercise using the illustrations you have brought into class. Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 53

Part III: Students ask questions Teacher: (Hand each student a different illustration.) Susan, please ask Paolo a question. Student(s): Is there a car in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there is a car in that picture. OR No, there isn't a car in that picture. Student(s): Are there three books in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there are three books in this picture. OR No, there aren't three books in that picture. Continue this exercise around the class.

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Beginner English - Basic Adjectives

At this point students are able to identify a number of basic objects. Now is a good time to introduce some basic adjectives to describe those objects. You will need to bring in some illustrations of similar objects that look different. Prepare the lesson by writing a number of adjectives on the board. I like to use adjectives that are paired in opposites and I would suggest the following: beautiful - ugly old - new hot - cold old - young big - small cheap - expensive thick - thin empty - full Notice that you should use adjectives which describe the outward appearance of things because students have only learned basic everyday object vocabulary up to now. Teacher: (Take two illustrations which show similar objects in different states.) This is an old car. This is a new car. Teacher: (Take two illustrations which show similar objects in different states.) This is a beautiful city. This is an ugly city. Continue pointing out the differences between the various objects. Part II: Getting Students to Describe Illustrations (Once you feel comfortable that students are familiar with these new adjectives, begin to ask students questions.) Teacher: What is this? Student(s): That is an old house. Teacher: What is this?

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Student(s): That is a cheap bag. Continue choosing between the various objects. Part III: Students ask questions Teacher: (Hand out the various images to the students, you can also make a game out of this by turning over the images and having students choose one from the pile.) Teacher: Paolo, ask Susan a question. Student(s): Is this a new hat? OR What is this? Student(s): Yes, that is a new hat. OR No, that isn't a new hat, it is an old hat. Teacher: (Continue around the room)

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Beginner English - Countable / Uncountable

Now that students are familiar with 'some' and 'any' you can extend this knowledge by adding the questions 'How much' and 'How many', as well as the quantifiers 'some', 'a lot of', 'a little' and 'a few'. Prepare the lesson by once again writing a few headings on the board. I would include 'Some', 'a lot', 'a little' for uncountble objects and 'some', '4', 'a lot' and 'a few' for countable objects. Under these headings, add a list of the countable and uncountable objects that you have introduced - or will be introducing - during the lesson. This will help students continue to expand on the concept of countable and uncountable nouns. Teacher: (Take an illustration or picture that contains many objects.) How much water is there in the glass? There is a lot of water in the glass. (Model 'how much' and 'a lot of' by accenting 'how much' and 'a lot of' in the question and response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'how much' is used in the question form for an uncountable object and 'a lot of' in a positive statement.) Teacher: How much wine is there in the glass? There is a little wine in the glass. Teacher: How much cheese is there? There is some cheese. (Repeat with several different uncountable objects.) Teacher: Paolo, how much water is there in the glass? Student(s): There is a lot of water in the glass. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Asking Questions With How Many Teacher: (Take an illustration or picture that contains many countable objects.) How many apples are there in the picture? There are a lot of apples in the picture. (Model 'how many' and 'a lot of' by accenting 'how many' and 'a lot of' in the question and response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'how many' is used in the question form for countable objects and 'a lot of' in a positive statement.) Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 57

Teacher: How many glasses are there in the picture? There are a few glasses in the picture. Teacher: How many oranges are there? There are some oranges. (Repeat with several different countable objects.) Teacher: Paolo, how many books are there in the picture? Student(s): There are a few books in the picture. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part III: Expanding into a Mini-Conversation Teacher: (Choose an image) Teacher: Paolo, is there any water in this picture. Student(s): Yes, there is some water in that picture. Teacher: Paolo, how much water is in this picture. Student(s): Yes, there is a lot of water in that picture. Teacher: (Continue around the room - make sure to repeat students' incorrect sentences accenting the mistake so that they may correct themselves.)

