Job Discussion Forums

DebMer

During the summers I work for a woman who brings groups of middle and high school ages over from China and Taiwan for English classes and touring in the area. Each group is here for one to two weeks, and spends about half of most week days in the classroom and the other on half-day cultural and touristic activities. They stay with American host families at night and and weekends.

For next year she's thinking about offering a one-month intensive English program, in which they would be in classes through the day and the only touring would be with the host families on weekends.

Can any of you all suggest a curriculum that would be a good foundation for the intensive English classes? The students who have come to us the past two summers are a variety of levels - low intermediate to advanced. We would be separating them into at least two groups for instruction, and maybe three.

Thanks ahead of time for any recommendation you can offer.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Just a thought:
Pick different engaging topics - e.g. an article to read on capital punishment. Follow-up with a list of discussion questions.
Make notes of any grammatical / vocabulary weaknesses, base next lesson working on it. Maybe extension discussion. (Bung in a listening where appropriate).

Repeat with different topic, hope for best.

DebMer · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 4:10 am Post subject:

Thanks, Coledavis. This would be good for a portion of each day, but it's looking like it will be 6 or more hours per day of class work. If a comprehensive intensive curriculum is already put together and available somewhere, I'd like to have a look at it. I don't have a lot of lesson planning time between the end of my regular job and the start of the summer groups.

Another thing I should have mentioned in my OP is that some of the students will end up going to American high schools, and classes will be geared toward preparation for that possibility, as well.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Using the high schools information: so a later section of the day, maybe twice a week, is a cultural section relating to the States. Week 1: history. Week 2: food. Week 3: culture. Week 4: places of interest.
Later in the day, three times a week:
The project. Get hold of a play (Peter Pan is good) and get a play together for the end of the month (assuming there are adults / locals to watch).

Or yes, find yourself a ready-made curriculum.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:45 am Post subject:

Break the day up into Skills lessons? Should make it easier to fill up a large portion of those 6 hours.

DebMer · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 2:34 pm Post subject:

DebMer · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 2:48 pm Post subject:

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Sometimes, I find trying to find suitable readymade materials more time-consuming than just getting on with the ideas I have.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 3:09 pm Post subject:

Skills books already on the market, or which you can download from publishers, are usually easier to implement, especially if you do not know exactly what the learners' needs are. Try this out:

http://www.eflbooks.co.uk/series.php?series=Q%3A+Skills+for+Success

DebMer · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 3:47 pm Post subject:

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

Task based stuff plus skills and drama-easy!