This page is dedicated to lesson ideas and plans used by your fellow tutors. If you’ve used an exercise or have a lesson plan that you’d like to share, let us know by contacting sondra@lvaunion.org. If it worked for your student or class, it will work for your colleagues as well! And don't forget to check out the Tutor Resources page and past editions of Tutor Talk for more ideas! You can also click here for other lesson ideas. If you are interested in purchasing any materials for your classes from New Readers' Press, a 15% discount is available if you order through the LV-UC office. Call 908-755-7998 for information.
Teaching Your Students Using Poetry
The August edition of Tutor Talk focused on reading and writing poetry with your students as a way to build literacy. Marina Kennedy shared her work with her class using the poem "La Reina" (The Queen") by Pablo Neruda, a Latin poet. Versions of the poem in English and Spanish can be found by clicking here. Go to the Featured Student Writings page to read poetry written by some of our students.
Is Your Student a Poet and Just Doesn't Know It?
Shared by Nanette Crist, who learned about these ideas at the 2010 Literacy for Life Conference
Writing is one of the cornerstones of literacy but it's often difficult to inspire our students to put pen to paper. Not only do our students have to figure out what to write, but there's the fear of making mistakes with grammar, spelling and sentence structure. Poetry is a more forgiving writing format and permits student to express themselves in a more creative way than writing prose.
A "biopoem" is a great way to start. Biopoems are basically a list of "facts" about a person. There is a loose structure to be followed, starting with the person's first name and ending with the person's last name. The easiest type of biopoem to write is about yourself but you can also use biopoems as a writing exercise to supplement a reading that you've done about a person. Click here for a template and to see examples of biopoems. Once you and your students have written your biopoems (yes, you have to do this exercise yourself!), read them aloud to each other. See if there are changes you’d like to make. It also might be fun to put them aside for a couple of weeks and revisit them to see what changes everyone would like to make based on changes in their feelings.
A second type of poem that you might like to work on with your class or student is a cinquain. A cinquain is a five line poem that describes a person, place or thing. The structure of a "word cinquain" is a one word topic of the poem (first line), two adjectives (second line), three "ing" verbs (third line), a phrase (fourth line) and a synonym for the topic of the poem (fifth line). An example of a cinquain is:
sunshine
yellow, happy
warming, shining, nurturing
on my face
the source of light
Students can start working on cinquains by reading some aloud. This exercise will give the tutor an opportunity to work on vocabulary and talk about nouns, adjectives, verbs and synonyms. You can then move on to brainstorming about topics for your own cinquains and, ultimately, your students can write and read their own. Click here to see more examples of cinquains and a worksheet.
Writing a biopoem or a cinquain will almost certainly bring a smile to your student's face. Who said writing has to be a painful experience????
WORKING WITH STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL LITERACY
Financial literacy is an important topic for all of us. Since it is often intimidating for adult learners to discuss financial matters, it is best to let your student guide you as to how much they want to share.
If your student has expressed an interest in becoming more financially literate, the website www.projectmoney.org is a great starting place. This site was created with the assistance of adult learners who wanted to help other learners feel more confident in handling their money so its approach is right on point for our students. The Getting Started Assessment Chart found in the “Teaching Tools” section will help you select a topic to focus on with your student such as Setting Up a Budget, Savings Choices and Using a Checking Account. You can make the process less daunting for your students by showing them how their strengths and skills are transferable to the financial arena. For instance, someone who is organized will likely be great at creating a budget!
Two other websites merit specific mention here. The first is www.gcflearnfree.org. (You have to register to use this site but it’s free and well worth it.) Check out the “Everyday Life Project” for interactive exercises on topics such as using an ATM. Or go to the “Money Basics” section under “Math and Money” for plain language explanations about a variety of financial topics. The second site you won’t want to miss is www.tv411.org. Once you're in the website index, go to the “Personal Finance” section for downloadable lessons on topics such as “Using Credit Cards Wisely” and “Understanding Interest.”
TURBO CHARGE YOUR STUDENT'S VOCABULARY
Did you know that there are 100 words that make up 50% of all print material contained in newspaper articles, magazines, textbooks, children's stories and novels? If you increase the number of words to 300, that percentage increases to 65%! Just think how empowering it would be to give your student this tidbit of information as you work with him or her on vocabulary development. Click here for a list of these "Instant Words".
One idea for working with these words (or any vocabulary words, for that matter) with your class is to play bingo. Just create several game boards with nine squares that include a random selection of the words. Call out words to your students until someone yells "bingo!" Your students will have a great time while mastering their new sight words. For other ideas on ways to work with Fry's Instant Words (and flash cards), click here.
READING ABOUT PEOPLE
Materials contributed by Roberta Karstadt and Davida Schuman from Kean University
Roberta and Davida presented a workshop for tutors on November 2nd on ways to use articles and books about people to work on our students' reading and critical thinking skills. Articles about people from adult literacy newspapers like News for You and easier-to-ready newspapers like USA Today are sure fire winners. Articles relating to people that focus on holidays or celebrations like Presidents' Day or Black History Month are also likely to engage our students.
And there's no end to the books that can be used that feature stories of interest to our students. A couple of suggestions are Everyday Heroes by Beth Johnson (stories about people who've overcome issues in their lives) and the Famous Inventors series of biographies published by Enslow. Thanks to Roberta and Davida for sharing their wealth of knowledge with us!
Contributed by Roberta Karstadt, who tutors a Basic Literacy student at the Plainfield Public Library
Paragraph frames are skeletal outlines that enable students to organize and develop their reading comprehension and writing skills. After reading a book, students fill in the slots, sentence by sentence, with words, phrases, clauses or sentences of their own choosing. Depending on their reading level, students can use one of the attached frames to share a book they have read with others.
Begin by discussing the book orally. After discussing possible responses, have your student fill in the blanks to complete the frame. Do not emphasize spelling or grammar at this point. Have your student read the completed frame orally and encourage him/her to expand upon his initial responses. Repeat this step until your student is satisfied with the results.
For homework have your student copy or type the completed frame and read it orally at your next session.
Paragraph frames are also effective tools for identifying skills for further study. After reviewing the completed frame with your student, select errors for practice together. Limit the number of errors so that your student does not become overwhelmed or discouraged. For example, if he/she makes many spelling or punctuation errors select three to five areas to practice. The emphasis should remain on reading comprehension and expressing thoughts in writing without bogging down in details.
Source of Book Report Frames:
Project Read-Write Resource and Instructional Manual
ESEA Title IV-C Project: 72-515
Newark Board of Education
Newark, NJ
Contributed by Brian and Debbie Clifford, who tutor an ESL Class at the Plainfield Public Library
Learning (American) English isn't just about grammar, syntax, and vocabulary – it is also about understanding the history and culture of our country. National holidays are a great opportunity to introduce that kind of information. This year we learned about the Star Spangled Banner (see if you really know all the words!) for Memorial Day (last year we learned about veterans, military cemeteries, and Memorial Day parades). For our class closest to July 4th we had a "Happy Birthday U.S.A." party and learned about the Declaration of Independence. On a lighter note we also investigated Halloween, Groundhog's Day, Valentine's Day, and Thanksgiving. Christmas and Chanukah became a great time for sharing information about European traditions, Latino traditions, and Jewish traditions. As usual, we all learn from one another.
The birthday for the 233rd year of American independence provided a chance for Monday Night's English Conversation Group to enjoy red, white, and blue goodies while learning "how it all got started." This highlights that old teacher maxim, "learning can be tasty."
|