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Beginner English - Some / Any

The use of 'some' and 'any' is rather challenging for students. You will need to be especially careful and model many times when introducing 'some' and 'any'. Repeating students mistakes while accenting the mistaken word is especially helpful as the student will be prompted to change his / her response. Practicing 'some' and 'any' also offers a perfect oportunity to review the use of 'there is' and 'there are' to introduce countable and uncountable nouns. You will need to bring in some illustrations of both countable and uncountable objects. I find a picture of a living room with many objects helpful. Part I: Introducing Some and Any with Countable Objects Prepare the lesson by writing 'Some' and a number such as '4' at the top of the board. Under these headings, add a list of the countable and uncountable objects that you have introduced - or will be introducing - during the lesson. This will help students recognize the concept of countable and uncountable. Teacher: (Take an illustration or picture that contains many objects.) Are there any oranges in this picture? Yes, there are some oranges in that picture. (Model 'any' and 'some' by accenting 'any' and 'some' in the question and response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'any' is used in the question form and 'some' in a positive statement.) Teacher: (Repeat with several different countable objects.) Are there [u]any[/u] glasses in this picture? Yes, there are [u]some[/u] glasses in that picture. Teacher: Are there [u]any[/u] glasses in this picture? No, there aren't [u]any[/u] glasses in that picture. There are [u]some[/u] apples. (Repeat with several different countable objects.) Teacher: Paolo, are there any books in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there are some books in that picture. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Introducing Some and Any with Uncountable Objects Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 59

(At this point you might want to point out the list you have written on the board.) Teacher: (Take an illustration or picture that contains an uncountable object such as water.) Is there [u]any[/u] water in this picture? Yes, there is [u]some[/u] water in that picture. Teacher: (Take an illustration or picture that contains an uncountable object such as water.) Is there [u]any[/u] cheese in this picture? Yes, there is [u]some[/u] cheese in that picture. Teacher: Paolo, is there any cheese in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there is some cheese in that picture. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part III: Students ask questions Teacher: (Hand out the various images to the students, you can also make a game out of this by turning over the images and having students choose one from the pile.) Teacher: Paolo, ask Susan a question. Student(s): Is there any water in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there is some water in that picture. OR No, there isn't any water in that picture. Student(s): Are there any oranges in this picture? Student(s): Yes, there are some oranges in that picture. OR No, there aren't any oranges in that picture. Teacher: (Continue around the room - make sure to repeat students' incorrect sentences accenting the mistake so that they may correct themselves.)

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Beginner English - Telling Time

Telling the time is a basic skill that most students will eagerly acquire. You will need to take some sort of clock into the room. The best clock is one that has been designed for teaching purposes, however, you can also just draw a clock face on the board and add various times as you go through the lesson. Many students might be used to a 24 hour clock in their native culture. To begin telling time, it's a good idea to just go through the hours and make students aware of the fact that we use a twelve hour clock in English. Write the numbers 1 - 24 on the board and the equivalent time in English, i.e. 1 - 12, 1 - 12. It is also best to leave out. 'a.m.' and 'p.m.' at this point. Teacher: (Take the clock and set it to a time on the hour, i.e. seven o'clock) What time is it? It's seven o'clock. (Model 'what time' and 'o'clock' by accenting 'what time' and 'o'clock' in the question and response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'what time' is used in the question form and 'o'clock' in the answer.) Teacher: What time is it? It's eight o'clock. (Go through a number of different hours. Make sure to demonstrate that we use a 12 hour clock by pointing to a number above 12 such as 18 and saying 'It's six o'clock'.) Teacher: (Change the hour on the clock) Paolo, what time is it? Student(s): It's three o'clock. Teacher: (Change the hour on the clock) Paolo, ask Susan a question. Student(s): What time is it? Student(s): It's four o'clock. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Learning a 'quarter to', 'quarter past' and 'half past'

