Korean Job Discussion Forums

[katydid]

I am going to start a multi-level hagwan type class soon, full of 1st year middle school students, and a couple of second and third year students. So, my level is a bit mixed, and while I *could* go with teaching to the majority, I really don't want to I don't want to make anyone feel bored in the process.
Plus, this is a hagwan type class, and while I could use a book, I don't really have to. I think my Japanese teacher will be showing her students dramas and then asking reading comp questions. That sounds like a cool idea. I would love to teach my students pop songs, maybe have a movie day or week every now and again, but wonder what I should use as the backbone for a very mixed level class.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[weatherman]

You need material that can be interpreted at different levels. For example, using the video clip that was talked about, a lower level student might only get the basic story line and will be able to retell the events, while a higher level student, you could get them to evoke how the actors felt and why they were showing these emotions... Same material, but different objectives for each student. It is also great if you can pair an advanced student up with a lower level student and have the advanced student do some teaching herself, inwhich the advanced student reviews the materail naturally by teaching it, and the lower student has personal one on one attention.

[katydid]

*bump*

OK, had a 3rd year tell me that the book was too easy. She is one of three 3rd years in a class full of 17 1st years. Please does anyone have any advice with what I should do for the 3rd year students in a 1st year class? I am working with English Time 5 now, and can only see buying another book (like Hotline or Headways) for these three, but as you can guess I don't really like that idea either.

Please help me with any suggestions you have.

[some waygug-in]

I'm not sure if this will help your situation or not, but here goes....
Try American English Today - level 5 and then 6. These books are a lot harder than English Time, because they actually try to get the students to think, not just copy.

Probably someone will disagree, but that's my 2 cents.

cheers

[Zyzyfer]

weatherman said it. Mixed level classes are a lot of work, because the only real answer is to devise a lesson plan that can be interpreted differently by students at different levels.

I had a summer vacation middle school class which was full of kids who couldn't talk, and then this girl who had lived in Malaysia for a few years and knew all sorts of slang and everything. Man, that class was hard. I actually had a discussion with her about it, and said that there really wasn't much I could do, because her level was just too far off compared to everyone else's levels.

[ryleeys]

I have one class these days that has four levels at once. I come armed with a stack of worksheets that I made... I rotate between teaching one level and the other three doing writing excercises. It's the only way to manage the situation.

[OiGirl]

Someone suggested using videos...you could have a variety of different levels of worksheets that you woudl give to the students at different levels.

You could have the more advanced students do a reading on the subject you are discussing...perhaps to share with the class with an oral report later.

I know this sounds crazy, but one thing that always worked well with my middle school mixed-level classes was vocabulary work. I don't know why, but it did.