Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nathanrutledge]

I'm working at a technical high school, and lately, I've been using more worksheets that the students need to read. Lo and behold, I've discovered a trove of illiteracy! As it's a tech school, my spirits are crushed and trampled upon daily, but it turns out that the ones who cannot read are actually the quiet, non trouble making ones and I want to do something (and judging from my interactions with these particular kids, they'd participate).

So, I remember my Kindergarten/first grade days vaguely, and I'm trying to come up with the best way to get these kids reading. Things you've done, resources you know of, anecdotes - whatever. My plan as of now is to
1. Make some cards with pictures (a-apple, b-bear, etc) as the kids know a lot of vocabulary words.
2. Teach some basic rules (bossy e, dipthongs/ greek,latin,french letter combos/sounds)
3. Read books aloud as they follow along.
4. Sound it out techniques.

Thoughts?

[OculisOrbis]

My thoughts: Too little, too late. Continue what youre doing and be happy that at least a few are benefiting.....You cant make up for the mistakes of others in the past.

[alljokingaside]

Same general problem at my HS. My approach this year's worksheets is to have the literate students actually work on the WS, while the illiterate kids (provided they aren't knocked the F out) learn to read the sheets. Transliteration ("Ok, YuKid, write Korean here") seems the best option atm without sacrificing too much time from the other students

[nathanrutledge]

I'm not planning to teach this in the regular class. This is a separate group, separate time.

[andrewchon]

They can't read, but can they speak any?

[winterfall]

You need to get some leveled readers. A few publishers make em targeting 2nd language learners. But they're really pricey. You can use ones that were published for native speaking children. A to Z readers are great. It's 27 levels, A is the easiest, Z is the hardest. I think ddeubal posted some on EFL Classroom, that is if it didn't get flagged for copyright infringement yet.

My tech school is run of the mill blue collar. Almost everyone is at A or B, some outliers in Level F but, none beyond that.

PM me with your email, I'll send you some stuff that I use and it worked. Tech school teachers need to stick together. No one else knows what it's like in the trenches

[Dazed and Confused]

The book EFL Phonics (5 book series) is by far the best phonics book I've ever used. It is for kindergarten classes but if you can have a Korean teacher explain that they will be reading after they've completed the series you'll have an easier time of getting them into it.

[Fishead soup]

Karaoke pop songs on youtube. First I show the video then play the Karaoke version. They really like Lucky bu Britany Spears. Justin Beaver is a big hit too.

[NaviESL]

Maybe they need to have an after-school one-on-one tutorial, that way the entire class won't be affected. It is also a good idea for them to learn faster than with the whole class listening. And yes, making cards with pictures is not a bad idea. You can do what you think is best for their quick learning. Good luck.

[teachingld2004]

I am teaching at a university, and I am shocked that some students can not read. I have started using comic books. I also play "pass word".
Teaching reading at any level is not easy, and the older the students are, and the less they can do, makes them not even try. (some)