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Teacher: (Set the clock to a quarter to an hour, i.e. quarter to three) What time is it? It's a quarter to three. (Model 'to' by accenting 'to' in the response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'to' is used to express time before the hour.) Teacher: (Repeat setting the clock to a number of differ net quarters to an hour, i.e. quarter to four, five, etc.) Teacher: (Set the clock to a quarter past an hour, i.e. a quarter past three) What time is it? It's a quarter past three. (Model 'past' by accenting 'past' in the response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'past' is used to express time past the hour.) Teacher: (Repeat setting the clock to a number of differ net quarters past an hour, i.e. quarter past four, five, etc.) Teacher: (Set the clock to half past an hour, i.e. half past three) What time is it? It's half past three. (Model 'past' by accenting 'past' in the response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn that 'past' is used to express time past the hour, specifically that we say 'half past' an hour rather than 'half to' an hour as in some other languages.) Teacher: (Repeat setting the clock to a number of differ net halves past an hour, i.e. half past four, five, etc.) Teacher: (Change the hour on the clock) Paolo, what time is it? Student(s): It's half past three. Teacher: (Change the hour on the clock) Paolo, ask Susan a question. Student(s): What time is it? Student(s): It's a quarter to five. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Watch out for students using o'clock improperly. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part III: Including the minutes Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 62

Teacher: (Set the clock to a 'minutes to' or 'minutes past' the hour) What time is it? It's seventeen (minutes) past three. Teacher: (Change the hour on the clock) Paolo, ask Susan a question. Student(s): What time is it? Student(s): It's ten (minutes) to five. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Watch out for students using o'clock improperly. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Present Simple

Now that students can communicate basic ideas with the verb 'to be', it's time to make a huge leap to include the present simple. At this point, learning becomes a lot more fun, as students can begin learning various verbs and talking about a number of subjects. However, introducing the present simple needs to be down slowly beginning with students only responding to your questions in the present simple. You will need to a fair bit of modeling during the introduction of the present simple. It's a good idea to take in illustrations of various jobs once again, as most students will intuitively know what people in the various professions 'do', and will be able to therefore infer the meaning of new verbs introduced. Teacher: (Mode the questions to yourself) Ken, what do you do? I teach English. - Ken, what do they do? They study English. (Model new verbs by accenting the verb in the response. This use of accenting differing words with your intonation helps students learn the verbs which they will be able to infer because of past lessons.) Teacher: Paolo, what do you do? Student(s): I study English. Teacher: Susan, what do I do? Student(s): You teach English. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Present Simple - He, She Teacher:(At this point, take out a number of images - five or so - and model what the different people do, repeat a number of times) What does he do? He drives a taxi. (accent the 's' to make students aware of the conjugation) Teacher: What does she do? She works in a hospital. etc. Teacher: Paolo, what does he do? (pointing to an image)

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Student(s): He works in a bank. Teacher: Susan, what does she do? Student(s): She flies an airplane. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Continue Present Simple / When

It's time to introduce 'when'. Students can tell time and can now answer questions in the present simple. It's a perfect time to introduce a number of new verbs concerning everyday actions. Write a list of times on the board followed by common actions typically performed at the various times of the day. For example: 7.00 - get up 8.00 - eat breakfast 9.00 - go to work 10.00 - type letters 12.00 - eat lunch This also gives you an excellent opportunity to introduce some new vocabulary such as the meals of the day, objects at work, etc. Teacher: (Model the questions to yourself. It would also be a good idea to point to the various times of the day to help students imagine what could happen at the time of day. You will probably also have to do some acting to demonstrate the various verbs.) Ken, When do you get up? I get up at seven o'clock. (Model 'when' and the verb by accenting 'when' and the verb in the question and response.) Teacher: Ken, When do you eat breakfast? I eat breakfast at a quarter to eight. Continue to model a number of verbs. Teacher: Paolo, when do you get up? Student(s): I get up at seven o'clock. Teacher: Susan, when do you have lunch? Student(s): I have lunch at half past twelve. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Try to include a number of verbs that you have introduced helping to quickly expanding students' vocabulary. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student

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should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Adding He, She Teacher:(Now that students are comfortable with a number of verbs, expand to including 'he' and 'she' by first asking a student a question with 'you' and then asking another student a question with 'he' or 'she'.) What time does he get up? He gets up at seven o'clock. (accent the 's' to make students aware of the conjugation) Teacher: Paolo, when do you have breakfast? Student(s): I have breakfast at eight o'clock. Teacher: Susan, when does he have breakfast? Student(s): He has breakfast at eight o'clock. Teacher: Susan, when do you come to school? Student(s): I come to school at a quarter past nine. Teacher: Olaf, when does she come to school? Student(s): She comes to school at a quarter past nine. etc. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Alternate between asking a question with 'you' and then 'he' or 'she'. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Continue Present Simple Questions

At this point, students are comfortable responding to your questions using various subjects and they have learned a number of verbs. The next step is for students to begin asking questions themselves. They have heard you ask a number of questions so this step should not be too difficult. The most common mistake will probably be the leaving out of the auxiliary verb 'do'. Part I: Present Simple - Asking Questions about Everyday Tasks Teacher: Ken, When do you get up? I get up at seven o'clock. (Model 'do' and the verb by accenting 'do' in the question.) Teacher: Ken, When does Paolo eat breakfast? He eats breakfast at a quarter to eight. (Model the connecting between 'does' and the '-s' in third person singular by accenting 'does' in the question and '-s' in the response.) Continue to model a number of verbs contrasting 'you' and 'he' or 'she'. Teacher: Paolo, ask Susan a question Student(s): When do you have lunch? Student(s): I have lunch at half past twelve. Teacher: Paolo, ask Susan a question about Olaf (you might need to indicate another student) Student(s): When does Olaf have lunch? Student(s): He has lunch at half past twelve. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Pay special attention to the use of the auxiliary and '-s' in third person singular. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Continue Present Simple Negatives

Students are now ready to finish their first encounter with the present simple by learning the negative form of the tense. Once again, you will need to model a number of times so that students can become familiar with the correct conjugations. Teacher: Ken, do you get up at seven o'clock? No, I don't get up at seven o'clock. I get up at eight o'clock. (Model the negative by accenting the negative elements 'no' and 'don't'.) Teacher: Ken, do they study Russian? No, they don't study Russian. They study English. (Model the negative by accenting the negative elements 'no' and 'don't'.) Continue to model a number of verbs contrasting 'you' and 'they' or 'we'. Teacher: Paolo, do you get up at ten o'clock? Student(s): No, I don't get up at ten o'clock. I get up at seven o'clock. Teacher: Paolo, do we study French? Student(s): No, we don't study French. We study English. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Pay special attention to the use of the auxiliary 'don't' in the negative. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Present Simple Negative - Adding 'he' and 'she' Teacher: Ken, does she get up at seven o'clock? No, she doesn't get up at seven o'clock. She gets up at eight o'clock. (Model the negative by accenting the negative elements 'no' and 'doesn't'.) Teacher: Paolo, when do you have breakfast? Student(s): I have breakfast at eight o'clock. Teacher: Susan, does he have breakfast at nine o'clock?

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Student(s): No, he doesn't have breakfast at nine o'clock. He has breakfast at eight o'clock. Teacher: Susan, when do you come to school? Student(s): I come to school at a quarter past nine. Teacher: Olaf, does she come to school at half past eleven? Student(s): No, she doesn't come to school at half past eleven. She comes to school at a quarter past nine. etc. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Pay special attention to the use of the auxiliary 'doesn't' in the negative. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Continue Adverbs of Frequency

Students can now talk about their daily habits. Introducing adverbs of frequency can help give them further expressive capabilities by allowing them to speak about how often they perform daily tasks. Write these adverbs of frequency on the board next to a list of the days of the week. For example: Always - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday Usually - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday Often - Monday / Tuesday / Thursday / Sunday Sometimes - Monday / Thursday Seldom - Saturday Never This list will help students associate the adverbs of frequency with the concept of relative repetition or frequency. Teacher: I always have breakfast. I usually get up at 7 o'clock. I often watch television. I sometimes exercise. I seldom go shopping. I never cook fish. (Model each adverb of frequency by pointing to it on the board while slowly saying the phrases allowing students to take in the regularity associated with the adverb of frequency being used. Make sure to accent the various adverbs of frequency.) Teacher: Ken, how often do you come to class? I always come to class. How often do you watch TV? I sometimes watch TV. (Model 'how often' and the adverb of frequency by accenting 'how often' in the question and the adverb of frequency in the response.) Teacher: Paolo, how often do you come to class? Student(s): I always come to class. Teacher: Susan, how often do you watch TV? Student(s): I sometimes watch TV. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Use very simple verbs that the students have already become used to using when talking about their daily routines so that they can focus on learning the adverbs of frequency. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency. If a student makes a mistake, Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 71

touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Expanding to third person singular Teacher: Paolo, how often do you eat lunch? Student(s): I usually eat lunch. Teacher: Susan, does he usually eat lunch? Student(s): Yes, he usually eats lunch. (pay special attention to the 's' ending on the third person singular) Teacher: Susan, do you usually get up at ten o'clock? Student(s): No, I never get up at ten o'clock. Teacher: Olaf, does she usually get up at ten o'clock? Student(s): No, she never gets up at ten o'clock. etc. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Use very simple verbs that the students have already become used to using when talking about their daily routines so that they can focus on learning the adverbs of frequency. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency and the correct usage of the third person singular. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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Beginner English - Continue Daily Habits and Routines

After students have completed this lesson they will be able to complete most basic linguistic functions (giving personal information, identifying and basic description skills, talking about basic daily tasks and how often those taks are done). While there is obviously a lot more learning to be done, students can now feel confident that they have a strong base on which to build in the future. With this final lesson, you can help students begin speaking in longer phrases by having them prepare a talk on their daily activities that they can then read / recite to their fellow classmates and which can then be used as the basis for questions. Give the students a sheet with various times of the day. For example: 7.00 7.30 8.00 10.00 12.00 3.30 5.00 6.30 8.00 11.00 Add a list of verbs they are familiar with on the board. You may want to write a few examples on the board. For example: 7.00 - get up 7.30 - eat breakfast 8.00 - go to work Teacher: I usually get up at 7 o'clock. I always go to work at 8 o'clock. I sometimes have a break at half past three. I usually come home at five o'clock. I often watch TV at eight o'clock. etc. (Model your list of daily activities to the class two or more times.) Teacher: Paolo, what do I often do at eight o'clock in the evening? Student(s): You often watch TV. Teacher: Susan, when do I go to work? Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 73

Student(s): You always go to work at 8 o'clock. Continue this exercise around the room asking students about your daily routine. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Students Talk about their Daily Routines Ask students to fill out the sheet about their daily habits and routines. When students are finished they should read their list of daily habits to the class. Teacher: Paolo, please read. Student(s): I usually get up at seven o'clock. I seldom have breakfast at half past seven. I often go shopping at 8 o'clock. I usually have coffee at ten o'clock. etc. Ask each student to read their routine in class, let students read all the way through their list and take note of any mistakes they may make. At this point, students need to gain confidence when speaking for an extended period of time and should therefore be allowed to make mistakes. Once the student has finished, you can correct any mistakes he or she may have made. Part III: Asking Students about their Daily Routines Ask students to once again read about their daily routine to the class. After each student has finished, ask the other students questions about that student's daily habits. Teacher: Paolo, please read. Student(s): I usually get up at seven o'clock. I seldom have breakfast at half past seven. I often go shopping at eight o'clock. I usually have coffee at ten o'clock. etc. Teacher: Olaf, when does Paolo usually get up? Student(s): He gets up at seven o'clock. Teacher: Susan, how does Paolo go shopping at eight o'clock? Student(s): He often goes shopping at eight o'clock. Jose M. Batista De Leon Page 74

Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency and the correct usage of the third person singular. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

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